Anthropology and Culture in the Study of Engineering

Well after reading Dr. Nolan's reading, I really find funny the story of Tunisia, I felt so bad about Dr. Nolan's friend, who was shouting at the farmer for no reason, which could have never happened if they only knew that the word Tunis makes reference to two different places. The third case of study seemed very interesting, we could never imagine how a steel axe could change the social and cultural values of a society, especially because it is hard to think of a culture that was shaped around a tool like an axe. Nonetheless, it was the second case of study the one that I liked the most. I had never heard about the 'FulBe', my first impression about them when I began reading was that they were a little crazy, or that perhaps Dr. Grayzel had made a mistake, but then after concluding the reading, everything made sense to me. When thinking about money and basically in financial terms, the way the FulBe act is just ridiculous, but when we get to know their cultural values and their conception of the world we can easily understand that their actions are completely logical if you are focused on fulfilling their cultural values of course.

Well, anthropology is related to engineering because the way we understand other peoples and a society may affect the way engineering is performed. Culture and society have proved to be difficulties that an engineer must overcome. Although mathematics and physics are the same everywhere, the way they are applied are not, engineering and science really depend on the context. For some of us the Earth turns around the sun, but maybe for some other people the sun turns around the earth. For this reason understanding different cultures and societies affects engineering, because they need to be taken into account when making decisions inside different contexts.

I really liked the reading, hope the speaker is good as well!

communication.

Its kind of funny to me that Dr. Nolan and his colleague had the communicating issues that they did when first in Tunisia. If only they would have learned Arabic before they got there, they would have been fine. Now I know hindsight is 20/20, but to be honest, I would have probably done the same thing. The humor in the story is all due to the irony in it. Most people would assume that the city of Tunis and the country of Tunisia would go by different names. It just makes sense that way. If I were the developer with Dr. Nolan, I would have gotten very frustrated at the situation. He knew what he was looking for, and he was saying it correctly, but there were two meanings for the same word. There is something that can be learned from any experience, and I believe the obvious thing to be taken from case 1.1 is to study up about an area before you go there. Im not saying they didnt study, but when you think you know enough, try to learn more.

Roundtable Session

This has been long past due. Quite a while back I went to a Roundtable session. I didn't write about it then so I am doing so now. When I went, they gave us cookies first of all, which was a plus. Then we did icebreakers and started talking to some of the students. There was about two international graduate students for every undergraduate student. The icebreakers helped us become more acquainted with the situation. After that, we did introductions of ourselves and then we asked questions. The international students asked us questions about what it was like to be and undergraduate student here in America. There questions had two main focuses, basically “what is Greek life” and “what makes a good and bad teaching assistant”. Through this questions, they said they hoped to improve their teaching skills. The students asked the teacher’s assistants a lot about what it was like going to school in a different country. I had a lot of fun, because it was interesting to here everyone’s stories, just because some were so funny. It was a really fun way to do extra credit and something I recommend everyone should do. It is a great way to expand one’s global interactions!

Catch-up and some Tangents: Part 2

I decided to break this up into two week, so then it wasn't too long. Sunday, we had a cookout to raise money for the Phi Mu philanthropy. The money goes to PUDM, which it donated to Riley Children's Miracle Network. After that we had our regular weekly pledge meeting and I was the first one to memorized the creed of Phi Mu. Then after that we had another meeting. On Wednesday, I was supposed to go to PUSH, because I thought I felt better and I didn't want to walk across campus. Earlier that day, I had my interview with Professor Rickus for my English paper and it went really well. I learned so much. Thursday night we got our big sis and I love my big sis Kaila Butcher. She is going to be on SOC next year. We went to the Theta Chi/Delta Zeta Haunted House, which was fun. Then we came back opened presents, painted pumpkins, had Mad Mush and watched Hocus Pocus. Then we spent the night at the house. Friday was Greek Goddess competition, which is Farmhouse's philanthropy that is like a beauty pageant. Jillian Yanos from Phi Mu won!!!! Now today I have just been chilling, watching movies and doing homework. That brings everything up to date!

Catch-up and some Tangents: Part 1

I feel like a lot of my blog posts include a tangent. So this will be a large series of short tangents, because nothing to major has happened in my life. If you don't feel like reading this I can totally understand, because it will probably be boring. I personally enjoy hearing people's random stories, so whatever you feel So, since I last posted a lot of stuff has happened. We had our pledge mom night, where we get a mom in the junior pledge class. My "mom" is engaged. It is crazy to think she is getting married in a few months. I had a calculus II test and a chemistry test. On Wednesday (19th), I got really sick. I had been kind of sick a few days before that. I got bronchitis that has finally almost gone away. So, last weekend was homecoming and that was fun. On Friday, I went and saw Footloose, which I didn't think was going to live up to the first one, but oh it did. It was adorable. I am still so sad that I didn't go to the Luke Bryan concert, because I love Luke Bryan. The homecoming game was a great game and we beat Illinois. I rested a lot last weekend to try and get over being sick.

Interview

so I just got back from conducting my interview. I was actually surprised at how well it went. I am generally a shy person who doesnt do well in awkward social situations. But the interview went pretty well. I stepped into the professor's office and suddenly felt comfortable about what I was doing. The professor I interviewed was a nice guy and very helpful. He had tons of information for me and even took me to one of his labs to give me a demonstration of something! I think the reason it went over so well, is because we both shared a common interest in the topic. It was easy for us to relate and understand each other. He provided me with the necessary information I was looking for to write this interview essay, as well as information that could have a possible effect on my career path...

Global Interpretation

These three case examples provide a very good example of how different situations can be interpreted differently. Each sample does provide an example of this, but the example that stood out the most out in my mind was the first case. The story was funny and anecdotal and I think this my I enjoyed the first one the most. It is very important to understand what you are heading into before it happens. Both parties were correct, but problems occurred through communication. Also, what I though was interesting was the fact that the French language is so popular in Tunisia. Every country interprets things differently. In the first case, it was a simple misspeaking interpretation. The second sample takes an approach at thinking differently. Finally, the last case is about the representation of an image in society and how it invoked social image. Images can change over time. The example given in the article is that of an axe. Originally, it was used and depicted strength, but as time went on roles changes and the depiction of strength. The axe moved from a symbol of strength to just another item in the everyday world. If one goes to other countries, different words, items, and habits all can have different connotations.

Just Thinking

It's been a really long time since I don't make a blog post for English. Well here I am. Last week was AWESOME, I really enjoyed it because we didn't have any engr 131 homework, so that means more time spent in other subjects, or just free time, I didn't have any chemistry pre-lab either, so that meant even more time! In engr 103 we had a great speaker who talked about civil engineering (my desired major of study) and we also had a few sunny days, basically it was a beautiful week despite the exams I had, and the horizontal rain.

Mmm what else? OOHH I didn't have to go too late to bed, which is incredible! My friday was weird tho. I had been waiting long in order to celebrate a friend's birthday, and when finally my friday arrived, I was completely unaware that two friends of mine had their birthdays on the same date, so I felt a little sad about that but still I enjoyed it.

I really hope next week is as good as this one, and that it doesn't rain horizontally...

Noticing Diversity and Different Ideas

After reading 'Diversity Consciousness- Chapter 3' I fell into account that sometimes we ignore how may people feel about something because we are not used to that stereotype or image. For example in the case of UNC the statues had a subliminal message to some people because of the pictured stereotypes. However, I think that if I pass by, I will not feel alluded because I am not the one pictured.

In Colombia, my native country, we are used to stereotypes, and people have several social barriers. When I told my friends and family that I planned to study abroad, many of them thought I would never be able to do it because I was going to compete admission against the most talented people around the world. Some others thought that americans were dumb people and their universities were dumb as well. These kind of stereotypes were barriers when applying abroad; however, I never allowed them to stop me.

Despite the arrive of the 21st century we are still immersed in stereotypic societies, who influence our thoughts and perceptions of the world. The physical consequences of external influences were proved in an astonishing experiment carried out by Mrs. Elliott, a school teacher in Iowa. She proved that the brown-eyed kids in her class felt really inferior compared to blue-eyed ones, when told so, and thus their grades dropped; however when they were told to be superior than blue-eyed kids, they improved their academic performance.

This article was really interesting because it gave several examples and cases of study of different situations and perceptions. Moreover, it really helps us open our minds to different thoughts and cultures, so that we can notice that many times our environment really affects the way we see the world around us.

How Aware Are You of Diversity?

This article has been one of the ones that I have liked the most so far. I am very interested, specifically in the situation with the statues. When I was first reading through it, the beginning I thought was some form of analogy, but then when it was not an analogy I was really shocked. What I was surprised about was that enough people approved the statue that the senior class chose as a gift that it was created into a statue on campus. It seems that there is so much evaluation of everything for racism and stereotypes you would not think this would go so far on a such a large, diverse campus. Campus life is usually more liberal and filled with activists so that is also surprising. Everything is scrutinized today. Take for example the Illinois Illini (very suiting for this weekends game). For year the Chief of the Illiniwek was the mascot and danced before their games began and was featured on Illinois gear. This mascot had been place for many years. Illinois was aware of how treating the situation properly was important. From my view and the view of many others, never was the mascot show in disrespectful light or derogatory ways. He was treated with respect and pride. The potential scrutiny of the Illiniwek was assumed and Illinois was forced to remove as the mascot and the chief danced no more. Stereotypes are a very touchy subject, and it is often hard to know when the line has been crossed.

Round 2, FIGHT!

So about this time of year, most of us have or are getting ready to take on our second round of exams. I just had my math exam the other night and am preparing for my chem one next week. Ugh. Math went alright i think, i will get the results later this evening. Chemistry is going to be awful tho. I completely suck at chem. Since day one, I haven't really had a clue to what is going on in there. I have to know lattice energy, VSEPR (I'm not even sure if that's the right acronym), and hybridization. There is tons more that I don't really know either. I can't wait for this semester to be over because this is the only chemistry course I have to take :) Also I have to meet with my ENGR131 team tonight to work on the library project as well as our MEA. Then, I have to finish my paper for english. This weekend is going to be busy... not the good busy though...

Barriers

It never really occurred to me that social barriers and personal barriers were a problem in the world until reading Chapter 3 of Diversity Consciousness. I guess it makes sense though for me not to understand, for I am a white American living in America my entire life. I have never been somewhere where I have been a minority, or considered different. Because of this, I have been oblivious to the fact that discrimination does occur here. Looking back now, kind of embarrassed, I can say that I have been someone with social barriers. I remember in high school we got a new math teacher, Mrs. Kim. She was Korean and had what I thought to be at the time a very strong accent. I struggled understanding what she said a lot of the time because she had trouble pronouncing words in english. I remember going home and complaining everyday of how I didn't like her and that she was a bad teacher. Now, I cant believe I ever thought that because she was actually the best teacher, in terms of actually teaching, that we had at our school. She also grew to be my favorite teacher. So I guess these "barriers" and discrimination are real, but majority of us are too comfortable in our lives to open our eyes and see the truth in the issue.

Destruction is basically construction

I found the article interesting and fun to go through. Firstly, this article shows how civil engineers create and design structures in today's arena to complete a specific requirement. Different types of trebuchets were used. One Middle East ancient structure that I know of is :
Pyramids : The pyramids of egypt have been standing still for long due to the stuff with which it was made, plus its shape and design. It gives the pyramids a unique stability. They were built as tombs for the pharaohs of Egypt, hence were royal.
The structures built in the old times were built with passion, hard work and dedication, making them one of the most prestigious and memorable things on this earth. Big structures were only built to honor something or someone. The ones who built it believed that they were doing a very important job, hence they never gave up on any single thing and worked harder. They were also developed keeping in mind the extreme weathers and war times. Engineering in those days was done keeping in mind the days of war, mostly. While they built catapults for higher ranges, they built castles for surviving wars. Though the same mentality is present today, but it's not everything.

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Ancient Structure

Structures have been a key part of civilization for thousands of year. This article discusses different structures through different periods of time, while also addressing the tolls and methods that where used. When I think of ancient structures, the absolute first thing that comes to mind are the pyramids. Since we where young we have been taught all different things about them. The Egyptians forced the Hebrews to build them. They are composed of hardened clay and mud. The list could go on and on. One thing to note is that these structures have lasted for an incredibly long time. These are item that are not discussed as much in the history as they should be? How have structures around the globe, like the Sphinx or the Coliseum or even the Leaning Tower of Pisa been able to stand so long? Infrastructures are a group of structures needed for the operation of an organization. Structures comprise infrastructure. Conflict can arise in the creation of the infrastructure itself or in the running of the infrastructure. There are many parts to it that make it a complete operation.

Destruction: The Path to Construction

At first, when I began reading the article 'Five Machines that Changed the World' I thought: How did this machine change the world and how does it relate civil engineering? However, by the end of the reading I noticed that the engines exposed really shifted the way people built in the past. Structures in the middle age had to be done contemplating the possibility of an attack, this means that they had to think of the best way to carry out the construction of a 30 m thick wall!

This is really astonishing because we would never think that the beginning of structural engineering could be found when thinking about war protection, and battles. After reading the article I can definitely say that there's a relationship between structure building and conflict. Nowadays when building a structure engineers think of its resistance to earthquakes, hurricanes and stuff like that, they are not concerned about huge rocks and bodies flying across the sky that can hit the structure; but during the middle age the main concern of architects was not nature, theirs were the flying rocks, because they had to make sure that their castle could not get destroyed. Then conflict changed the way building is done because it introduced the concept of resistance. Modern buildings must be resistant without having a 30 m thick wall. Thus civil engineering could have never been what it is today without war, the concept of building resistance would be different and infrastructure would not be one thinking about possible destruction.

Destruction=Constructive

The article "Five machines that changed the world" is great. I love mideavil history, weapons, and gadgets. Its so cool to see what the people of that time did and knew with the resources they had. The engineers of this time period contributed to what we know today. Its kind of funny to look at how engineers differ from now and then. Back then, engineers were given the task to build machines that would destroy things more effectively and efficiently. Today, engineers try to build things for safety, prevention, or improving. They sort of switch views over time. The persistence of the engineers back then, led to engineers designing stronger and thicker walls. They had to do this as a defense mechanism. Through this, engineers learned a lot about buildings and infrastructure. If it hadn't been for the engineers trying to break down the walls of a city, we may be backed up a few years in our civil engineering.

its over

Having the four day weekend was awesome! I had most of my class cancelled on friday so I got to leave early! I went home for the weekend and boy was it great. I was able to relax and not worry about any homework. I was able to finally play with my puppy again. Oh how I have missed him. I also got to watch my favorite NFL team get their butts handed to then...it was sickening to watch. It was nice being able to go watch a high school game and seeing a lot of my old teammates. Too bad they couldn't win. Also, this weekend I had the privilege of driving my grandpa's boat since he wasn't able to. Too bad I was driving it to the boat launch to take it out for the year. One good thing that happened this weekend was the Boilermakers won! They aren't the worst team in the Big10 after all!! But now the nice long weekend is over and its time to go back to the dreadful class schedule...

School News

School has definitely been a big part of my life for so long. College is no different. I spend so much time doing schoolwork. It was so weird this weekend going home and watching TV. I haven't sat down and watched TV in so long. My roommate has all of the season of the office. She brought the first couple seasons. Each episode is usually about 1/2 an hour. So we have an ultimate goal of watching one episode a day. We will see how that goes. My other goal for each day is work out everyday. I want to try and run everyday. I feel now I have finished my first round of tests and I now know what they are going to be like. The ultimate goal now is try and reach a really great balance in my classes. I want to try and find a balance between school, relaxation, exercising, and clubs/sorority activities. This probably be really hard, but I am going to really try. I do have another test next Thursday in Math, which I dread, because I don't want to study and I really need to. I just wish that I would have a break for like two weeks. I was able to get a lot of sleep this weekend, which helped a lot, because now I am very refreshed. (I feel like this whole post sort of drifted off into a really long and probably really boring tangent.)

Lazy Days

Every weekend I always say that I am going to be an overachiever and get my homework done, but it turns out that is probably never going to be the case. I use the weekends as a time to relax and catch up on sleep, but at the same time I use it as a time to just get away from school so when I have to start back I am refreshed and renewed. This weekend was no different. I went home and had things to get done, but at the same time it was just nice to go through a few days in a room where I didn't have to do anything. Christmas break is going to be so weird! It will be the first time I have no homework and I can just solely focus on relaxing for a couple weeks. Anyways I have done a pretty good job procrastinating so far this weekend. The class Wednesday morning was canceled so I am coming in Wednesday morning which is exciting. I visited family this weekend and I will have been in the car for a total of 13 hours this weekend, but first we have to add an additional hour and a half because we were stuck in traffic on the tollway outside of Chicago. So I finally decided to start on my homework. I was going to finish my English, but I cannot access the Purdue files, so I am getting about 1/10 of what I should be getting done, actually done! So, yep, that was pretty much my weekend and hopefully yours was even better!

Asian culture and engineering

I am a native of India, which lies in the southern part of Asia. Being an asian entitles me to know most things about asian engineering, cultures and some of its languages too. But for a certain american native, it's be hard to survive in an asian country, due to language barriers and the huge culture difference.
My first impression of Asians is very optimistic. Asian people are intelligent, hard working and diligent. Even though they need to focus on time management (mostly in India and neighboring countries), they are overall brilliant in whatever profession they are. If we talk of engineering, asians are one of the leading people to invent new stuff and to bring new technologies everyday.
Asians have a very broad view of americans. Before I came here, I thought that kids in USA do nothing but parties and that they hang out all day. Pop music influences a lot of Asian minds, in a positive way of course. But what we see in Hollywood is not actually what it is. Life in United States is fast and hard, yet fun to live in. People work all weekdays and have immense fun in weekends, which I feel is a fantastic way to live life. This ensures a balance between everything.
Possible pros and cons of a country's engineering are directly related to how the engineers of that country are taught. Like Indians are taught in a very balanced way, including practicality and theory all at the same time, while I feel USA graduates are taught in more of a practical and a visual way, which fits better in minds.
Being in Asia could be a wish come true for me right now. One you belong there, you just dont want to be anywhere else. But for a person who is new to the country should fear aspects like : Language difference, culture shock, racial discrimination(at most places) and uncomfortable behavior. Even though there are cons to be in an Asian country, there are as many pros at the same time. People there are lovely, and they make sure you have a great time. Education is cheap and good, nonetheless trustworthy at the same time.

Sad Times

Yesterday was a rough day. All of my teams really had a tough time. The St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Phillies. Purdue lost to Notre Dame (which seems like I should be really sad about, but the game was fun and I expected it, also I do kind of like Notre Dame). The biggest upset was when Wisconsin beat Nebraska (48-17). Nebraska is a great time, who is still going to win it all. And FYI, 2013 Purdue versus Nebraska at Ross-Ade Stadium. My dad's whole side are major Nebraska fans. They are die-hard fans. At Christmas, 50% gifts given are some form of Nebraska gear. They are super fans. They all went, including my 90-year-old grandfather. I forgave my teams for these terrible mishaps. Now on top of all of this the Steelers lost. So, it has been a long weekend for my teams.

Chinese Cultural Differences

Every culture has their own distinct way of life. From the article, there was a focus on how the Greeks focused on individuality and achievements of individuals. The Asian culture has a more community oriented focus. Everyone has a general idea of different cultures. This is something I did not acquire a large idea of until I came to Purdue. When I came to Purdue, I was exposed to many more cultures. Prior to Purdue, my thoughts of the Asian culture was the overall generalization was that they were very similar and there was more of a focus on the group has a whole. The stereotype was also that they were part of an extremely smart culture. I think because of government set up and strength of culture is what causes such a generalization for the culture as a whole having similarities and interests. Once I came to Purdue, I have noticed that they all congregate together. This may be in part that they are away from home, but also a part of the sense of cultural community. The benefits to this is that they have more community and belonging. At the same time, I feel that they lack the individuality and independence of the Greeks. This aspect I feel allows fro growth that these students would not otherwise have. If I planned to go and study in Asia, then I would do large amount of research and talk to as many people as I can from the culture. Culture in Asia is highly important and can be influenced greatly by just small actions. I would do as much as I can to learn as much as I can so I don’t offend any one of the culture.

China (culture + engineering)

First of all, I guess you may wonder why do I say 'China' in my title. The reason why is that we cannot talk about Asia in only a blog post, we would need several comments in order to do this, because we are talking about the biggest continent in the world, a place with a wide variety of cultural nuances that go from Middle East to Kamchatka peninsula, passing by India, southeast Asia, China, Japan, the arabian peninsula and much more.

I have always had a sense of respect towards Chinese people and culture. I think they are wise people plenty of knowledge and wisdom. When I was about 8 years old I used to think of China as a different world, and I still think it is very different from the western world. I must recognize that sometimes one of the stereotypes that comes to my head when thinking of Chinese is that they are dirty people (Chinese friends have told me so, and I have seen it). And maybe it is true for some people, but not all of them. I also think that they are everywhere and that some of them are not open to anther cultures.

I guess that Chinese or in this particular case maybe Easterners may think of us westerners as crazy libertines, because our culture is very open to everything (ideas, people, political ideologies, stereotypes etc.).

Engineering cultures between China and the Western hemisphere may be pretty much the same, because physics, mathematics, and science in general do not vary between different places all over the world. However, the way engineering is seen and taught in China may have a lot to do with their modern and ancient traditional concepts such as harmony. Maybe in China being an engineer can be a matter of social status, and engineers in there may have a high status, not really wealthy but comfortable.

If I ever go to China to study I guess I will previously study the culture, because I have studied a little Mandarin before, and I know that some words that we share do not really have the same meaning for them. Culture may also be helpful in order to know how to behave when talking or interacting with native chinese.

It seems that a blog post to talk only about China is also very short. Much was still left to say...