Wow, it's been a while.
Hey guys. Believe it or not, I'm still hanging out on LJ pretty frequently. I read every entry. But I've had the busiest summer ever. Really.
I finished my first year of grad school in the beginning of May and immediately went to Anchorage to work for three weeks. It was great while I was there, but I completely overestimated the amount of work I could finish after I left there. Completely my fault.
I left Anchorage, spent one day in Philly and then was off to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History for a program in museum anthropology. I still couldn't really define what makes museum anthropology much different from art history, but I had literally the best time ever. I met a bunch of other anthro grad students who were all lovely and completely confirmed that I made the best possible choice when I decided to pursue a higher degree in anthropology. Plus, we had free reign of the ethnology collection and National Anthropological Archives. SO, SO, SO COOL.
I didn't really know how this program would connect with my future work on biological samples and institutional research ethics with indigenous communities, but while I was there, I found these baskets that were made by school children in the 1900s for the Department of the Interior's Museum of the Bureau of Education. Not only are the baskets themselves compelling, but it really has a lot to do with how objects circulate and how different meaning are attached to things by different groups like scientists, scholars and communities.
After that program ended, I spent one day back in Philly before hopping on a plane to Berlin. Wow. This was my first trip to Europe and it was fantastically awesome. One of my friends, who works on similar research topics, was doing a fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and I stayed with her in Berlin. So many cool things to see and also, to eat. After a few days, we caught a train to Heidelberg, where we took a summer course at the European Molecular Biology Lab. It was also ridiculously awesome.
The course was called The Human Animal and it brought together lab scientists and social scientists/humanists to discuss things related to the implications of biotechnology on what it means to be a human. I didn't really feel qualified to be there, but I learned a lot and hopefully added a needed perspective from the public side of things.
Then I spent three days in Amsterdam and visited an old friend.
And then finally, back to Philly. For one day before coming to Ketchikan where I am currently. It is so rainy but it is great to be in one place where I am not running around and don't have to do anything but watch tv, sleep, and visit with friends and family.
I finished my first year of grad school in the beginning of May and immediately went to Anchorage to work for three weeks. It was great while I was there, but I completely overestimated the amount of work I could finish after I left there. Completely my fault.
I left Anchorage, spent one day in Philly and then was off to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History for a program in museum anthropology. I still couldn't really define what makes museum anthropology much different from art history, but I had literally the best time ever. I met a bunch of other anthro grad students who were all lovely and completely confirmed that I made the best possible choice when I decided to pursue a higher degree in anthropology. Plus, we had free reign of the ethnology collection and National Anthropological Archives. SO, SO, SO COOL.
I didn't really know how this program would connect with my future work on biological samples and institutional research ethics with indigenous communities, but while I was there, I found these baskets that were made by school children in the 1900s for the Department of the Interior's Museum of the Bureau of Education. Not only are the baskets themselves compelling, but it really has a lot to do with how objects circulate and how different meaning are attached to things by different groups like scientists, scholars and communities.
After that program ended, I spent one day back in Philly before hopping on a plane to Berlin. Wow. This was my first trip to Europe and it was fantastically awesome. One of my friends, who works on similar research topics, was doing a fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and I stayed with her in Berlin. So many cool things to see and also, to eat. After a few days, we caught a train to Heidelberg, where we took a summer course at the European Molecular Biology Lab. It was also ridiculously awesome.
The course was called The Human Animal and it brought together lab scientists and social scientists/humanists to discuss things related to the implications of biotechnology on what it means to be a human. I didn't really feel qualified to be there, but I learned a lot and hopefully added a needed perspective from the public side of things.
Then I spent three days in Amsterdam and visited an old friend.
And then finally, back to Philly. For one day before coming to Ketchikan where I am currently. It is so rainy but it is great to be in one place where I am not running around and don't have to do anything but watch tv, sleep, and visit with friends and family.