Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Wrap-Up Threads, December 4

  • Age-Sets
  • Colonialism
  • Conceptions
  • Diversity
  • Ethnography
  • Exoticism
  • Fluidity
  • Gender
  • Globalization
  • Identity
  • Kinship
  • Politics
  • Religion
  • Social Organization
  • Social support systems
  • Tradition
  • Tribalism

Wrap-Up Threads

  • Conceptions (Misconceptions, portrayals, anthropological perspectives)
  • Choice of words, impact of word choice
  • Worldviews
  • Romanticism, Western imagination, noble savage
  • Enlightenment, mechanization, industrial revolution
  • Colonialism
  • Popular culture
  • Groups (Constructs, not bounded)
  • Multiplicity of identities: language, rural/urban, traditional/modern
  • Tribalism (Ambiguity/stereotypes, connotations, nationalism)
  • Kinship
  • Gender roles in social contexts

Ethnomathematics in Africa

TED | Talks | Ron Eglash: African fractals, in buildings and braids (video)


I know Brian Eno says there's not enough Africa in computers but , you know, I don't think there's enough African history in Brian Eno (13:55-14:01)
Eglash's attitude is quite representative of cultural awareness and an anthropological interest in diversity.
A math friend of mine tells me that Eglash is mostly describing recursion, and recursion is at the centre of a large body of research in cognitive sciences, these days. Fascinating that one could bridge disciplinary gaps between cultural anthropology, African studies, cognitive sciences, and mathematics.