GPC Final Project Cultural relativism is a term that is addressed - - PDF document

GPC Final Project  Cultural relativism is a term that is addressed often in anthropology. We use it to mean that a culture needs to be interpreted in its original context. This is a concept that we as anthropologists use frequently, but might not use on a day to day basis.

• It is easy to forget about the training we’ve had in interpreting cultures in a classroom

setting when it comes to everyday life. My international experiences have helped me to internalize cultural relativism, and use it more automatically than I would have otherwise. This has challenged my cultural role by making my own actions and interpretation of others seem strange to me. If I try to examine myself without cultural relativism, some of my actions don’t quite make sense. But, if you consider a person’s background, experiences, and unique perspectives, their actions won’t seem so strange.  The GPC is a certification that requires you to create multicultural experiences in your life, and learn from them. The program is centered around international awareness and helping to create the next generation of global citizens.  The international experience component requires you to physically go and experience new cultures. My experience was my bioarchaeology summer trip with Dr. Case to Thailand. I had traveled before but never somewhere that looked so different to anywhere I had ever been. Since this trip, I have been more adventurous in my travel and am hoping to visit Asia again this summer.

• Our first stop was in Bangkok, where we visited the Grand Palace. This was an amazing
• experience. I had never seen such a rich Buddhist monument before. The reclining Buddha is

a famous symbol of the spiritual founder of the religion. I wanted to get to know the religion more, leading me to take Buddhist Traditions after I got back.

• Global issues: poorer countries than the US are eye opening to visit because of all

the things we take for granted. Their infrastructure can’t support their entire population, and that shows especially in the city. Completely different situation than anywhere in the US.

• After Bangkok, we went on to Lopburi, where we lived for 5 weeks. The town is famous for

its monkey temple, where macaques roam free. I have had some less than nice encounters with them

• Stealing food
• Snack bag grabbing
• But also a mom letting me near its baby

• Smaller city let me get used to a more familiar area than a huge city like Bangkok. It

was more familiar to me, so I was better at recognizing the differences between here and there. For example, the bus system is a series of different colored trucks with a converted seating area on the back. Etc.

• The bioarchaeological side of this trip was fascinating. We excavated an iron age cemetery
• n the grounds of a Buddhist temple. We got to attend a ceremony of a monk being
• rdained, which was incredibly lively…
• The picture on the left is just beside our site. The picture on the right is from the
• pen van that we rode to and from the site in
• Also at the end of our time, there was a celebration in the village with the media,

monks chanting prayers for us, a large meal, blessings, and of course karaoke

• The site itself was a 6m by 6m pit that we used a latter to get in and out of. We used

trowels and when necessary bamboo sticks. Mostly we found shells, faunal bone, pot sherds, and iron elements, until we hit the burial level. There were at least four burials when I left, probably more this year. One was a 5 year old who was found with several bronze bells from jewelry.

• At a different, Thai run dig site, they showed off their excavation. They were

extremely excited to have American students visiting. On the right is a skeleton assembled incorrectly as a joke. This was one of the times where someone in the US would think of this as incredibly offensive, but to Buddhist Thais, this was fine.  Khao Yai is a Thai national park. We took a drive into the park, and then had a guided hike into the

• forest. The tour guide was very animated to say the least…
• Sunset was incredible. We could see for miles
• On our way out, at night, we were lucky enough to see wild Asian elephants!!

 Ayutthaya was a city several hours away that we visited at the end of our trip.

• The sign saying to stay off the ancient Buddhist temple ruins was funny to me as an

American, where it seems like anything over 100 years old is treated with extreme care.

• This temple was my favorite in Thailand. We got to it from a river cruise that we took

around the city. We actually skipped the main entrance and fee…because of our water taxi. We saw some unique parts of the city from the boat tour, including houses and everyday life, and an Asian water monitor. The people we saw living normal daily lives brought me back to cultural relativism, and how their lives must be.

 Coursework is a big part of the GPC because it is academically based, so you learn true, credible information about another culture

• You must take at least one class that counts from the list
• Buddhism

 Cultural perspectives and different interpretations of the religion in the West vs in Asia

• Russian Literature

 Cultural perspectives and biased US opinions – red scare

• History & Arch of Ancient Latin America

 Cultural perspectives and skewed history of the region

• As well as meet a language requirement

 The co-curricular activities require you to be involved in the community at home and abroad if

• possible. I did an ASB trip to the Dominican Republic where we taught English to schoolkids
• This really taught me to look at things in context. The Dominican is very poor and we

seemed rich, although we don’t think of ourselves like this. Thinking about things from their perspective really helped me to appreciate my time there. Their political issues with Haiti were really highlighted by our trip to the border – “wealthy” Dominicans compared to the even poorer Haitians. Discrimination between the two nationalities and global structure isn’t helping them  Tom’s shoes donating a pair of shoes to them for every shoe they sell. But the people need food and jobs, not more shoes. But, donating a bag of grain for every shoe sold doesn’t have as much market value.  I also volunteered my time as a member of the EcoVillage for my first two years. Our volunteer experiences were mostly habitat for humanity or ecology-related. They have a focus on bringing innovations from outside of the US to the US to help improve sustainability, which is especially important today as we face political turmoil over issues which should be purely environmental. It’s all about perspective.

• I volunteer with the DLC which is partnered with a team in Madagascar
• All of these experiences have enhanced my academic and social life at State by showing me

different aspects of our society as global  The purpose of this presentation, my final project, is to compile my global experiences and show how I have grown culturally from these experiences. The four components of the project try to get

the participant to be well rounded in their global education. So, not only is there a study abroad requirement, but a classwork component as well  These experiences have helped me to grow into a more global person. As someone primarily interested in paleoanthropology, I will hopefully be working in Africa at some point in my career. Using both cultural relativism as well as my global knowledge will be invaluable during this

• experience. Thinking globally has really changed my perspective on a lot of key aspects of life that I

wouldn’t have seen the same way if it weren’t for my experiences. I think I’m a completely different person than who I could be if I didn’t see things this way.