~ a group blog on a variety of topics related to anthropology, sociology, and ordinary people ~
Schools primarily teach vocabulary and inflection, styles of dress, aesthetic tastes, values, and manners only 1 percent of American teenagers attend independent private high schools of an upper class nature. (G. William Domhoff Who Rules America? 1998, 80–81).
The schools for the “1 percent” of teenagers, in America or elsewhere, are isolated from the rest of us, and in these cocoons the ultra-rich cultivate norms and connections. In 2007, I had a peak inside one such institution in St.…
This is an extract from our book Prison Vocational Education in the United States. Palgrave MacMillan 2016, by Andrew J. Dick, William Rich, and Tony Waters.
The passivity of the education administrators was at first striking, but I came to understand it as a normal response to this system where the concept of safety as defined by custody officials always holds sway. Custody was in charge and they held all information confidential.…
German has two words for the English word “education.” Erziehung describes the school system, and the mechanics of what is taught and conveyed from the world of adults to that of children in order to “bring them up.” Focus is on skills adults need like literacy, numeracy, history, and the factual basis citizens need to understand to participate socially, culturally, and economically in society. The German education system is designed to educate all children in such basic skills.…
Translated by Tony Waters, Jiranan Sirikunpahisan (Taew), Airin Horatschek (Airin), Kwanjira Wiwattana (Palm), Mayweya Koryaklang (Fang), Kuansiree Suanek (Meaw), Supon Phonchatchawankun (Su), Thirawit Pung-nagm (Thor), Krittaporn Ruankaew (Yo), Hande Yilmaz (Hande), Sasithorn Katika (Cake), Nattaporn Chantajitpreecha (Nati)
Note: This is a translation by a Thai author, ‘Rong Wongsawan about his trip in California in 1976. It was read at a recent meeting of the Informal Northern Thai Discussion Group in Chiangmai, Thailand. …
Here is a test on graduation songs. I have actually been to many graduations, and each of them has special songs performed. Most of them I have long-since forgotten. But four of them I remember. Here are some of the places I have been to graduations. See if you can match the song with the locale.
Song
“Onward Christian Soldiers”
“Pomp and Circumstance”
“Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Alleluia Chorus” by Handel
“Climb Every Mountain” from The Sound of Music
School
–California State University, Chico, where I have taught for 20 years
–Zeppelin University in Germany, where I was an exchange professor
–Bear River High School in Grass Valley, California, where my kids went to high school
–Payap University International College in Thailand
–Karen Kawthoolei Baptist Bible College in a Karen refugee camp in Thailand.…
Hey, hello. I haven’t been here for a while.
For the last year, Tony and Bill have been keeping things running here at ethnography.com while Marianne’s piece, “The McDonaldization of Higher Education” continued to be our top post week after week. You probably also caught Chunyan’s series on the Sociology of food and how we might all consider getting to know what we eat a whole lot better. Or, how about Michael Engelhard’s piece about polar bear’s in environmental art?…
My wife and I recently completed re-translating Max Weber’s classic essay “Politics as Vocation” which is part of a book Weber’s Rationalism and Modern Society. The essay is about how the nature of politics, which is about the exercise of power, creates the type of human-being who is accustomed to telling other people what to do. Bill Clinton also lists it on his Presidential library site as one of his favorite books of all-time.…
