Diary for 10th September to 16th September 2009

Thursday 10th September- University Encore

How many of you would go back to university and enroll as an undergraduate student after being a professor for nearly two decades? Anthropology Professor Cathy Small decided to do so after she realized that she was no longer able to understand or connect to her students. In an attempt to bridge the gap, she decided to enroll as an undergraduate student and follow contemporary college life for a year. Dr. Small has written her experiences and findings under the pseudo name of Rebekah Nathan in an ethnography entitled ' My freshman year: what a professor learned by becoming a student'. To find out more about the book, take a look at this review.




Friday 11th September- Durham embraces Zen

University of Durham's Anthropology Department is having a very interesting guest lecture tonight from 20:15-21:30 at Elvet Riverside, Room 140. The speaker's name is Brad Warner. Brad is a Soto Zen priest, author, blogger and punk rock bass guitarist. Brad spent numerous years living and working in Japan and has blended his interests and experience into three books 'Hardcore Zen' 'Sit Down and Shut Up' and ' Zen wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate'. To find out more about the guest lecture email: jan.deruiter@durham.ac.uk



Saturday 12th September - Food adventures

Many people know Borough market as the market to go to in London in order to sample delicacies from around the world as well as locally grown and sustainable food. This Saturday I am going to explore the Broadway Market which starts from London Fields and goes all the way down to Regent's Canal. There are all sorts of culinary delights from English, French, Caribbean and African cuisines. Interestingly, there is a shop called called Fred Cooke which sells Jelly Eels since 1900s which I will be sure to visit! Take a virtual tour of the market and find out more about what is offered from this website.




Sunday 13th September- AAA Photo competition

The American Anthropological Association is hosting an international photo contest. Current members of the AAA are eligible to send in photographs of any anthropological subject. Entries will be accepted until October 1st 2009 and photographs will be judged for their technical quality, composition and relationship to anthropological work. For submission guidelines, prizes and further details take a look here.




Monday 14th September- World Music Online

The British Library has recently launched new traditional and world music collections online. The collections feature unique field recordings, live performances, and out-of-print commercial releases. The sound archive can be accessed through the following website: http://sounds.bl.uk . For those of you interested in learning more about music from an anthropological lenses, take a look at this page which has various ethnomusicology links to find out more about this specialist area in anthropology.



Tuesday 15th September- In Darwin's Footsteps

Running from the 5th September till 31st January 2010, is a brilliant new exhibit at the Manchester Museum called 'In Darwin's Footsteps'. The exhibit showcases the work of conservationist and wildlife photographer Ben Hall, who has taken photographs of landscapes and wildlife of South America which Darwin explored in his own travels. The exhibition is part of a series of events and talks that are taking place at the museum in celebration of Darwin200. Take a look at some of Ben's stunning work here.




Wednesday 16th September- Hair Art

Next time you go to the barbers or hair salon for a trim, take a look at all the locks that are on the floor. What happens to them? Does most of this hair just go on in the bin? Or does it go to charities which help to make wigs for cancer patients? Perhaps some of it ends up as Art?. In the free Metro newspaper was an article about a barber in China who is making representations of cultural buildings out of the loose cuttings he's received from his clients. Some might think this a novel way of treating hair but in the 18th and 19th centuries hair was also used to make amulets and locks as jewelry. Take a look at this website for more information on hair jewelry.