ANT 150: Quiz #4: Dr. Litka

What do tourism and anthropology have in common?

-Traveling to a new location
-Immersing yourself in a culture
-Documentation (Field Work)

Tourist vs Traveler

-Tourist: Experiences something from the comforts of what they need.
-Traveler: Experience and Immerse themselves as much as possible

Recreational Tourism

-Primary purpose of rest, relaxation, and entertainment
-Beaches, Resorts, Cruises

Cancún Mexico

-Fishing town at the Southern tip of Mexico
-No Man's Land
-Top Tourist Destination in Mexico

Current Issues in Cancún

-Stakeholders: Anyone involved with tourism
-Unequal distribution of wealth>crime/Environmental Exploitation/Overdevelopment
-Example of Cultural Imperialism (Americans being westerners)

Dubai

-Remote Area: Went from rags to riches: Paris of Middle East
-Built on external slave labor

Disney

-Recreational tourism geared towards children and families
-Tactics used to create a fantasy and positive experience
-Ways to get customers to spend money
-Cater to all of your senes, sight, and market experience

Cobá

-Where Dr. Litka works
-Major Ancient Maya City State: Abandoned and resulted in the 1950s
-13,000 people live there
-Ejido: Communal Land Management

Unique features with Cobá and Tourism

-Local Community right next to ancient site
-Kin Based Ties in connection with ejido lands
-Power of community management. Locals work there. Not as developed

Research Findings

-Many locals also work with kin members
-Mayan still being used among most workers
-Interest in teaching Yucatec to tourists
-Overall positive attitudes of tourism

Conflict Management

-Advocating for sustainable community based tourism
-Acknowledging that even community is a variable concept
-Locals incorporate them in ways that defy 'local' vs 'global' to varying degrees of success

Heritage Tourism

-Geared towards historic appreciation (Educational)
-Chichén Itza: UNESCO World Heritage Site, New Wonder of the World

Current Issues: Heritage

-Various stakeholders and Owners
-Who should have control: Development, Excavation, Rules, Attention
-Whose history is represented, emphasized, or overlooked (patrimonial connections to a site?)

Dark Tourism

-Death, suffering, torture: Geared towards unfortunate events
-Ethical Issues: Educating and remembering history vs exploitation, How one should act at a site, Who should benefit from souvenirs?

Anne Boelynn

-Henry VIII's 2nd of 6 wives
-Notable/Controversial life and unique tragic end: Couldn't birth a son
-Only know the way she looked

Slum Tourism

-Poverty Tourism: Rich people seeing the poor
-Favelas: Lively Buildings in a poor society
-"Poorest of the Poor"

Cultural Tourism

-Focusing on living people and their cultural environment
-Strong connection with anthropological approaches to tourism

Current Issues: Cultural Tourism

Authenticity and the search for 'the exotic other'

Locals playing into stereotypes

-Can be both beneficial yet harmful, patronizing, atemporal, othering
-Tourists often seeking 'sheltered authenticity' in their visits
-Often superficial experiences between parties

Epcot World Showcase

-Replicates 10 different countries: Each country is created
-Examples of sheltered authenticity
-Creation of Cultural Exchanges
-Food but American, No Passports, People from a country but still speak English

Wildlife Tourism

Ex: Ziplining, Environmental Awareness/Conservation, Animals
Going for ecological reasons

Why is it bad for tourists to hold exotic animals?

-Spread of Diseases
-Threat of Attacks
-Sends wrong message for tourists

Food and Symbolism

Symbolism in all aspects of culture

Corn among the Maya

-Corn as mythological (astronomy and creation)
-Corn as metaphor for human life cycle (heaven and Earth)
-Corn as a god and offering to Gods (ancient and modern)
-Corn as sacred/source of nutrition (never thrown away)

Passover

-Jewish holiday celebrating Ancient freedom from slavery
-No Bread: Only allowed to eat Matzah: Hindu escape from slavery
-Seder (Ritual Dinner): Marking the Beginning of Passover
-Symbolize storytelling, eating, and drinking wine

Ramadan/Eid al-Eitr

-Islamic Holiday: Month long fasting and Prayer
-Renewal Period (Fasting>Feasting)
-Focus on community, family, and food
-Ritual Prayers, Charity Gifts, and Meals

Judaism and Islam Restrictions

-Do not eat pork
-Digestion Process and Toxin Through Not Sweating
-Less Nutrition and More contact with dirty elements
-Ecological maladaption and competition>Expensive to Raise

Hinduism Restrictions

-Do not eat beef
-Cow: Provider of food/resources, weather resistant, and useful in agriculture>Sacred Animal

Food and Power

-Socio-Economic Status and Diet
-Food Costs, Accessibility, Preparation, and Health
-Daily Diet of a college student vs professor vs others

Food Cultural Norms and Etiquette

-Time, Quantities, Length of Meals
-No elbows on table, chew with mouth closed

China vs USA Food Culture

-China: Chopsticks vs USA: Forks and Knives
-China: Slurping food and leaving food on plate
-Cold Foods, Hot Foods, Soup, and Rice at the end
-Controversy with the Yulin Dog Meat Festival: Cultural and Moral Relativism (More animal suffers: sweeter it tastes)

Positives of Wet Markets

-A wet market is perishable goods that are severed whereas dry markets focus on electronics
-More Direct and Personal Relationships
-Wider Variety of affordable foods

Negatives of Wet Markets

Cramming Animals together and causing diseases

Food and Body Image

-Thin is in (Women in US)
-Weight Loss Advertisements
-Types of Diet and Unhealthy Methods

Mauritania

-Fat is In: Gavage: (Forced Fattening of Young Girls)
-Explanations: Eligible for mean and beautiful for Mauritian men, Older

Environmental Anthropology

Relations between humans and their environment throughout time and space

Adaptions in Maya Region

-Scarce Surface Water (Cenotes)
-Houses in connection with local climate
-Historic use of sac-be roads (White Path)

Orgutans

-Indonesia and Malaysia (Litka's favorite animals)
-Problem: Deforestation of Palm Oil
-Major Social Groups, stay with mothers, largest tree dwelling animal
-Natural gardeners, Remains are left to fertilize the area

Rehabilitation Centers

-Several Years Stages of Recovery (2-7 Years)
-Involvement of local Indonesians to rehabilitate them
-Quarantine (Health Check Ups)
-Nursery/Baby School
-Forest School
-Protected Islands

Baby and Forest School Curriculum

-Socialization
-Tree Climbing
-Nest Building
-Coconut Cracking

Challenges

-Emotional trauma; physical injuries
-Permanent Injuries
-Spreading of Diseases
-Lack of funding
-Corruption

What you can do (Solutions)

-Spread awareness about food products and animal statuses
-Encourage sustainable palm oil products

Applied Anthropology

-Applying knowledge to theory and practice
-Real World Issues/Concerns and Solutions

Broad Issues

Avoiding extreme of over innovation (changing culture to be like ours) and under differentiation (lumping big groups of people assuming their history

Ethnocentrism

-Getting beyond simplistic stereotypes/avoiding extreme opinions
-Appreciating other perspectives and solutions to issues

Education Cultural Norms

-Teacher-Student Boundaries
-Touching, Punishment, and Names
-Forms of instruction and learning
-Socratic (USA): Encourage critical thinking and groupwork
-Didatic (China): Memorization, Recitation, Whatever Teacher says goes

Business

-Cultural Differences of International Buisness: USA vs Middle East/Dubai
-Greetings
-Etiquettes
-Length of time to establish connections

Marketing

-Avoiding faux pas with food
-Mistakes with McDonalds in Brazil: Not appealing to take hot food on beach, People going home to eat

McDonalds vs KFC

-China has a chicken diet
-KFC has done a better job localizing

Advocacy

-Land rights of indigenous peoples throughout the world
-Historic Contact, Factors for Displacement, local perceptions, connections, resistance

Goals from Course

-Holistic Approach to Human Life
-Recognizing habits of mind and culture
-Understanding why we do them
-Develop Greater Sensitivity