For the last few weeks, the headlines in Canada have been focussed on the Pickton trial, where a pig farmer kidnapped, brutalized and murdered so many women in Western Canada. He was found guilty earlier this week, and the newscast was inundated with the faces of the victim's families and their emotional response to the verdict.
Today, however, I read this story, of an Indian man brutalizing and kiling his wife. Atleast in the Pickton trial, I could say, the man was a maniac, unknown to the victims, and a psychopath. What can be said about a husband, who cuts his wife's tongue, tries to burn her, and then drags off to the crematorium to burn her alive on a pyre, while she screams and begs for water. This event does not have an ending - the polica arrived in time to rush the woman to the hospital where she died, but the man and his family, who helped him torture this innocent woman have 'absconded'. What does that mean? With the status of women and the police in India, it could well mean, that they all, somehow, managed to escape the police's clutches, or that he is a local big-wig, and everyone is covering up his crime. Injustice seems almost common and trivial when stories such as these are never heard or acknowledged.
Brutality and torture, when we experience these from those we love and trust, I would think that betrayal would be worse than anything else we can feel or imagine...
Saturday, December 15, 2007
People..idiocy..moods
My blogs typically contain a modified and rather edited version of my thoughts and opinions. Today, I wish to discuss people, their idiosyncrasies and the fluctuating moods.
Personally and professionally, I have interacted with many people, and as a species, we tend to let our emotions (moods and idiosyncrasies) rule our life - how we speak, what we say, who we talk to, our topics, friends, families, everyhting is dependent predominantly on our emotions. With that being said, it's a strange balance we maintain in our lives.
As a socio-cultural anthropology student, I've studied and discussed how culture affects our thoughts, actions, life structure and even our words. However, as a student of linguistic anthropology, I've always been fascinated with and impressed by how our language shapes our lives and choices. Earlier, I said that our emotions rule our life and various aspects of it. But language is a very intricate part of that balance, and without culture and language, we will be unable to express our emotions.
For example, let's imagine, a professor has an unruly student in his course, for purpose of maturity, let's assume this is a graduate course. In such a case, the unruliness would mean disruptiveness, questioning the instructor's knowledge/authority, and other such stupid actions. Now let's talk about how this instructor would phrase an order/request to the student about submitting his assignment on time - CASE 1, wherein the emotional distance between the speaker and the audience is great, and the 'request/act' is 'threatening' the audience's 'face'.
Now, let's look at another situation, let's imagine, a husband asks his wife to remind him about an upcoming friends birthday, and when the wife calls him at work to remind him, he doesn't answer her calls. Further, he tells her that he is chatting with friends, and can't talk to her. Now let's talk about how the wife would respond to her husband - CASE 2, wherein the emotional distance between the speaker and the audience is very small, but the 'request/act' is 'threatening' the speaker's 'face' and may also 'threaten' the audience's 'face'.
There are millions of other situations which can be imagined or real, where we encounter these items - emotional distance, threatening acts, and faces. These terms might be alien to most audiences, however a lingusitic athropologist/student, would immediately recognize what I am leading to - it's a very interesting and highly debated topic - Face Threatening Acts. To simplify, it tells us that people, use acts of politeness (a.k.a. be nice to other people) based on some criteria (distance, threatening acts and faces). The faces they refer to are not the physical form, rather the socio-cultural face we present to each other.
In our daily life, we use these FTAs quite often, without ever recognizing it. However, when you recognize them, you are now capable of deciding whether the FTA you originally intended to use was appropriate or not. Of course, every situation has multiple variables which tend to influence our acts, and any subject/text can never correctly reflect all these variations. For example, I find that one of the biggest variables that affect the FTA we perform, is the time factor. Based on the incidence time (when the situation occured) to the performance time (when the FTA will occur) and the reaction time (when the audience will react to the FTA), the actual FTA gets modified quite often.
In the above situations, it's very easy to imagine the instructor being quite stern with the student about the assignment submission (FTA), immediately after the unruliness. Similarly, in case 2, the wife may be quite vocal with her disapproval(FTA) immediately after the phone call. However, in both situations, if the FTA occurs after an elapsed period of time (2 hours to 2 days or even 2 weeks), then the level of FTA would be minor compared to it's original effect. Still, I should point out, that in each of those cases, whenever the FTA occurs, the level of FTA would never be the same in both the cases, because the distance between the audience and the speaker is different in each case.
Can you see why I love and am quite intrigued with exploring culture, society, language, words and most importantly, how they affect our behavior? Everything in our lives, from health care policies, hospital administration, university educational systems, politics, families and patriotism, is underlined by this interacting and quite complicated system of words and behaviour.
Personally and professionally, I have interacted with many people, and as a species, we tend to let our emotions (moods and idiosyncrasies) rule our life - how we speak, what we say, who we talk to, our topics, friends, families, everyhting is dependent predominantly on our emotions. With that being said, it's a strange balance we maintain in our lives.
As a socio-cultural anthropology student, I've studied and discussed how culture affects our thoughts, actions, life structure and even our words. However, as a student of linguistic anthropology, I've always been fascinated with and impressed by how our language shapes our lives and choices. Earlier, I said that our emotions rule our life and various aspects of it. But language is a very intricate part of that balance, and without culture and language, we will be unable to express our emotions.
For example, let's imagine, a professor has an unruly student in his course, for purpose of maturity, let's assume this is a graduate course. In such a case, the unruliness would mean disruptiveness, questioning the instructor's knowledge/authority, and other such stupid actions. Now let's talk about how this instructor would phrase an order/request to the student about submitting his assignment on time - CASE 1, wherein the emotional distance between the speaker and the audience is great, and the 'request/act' is 'threatening' the audience's 'face'.
Now, let's look at another situation, let's imagine, a husband asks his wife to remind him about an upcoming friends birthday, and when the wife calls him at work to remind him, he doesn't answer her calls. Further, he tells her that he is chatting with friends, and can't talk to her. Now let's talk about how the wife would respond to her husband - CASE 2, wherein the emotional distance between the speaker and the audience is very small, but the 'request/act' is 'threatening' the speaker's 'face' and may also 'threaten' the audience's 'face'.
There are millions of other situations which can be imagined or real, where we encounter these items - emotional distance, threatening acts, and faces. These terms might be alien to most audiences, however a lingusitic athropologist/student, would immediately recognize what I am leading to - it's a very interesting and highly debated topic - Face Threatening Acts. To simplify, it tells us that people, use acts of politeness (a.k.a. be nice to other people) based on some criteria (distance, threatening acts and faces). The faces they refer to are not the physical form, rather the socio-cultural face we present to each other.
In our daily life, we use these FTAs quite often, without ever recognizing it. However, when you recognize them, you are now capable of deciding whether the FTA you originally intended to use was appropriate or not. Of course, every situation has multiple variables which tend to influence our acts, and any subject/text can never correctly reflect all these variations. For example, I find that one of the biggest variables that affect the FTA we perform, is the time factor. Based on the incidence time (when the situation occured) to the performance time (when the FTA will occur) and the reaction time (when the audience will react to the FTA), the actual FTA gets modified quite often.
In the above situations, it's very easy to imagine the instructor being quite stern with the student about the assignment submission (FTA), immediately after the unruliness. Similarly, in case 2, the wife may be quite vocal with her disapproval(FTA) immediately after the phone call. However, in both situations, if the FTA occurs after an elapsed period of time (2 hours to 2 days or even 2 weeks), then the level of FTA would be minor compared to it's original effect. Still, I should point out, that in each of those cases, whenever the FTA occurs, the level of FTA would never be the same in both the cases, because the distance between the audience and the speaker is different in each case.
Can you see why I love and am quite intrigued with exploring culture, society, language, words and most importantly, how they affect our behavior? Everything in our lives, from health care policies, hospital administration, university educational systems, politics, families and patriotism, is underlined by this interacting and quite complicated system of words and behaviour.
Holiday cheer or spending frenzy?
Every year as the holiday season approaches, I love the sights, smells, rushing people, busy streets and the crazy shopping. Uh uh..before you start thinking that I am one of those crazy shoppers, let me clarify, I like looking at this frenzy from the comforts of my home..I watch the frenzy on TV, as I walk by on crowded sidewalks or as I wait for my train.
This year however, I have seen a decidedly lack of christmas cheer and spending frenzy. Instead I find people are spending more time and money on travelling to visit family and friends. Personally, that's what I'm doing this year, but I find the same true for most of my family, friends and colleagues. Instead of spending on a big gift for her mom, a friend is visiting her family for a week. I like the idea, however, I find that I miss the energy that comes from observing the holiday frenzy/cheer/spirit.
On a different note, I finally submitted all my applications, and now it feels like the waiting has begun...for the decisions, for the holiday season, for my 2 week vacation, and for so much more...Let's see what's in store....
This year however, I have seen a decidedly lack of christmas cheer and spending frenzy. Instead I find people are spending more time and money on travelling to visit family and friends. Personally, that's what I'm doing this year, but I find the same true for most of my family, friends and colleagues. Instead of spending on a big gift for her mom, a friend is visiting her family for a week. I like the idea, however, I find that I miss the energy that comes from observing the holiday frenzy/cheer/spirit.
On a different note, I finally submitted all my applications, and now it feels like the waiting has begun...for the decisions, for the holiday season, for my 2 week vacation, and for so much more...Let's see what's in store....
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Law School anyone?
This is my latest article for Golden Key's Keywords..as usual the e-version hasn't been updated yet, but you get to read the unabridged version...teeheehee.
Last week, I walked into the Second Cup at St. George and King’s College Road, expecting to meet a stereotypical law student - snooty, focused, and hyperactive. Instead, I met Shannon Neill-Sword, a rather laidback charming law student at U of T's Faculty of Law, who tells me that he is named after the River Shannon, and does not like the reference! Since I've never actually met a lawyer or one getting ready for the task, my stereotype seems a tad unfair.
By the end of our conversation, Shannon had given me a peek into his life as a U of T Law student. Canadian students at U of T apparently pay up to 19K per year for a 3 year Law program. Comparatively, Canadians applying across the border face higher requirement standards and pay a higher tuition fee. Shannon tells me that the unwritten code for prospective U of T law students is to focus on your scores - LSATs and cGPA. A combination of 167 and 3.8 would be a shoo-in, whereas anything below 160 and 3.5 would be a hard-sell. The ranges are flexible, and extra-curricular activities are apparently weighted more than the essays.
As we spoke about Shannon’s experiences this term, it seemed rather similar to most other graduate programs. It boasted an excellent faculty, hosted varying networking events; and also housed a focused Career Services Centre for the prospective lawyers. Shannon also spoke about the Student Law Society, the hub of all student related activity at the Law School. They apparently organize a range of activity, from pub nights (they can be found every other week at Duke of York) to lunch orientation sessions (most recently about common law reasoning and studying for exams). However, one of Shannon's most exciting experiences at Law School was the First Year Trial Advocacy session, organized entirely by the Moot Court Committee (Tammy Jacobson and Anji Samarasekera, second year Law students). In this specific experience, first year students sign up to conduct an abridged process of a trial, replete with judge (a practicing professional) and witnesses. Shannon describes his participation as 'an interesting way to understand the practical use of the subject'.
On a more relaxed note, Shannon told me about a few strange legends at the Faculty. Apparently, rumor has it that one faculty member used to walk into lectures, every single class, in full robes! I would have loved to see that, nothing that exciting ever happened in my human biology seminars. Another legend has it that one professor expected all the students to be updated with their readings. He would walk into the lecture, point to a student, and ask a random question about the reading. If that unfortunate soul did not know the answer, the professor would walk out of the lecture!
Despite all the humdrum associated with being a lawyer, or a law student, Shannon focuses on the holistic approach to his subject. He tells me that most of the time, the principles and concepts you learn at school are meant to be applied, rather than analyzed. However, his approach is to integrate those skills – analysis of concepts and application of the principles; a rather concise and focused view from someone who appears very laidback. Appearances, as they, are always deceiving!
Last week, I walked into the Second Cup at St. George and King’s College Road, expecting to meet a stereotypical law student - snooty, focused, and hyperactive. Instead, I met Shannon Neill-Sword, a rather laidback charming law student at U of T's Faculty of Law, who tells me that he is named after the River Shannon, and does not like the reference! Since I've never actually met a lawyer or one getting ready for the task, my stereotype seems a tad unfair.
By the end of our conversation, Shannon had given me a peek into his life as a U of T Law student. Canadian students at U of T apparently pay up to 19K per year for a 3 year Law program. Comparatively, Canadians applying across the border face higher requirement standards and pay a higher tuition fee. Shannon tells me that the unwritten code for prospective U of T law students is to focus on your scores - LSATs and cGPA. A combination of 167 and 3.8 would be a shoo-in, whereas anything below 160 and 3.5 would be a hard-sell. The ranges are flexible, and extra-curricular activities are apparently weighted more than the essays.
As we spoke about Shannon’s experiences this term, it seemed rather similar to most other graduate programs. It boasted an excellent faculty, hosted varying networking events; and also housed a focused Career Services Centre for the prospective lawyers. Shannon also spoke about the Student Law Society, the hub of all student related activity at the Law School. They apparently organize a range of activity, from pub nights (they can be found every other week at Duke of York) to lunch orientation sessions (most recently about common law reasoning and studying for exams). However, one of Shannon's most exciting experiences at Law School was the First Year Trial Advocacy session, organized entirely by the Moot Court Committee (Tammy Jacobson and Anji Samarasekera, second year Law students). In this specific experience, first year students sign up to conduct an abridged process of a trial, replete with judge (a practicing professional) and witnesses. Shannon describes his participation as 'an interesting way to understand the practical use of the subject'.
On a more relaxed note, Shannon told me about a few strange legends at the Faculty. Apparently, rumor has it that one faculty member used to walk into lectures, every single class, in full robes! I would have loved to see that, nothing that exciting ever happened in my human biology seminars. Another legend has it that one professor expected all the students to be updated with their readings. He would walk into the lecture, point to a student, and ask a random question about the reading. If that unfortunate soul did not know the answer, the professor would walk out of the lecture!
Despite all the humdrum associated with being a lawyer, or a law student, Shannon focuses on the holistic approach to his subject. He tells me that most of the time, the principles and concepts you learn at school are meant to be applied, rather than analyzed. However, his approach is to integrate those skills – analysis of concepts and application of the principles; a rather concise and focused view from someone who appears very laidback. Appearances, as they, are always deceiving!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
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