I did, but except for summer break they weren't as long. I get a month off at Xmas this year. >.>;
My archives instructor in particular is very into post-modern philosophy, which I disagree with and find to be very unhelpful. A lot of it boils down to "everything is relative, you are hopelessly biased and can't possibly do a proper job of selecting and appraising materials, you are undoubtedly contributing to the oppression of somebody somewhere no matter how hard you try not to, etc., etc." Post-modernists like to talk about people outside of our own culture as "the Other" and insist we do our best not to step on their toes even though (according to them) it's impossible to ever really understand any culture but your own. I don't mind trying to be respectful of other cultures as appropriate, but I find that concept of "the Other" to be really horrible. It's de-humanizing and alienating, and I can't tell if they mean to do that or if that's just how I read it.
Plus, since I have committed post-modernism's "original sins" of having been born white, middle-class and American (the only one I missed was 'male'), my opinions are less valid than other peoples', since post-modernism has long since proven that Western culture has absolutely nothing of value to offer the world. /sarc -_-
Anyway. Sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know, but I'm a little frustrated by it all. ^_^;;
Holy crap, a month. I get a week, which is still good by American standards.
Saying "the other" is really dehumanizing, and I'm surprised that people find it acceptable, especially in today's PC society. I mean, I kind of agree to a certain extent. Everything is relative, and it's difficult to try to truly understand and be objective. But it's not 100% impossible. And you can definitely understand another culture with enough work. So...it's kind of stupid.
Also, what BS.
It's not more than I wanted to know. Besides, we used to actually...talk to each other when we saw each other in person. So, this paragraph cannot possibly be too much.
My archives instructor in particular is very into post-modern philosophy, which I disagree with and find to be very unhelpful. A lot of it boils down to "everything is relative, you are hopelessly biased and can't possibly do a proper job of selecting and appraising materials, you are undoubtedly contributing to the oppression of somebody somewhere no matter how hard you try not to, etc., etc." Post-modernists like to talk about people outside of our own culture as "the Other" and insist we do our best not to step on their toes even though (according to them) it's impossible to ever really understand any culture but your own. I don't mind trying to be respectful of other cultures as appropriate, but I find that concept of "the Other" to be really horrible. It's de-humanizing and alienating, and I can't tell if they mean to do that or if that's just how I read it.
Plus, since I have committed post-modernism's "original sins" of having been born white, middle-class and American (the only one I missed was 'male'), my opinions are less valid than other peoples', since post-modernism has long since proven that Western culture has absolutely nothing of value to offer the world. /sarc -_-
Anyway. Sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know, but I'm a little frustrated by it all. ^_^;;
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Saying "the other" is really dehumanizing, and I'm surprised that people find it acceptable, especially in today's PC society. I mean, I kind of agree to a certain extent. Everything is relative, and it's difficult to try to truly understand and be objective. But it's not 100% impossible. And you can definitely understand another culture with enough work. So...it's kind of stupid.
Also, what BS.
It's not more than I wanted to know. Besides, we used to actually...talk to each other when we saw each other in person. So, this paragraph cannot possibly be too much.
Reply
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