Wednesday, March 24, 2010
looking for a class
IF YOUR IN SEARCH OF A GOOD CLASS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT ART 447H Art of Mesoamerica....PROFESSOR IS GREAT AND IF YOU TAKE IT DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE FIRST DAY !!!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
High Status Victims=Higher Sentences for Perpetrator.
http://sciencebloggers.blogspot.com/2010/03/defendants-more-likely-to-be-sentenced.html
An interesting read-especially from a sociological perspective. I see some Dubois and some Marx in there...
An interesting read-especially from a sociological perspective. I see some Dubois and some Marx in there...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Early Wakin', Earthshakin'
Dunno about the rest of you, but I couldn't sleep for a good while after that quake.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Creative Section
I thought I'd understand how to do this section after I saw Tabor's example. But once I started doing it, ohman I'm not even sure I'm doing it right. Any suggestions or thoughts or anything?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
DuBois did important research
We touched on his 3 most compelling concepts - the colortocracy, the veil, and two-ness. He used a combination of statistical analysis and what Weber would call "verstehen" to understand African Americans. Only since 1960s has he gotten his due respect in America. In Europe he met with Weber and other important Sociologists of the time, whereas he was more isolated or "caught" in the "color line" in America. In his case you might wish to read on past the assigned introduction because his writing is fluid and important to read as an American. I have some DuBois notes on line already and by tomorrow I will have more notes.
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Self and Reincarnation
A while ago, I posted an issue about the nonexistence of the self from the Buddhism perspective, and how reincarnation is impossible. This issue is very interesting when we study Mead. But unfortunately we do not have enough time to cover Mead in this class. So, here is the brief answer of the issue of the self and reincarnation.
Consider the following situation. It is the lunch time, and you decide to eat a burrito alone. You go into one of empty classrooms and eat a burrito there. Suppose all the doors and windows are closed and the air-conditioning is not working. Obviously, the classroom is eventually filled with the smell of a burrito.
Because all the doors and the windows are closed, the smell of a burrito remains in the classroom even after you finish eating and leave the room. According to Buddhism, this residue of burrito's smell is what people label as the self. When you are alive, you have lots of emotions and desires, and such emotions and desires are something similar to the smell of a burrito. And even if you die (i.e., you move out of the classroom), the smell remains for a while. And if someone enters the room after you leave, this person "shares" the smell of a burrito, and this is what people call reincarnation.
Now, we have to understand that even if the smell of a burrito remains in the classroom, the smell is constantly changing. For instance, as time passes, the smell weakens. Or what if someone enters the room, this time, with a pizza? Then, the smell of a burrito certainly exists, but inevitably is mixed with the smell of a pizza. So, this time, we encounter the smell of the mixture of a burrito and a pizza. In real life, let's say I die "now," and someone who has my memory is born a hundred years later. Is this my reincarnation? Buddhism says no. This "second me" certainly has my memory, but it also has other influences such as the future society's influence, a different path of socialization, the "mixed" emotions like the case of a burrito and a pizza, etc. So even if there is someone who insists that he is a reincarnation of me a hundred years later, that person is not "me."
I think it will be interesting to relate Mead's theory to Buddhism's idea described above when you consider the construction of the self.
Consider the following situation. It is the lunch time, and you decide to eat a burrito alone. You go into one of empty classrooms and eat a burrito there. Suppose all the doors and windows are closed and the air-conditioning is not working. Obviously, the classroom is eventually filled with the smell of a burrito.
Because all the doors and the windows are closed, the smell of a burrito remains in the classroom even after you finish eating and leave the room. According to Buddhism, this residue of burrito's smell is what people label as the self. When you are alive, you have lots of emotions and desires, and such emotions and desires are something similar to the smell of a burrito. And even if you die (i.e., you move out of the classroom), the smell remains for a while. And if someone enters the room after you leave, this person "shares" the smell of a burrito, and this is what people call reincarnation.
Now, we have to understand that even if the smell of a burrito remains in the classroom, the smell is constantly changing. For instance, as time passes, the smell weakens. Or what if someone enters the room, this time, with a pizza? Then, the smell of a burrito certainly exists, but inevitably is mixed with the smell of a pizza. So, this time, we encounter the smell of the mixture of a burrito and a pizza. In real life, let's say I die "now," and someone who has my memory is born a hundred years later. Is this my reincarnation? Buddhism says no. This "second me" certainly has my memory, but it also has other influences such as the future society's influence, a different path of socialization, the "mixed" emotions like the case of a burrito and a pizza, etc. So even if there is someone who insists that he is a reincarnation of me a hundred years later, that person is not "me."
I think it will be interesting to relate Mead's theory to Buddhism's idea described above when you consider the construction of the self.
The Disappearance of Color Line
I wonder what Mr. Du Bois says about this music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmf1oyo6_WI&feature=related
This may be the indication that the color line is disappearing, or we can argue this from the perspective of globalization.
This may be the indication that the color line is disappearing, or we can argue this from the perspective of globalization.
The Culture Line
Du Bois talks about the Color Line. I have been in this country for a long time, but honestly speaking, I have not encountered discrimination because I am yellow. I think this is because many American people do not think Japanese and other East Asians are intellectually inferior, thanks to the extreme modernization of Japan and other Asian nations. Rather, American people tend to think I am smart once they find out that I am Japanese, and sometimes I am embarrassed when I can not meet their expectation on intellectual matters.
But I did encounter something which should be called the Culture Line. Rather than explaining this concept, I should give you one specific example.
When I finished my B.S. in math, I once tried to be a high school math teacher. So, I went to LAUSD for an interview. This interviewer had a strange look on me, and as soon as I finished introducing myself, he asked, "Are you familiar with American culture?" I was puzzled because I was trying to be a math teacher, and math was a universal subject. But he kept saying that teaching at American high school was really difficult, and he doubted whether I was a good fit to American high school. But the fact was that I went to American high school - Gardena High School which was one of LAUSD's high schools. I told him that, but he kept saying that American high school was quite different from Japanese high school. And he kept talking about cultural difference between the U.S. and Japan. I acknowledged that there was such cultural difference, but at the same time, I kept telling him that I went to Gardena High, graduated from UCLA with Department Honor and had a valid teaching credential. But he kept saying that I was not Americanized enough, so I was not hired while my other classmates whose qualifications were very similar to mine were hired.
This interview was really uncomfortable, and after that, I stopped thinking about teaching math at high school.
It seems many White people think that we (East Asians) are competitive intellectually, but they believe there is a huge cultural difference so that East Asians are "aliens" who are incapable of sharing American ethics and values.
But I did encounter something which should be called the Culture Line. Rather than explaining this concept, I should give you one specific example.
When I finished my B.S. in math, I once tried to be a high school math teacher. So, I went to LAUSD for an interview. This interviewer had a strange look on me, and as soon as I finished introducing myself, he asked, "Are you familiar with American culture?" I was puzzled because I was trying to be a math teacher, and math was a universal subject. But he kept saying that teaching at American high school was really difficult, and he doubted whether I was a good fit to American high school. But the fact was that I went to American high school - Gardena High School which was one of LAUSD's high schools. I told him that, but he kept saying that American high school was quite different from Japanese high school. And he kept talking about cultural difference between the U.S. and Japan. I acknowledged that there was such cultural difference, but at the same time, I kept telling him that I went to Gardena High, graduated from UCLA with Department Honor and had a valid teaching credential. But he kept saying that I was not Americanized enough, so I was not hired while my other classmates whose qualifications were very similar to mine were hired.
This interview was really uncomfortable, and after that, I stopped thinking about teaching math at high school.
It seems many White people think that we (East Asians) are competitive intellectually, but they believe there is a huge cultural difference so that East Asians are "aliens" who are incapable of sharing American ethics and values.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Furlough
remember: Furlough tomorrow. See you Tuesday. I'll bring nametags so we can post our blogger names.
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