Symbolism

I loved our class today on art and symbolism in Ghana. After taking Symbolic Anthropology, I became fascinated by symbols as they are one of the foundational elements of human existence. We literally could not function without symbols - even our words are merely metaphors for our imperceptible mix of thoughts, emotion, and impulse that can never be flawlessly conveyed to the external world. I love symbols like the blatant ones we encounter through art - Katie showed a spiral on the side of a religious structure in Ghana, and told us it represented eternity - like this example, symbols can convey mass meanings full of history and complexity with just one image, that sometimes abstractly relates to whatever it is representing, and is sometimes completely arbitrary, but recognized through tradition.

In my symbolic anthropology class, we discussed the extensive symbolism behind the LDS sacrament ritual. I realized how religions use so much ritualism and symbolism for highly effective purposes. Religion poses intricate theory and inspires feelings and emotions that are hard to put into words and difficult to interpret even when they occur inside of us. Symbols create a route of expression to allow a group to form a cohesive union surrounding such complex beliefs and meanings. No wonder many Mormon kids are so knowledgeable about their religion at such a young age, they are taught the doctrine largely through relatable symbolism that especially helps in conveying religious messages that might usually be thought too mature for children to process.

Like Katie said, this will be a great for us in Ghana. It will be important for me to inquire about the representations and symbolism I see - having even a limited knowledge of what deeper meaning lies behind images, words, or behaviors will allow me to have a better understanding of the culture as a whole. Symbolism in language, actions, art, etc are the very fiber of a society and its cultural makeup.

IRB

I have recently been working on IRB classes in 3 of my 6 classes. Joy. Two of them have been for my project in Wiamoase, and one was for my class with Professor Bibb, where we have been planning a pretend development project in Apamea, Syria.

As much as I have hated the IRB process, I have also appreciated it. Besides agreeing that it is necessary to prevent unethical study practices (although I think there is room for improvement especially for the social sciences, whose studies are completely different from something like a medical experiment), I also think the IRB application has allowed me to get a better grasp on my project, and what I will actually be doing in Wiamoase. For example, writing out my research aims and questions, and a literature review, has helped me to solidify what research I will need to collect, at least initially. Also, writing about mundane things such as how I will gain consent, if I will use a translator, how I will maintain confidentiality, etc, has helped me better understand what measures I will have to take in the field to conduct my research. I have realized how important it is that I will be organized, with my notes, and audio recording, and any other tools necessary. I also have been impressed with how much I will need to learn to successfully connect with the people, and how fully I will be dependent on them. If I want to talk to someone who only speaks in Twi, I will need another Ghanaian friend to translate, for example.

Anyway, I turn in my new and improved IRB draft on Tuesday. Although I have learned from the application, I have my fingers crossed it will become approved. I may have learned from it, but I definitely not in love with it.

Power Dispersion

For my Anthropology of Development class, we have been reading development books by Nolan and Escobar. Although I enjoy Nolan's because of its practical advice and simple outlining of concepts behind development, I enjoy Escobar a lot more. He is somewhat cynical with his view of development, but he brings up facts that cannot just be ignored by Western students going into development.

The chapters that I read for Wednesday were about power dispersion. Escobar argues that the power Western countries gained and continue to hold after colonialism has affected development in detrimental ways. When development projects occur, or even the framing for these projects, they evolve out of a Western-dictated context. Since international power is unequally dictated, the countries in need of "development" do not get a significant say in what happens to them, while powerful Western countries get almost all of the say. Escobar states that this does not lead to sustainable change or sound judgement about these countries, but instead can aggregate third world issues in some instances.

Additionally, the way the West conceptualizes developing countries can be damaging to the way development is enacted. For example, Escobar points out that development rhetoric can be dehumanizing and objectifying towards third world inhabitants. A mother, who is a human being with thoughts and emotion, is reduced to an illiterate starving body, with way too many children, and an unseemly dependency on men. Or Western developers will point out the apparent flaws of the developing world, but because of the power dispersion that allows them ultimate say, they are saved from having their own similar issues pointed out. Such as when Western developers state that the problem in third world countries is there population growth, which must be curved. However, they fail to point out that some of these countries have larger human populations than some in the "developed" world, but actually consume less. So what does that say about the developed world?

I think this whole issue of the dispersion of power relates to my project because it might give me more insight into how I might mentally conceive of or envision countries in Africa, and Ghana specifically. I have been consuming the Western rhetoric we are all fed throughout our lives through school and the media. How has this affected the way I view inhabitants of the "third world?" Have I objectified the African people, or dehumanized them through some sort of "social imagination" about the way they exist? Have I thought about them as some intangible glob of people needing assistance or reform and failed to recognize them as individual human beings with the same capacity for thought, feeling, and action as myself and my American counterparts? I probably have been guilty of all of these things. However, as I increase my understanding of anthropology and development I am working towards erasing these negative habits, and attempting to view humans in the humanistic way they all deserve.

Kony Captivation

This last week I was extremely interested in the phenomenon of the Kony 2012 viral video that popped up on my Facebook and Pinterest repeatedly. I do not think an NGO has ever created quite a stir with a video campaign, and the wild spread and success of the video definitely creates new implications for development and the advertisement of social causes. For me this event showed highly positive and highly negative illuminations about contemporary social projects.

The Positive:

I think the Invisible Children organization is brilliant in its advertising. It realizes the power behind trending media in today's culture, especially among the younger generation. The video played right to America's current young adult mainstream of indie pop culture along with the empowering sense that we have the power to change the world. Heart wrenching scenes of Ugandan youth were slapped right next to scenes of hundreds of Toms-clad college students running around and yelling for change, led by the ultimate hipster/Non-profit manager himself, Jason Russel, which are overlayed with emotional alternative music form the likes of The Naked and Famous and Mumford and Sons.

Basically, the guys of IC knew how to capture the attention of America's youth and celebrities, and they did it with high success. And Facebook friends of mine who had never posted about an official social cause, probably in their life, were now a little bit more educated about one of the horrendous problems facing people in another part of the world, and felt excited to be apart of stopping these problems. So that right there is a plus - in a self-gratifying, ungrateful American culture, it is a plus to get kids excited about aiding other people's problems, especially other people not in their direct vicinity.

The Negative:

Some of the positives about the campaign video could also be looked at as negative. I have read several critiques of Russel's documentary being overly catered towards American youth and lacking a central focus on the actual Ugandan youth, as well as critiques of its seemingly Westernized, savior-like depiction of changing the world. However, that is subjective, and though I partially agree, there is a lot of gray area.

However, one scary thing this viral vid did make evident was the power behind a trending topic. I am almost positive most of the kids who shared that video did so as a knee-jerk reaction right after viewing it, and did not take the time to research IC, research the actual history of Joseph Kony, the LRA, and the US interference that has already occured, nor any other relevant information. No matter how innocent a cause or organization looks, this is vital. Because sharing a viral video like that, or contributing money, or whatever is not like donating to your local community service project. People who do this for Kony 2012 are now backing one viewpoint about Uganda, and one method of solving the problem in Uganda. Do those who shared the video realize that they are supporting Ugandan military intervention when they support IC, which has controversial implications? Do they realize that past attempts to stop or kill Kony have resulted in violent retaliation that has caused the death of hundreds of more people? Do they know that in the past year, IC used only about a third of their incoming funds on direct help to Africa, and that their financial accountability rating is presently a 2/4? I would guess a lot of American youth who shared this video on impulse do not.

Fundamentally, the loudest message that came across to me during the few days of viral spreading and media received by Kony 2012 is that if one has the means of producing a glossy, professional documentary/campaign video, complete with American pop culture tie-ins, they could probably get millions of hits and thousands of people to share there video, even if their organization in actuality was doing some pretty questionable things outside of the spotlight.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I felt this issue related somewhat to my project just because it is a contemporary event in social development - the field I am aiming to head into. It is interesting to see some of the Western views or limited global perspectives of Americans highlighted in a viral video - things I learn about everyday in class.

Here are a few of the links I found interesting while researching Kony 2012

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

http://justiceinconflict.org/2012/03/07/taking-kony-2012-down-a-notch/

http://justiceinconflict.org/2012/03/07/kony-2012-the-invisible-children-advocacy-campaign-to-catch-kony/#more-2862

http://demandnothing.org/making-the-invisible-visible/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=making-the-invisible-visible

http://9gag.com/gag/3212157

The last one is just for laughs.

Methodological Possibilities

In both my field study prep class and my ethnographic methods class for anthropology, I have recently been really noticing the value behind different methodologies. When I first began to hear about methods in anthropology, I often felt skeptical about the practicality or usefulness. In the "hard" sciences methodologies such as experimentation or the use of numerical formulas are concrete, and it is fairly easy to see how these could be put to use to further a hypothesis. However, when one is doing research qualitatively, things are expected to have error, and to include guesswork. At first, I considered whether this could indicate inaccuracy or worthlessness. However, as my understanding of anthropology deepened, I realized qualitative work is, in fact, very valuable, and with the methods practices I have been doing this semester I have become even more solidified in this opinion. Questions or exercises patterned specifically to know better the human mind and human emotions are just as significant as the scientific experiments that can test biological samples.

For example, I have noticed that my methods practices have especially helped me to see how I can use informants to define specific aspects of their culture, and to map out where people place value. Since I will be unfamiliar with the culture I am studying, this is vital. When I practiced free-listing, pile sorting, and ranking methodologies, I asked a friend to list every type of education should could think of. This led to follow up questions about how she defined education, which was further specified when she sorted her list into categorical piles. Furthermore, when she ranked her list from most important to least, I was able to see where she placed value in a specific part of her society. Similarly, when I used scale inquiry on BYU campus to ask about gender roles and education, specifically through the scale question "It is more important for males to graduate from college than for females - strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree," I was able to infer social value through the answers my subjects gave.

I am beginning to see the possibilities a variety of methodologies hold for information gathering within the field. As Professor Hawkins has been emphasizing, sometimes even one observation, or a particular pattern from one question, or a specific reaction can already garner enough analysis-worthy subject matter for a large part of a senior thesis.

Relative Ontology

Yesterday while on the long drive to Vegas for a wedding, one of my best friends, Ben, and I had a chat about context, space, and time. He brought up how strange it was that humans are human regardless of what space or time they are born into; however, this definition is purely based on biological premises. The human born in the 1950s is not the same human as me, because our contexts are so vastly different. Our lens of reality is layered with filters of place, history, culture, technology, etc. Ben related how ontology is therefore highly relative to place and time. He brought up an example from the scriptures, when one of the prophets had a vision of all the Earth’s inhabitants, and tried to describe what he saw. His descriptions sound crazy and almost unidentifiable to us, but many speculate that he was describing technological advances that would not have been present back then, such as an airplane. Ben and I tried to think of a future human’s existence that could be so contextually different from our own that if we could look into their timeframe, we would not even have the terminology or explaining concepts in our ontology to accurately describe events or devices they might interact with regularly.

Later, I forgot entirely about this conversation, and we met up with friends downtown on the Vegas strip. I used to live in Las Vegas, and am pretty familiar with what sights can be seen on the strip – at least sights open to those younger than 21. Casinos blast their mind numbing game sounds, people drop thousands on overpriced food, clothing, alcohol, etc, old men walking around with scantily dressed younger women, or women their same age who look like they eat Botox for breakfast. There are tipsy and drunk people stumbling around on the sides of the hectic main road (including one of the non-LDS friends we had met up with), openly drinking, holding 4-foot tall alcohol cups. Casual sex or sex entertainment is glorified and on display on billboards, on pornographic call cards, or in the public Treasure Island pirate ship show, where old men stand watching with their hands on their wives’ shoulders, or little kids are hoisted onto shoulders so they can get a better look. So… how does this relate to Ben’s and my conversation?

I thought about this American cultural experience, in one of the United States’ biggest cities, and thought about how it might compare to Accra, Ghana, or any other big city in Ghana. What are the similarities, or the differences? Just from some of the video clips we have watched in class I can pretty well guess there are some major differences. I am guessing there are concepts in big cities in Ghana that are too foreign to Americans to even cross our minds, or terminology that is just not included in our ontology because of our different context, and vise versa. How does context become so very different between humans across the world, or thousands of miles away, or hundreds of miles away, that even our epistemology cannot be defined the same. Are the differences based on history? Or are they a-historical? Is it based on geography and resource availability? When did cultures diverge? And what makes them end up so drastically different, where meaning cannot even be reconciled, especially when we are all born with the same biological brains and bodies?

These questions probably cannot be asked. However, they lead me to one conclusion – that whether there is or is not a universal ontology, humans’ variable epistemologies will never allow for it to be discoverable without the intervening of some higher power. Therefore cultural relativism is vital to human studies, including the research I will be doing in Ghana, because no matter where one hails from, they cannot legitimately claim to another that they know “pure reality.”

Confessions of an Addict

One thing I am excited/scared about for my three months in the field is the inevitable lack of technological connection I will have access to. When I think about losing Facebook, texting, blogs, Pinterest, etc, it may sound pathetic, but it is like I will suddenly be going cold turkey as a smoker after being used to three packs a day. I can honestly say I am addicted to the Internet and my cell phone. Although I'm not alone, as I'm pretty sure most other kids at BYU are also addicted, it is still humbling when you fully realize you have succumbed to a dependency on an inanimate object external to your body. I wonder what it will be like having these things abruptly stripped away for 90 days - probably one of the better things that will ever happen to me.

While pondering this, I have also thought about how as an American, middle class teen I have just fully accepted technological saturation as a natural part of life. For many Ghanaians this is not the case, as well as for the vast majority of the rest of the world. I wonder how this dichotomy of technological exposure makes my life experiences different from those who do not experience mass technology. I know from sociology classes that our social interactions are drastically different in a lot of ways. These types of differences can be seen among Americans between mere generations. However, I wonder if this difference in experience also causes variations in perception, time value, definitions of place, etc. For example, maybe Ghanaians would see it as utterly boring to sit and scroll through Pinterest for an hour, while many American girls find this a great source of entertainment. Or maybe an American boy views his online teammates in a video game to be better friends than the people he physically interacts with at school, a concept that Ghanaians may not be able to relate with. Basically, it is just crazy how although we are all human, what we actually define as the human experience can vary so drastically.

Extra Credit Post

An English major who presented at the Inquiry Conference talked about her project carried out in London, based on classic literature about Queen Elizabeth. She started off her presentation by stating that at first she had wanted to do her project here at BYU, gathering research in the library. Her professors had encouraged her to actually go to London, an idea she was at first not too excited about. She did not understand how spending money to live in Europe would aid her project in worthwhile ways that would be any more beneficial than library research. However, she related that after she had arrived in London, and started visiting the locations written about in the classic literature she was studying, she quickly began to realize the benefits of being at the actual setting. She began to gather new insights and understandings about the literature she had never before thought of, because she had not known specific details about the settings until she experienced them visually and in person. For example, her views of the Queen Elizabeth character in her reading drastically changed once she physically visited the prison the queen had been held captive in. She felt a stronger connection and sympathy for the character, and had a deeper understanding of why she had been written to behave in some of the ways she did within the literature.

I felt that this presentation was extremely valid. Although library research is very useful, there is definitely something to be said about actually visiting a place or the people one is attempting to study. There are obvious reasons why relocating to the actual study region brings an added comprehension, sympathy, and new perspectives that could not otherwise be obtained through mere library research. I could try to study Wiamoase, Ghana through journal articles and books only, but I would not gain the same first-hand insights that I will be gaining by interviewing and living with actual residents of Wiamoase.

Humanitarian Relief

One of the inquiry conference presentations was by a Humanities major who studied a tourist site in Italy. Her presentation was titled something along the lines of “Inconclusive Study: Confessions of a Humanities Field Study Student” (I can’t remember the actually title). The presenter shared her learning experiences in Italy, but concluded by sharing the insights she had gained about a three-month undergraduate study. Basically, three months is a very short amount of time, and although she can make educated guesses and theoretical postulates, she knows she can not state definitive conclusions because they would be stereotypical and likely inaccurate. She related that the field study experience is wonderful and teaches students a lot, but that participants do not need to think they should return to the States with great revelations and conclusive breakthroughs. Even seasoned researchers who spend years doing ethnographic studies in one particular area cannot ever be completely sure about the conclusions and theories they acquire.

This presentation really helped me to feel relieved. As I work to gather sources for my project question and attempt to more fully comprehend its implications, I continue to feel overwhelmed, inadequate, and under qualified. I keep wondering to myself if there is any way my research could actually be valuable to academia, since it will be done in such a short amount of time, and by me, of so little experience. This girl’s presentation let me know that there are other field study students who feel the same way as me, and that this is okay. My undergraduate field study is a time to learn methods, procedures, and experience what it is like to develop a research question and carry out a study. It is okay that I cannot possibly come to complex and thorough conclusions that may not have any impact of influence on Ghanaians or anthropological academia. I am expanding my knowledge and experience, preparing for graduate school studies, and becoming more familiar with cross-cultural relations. I can do my best to contribute educated guesses about my project’s particular study aspects and be comfortable with the fact that I may or may not be right, and that I more than likely will come to indefinite conclusions.

Moyga, Ntoro, and Family Values

This week I have been really impacted by what I have been taught about family values and dynamics in Ghana. In our Twi class we took a break from grammar (thank the heavens above) and had a culture lesson. As a sociocultural anthropologist this has been my absolute favorite class so far. Milly taught us about the family structure in Ghana and it was extremely interesting. First, we learned that families are structured on matrilineal lines. Mothers give their children moyga (blood) and fathers provide them with ntoro (soul). Since their blood line is through their mother, their most significant family relations traditionally come through their mother's line. Surprisingly, instead of children depending on their fathers for money and stability, they will often be taken care of and provided for financially by their mother's brother - their wɔfa. Family ties are extremely important, and it is a known responsibility for family members to aid one another. Milly said that usually if one family member makes it financially, that means the rest of the family will also make it, because the wealth will be shared. She even related that although she has been in the States for a long time, she still recognizes her duties to continually give back to her family. One of the Ashanti proverbs she shared stated that "family is an army." If family members stick together, their strength will overcome obstacles. Milly also reinforced what I learned in an interview with my Ghanaian friend Daniella a couple weeks ago - neighbors will act as your family when you are in need. If you are in trouble or in great need, you can always turn to someone, even if they are not your blood relative, and they will try to help you out. Milly said that the term "it takes a village to raise a child" is basically taken literally in Ghana.

While listening to one of the inquiry conference presenters, Corrin, I saw traces of this mentality as well. She went to Ghana for her field study, and studied cultural ethnocentricity among tribal groups there. Although she seemed to argue for pushing a more unified front and mixing of tribes to lessen group pride, it was still cool to hear about how fiercely proud and loyal Ghanaian's will be about their family lines and tribal identity.

I could see some major cultural differences between America and Ghana just from learning about their ideas of what constitutes family and appropriate ways to be loyal to fellow Ghanaians. Again, I realized that Ghanaian's seem to take a more socialist approach to community - they will financially help out friends and relatives as a part of their moral duty. Additionally, they expect their community to help raise children, whether they be relatives, friends, or neighbors. In America, we are generally more motivated to help only ourselves and who we consider our close kin - also, there is a pervading mentality that one works for their own success, and that a lack of success may represent someone too lazy or meritless to deserve external help.

I enjoyed hearing Milly's take on these differences. She related that because of her native Ghanaian values and culture, she will continue to honor her obligations to her family back in Ghana. She also does not accept some norms in American culture, such as allowing children to be very informal with their parents or express an attitude towards them often without repercussion. She views this as highly inappropriate, and is working to instill in her own children a stronger respect for their elders more in line with Ghanaian culture. However, she also appreciates here in America that she has a closer relationship with her children due to her isolation in raising them, whereas in Ghana the entire community would be more involved with their upbringing, and leave her less time to watch over them personally.

Overall, it was interesting to learn about Ghanaian family values from a mixture of Milly's native experiences and Corrin's field study experience. Although they differ greatly from American values, I feel more endeared towards the Ghanaian people, and cannot wait for firsthand observation of how people interact, especially along family oriented lines.

Cadbury and Cocoa

While working on my literature review I looked more closely at Cadbury's website that gives basic information about its connection to cocoa cultivation in Ghana. This page states that the information is best suited to young readers, however I felt I gathered some insight from exploring the way Cadbury represents its connection with cocoa farms in Ghana to Western youth. Mainly, I noticed that under the "future" tab, the website reflects Cadbury as a moral, upstanding institution of honorable heritage. It states that Cadbury does its part to help the less fortunate cocoa farmers that provide it with the beans it needs to be such a lucrative chocolate business. For example, it has built over 850 clean water wells for rural villages. I have not yet looked more fully into the business practices of Cadbury; however, I am skeptical about its described ethicality and good-will towards the poor. For one, cocoa farming and trading to Western powers began during the British colonialism of West Africa, and today, when colonialism has apparently ended, Ghana, along with numerous countries in the developing world, remains dependent on the more rich and powerful to remain economically stable. This dependency ensures that it will never become a presiding world power itself. Also, I wonder how much more Cadbury could afford to provide compared to 850 wells, when it advertises that it employs 50,000 people - and that has got to cost a lot.

I want to be more savvy about the capitalistic methods used to influence Western thought, that I have been subconsciously vulnerable to my entire life. Large Western companies can paint themselves as heroes and philanthropists all they want - but are their intentions truly charitable? Or is the commodification of a poor country's industry or culture (as can be seen again and again on the website I provided through the link) just another subtle way of promoting dependency, and thus just a system invested mostly in the benefit of the wealthiest and most powerful Westerners? When I am actually conducting my fieldwork, I may be able to question informants about their own opinion, or observe practices that will give me further insight into these questions. Because one thing I am pretty sure about, is that living in Ghana and observing intensive labor on cocoa farms in real-time probably wont be accompanied with the same warm-fuzzies and pat-on-the-backs as that Cadbury website is full of.

Overcoming my Ophelia

I finally did the "The Ophelia Syndrome" reading and enjoyed it as much as Jackie, Lauren, and Natalie said I would. This reading had a lot of great points, although I think it was less shock-inducing for me than it might have been to students of some other majors. The type of eye-opening, mind-blowing, epiphany-like revelation this article might cause for some students started happening to me sophomore year, in my Anthropology of Linguistics class, and then at a higher level last semester in Contemporary Theory. Both of these classes were taught by Professor Buonforte. His classes have by far been the most enjoyable for me here at BYU. I think he represents one of those teachers talked about by Plummer in "The Ophelia Syndrome." Let me give an example of how he has contrasted compared to some of my other courses in anthropology; specifically, how his theory course contrasted with my fundamental theory course taught by a different professor.

Fundamental theory course taught by unnamed professor:

• Everyday was a powerpoint lecture - the dull tool of *limited* inspiration that offers 2-D text, a few pictures, and more text. And a lot of note-taking. And often not too much class participation.
• The required texts were informative, but the reading selections were at times repetitive, or not explained or given preface when they contained challenging material.
• When students posed ideas they were often tersely "corrected," with no room for exploration. The professor basically employed just a Polonius-like show of authority

This could go on, but chances are one gets the point if they have attended even a couple semesters of Western-style university.

Contemporary Theory taught by Professor Buonforte

• Everyday of class is held as a fish-bowl discussion. Students face each other in a circle, and Buonforte was part of that circle
• Everyone's answers were considered. Right/wrong conclusions were explored as a class
• Readings were accompanied by journal entries that were not read by the teacher - these allowed us to record our own unexamined thought processes while reading
• The reading selection varied between the expected theorists, and maybe more risky/fringe theorists, to give us a wider understanding of what ideologies were out there, instead of just the most commonly accepted ones

Thus, I can definitely relate to the Ophelia Syndrome in a school situation. It may have been more straightforward exactly what would get me an "A" in the former class situation I described, but I barely remember anything I learned from that class. The latter situation described left me with lasting impressions, and altered the way I go about my life. It encouraged individuation, instead of just another mindless sheep following the "greats" in academia.

I loved how Plummer talked about the importance of attempting to see from another's perspective. This concept is very important to me personally, and as someone trying to conduct effective ethnographic research.

Personally, I 100% back looking at a situation from another's perspective. This is hard for anyone, I know it is for me. However, my background has forced me to consciously do this, especially as I have gotten older. Being half-black, half-white AND a Mormon AND attending BYU, has been an eye-opening experience. Yes, I know that race is socially constructed, and that speaking about it solidifies it more as a concrete issue. However, the fact is, it is already a major part of social dialogue, and, as I have discovered, it impacts the way one views the world. My ethnic differences have ultimately caused me many differentiations in my thinking about politics, family, fairness and equality, etc compared to many of my colleagues, and even many of my family members. So, if something as external as my skin color can affect the way I view a situation, I am guessing almost any small, seemingly non-consequential aspect can affect how another views any situation. I have been frustrated with some of the ways in which my desires/interests have been grouped and represented according to my membership in larger groups that have been stereotyped (e.g. as part of the BYU student body), and have had to learn that I must attempt to shake of the Poloniuses in my life, or remain discontent. Similarly, I must work to see that others have their own perspectives, and their own rights to fight the Ophelia Syndrome with their own unique views.

This will apply to my research in Ghana, as I work to overcome biased thoughts, ideas, and emotions while working in the context of a foreign culture. My Western boundaries, and learned social systematic methods may not always be the best rules to use when going about my learning. I have to realize that my individualized creativity and insight can add just as much to my work and learning as can applying the standard theory I read in textbooks.

Questioning my Question

One somewhat vague, but I think important, question I have about my research project is this:

From my Western viewpoint, my project question (do familial obligations surrounding cocoa farming prevent female children from attending school/gaining a higher education) naturally leads to an inferred problem if the answer ends up being yes. This problem for Westerners would be, "these girls aren't getting an education! They need to be in schools!" However, from some of the sources I have looked over, including the one I annotated today, cocoa farming seems to be very beneficial for Ghanaians attempting to get out of poverty, and to create a more stable economy. The potential benefits even apply to women, if not especially, if they can begin to overcome the culturally ingrained gender inequality that is preventing them from equal land ownership and access to product input. So, my question is...am I asking the right question? My most far-reaching hope would be that my research could back some sort of positive social change, and hopefully the change that would most benefit Ghanaians living in rural agricultural areas. I am conflicted about whether youth in Ghana will be benefited more by migrating out of rural areas to urban cities to gain higher education and get city jobs, or if they should continue fostering cocoa agriculture, as the crop has definitely improved Ghana's economic stability. This is something I need to look further into within the literature, and depending on what I find, I may possibly have to reconfigure my question.

Mishaps in Methodology, and What I've Learned

On Monday I had the privilege of interviewing a Ghanaian girl from my ward for my methods practice. The experience was both rewarding and frustrating, and ultimately I was grateful for the practice, because it exposed me a little bit more to how much effort qualitative research really requires.

Why was it rewarding?

I could not help feeling exhilarated as I learned about Ghana from a native Ghanaian, and from real first-hand accounts. It made my project seem so much more relevant, even if only to my own consciousness, and reminded me why ethnography is so exciting. For that small sliver of time I was able to somewhat break out of the limited scope of my immediate worldview. It reminded me of what I heard in Contemporary Theory last semester - language transcends both time and place. Through my interviewee's words I was in a small, limited way transported to another society with new rules, and norms. It was also very relieving to hear from a Ghanaian, that she thought my project would likely be a very good research topic, and a contemporary issue.

Why was it frustrating?

I began to realize that interviewing is a skill that requires a LOT of practice. I had troubles forming my questions in a way where they would not be leading to specific answers, or leaning one way or another. I was awkward when there was silence, and instead of hesitating a little, or subtly prompting for an extended answer, I would rush on to the next question. Sometimes, I would even voice my own inferences in the form of a question, which I realized could have been very leading. I can only imagine how much more difficult interviews might prove to be in Ghana, compared to one that was already hard and took place here at BYU.

Fortunately, I am just a beginner, and have plenty of time to practice my new tools of methodology. For my field project in Ghana, where I hope interviewing will be a big part of my methods, I am definitely going to work on framing effective questions, and disciplining my own behavior as the interviewer in a way that will garner the best possible results.

These are a few of the notes I collected:

#6:To -----, the social system was simple – the two extremes of rich and poor, and then the average middle, not several layers in between. Its seems that it is important to the wealthy to appear wealthy and show their wealth. They do this by sending their kids to well-known and pricey schools, and by giving money to the less fortunate.

#7:----- painted a picture very different from America. Americans are stereotypically capitalistic – each for their own. Their own hard work will benefit them and them alone. However, ----- states that Ghanaians have a more communal outlook. She could go to her neighbors for food when she was lacking, and would be treated as a family member.

#8:For rural children to gain a university education, they would have to migrate to the urban areas. This could be a problem if they want to stay near family to help. Having no universities in nearby villages presents a problem.

Tribal Customs of the Primitive Peoples in America

Yesterday, I had the great privilege of watching my first full Grammy Awards show. This statement of course is heavy on the sarcasm right around the "privilege" part. Besides the fact that I personally despise country music, and it seemed this was Part 2 of the CMAs, the spectacle in general was somewhat disappointing, but thought-provoking. It seems like awards shows like these, clearly reserved for participation by the celebrity elite only, and blatantly set up so that the common masses can easily show their worshipful devotion, have begun to define major aspects of American culture. Celebrity is the center - it dominates our viewership and now even our conversation, more intensely through mediums like Twitter, which has been trending things like #grammys and #nicki minaj all night.

After watching America's prime sampling of upperclass culture, it was just so evident how blurred the lines of modernity and primitivity really are. I do not think I can believe in "primitive" culture. For one, obviously as I learn each day in development, we have to end the thought process that different from the Western way = underdeveloped, without question. However, I also gained this disbelief as I watched the most powerful and visible players in my own national society look absolutely "primitive" at the Grammys. Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Nicki Minaj's performances stand out in my mind - they ranged from overtly flashy to the point of sensory overload, sexual gyrations and thrusts almost continually, and downright dark and scary. Obviously, this is all subjective interpretation on my part - I am sure elsewhere in the country there are people who are hailing those performances as high class art.

However, that is the point. Culture is subjective, and so is the term "primitive". As I learn more about the values of Ghanaian people, which differ entirely from those in my home country, whether this be marriage rituals, the way people define family connections, or the distinction between gender roles, I see that these values are not inferior or less advanced, just different. Even if one was to argue that primitivity is real, I would think they may have a hard time deciding which was more primitive - the Ghanaians, or celebrity/money/sex obsessed Americans.

Place

In our last section class we talked about the use of space in our personal homes or apartment, and how this usage might compare with Ghana. This reminded me of the unit on place in my Contemporary Theory class with Professor Buonforte. This is an excerpt from my final essay in that class that has to do with place:

"From the day we are born, place is an intrinsic part of our identities. It provides us with our first layers of cultural context. For example, individuals from different countries will have markedly different worldviews, as will individuals from separate states, and even those from various cities within the same state. Places can range from the smallest aspects of our environment (e.g. the dinner table), to the expansive landscapes that we do not actually inhabit (e.g. a mountain range). We may even relate with places we have never been. An African American may feel an identifying relation to Africa, or a Caucasian American with Irish ancestors to Ireland, although they have never set foot out of the United States. Thus, our individual realities are full of place.

Besides our cultural ties to place, Edward Casey acknowledges that even the abstract boundaries of place are essential to our reality when he states, “the limit of an existing thing is intrinsic to its being, a condition for its very existence” (Getting Back into Place 15). Without the boundaries of place, even the emplacement we feel within our bodies, we would be everywhere. If we were everywhere we would also be nowhere, because there would be no 'where.'"

The concepts we learned about place and how it is affected by culture were highly fascinating. Our place limits the way we even use our bodies. Walls and hallways are boundaries that determine the movements we make and the pathways we follow. This can be very different from culture to culture. For example, when we watched that video clip of Ghanaians eating, they were in a very cramped space. From my perspective as a middle class American, I would never imagine an eating space that small. Also, place can be defined very differently cross-culturally. In many places in the United States, the dinner table is a very social place, where people can converse and catch up. However, we learned that in Ghana it can be considered rude to approach someone while they are eating; therefore, maybe the dinner table is not defined as a socially interactive place.

It is interesting to see how much certain aspects can define a culture. Before my anthropology classes, I was not aware at all how much time, place, language, animate and inanimate objects all have major roles in shaping us as human beings, and determining our lifestyles. It will be intriguing to pay closer attention to these aspects as I compare my native culture with Ghanaian culture.

Learning Twi

I realized that I have not even blogged about my Twi language class. So far it has been very interesting, although challenging. The only foreign language instruction I have been exposed to was three years of French in high school. However, French had many cognitive words to English, because of the common Latin base. It is very cool to be learning a language that is entirely different from English; it even has a couple different written letters. Once one starts to grasp the concept of communicative language, it is easy to see how even this one element could create a culture incomprehensibly different from another.

Language - words, phrases, even sentence structure - are metaphors for our actual thoughts and feelings. Our internal minds can never truly be known to another in full, and the main tool we as humans have to convey messages from our mind is language - spoken, written, acted out, etc. Thus, it is more clear why a person from another culture would act or think or say things so differently than me, when I realize the toolbox of metaphors they are raised with to convey their internal meaning is of a completely different brand than my toolbox.

Little things I have started to learn about the Twi language have already begun to give me insight into Ghanaian culture as a whole. For example, the noun one uses to refer to another person can change based on whether that person is an equal in class and age, younger, older, or much older. This makes me infer that the culture includes respect towards the elderly, or towards authority figures.

I am excited for the rest of my semester in Twi. I believe learning the spoken language of many Asante Ghanaians will give me a deeper understanding of the culture as a whole, since language is a vital underlying current of all cultures and societies. Also, hopefully being able to say even a little in Twi, will help me develop a rapport because of my invested interest in a significant part of their society.

Anthropology and Zion

This last Sunday I headed up to Salt Lake City for my great grandmother's fast sunday family home evening. I was in charge of the lesson, and when deciding what topic to do, I kept thinking back on anthropology, and the preparation for my field study. My lesson ended up being on the importance of education, and while preparing for it and giving it I had some insightful realizations. First I shared three of the most major things I feel I have learned over the last couple years through my major at BYU. These were:

• The more I learn, the more I realize how much I do not know. When I was younger I figured the more I found out, the smarter I would be. Now I realize the more I expand my knowledge, the more I realize how inadequate my knowledge span truly is.
• I have learned new definitions of what it means to be a child of God. Learning about culture and the society of man really shifts one's views or erases preconceptions one may not have ever known they had.
• I have found more evidence that there is a God. For one thing, because I do not think pure science, outside of the context of religion and creation, could create such complex unknowable beings and societies. Evolution alone could not be responsible for this. Also, God gives me hope that the worldwide and timeless suffering taken on by humans will someday be universally lifted through the Atonement.

While searching for scriptures to aid my lesson, I found some great verses in Doctrine and Covenants that directly apply to anthropology:

90:15 And set in order the churches, and ^astudy and ^blearn, and become acquainted with all good books, and with ^clanguages, tongues, and people.

93:53 And, verily I say unto you, that it is my will that you should^ahasten to ^btranslate my scriptures, and to ^cobtain a ^dknowledgeof history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of ^elaws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion. Amen.

I thought these were really cool. They prove that God sees it as very important to learn about each other as his children, to open ourselves to a variety of cultures and ways of living. These scriptures helped give my project in Ghana a deeper meaning and context. I like to think that I am fulfilling a commandment of God by attempting to broaden my knowledge of his greatest creations, and thus increase my love for humanity as a whole. By exposing myself to new culture, history, and language while in Ghana, I am obtaining knowledge and working towards Zion.

Building Bridges

For my Anthropology of Development class we are reading "Three Cups of Tea," a book about Greg Mortenson's development projects building schools in the Middle East. So far we have only had to read the first 70 pages or so, and already Mortenson's experiences have given me insight into dealings in developing countries. When Mortenson returns to Pakistan after promising one village a school, he is almost immediately pressured by men who try to manipulate him to build schools for their own villages. However, at this point in his story he has only enough funding for one school. Then, when he gets to Korphe, the village he wants to build the school for, he is told that as grateful as the people are, they first need a bridge. Mortensen is astonished at this, as he had expected that receiving the funding would be the difficult part, and the building would be relatively straight forward once he was in Pakistan and had supplies.

This series of events reminded me of a few days ago in class, where we discussed a variety of scenarios that could occur in Ghana that may be confusing, regarding whether specific decisions would be ethical or socially appropriate. In class we talked about situations involving money, hospitality, or etiquette that might at surface seem right, but that could be problematic (for example, being asked to eat a nice dinner at a very poor family's home). Basically "Three Cups of Tea" and that class period made me recognize that things are not going to be as straight forward as I hope - ever. Various situations will cause me to have to think on my feet. Partially because of circumstances I may deem ethical or unethical, and also because of my limited understanding of the Ghanaian culture. Greg Mortenson went to Korphe with the supplies to build a school, and was first asked to build a bridge. I may go to Wiamose or Asamung with the supplies or preparation for my current project, and realize that their culture caters much better to some other topic that is more timely or appropriate. Maybe children and cocoa farming wont be as significant a topic as husband and wife relationships related to cocoa farming, or something even more different.

Basically, I need to be flexible, and realize that anthropological research is anything but straight forward. I may go with my tools to build a school and be asked to build a bridge (metaphorically of course - at least for now).

Real Anthropologists Carry Moleskins

Monday and Tuesday this week I had one concept repeatedly pounded into my head by two different prep classes, and two different readings: KEEP FIELD NOTES. At first I did not pay much attention, thinking, "Yeah, duh. You write down notes for any type of research." However, the more I think about it, the more I realize how detrimental these lectures were. My memory is a cognitive tool that I have definitely not come even close to mastering, and it needs to be aided as much as possible while I go about real field research. Besides the invaluable aid writing down insight and discoveries will be to my research project and thesis, I really believe I also owe accurate written accounts to the culture and people I am studying. I am already asking to be accepted as a foreign resident, and for the investment of informants' time, and to be treated with respect as an outsider. Thus, part of the little I can give back is taking the measures necessary to record accurate portrayals of my host area. In my ethnographic methods class I learned that field notes are always best when either immediately recorded, or at least compiled that day. Even a night's sleep can alter original insight and comprehension.

I realized that I need to start preparing myself for the field by recording things now. This is easier said than done, as I am not used to physically writing anything throughout my day. Even in most of my classes I use a laptop. However, this reminded me that I actually have been an avid collector of virtual field notes - the field being the internet. I have countless Mac sticky notes, and web bookmarks of sites that interest me, articles I need to reread, and quote excerpts that inspired me. I realized that I now just need to take this habit, and apply it to my offline life. I am thus going to purchase a small notebook and start trying to notice the small or subtle going-ons around me daily that could actually create insight into my own social world.

Hopefully, by doing this, I will be in better shape field note-wise by the time I get to Ghana. I will be using my laptop less than I ever have for basically 3 years, and will need to be accustomed to opening up a real paper notebook, with a real pen in hand, and recording valuable information. The simple lessons I learned about taking notes this week may have actually been one of the main keys to my success as a researcher in Ghana.

Update: What was my section class about today? Field notes. And I learned even more. The biggest thing I took away was from the exercise studying a person at the Wilk. When I was supposed to be writing descriptive notes, I unknowingly projected my own perspectives and opinions onto my study subject. After even one minute of note-taking, I can already tell that this method takes time and practice. I cannot project my relative reality onto everything I study, at least not for purely empirical description note-taking.