While learning for Zwischenprüfung in another 3 weeks, i found a very nicely done tutorial about kinship and social organization from the University of Manitoba in Canada

[thx to Andrea via mail]

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Marvel Comics and Gotham Entertainment Group are introducing a new version of Spiderman regionalized for South Asian audiences. In the Indian version, Peter Parker becomes Pavitr Prabhakar; instead of fighting the Green Goblin he'll battle Rakshasa, a mythical Indian demon. He's wearing a sarong-like garment, and he has unstoppable spiritual powers of asskickage, writes BoingBoing. Read more at the Gothamcomics Press Release.

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WUKETITS, FRANZ AND CHRISTOPH ANTWEILER. 2004. Handbook of Evolution. New York et al.: Wiley-VCH.

"This three-volume handbook is unique in spanning the entire field of evolution, from the origins of our universe, via the development of living systems on earth, right up to the formation of social structures and science and technology. The author team of world-renowned experts considers the subject from a variety of disciplines, with continuous cross-referencing so as to retain a logical internal structure. The uniformly structured contributions discuss not merely the general knowledge behind the evolution of life, but also the corresponding development of language, society, economies, morality and politics. The result is an overview of the history and methods used in the study of evolution, including controversial theories and discussions. A must for researchers in the natural sciences, sociology and philosophy, as well as for those interested in an interdisciplinary view of the status of evolution today." via hum-molgen.de

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Ikea, worlds biggest furniture seller, opend its first shop in Bejing, China, as "Die Zeit" reports (in german). By doing this, the swedish francisor not only exports western furniture-concepts but represents western lifestyle in Asia. The article tells entertaining anecdotes on how the chinese people and IKEA management cope with unforseen cultural challanges. What do you think about commercial spread of cultur? Adoption, integration, assimilation or replacment of the local? My personal feelings range from enthusiasm about the global village to deep concern about the decay of local traditions... what would a ethnologist answer?

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Ethno::log member praying mantis made some updates to an older article. Here you can find now a load of links to web resources helping you learning the indonesian language.

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23. Juni 2004: Peter von Guretzky-Cornitz (HypoVereinsbank, Asiengeschäft) talks about "economic dependence on China" at Department für Asienstudien

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for different needs and for free: National Geographic MapMachine

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Vom 09. bis 11. Juli findet an der Uni Leipzig im Institut für Afrikanistik ein Workshop zum Thema "ETHNIZITÄT" statt. Der Workshop ist kostenlos (bis auf die Anreise), für Unterbringung bei Studenten ist gesorgt, für anregende Diskussion ebenso wie für kulturelles Abendprogramm...
Anmeldeschluss ist der 28.06.2004. Weitere Infos findet Ihr hier im Download Workshop Ethnizitaet (application/msword, 24 KB) oder über die Homepage in Leipzig.

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BECK, KURT, TILL FÖRSTER AND HANS PETER HAHN (Eds.). 2004. Blick nach vorn: Festgabe für Gerd Spittler zum 65. Geburtstag. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. [ISBN: 3-89645-403-X]

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Telepolis reports about the launch of the Creative Commons Licence (in German) in Germany. But Heise, the publisher of Telepolis doesn't just talk about CC, but acts, too: Two recent books on related topics (Mix, Burn & R.I.P. and Freie Netze - both in German) are freely available for download as .pdf-files under the Creative Commons Licence. Just to add a little spice ... have a look at a contemporary piece of interactive remix art, which in theory is endangered by the recent currents on the intellectual property issue: The Bruce Lee Flash mix generator!

Kerleone pointed me to the Telepolis-article, Bruce Lee via infocult

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Graduate seminar, Venice International University, Oct. 18-22, 2004

Instructors: Prof. Dr. Frank Heidemann, Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikanistik, LMU Prof. Dr. Richard Janney, Institut für Anglistik, LMU Prof.Dr. Graham Huggan, Department for English Literature and Postcolonial Studies, University of Leeds

Registration Participation is restricted to 15 students. Applicantions should be submitted to Frank.Heidemann@vka.fak12.uni-muenchen.de and to janney@lmu.de by not later than July 2nd. Course language is English. Read more ...In 2002, the second edition of Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin´s seminal introduction to postcolonial literary / cultural studies, The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures was published. Dynamic new sections were added on globalization, the environment, religion and the media, reflecting a shift in the field away from earlier, predominantly literature-based approaches to Commonwealth/postcolonial cultural production toward historically informed analyses of current social/cultural issues, marking postcolonial studies as a significant site of contemporary global cultural critique. This new understanding of a ´postcolonial from below´, as the critic Robert Young describes it, entails the elaboration of ´a politics of the subaltern, that is, [of] subordinate classes and people´ (Young 2003:6), which counteracts the theoretical elitism that still arguably dominates a rapidly transforming field. The opening up of postcolonial studies to populist social / cultural debate, often surrounding the figure of subaltern, has required the development of new cross-disciplinary modes of critical analysis. Literary / cultural studies, as before, still has an important role to play here; but so too do sociology, political science, ethnology / anthropology and development economics. The seminar will look at a variety of new approaches to postcolonial studies, comparing them to older but not necessarily outdated critical-theoretical models, and testing their applicability to issues (global inequality, environmental degradation, ethnic / religious conflict, media ethics) that are of direct relevance to the contemporary postcolonial world. The seminar will comprise four four-hour sessions run over a five-day period, and will allow both for the discussion of up-to-the-minute postcolonial readings and fop the presentation of work in progress by the members of the seminar group. The seminar is primarily designed for participants in the University´s international PhD programme in postcolonial studies, but is open to other suitably qualified faculty students on request. Works Cited: Ashcroft, W., G. Griffiths and H. Tiffin (2002) The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures, London: Routledge. Young, Robert J.C. (2003) Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Note: Financial Support is not available. Participants cover transport and accommodation.

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