#amanataadams

[gwanth1002]

The Miller textbook defines age set as a group of people close in age who go through certain rituals, such as circumcision at the same time. This is a photograph of the third floor of Gelman Library. In this image, you can see students studying in groups, alone and socializing. All of the students in the image are college-aged (17-21). Studying is a ritual that is extremely important to college life. It can occur on a daily or weekly basis. Most students come to libraries to study, because of the quiet spaces and because it is a space where they can focus. Gelman Library is always filled with students from the weekdays to the weekends. I usually don't study in libraries because I do not like sitting at desks. Recently, I have been working in Gelman because it has helped me focus and get my work done quicker. If I was conducting further research library designs to see which are more conducive to productivity. 

The Miller textbook defines a secondary group as a group of people who identify with one another on some basis but may never meet with one another personally. The other students in Gelman can be seen as a secondary group because they all identify as students of George Washington University. GWU has approximately 11,000 undergraduate students so it is unlikely that these students in the library would ever meet face to face. I personally rarely see my friends when walking to classes or getting food. I usually see new faces on the street every day. If I wanted to conduct further research on secondary groups, I would look into the micro-communities that arise from such a large community. GWU has 475 registered student organizations that cater to a wide variety of demographics. I am apart of Black Women's Forum, Black Student's Union, and the Feminist Student's Union. These could be classified as primary groups because they are socially and politically focused but meet on a face to face basis regularly. 

[gwanth1002]

The Miller textbook defines family as a group of people who consider themselves related through a form of kinships, such as descent, marriage or sharing. This is an image of my friends Camille, Caitlin, and Ashley. I consider these friends my family because we are really close and are related through kinship. Furthermore, we have all have unique relationships that emphasize the strength of our group friendship. Camille and I went to middle and high school together. We became friends through our small classes and similar interests and are very close with each other's families. Caitlin and Camille have been friends since 5th grade and have traveled and been on vacation together. Caitlin and Ashley have been friends since Kindergarten (as they went to school together) and are very close. Their parents go out to dinner together and Ashley is welcome in Caitlin's house when Caitlin is not present. Ashley and I became friends in sophomore year at a diversity conference, we consistently talk every day and have never had a fight. Since I am such close friends with Ashley and Camille and am really close to Caitlin by proxy. This goes all of us, Ashley is close to Camille because Caitlin and I are close to her and vice versa. We consider our friendship the “square of friends”. If I were to do further research familial kinships I would try to find relationships like ours and test the friendships between everyone in the group. 

The Miller textbook defines bilineal descent as the tracing of descent through both parents. This is an image of a shot glass from Guyana. Both of my parents immigrated to the United States in their mid-20s. They have retained their culture through their accents, food, family and objects we have in our home. During my freshman year, I didn't have anything to remind me of where my parents were from except for my memories. When I went back home for Fall Break I decided to bring something back that reminded me of my family. This shot glass was probably brought back to the United States after a trip one of our family members took to Guyana. An interesting fact about the shot glass is that it can hold 75 milliliters of liquid. A typical American shot glass holds around 37-44 milliliters of liquid. To relate this more to anthropological fieldwork, I would collect shot glasses from countries around the world and look into the drinking cultures of people from different countries. 

[gwanth1002]

The Miller textbook defines the placebo effect as a positive result from a healing method due to a symbolic or otherwise nonmaterial factor. This is an image of a ginger shot from South Block. Ginger is known to be a natural cold remedy. I decided to buy this ginger shot to kick start my immune system into healing itself. Whenever I would get sick at home, my mother would make ginger tea with some honey and lemon. A typical ginger shot is made of a mix of ginger, turmeric and lemon juice and is around seven dollars. The shot burns and is a little spicy, however, it instantly cleared my nose. I bought this shot because I had started to sniffle and cough a little bit. This is an example of the placebo effect because this shot is not considered medicine. I felt better after taking the shot but that is probably because I wanted to feel better.

The Miller textbook, Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World, defines community healing as healing that emphasizes the social context as a key component that is carried out within the public domain. This is an image of me and my floormates watching Insecure on Sunday night. This is a ritual we have, and it is time we use to “wind down” and talk about our respective weeks or days. I think that this is an example of community healing because it is a form of self-care. Furthermore, we all come together in our living room, which we consider public space in our living space. These wind-down sessions help me relax and get ready for the next week. Insecure is an integral part of the wind-down sessions. Insecure is a show on HBO by Issa Rae that explores the professional and social lives of young black women. My floormates are all women of color, so we really relate to the issues brought up in the show.