ESSAY

I believe that self-evaluation is a necessary step in the process of self-assurance of the quality of my education, so it must be linked to my expectations of it. Because of that, I would like to talk about why I chose to study this profession, in order to talk about the self-evaluation of my academic year. I chose Anthropology as a career in a period in which I didn’t know what to study. I felt lost, but at least I knew that I wanted a career pertaining to the Social Sciences. I finally chose Anthropology by curiosity and mainly because it seemed to solve some doubts (or to approach them at least) that I had about our society. In view of these considerations, is that in my self evaluation I want to talk about the theoretical tools that I have learned and the usefulness of social Anthropology this year.

During this year, I’ve learned much about cultural materialism, structuralism, functionalism, post-structuralism, cognitive and symbolical anthropology, and many other theoretical tools. I think that this is associated to the fact that I like all these theories, because I think they allow Scientifics and anthropologists to generate verifiable and cross-cultural knowledge. But, on the other hand, there are many theories and theoretical tools that I did not learn this year and that were mentioned in the curricular program. I think that this is generally due to the lack of motivation that I have to those theories. In addition, many times I could not learn about these theories because teachers were not trained or prepared pedagogically to teach these theories.

On the other hand, this year I believe that I progressed much in my vision of the practical utility of the social Anthropology. In broad terms, it seems to me that Anthropology is a great instrument or tool of analysis methodology: one can choose the component that serves better for one to investigate a specific object, in order to help people and to protect “natives” of the unconscious cultural contradictions of the socioeconomic structure that restrict their repertoire of action.

Finally, I would like to conclude by saying that in this year I feel that I have progressed greatly as much theoretically as mentally in my future occupation in social Anthropology. I think that in this year I have confirmed my affection to Anthropology and now I am certainly that I want to obtain my degree. It is why I believe that my self-evaluation of this year was positive. Although I believe that I must learn to make an effort to learn all those theoretical aspects that do not please to me, in order of being a good anthropologist.

=)

I think that this subject is very uninteresting and boring. I suggest that you change it for the next year, dear reader.

I like challenges and to issue those challenges to win the fucking soccer game of life. Anthropology is a challenge that lasts almost 90 minutes and that we have to face hardly through science and with bravery, courage, audacity, valor and faith.

Actually, Social Anthropology needs complex statistical computer software to process and to analyze qualitative and quantitative data. The technology challenge is then, the problem of buying fucking expensive licenses. The most used statistical software in Anthropology is SPSS, a very useful program because it can develop functional correlations and co variances between sociocultural variables. Nevertheless its license is very expensive, so it’s very difficult to use it in a “legal way” (we can use it a legal way however, at the university for example). I think that we can resolve that by using illegal licenses (crack software are very easy to look in the web) or by developing free software as Linux software do.

The principal challenge in social matters is that in our country the little State’s bottoms are not destined to Social Sciences studies. Therefore, the studies that anthropologist can do are very limited by the economics resources. I think that we can solve this problem through doing a nuclear war and destroying capitalism and globalization. On the other hand, in Anthropology we have the political problem of the cultural relativism and ethnocentrism. Consequently, we have the challenge of trying to explain the causes of certain sociocultural phenomenon with the purpose of helping involved sociocultural agents, and not to make “worse” its material and immaterial situation.

The principal challenge in education is that we have many bad classes or done by professors that don’t know about pedagogy. Sometimes I think, and also other friends of anthropology, that our education “is like shit”. I can say that our curricular program is much disorganized and unsystematic, so I think that we have to complain and to fight to improve our fucking education through violent actions.


Kisses, peace and love.

Money and Social Sciences ....

The most important things in the world are soccer and love (including the different kinds of love). The first thing can be useful to eat and to survive, the second generally NO. After explaining these important subjects of my worldview and personality I will begin to speak about money and Anthropology.

The Social Science of Anthropology and the money are important things, but in very different ways.

Anthropology is useful to transcend as a subject that can to propose a change through an historical, political and scientific moral PROYECT.
On the other hand, money is important because it’s the expression (an object) of “absolute value” (in a Marxist-Leninist perspective) that becomes a subject with “own life”. Money is a hegemonic and powerful fetish, a “universal prostitute” for which everything and everybody is penetrable and useful because of its value of change.

I think that soccer is life, so Anthropology is the method by which we can join soccer to life, in order to promote a des-alienation in the population and to promote the “historicity” of the social groups interested in the social and political promotion of soccer. Consequently I must say that for me money has a dichotomizing and complex problem. On the one hand, I need money to eat, to go to the stadium, and to many other things, as to study Social Anthropology at the Universidad de Chile. On the other hand, I wish to help people, and their principal problem it’s a consequence of MONEY and social inequality (that also it is consequence of salary).

In general terms, I choose to study Social Anthropology because I want to use Social Sciences to facilitate the approach of people and soccer in a positive and integrative way. This sport is very special, because in it people can share (all the different social classes) a good moment that it would allow the development of nonviolent and healthy organized movements. So I consider soccer as an important social practice because it does not need much money, reason by why it approaches people and gives opportunities to realize powerful social projects. An example of this is when Clotario Best reunited to workers in soccer matches for later discussing social projects harmonically.

Faculty

Created in 1989, the Socials Sciences Faculty has the mission of bring up professionals with high academic and investigation skills of 4 important disciplines: Anthropology, Education, Psychology and Sociology.

Actually the Faculty is living a process of “Curricular Renovation”, because of the process of reorganization of the Undergraduate education. This process is oriented to give to students an education of excellence according to the new eras of the Chilean education. The process empathizes new methodologies of teaching and learning; different modalities of debit and forms of degree; to tie the formation of pre and postgraduates; and to renew the curricular “malla” of the careers and programs distributed in the Faculty.

The curricular “malla” of Anthropology has changed gradually, but I think that it still would have to being improved more. I think that are many courses and teachers that would have to be “eliminated” and that we must demand others. WHAT WOULD BE MY FIRST STEPS TO DEALING WITHTHIS SITUATION? I think that no much, because the Anthropology representatives are the one who must do it and I’m not one. However I can to suggest changes in class meetings to see if my companions agree with courses that I would like to change. The benefits of that would be a best methodological and theoretical preparation and for that reason more efficient professionals.

On the other hand, the creation of more computation rooms would be very good. Although this problem has been improved lately, the increasing computers necessity of students has still not been satisfied

Music

My preferred styles of music are the rock and the “cumbias villeras”. The “cumbias villeras” or “shantytown cumbias” are a distinctive kind of cumbia that were born in Argentine and then popularized in other South American countries. They are characterized for being a vulgar and coarse form of cumbia music born in the shantytowns around Buenos Aires and that is derivated musically of “Cumbia sonidera’ and Peruvian Cumbia.

I listen to rock music a 60% of the time, and cumbia music a 30 % of time (the other 10 percent of “my musical life” are of others different musical styles as metal, pop, reggae and reggeaton).

My favorite rock band is Pink Floyd. I knew it in the school by the influence of one of my best friends. I have 5 of its original discs (my favorite one is “The Dark Side of the Moon”) and I like much its music because it’s an exciting, relaxing and psychedelic rock style. When I listen to them I feel that I am a pixel of the world traveling through the light waves.

I like also classic rock, and my favorite bands are The Beatles (and its brilliant, innovating and changing style), the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin (and its psychedelic and lovely style) and the Doors (I love Jim Morrison, but in a heterosexual way).

In the other hand my favorite “shantytown cumbias” bands are Pala Ancha, Altos Cumbieros, Dama Gratis, Los Pibes Chorros and Nestor en Bloque.

My favourite song is “Wish you were here” played by Pink Floyd. I love the strong emotions that it represents and inspires.

My first and unique concert was the one of Bob Dylan that was in 2008.

Actually I am learning to play a Yembe, that’s a native African percussion instrument.

“The search for clumsy solutions”

This article, written by Matthew Taylor, talks about the use (in recent years) of cultural theory and Social Sciences in the political decisions of the UK government.

Actually government leaders include increasingly insights from fields such as social psychology, social marketing, neuroscience and of social/cultural anthropology, because those areas give knowledge about of what drive human behaviour.

The article says that leaders need to identify which are the most useful knowledge contributed by this findings and perspectives of the cultural theory. Matthew Taylor says that this approach doesn’t offer simple answers but it can be useful to give clues about why some government strategies fail and why there are others that are so successful. In general, this idea of behaviour change focuses on strategies of communication and incentive rather than compulsion.

Taylor explain that since 2004, after a report on changing behaviour from the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, the idea of behaviour changes become a very important part of social and public policy debate.

Behaviour change has become a “key objective” of public health and environmental policy. In addition, this perspective affects in very different areas as obesity, recycling, sexual health, energy use and many others.

Behaviour change considers humans actions in three levels of mental process:
-“the automatic and hard-wired”: the things we do because we are human beings
-“the tacit and culturally conditioned”: the things we do because of cultural and social structures
- “the consciously arrive at”: the things we decide to do in our social actions

http://www.guardianpublic.co.uk/solace-taylor-october

Good Food

One of my favorite food is the Dolma (also known as dolmade), that is a recipe of stuffed vegetable dishes that were originated in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and its surrounding regions. The best-known dolma variety is the “grape-leaf dolma”, which is often called as “sarma”. Its recipe includes frequently vegetables as zucchini, lettuce, eggplant, tomato and pepper, and it may or may not include meat (I like both styles, but I love much the vegetarian sarma). When dolma included meat it is generally served hot, often with spicy sauce; but when dolma hasn’t meat, it is generally served cold. Both are often eaten with yoghurt, but with a yogurt without sugar and flavor (that are the yogurt that we usually use). I enjoy eating it when I go to the Restaurant Arabe Guarak in Viña del Mar.

Another of my favorite foods is the crunchy cheese flavored peanut that I buy in Jumbo’s supermarkets. I usually get it after the different classes when I’m going to my house, and I enjoy eating it everywhere.

I’m just learning to cook basic stuff as rice. The best food that I have ever prepared is a food of cooked vegetables that once I improvised.

I think that popcorns remember me to the cinemas (for obvious reasons xD). I think that sometimes pineapples remember me to Rapa Nui, because in this island there are the best pineapples of the world.

My perfect 3 course meal would be: shrimps to the “pilpil” as the appetizer, pizza with anchovies to the “chorrilana” as main course, and guavas as desert.

Santiago

The first place that foreigners must visit in Santiago de Chile is the campus of the Universidad de Chile named Juan Gomez Millas (often nicknamed as Juan Gomez Mitjans). There we can to organize many funny, exciting and pleasant activities. First, we can play soccer in the excellent soccer fields (that have 40 % of grass and 60 % of other stuffs). After that we can go to the “Cenicero”, a special construction without ceiling in the style of a Roman forum, when we can drink the national alcoholic drinks ( wine, chicha, cola de mono , pisco) and to enjoy the beautiful natural landscape and its herbs.

Then foreigners must visit the skyscraper Titanium La Portada. This skyscraper will be completed soon, and It will become the tallest skyscraper in Chile. It’s really big and it will have a height of 190 m at the roof. If foreigners are of an uncivilized and uncultured country (as Peru, Bolivia, Malawi, Benin), they will be very surprised and excited.

After that, foreigners must visit the Metro de Santiago. First it’s a very useful place to know because it’s a very good and safe transport. Also it’s a good place to visit because it’s South America's most extensive and modern metro system (the system carries around 2,500,000 passengers per day). However, it is necessary to have well-taken care of personal objects.

Subsequently foreigners must visit Estadio Bicentenario Municipal de La Florida, because it was rebuilt in 2008, so it’s a new and very beautiful stadium that complies with FIFA standards.

Finally, foreigners must take a bus in Pajarito’s metro station and to visit Valparaíso, one of the most beautiful cities of the world.

Adicctions

I'm addict to soccer and to Coca Cola

Soccer affects me considerably, because I arrive late to my English class and my dear, charming, beautiful and lovely teacher get angry. =(
Soccer is a life philosophy, like the Buddhism or the Taoism. Sometimes I win, sometimes I don't, but in the end I realize that I’m only trying to live in accord with the promptings which came from my true self. To play and to watch soccer, it is an expression of my unconscious that wants to destroy the world and to kick it, as if my universe was a ball.
In summary, to play soccer and to be a supporter of Everton de Viña of del Mar is a good addiction, so I don’t want to beat it. I invite you to participate in the world of soccer and to improve your health and spirit.

In the other hand, Coca Cola is a very bad addiction. It’s very expensive and it only has an immediate pleasure that I forget quickly, so I must consume it constantly. Coca Cola causes bad consequences to health: the consumption of high fructose corn syrup because of possible links to obesity and diabetes. I advice you that you don’t consume it.

Santiagocentrism

I do not know much of Transantiago, because I am of Concón. I have been living in Santiago since 2008, so I did not know about the pre-Transantiago system. In addition I was not here at its first days of function.

What problems have I had in Transantiago? Really, no one. I live in close proximity to the university, so I do not use it much. But when I have done it, I have not perceived disadvantages.

I suppose that Transantiago is helpful because it standardized bus routes and eliminated redundancy of same. I like more Transantiago than Transvalparaíso because in my opinion buses arrive sooner. In addition the system of the Bip card pleases to me because the tariff is standardized and you do not have to pay 600 pesos when you travel in schedules nocturnes (I must pay that quantity in Valparaiso when I come back home at 3-4-5 am).

On the other hand, I think - according to I listened in the unfailing news- that the problem of Transantiago is that it isolates the most peripheral populations of Santiago.

Nevertheless I would not change anything of the Transantiago because I am egoistic.

Peace! (I am not hippie but I needed these words to complete the amount of words)

Burkina Faso

I would like to go to Burkina Faso, because I would love to visit an exotic African country. As an anthropologist, it excites to me to visit countries where possibly we will see natives and unknown, mysterious and amazing behaviors, mentalities, sports and cuisine. In addition, I would like to go on a trip to Burkina Faso because French is spoken there (it’s the official language, but also there are other native ones) and I am a French-speaker.

I do not know much about this country, because I have known about it since the last 30 minutes, investigating in Wikipedia. I would like to visit the traditional homes in south-east Burkina Faso, which seem very pretty in the photography of wikipedia. I would also like to visit a Burkina Faso's savannah and to run happily like a leopard running through rain. In addition, I would like to visit the Cinema Sanyon in Bobo-Dioulasso and the The Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso.

I would like to work in Burkina Faso, because I would like to do my first field work of Anthropology with the Burkina Faso’s natives. It would also be nice to open a restaurant of completes and empanadas there, and to live calmly in a rural community of the country.

1.0

Hi!

The most important thing that I learned during the preceding term was that our degree tends to depress and to disorient students, but that one can to solve these problems with a bit of faith (I am not a religious person, it is another kind of faith), in the company of friendly affection and with the utilization of alcoholic drinks as red wine or beer (I am not an alcoholic person either).

One of the most relevant things that I studied the first term was the subject of Latin American history. I liked it very much because this subject considered the vision of the natives, which is very important to me. It seems very positive to me that we had to read the analyses of the chronicles of the sixteen and seventeen centuries, and to see as the vision of the natives varied through the interaction with the huge western civilization and its noble army of cures.

In the first semester I played soccer: the most beautiful and exciting sport of the world (this is only my ethnocentric personal opinion). As member of the selection of Social Sciences, I exposed myself continuously to all kind of physical training to improve my capacities, in order to represent with pride our dear institution.

The main challenge that I had to face during the first term was the weather. I solve this problem by buying an electrical stove.

Regards,
(K) :) :D

11.

Hi everybody! Considering the instructions of this task, I guess (and hope) that this is the last task of the semester (yes, we are very tired xD). Like everything what occurs in our lives, this experience had a beginning and now it has its end (“It's the Circle of Life, And it moves us all, Through despair and hope, Through faith and love” -Elton John-). This was my first blog and now I’m going to write about that it meant for me.
As a general rule, I think it was a very good experience, because it was very useful in improving my English (especially to improve the aspects related to grammar and vocabulary). Most times I had to visit frequently different dictionaries, so I could learn many new words and expressions. In addition, with the corrections that you realised, I improved many grammatical and syntactic aspects, from punctuation to verbal forms and connectors.
In general I like blogging experience because I didn’t know about this fabulous and practical technology and its many advantages. In fact, thanks to you I have now a blog in which I write about different subjects that I like (in most cases poems or tales). On the other hand, I liked very much the fact that the use of these blogs allow us to read what the others wrote, and in consequence to be able to know about what my partners think about the different treated subjects.
One of the disadvantages of this experience was the fact that most times we have to talk about our career. I think that for other years you would have to ask for more varied subjects or to offer freedom in the election of the task’s subjects. I believe that it would be more entertained to write about music, sports, Literature, hobbies, soccer, movies, mascots, etc.

My ideal job.

My ideal job implicates anthropology and soccer.
When I graduate as social anthropologist I would like to follow a postgraduate study in social Anthropology or in another Social Science. Then I would like to study some speciality or to take courses related to sports, especially if those are of soccer.
Then I would like to work for Everton de Viña del Mar S.A.D.P. I feel that you are probably thinking: oh God! What could make a social anthropologist for a sport institution like this one? I think that if I work for Everton I could help to improve the communication between supporters and Everton’s directorate (with the corresponding previous studies of both). I think that I could describe and understand the interests of both, helping to the development and gradual progress of the institution. On the other hand, I believe that the study of the situation that lives the Everton’s junior players (as its education and its different problems) could help to improve its professional formation.
A different job that I would like much is to work for the FIFA. This international institution must take many decisions to regulate and to improve the soccer activity in the world. According to that, I believe that a social anthropologist would be very useful to anticipate and to improve these measures that affect different sociocultural systems.

8

Sir Ken Robison is an internationally recognized (and charismatic) leader in the development of human recourses. His talk "Do Schools Kill Creativity?” says that the great majority of present educative systems don’t support the artistic will and creativity of students. He explains that those aspects are sacrificed to give importance to a deeper formation in matters than presumably are going to benefit students to find a “normal" job. This sacrifice, according to Robinson, kills the creativity of the majority of students of educative system. Just a few, those who have a tenacious aptitude for arts, end up developing their talents until turning them into their work.

I agree with Robinson’s opinion and I think that the theory of multiple intelligences (that intelligence, particularly as it is traditionally defined, doesn’t sufficiently include the variety of abilities humans display) would have to be considered by the educative systems. In my opinion, these systems would have to give more importance to creativity and to the other nonacademic talents (as the artistic ones). I also think that the Chilean Ministry of Education would have to give more importance to sports.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

I think that schools limit the creativity, influencing of different way to the different students. It is normal that schools, as all institutions, establishes limits and follows programs and methods. So I am in agreement with the idea that the creativity must be limited to maintain an order, to avoid a disciplinary chaos and to prepare children to a so competitive world. In general professors accept or even like students’ creativity, whereas they follow certain parameters and norms.

On the other hand, I think that schools don’t kill creativity because it cannot be destroyed. In my opinion (as some materialist anthropologists say), there are some biopsychological determinants of culture that allow the human adaptation. I think creativity is an important part of the human adaptation to its surroundings, and because of that it cannot be “killed”.

Ideal future

Hi! I’ m going to talk about my ideal future. In 2014 I would like to be following a postgraduate study in social Anthropology or in another Social Science. I would love to do that in a country like Belgium, France or Spain. As I have Spanish nationality I believe that it will be possible because that allows me to enter with greater facility to the European Union. I think that I would like to study at the historic University of Paris (this university is often referred to as the Sorbonne or La Sorbonne), due to its quality and to its great international prestige.

On the other hand I would like to be playing in a football team of the university (like I actually do). I would like to play as much soccer as I can before aging.

Another goal that I would like to reach is to be married with Francisca Herrera. I think that we would make a perfect couple and that we would live happy forever.

Anthropology

I chose Anthropology as career in a period in which I didn’t know what to study. I felt lost but at least I knew that I wanted some career pertaining to the social sciences. Once I was talking with my psychologist about the factors that produced stress to me and she said that the career election was one of the main ones. I finally chose Anthropology by curiosity and mainly because it seemed to solve some doubts (or to approach it at least) that I had with respect to our society.

Anthropology is the science that studies the culture and its different expressions. Anthropology also tries to respond the following question: how can we explain the cultural variation? As a society doesn`t exist without a culture and considering that the culture is a complex, symbolic, integrated and shared phenomenon, the Anthropology has an inexhaustible “battle area” (as economic Anthropology, rural Anthropology, Anthropology of the development, medical Anthropology, etc.).

My favourite subject is the study of the social success associated to soccer (as the study of the violence in the stadiums). The most important thing for an anthropologist is to have a multidisciplinary vision and to make its work as objective as possible (following an empirical method).

A photograph

I was looking for long time a photography for this task, because I didn’t know which to choose within my 10 Gigabytes of photographies. It was taken in the summer of 2007, when I was in Paris at the Eiffel Tower. Felipe González (one of my best friends) took it. I was in my “school trip”, in which Alianza Francesa’s students visit Madrid and many cities of France (Lyon, Nice, Paris, Strasbourg, Rouen, Monaco and Gaillon). This photography shows my ex- girlfriend Camila and me, with the Parisian streets behind. I like it very much because it's an excellent memory with one of the people I have most loved, in one of the most romantic and beautiful places that I have visited. This trip is the best one than I have ever had because it was with my childhood friends and because Europe is an impressive and unforgettable tourist place (and probably priceless for my future work as a social anthropologist).

3

The website which I enjoy visiting is Scielo Chile. It’s a scientific electronic library online which has a collection of selected works from many Chilean scientific magazines. Its link is http://www.scielo.cl/. I found this website while I was looking for information on Prehistory for a college work, in my first semester at university. As I'm an Anthropology student, I usually have to search for some prehistoric and archaeological texts (that many times are only on this website). This website has a lot of articles and it's updated frequently, so it's very useful because it helps me to make works and tests. I often use this website when there aren't books about the subject I'm investigating in the university's library. Another good reason to use it is the fact that often it has more recent information than the majority of the libraries of the country, due to the fast publication that occurs on the Internet.

2

My favourite piece of technology is my Cowon d2 mp3 which also is a movie player. I get it on Christmas 2008. I was very happy when I get it because it's a very comfortable and functional machine and because that gift was a surprise (I was waiting for a soccer ball). My Cowon d2 has a Touch Screen, 74 mW of poweful sound and it can read flash applications so it's very useful because I can play some games when I'm bored. I use it when I travel to everywhere specially when I go to Viña del Mar because I have to wait about 2 hours to arrive there. I like it very much because I can listen to music with it, to see movies, to play games, to see photos, to record sounds, to use it as a calculator and I also likes its durable battery.

I think that my life would not change much without it because there are many other technologies that I can use to replace it as Ipods, mp4s and notebooks.

1

I want to tell you about mi trip to Argentina: 2 weeks ago my favorite and dear soccer team named Everton de Viña del Mar played an international match in Buenos Aires so I go there to support and to cheer on it. I travelled by airplane in the morning of 17 march with my father and I was very tired because the day before I were to the "initation ritual" that we made to the students of the first year of anthropology. When I arrived to the airport I drinked coffee to wake up and then we went to our hotel located in the center of Buenos Aires. After that we went to the hotel in which the team was stayed in order