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.