RE: [xmca] Re: Abraham Lincoln Brigades

ldavies@STU.EDU

--
> -------------------------------------------
>   One problem I always had with Geertz was that "thick description"
> remained just that . . . an observational/contemplative perspective .
. .
> as though somehow there is such a thing as a culture that you can
> understand without entering it, without being a part of it, that is
w/o
> taking a position in something that is already polarized  in the
> conflictual structure of History since a long time ago
> 
>   --> leads to -->
> 
>   considerations on the spain '36 Second Life scenario (Second
Life,the
> ideal kind of peaceful, friendly, very unrealistic space that
epitomizes
> the contemplative attitude Marx descried in the Theses on Feuerbach)
and I
> couldn't help but think that such a situation could never give an idea
of
> what Spain must have been like back then (collectively paying for the
sins
> they committed against the peoples of the southern part of the western
> hemisphere of planet earth??).
> 
>   To make such a scenario more real, it might be better to set it up
as
> different stars systems in EVE (which has more realistic graphics
anyway)
> where the Fascists would have their shops that you could visit and
read
> all about cultural degeneracy and such, meet the founder of Opus Dei,
etc.
> but you could also witness them bombing  Guernica , murdering Garcia
> Lorca, and the like when you visited the Republican systems which they
> were attacking.  And in general, everyone would be toting guns and
> shooting at each other but I think the Republicans would have better
art
> and poetry, be on the right side of History,  and in the end be more
worth
> taking a side with.
> 
>   Paul
> 
> Mike Cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:
>   Amazing, larry. Thanks for that story.
> Republican Spain was not utopian. Today I teach Orwell. But some truly
> fantastic
> people with the good sense to be premature anti-fascists died there,
to
> save
> our
> sins.
> mike
> 
> On 11/1/06, Davies, Larry wrote:
> >
> > Today seems to be one of those days where a lot of things come
together.
> >
> > I have a presentation tonight in my doctoral class (I'm the student,
not
> > the teacher) where I need to explain concepts of "deep description"
in
> > qualitative research methods, and here is the passing of Geertz.
> >
> > Then Mike asks who knows about the Lincoln Brigades. Coincidentally,
or
> > not, the most interesting class I ever had as an undergrad (LONG
AGO,
> don't
> > ask!) was a history of the Spanish Civil War class. Our instructor
> > introduced himself on the first day..."My name is Jon Vigoda, and
I'm a
> > carpenter." We all looked at each other wondering who this old man
was
> and
> > what made him qualified to teach the course. "I was a member of a
group
> > called the Abraham Lincoln Brigades and I fought against Franco and
the
> > Fascists in Spain. That got me labeled as a 'pre-mature
anti-fascist' by
> the
> > US government and, as a result, I wasn't allowed to enlist to fight
the
> > Nazis."
> >
> > Well, of course, I can't ever forget the class, or the activities we
> did,
> > like try to hold a cabinet meeting with all the different factions
in
> Spain
> > represented.
> >
> > So, Mike, your comment now gets me to thinking...was that the place
and
> > time where I first became interested in what is now called "Activity
> > Theory"?
> >
> > Finally, as I work with faculty here and try to describe effective
> > teaching, I use the following example: one effective way to build in
an
> > online world like Secondlife.com would be to have students recreate,
for
> > example, a street in Republican Spain in 1936. You could have
students
> > working in groups to design a shop owned by people from across the
> political
> > spectrum. You would have a Republican shop, a monarchist shop, a
> communist
> > shop, a fascist shop, an anarchist shop, a papist shop...etc. The
shops
> > could be decorated with posters or other artifacts of the time, and
you
> > might select music that might play in each shop. You could
conceivably
> > design an interactive robot who would spout the political platitudes
of
> that
> > particular shop owner. The final activity would be to go around and
> visit
> > all the shops and do some comparing/contrasting.
> >
> > I always thought this was the best way to understand "thick
description"
> > and similar concepts.
> >
> > At any rate, RIP Professor Geertz.
> >
> > Larry Davies
> > Faculty Instructional Technician
> > St. Thomas University
> > Miami Gardens, FL 33054
> > 305-474-6826
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Mike Cole
> > Sent: Tue 10/31/2006 10:15 PM
> > To: Paul Dillon
> > Cc: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> > Subject: Re: [xmca] :-(( The Passing of Clifford Geertz
> >
> > It seems a time of loss on many many fronts, Paul.
> > How many members of xmca understand what it means to have been a
member
> of
> > the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in
> > Spain? How many have read about Balanese cockfights? Tell use more
about
> > Murra, and perhaps point us at a work on
> > ethnohistory. After all, this is a group who at least have an
interest
> in
> > the role of cultural history in ontogeny and we are
> > all, for the time being, developing!!
> > mike
> > PS-- thanks for the interview, phil
> >
> > On 10/31/06, Paul Dillon
> wrote:
> > >
> > > mike,
> > >
> > > more of those uncanny coincidences: on Saturday night I saw my
first
> > cock
> > > fight and was thinking about Geertz after many, many years.
Although
> > they
> > > are perfectly legal here, unlike Bali, they still provide the kind
of
> > > cultural thickness Geertz described and flower networks of
> > meaning. It is
> > > sad to read how he passed since nowadays 80 seems young (at least
for
> > those
> > > with good health insurance).
> > >
> > > Not too long ago (10/6 I think) another significant figure in
> > > anthropology died as well; although more famous as an
ethnohistorian,
> > > Andeanist, and French-Russian translator for the Abraham Lincoln
> brigade
> > > during the Spanish Civil War: John V. Murra who was instrumental
> > > in creating the field of ethnohistory.
> > >
> > > Changing of the guard
> > >
> > > Paul Dilllon
> > >
> > > *Mike Cole * wrote:
> > >
> > > Damn!
> > >
> > >
http://ias.edu/Newsroom/announcements/Uploads/view.php?cmd=view&id=354
> > >
> > > mike
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > xmca mailing list
> > > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------
> > > Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail.<
> >
>
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=42297/*http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/ma
il
> beta
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> 
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------
> Want to start your own business? Learn how on  Yahoo! Small Business.
> _______________________________________________
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca