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Hey! My name is Andrea, and I’m a first year Arts student. I’m looking forward to this class! 🙂

Out of the two articles assigned for this week, I found Keesing’s assessment of the term "culture" much more compelling than Williams’ article.  However, I think this is largely a result of the historical context of each article.  I’m a little confused about the date of publication of the first article, but I think it was written in the late 1950’s to early 1960’s.  This would explain the author’s fixation with Marxism and his constant juxtaposition of working-class culture with elite culture in England.  When this article is viewed in a historical context, I find Williams’ criticism of "culture" fairly compelling, yet there seem to be some elements of hypocrisy.  Primarily in the author’s initial description of the "teashop" and its association with an elevated "cultivated people."  Here, Williams is describing a frustration with the use of the term "culture" in parallel to the term "cultivated" and therefore "educated" (translation: elite).   After explaining his rejection of the term "culture" in this context, he goes on to describe a vision of English culture to which everyone contributes and where cultural meanings are negotiated.  However, the author also refers to a new and "cheapened" version of culture which he links to advertising in mass media.  This type of culture the author proposes to replace with a better, more developed culture of  the future.  I find that Williams’ allegations that popular culture as represented by the mass media is a low and cheapened culture to be akin to the elitism of the teashop use of "culture."  It seems to me that the author holds some nostalgia for his former days as a boy in rural England and the type of "culture" he saw in this setting and this is (in some fashion) is what he would like to impose upon the "new" developing culture of the time.  

In reference to Keesing’s article, I agree for the most part that anthropology has been centered around a quest for the "Other" and an emphasis on difference.  Honestly, I don’t have much to say other than that!  I’ve read a lot of similiar articles in Latin American Studies concerning anthropology and the exoticizing of non-western cultures so I suppose that this article doesn’t propose much that is new information for me. 
Sorry I don’t have more to contribute!

Hello All!Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kayo Homma-Komori and I’m a fourth year Marketing/International Business student. Last year I took LAST 100 Introduction to Latin American Studies and absolutely fell in love with all things Latin Amer…

I was thrown off by the concept of radical alterity according to Keesing’s article.  I do believe that in the past and frequently nowadays, anthropologists have tried to label other people living in different regions of the world as “others”, speciall…

Hi everyone,
I’m Florence. I’m a french student in exchange at UBC for one year. I study political sciences in Paris. Last semester I attended the class "Introduction to Latin America studies". I like this area and I’ve planned to spend some months in Mexico and Chile before returning to France.

What is Culture? Honestly I found the first reading “Culture is Ordinary” by Raymond Williams difficult to understand and to follow. The only part that really drew me in was when he started to use his personal anecdotes of his life before becoming …

Opening ceremony of my blog!

Hi,
My name is Rhiannon Latimer and I had to make a blog for my class at UBC. I am a 4th year Arts student majoring in Psychology but really enjoy taking courses outside of my Major, which is the reason I’m taking Pop Culture in Latin America.  I’m excited about this blog thing, we’ll see how it goes!

What is culture?The first article in my opinion was difficult to understand. I am not sure but I think that for the author education is an important aspect of a culture, and in this article for the case of London. I think that the author says that if p…

Hello!My name is Emily and I am a third year student at UBC and am from the San Francisco bay area. I am studying sociology and anthropology, and am regionally very interested in learning more about Latin America. I took a class with Jon last semester …

Hello classmates!This is Sophia or Sophie here. You pick which name you prefer to call me. I am told to introduce myself. So on that note I will begin on revealing to you that I am a first year student. I began my very first semester with LAST 100 and …

Hey guys, my name is Tory Cundiff and I’m a third-year Latin American Studies major.  I’m from Kansas City which is a pretty  homogeneous place, so I found Vancouver and especially UBC really refreshing.  It seems like we have a pretty diverse class, so I look forward to getting to know everyone and learning from all the different points of view this class has to offer! 

Coming from Costa Rica, I’m very interested in seeing the different ways Latin America is viewed and presented.This is my second year in Vancouver, and 3rd year as an anthropology student at UBC, focusing on Latin America. I love it here… people, na…

HiMy name is Rommel Fernandez, I’m from Costa Rica this is my 2 term here in UBC, I’ve been here since august and I’m a Science student.

testing

Hello Class:
My name is Salvador Madrid. I am from Mexico. I am an International Relations major, and I am looking forward graduating this upcoming May. I hope this blog goes well. Looking forward getting to know all of you a little bit better.
Cheers,
Salv
      

test post for last 201

Welcome to LAST201! Jon

My name is Jesus J. Lozano Villarreal I’m an exchange student, I come from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon Mexico that is located just below Texas. I’ll be here for one year then I’ll return to Mexico to finish my studies.

Hey LAST 201….I’m technologically challenged, and definitely not as Canadian as Kirran (sp?) but glad to be in a class where I can laugh.  Refreshing…Hope this blogging thing goes well.  Uhh…over and out.
      

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