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What is black english vernacular (bev) or African American English vernacular.

In contrast to other animals, humans have a sense of the past and the future (the design feature of language)
- displacement

I.W.W.
International Workers of the World

Rot at the Top
Common political story. Refers to elite power are corrupt, and should be resisted or make them pay. Rejecting government. Teaparty rejects government power

Benevolent Community, works together for a common goal.

What is sharpening?
Headline of a particular rumor
Emphasis of the headline
assimilation is how you incorporate it into your beliefs

Comfort-
Lullibies in the background to help soothe

Dylan Eret November 26
Will be 39 in three weeks

Litany -
Repitition of words in the beginning. Such as “i have a dream”

Sequences of interrelated events, central characters, and crisis

Social Protest Movements
organized, collective efforts to achieve social change

Lumbee
Cup of coffeeeee

Dialect
Variation in a particular language
Music is organized sound.
Seven Elements of Music
1. Pitch – a purely psychological construct, related to both the actual frequency of a particular tone and to its relative position in the musical scale.
2. Rhythm – the duration of a series of notes, the way they group together into units
3. Tempo – the overall speed or pace of the piece
4. Contour – the overall shape of a melody, taking into account only the pattern of “up and “down”
5. Timbre – the way a single instrument can change sound as it moves across its range; the “tonal color” produced in part by overtones from the instrument’s vibrations
6. Loudness – how much energy an instrument creates, or how much air it displaces; the amplitude of a tone
7. Reverberation – perception of how distant the source is from us in combination with how large a room or hall the music is in; sometimes called “echo” by laypeople
High-Order Concepts of Music
1. Melody: the main theme of a musical piece, the secession of tones that are most prominent in the mind (“sticks out” the most).
2. Harmony: the relationship between pitches of different tones; e.g., chord progressions, or clusters of notes that form a contest and background on which the melody can rest
3. Meter: the ways in which tones are grouped with one another across time (e.g., waltz: groups of three, march: groups of four)
4. Key: the hierarchy of importancethat exists between tones in a musical piece
Six Functions of Music (Daniel Levintin)
1. Friendship
1. Waging War: Tribal Attacks & Drum Music
2. Defending Against Attack: The Mekranoti Indians
3. Hunting Prey: Synchronous, Coordinated Song and Movement
4. Forming Work Crews: Increase Productivity and Kinship With Others
5. Easing Tensions: Formation of Larger Social Groups
2. Joy
1. Feeling Good: Optimizing Health and Experiencing Pleasure
2. Healing Ourselves: Well-being, Stress Reduction, and Immune System Boosting (Oxytocin, Serotonin)
3. Surviving Everyday Life: “TRIPping”:
a. Tension
b. Reaction
c. Imagination
d. Prediction
3. Comfort
1. Hearing Soothing Sounds: Lullabies and Background Music
2. Consoling Tunes: Pain, Alienation, and Loss
4. Knowledge
1. Music as Memory and Information Devices
2. Oral/Aural Transmission
5. Religion
1. Searching for Meaning
2. Improving Suffering, Connecting to the Sacred
6. Love
1. Increasing Intimacy and Caring with Others
2. Genetic, Biological, Psychological, and Social Bonding
Vedic Chanting
1. Krama: ab / bc / cd / de
2. Mala: ab /ba/ ab/ bc/ cb/ bc/ cd/ dc
3. Jata: abbaab/ bccbbc/ cddccd/ deedde
Barbetuques - The form of music using bottom parts and vocal parts to create different sounds and other musical pieces. Brazil, the most well-known body percussion group is Barbatuques
Robert Moog – American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production.
Myth - deep stories – considered meaningful to a particular group – passed down through generations (repetition and variation) – not necessarily a single “original” author or teller – often set in the remote past – often considered sacred by tellers and audiences – often concern gods and the supernatural – often explain, justify, instruct, warn -
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany.Kraftwerk sound combines driving, repetitive rhythms with catchy melodies, mainly following a Western Classical style of harmony, with a minimalistic and strictly electronic instrumentation.
Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying,[2] and is respectfully known as the “Grandfather” and the Amen Ra of Universal Hip Hop Culture as well as the Father of The Electro Funk Sound.
Frankie Knuckles is an American DJ, record producer and remix artist. He played an important role in developing house music (an electronic, disco-influenced dance music) as a Chicago DJ in the 1980s and he helped to popularize house music in the 1990s, with his work as a producer and remixer.
Disco is a genre of dance music.
The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a bass synthesizer with built-in sequencer that had a defining role in the development of contemporary electronic music.
The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analog, partially sample-based drum machine. it features a 16-step step sequencer and a drum kit that aimed for realism and cost-effectiveness. It is fully programmable
language- a distinctive feature of the human mind, a system we use to convey information, a biological tool that enables humans, a mental construct with rules and organizing principles,
to communicate, an elaborated signaling-system
Differences between humans and animals
1. Vocal tract – sophisticated speech organ that will enable the speaker to produce the many differentiated sounds.
2. Duality of patterning – Because of the restricted capacity of our vocal tracts, we use a limited set of speech sounds (e.g., consonants and vowels, sometimes called phonemes). We can assemble and reassemble these sounds into larger units capacity to produce new vocabulary is infinite and unlimited.
3. Displacement – In contrast to other animals, humans have a sense of the past and the future. A gorilla, for example, cannot tell his fellows about his parents, his adventures in the jungle, or his experience of the past. language to talk about things other than “the here and now”, Time
4. Open-endedness – The ability to say things that have never been said before, including
the possibility to express invented things or lies, is also a peculiar feature of human language.
5. Stimulus-freedom – Humans have the ability to say anything they like in any context.
6. Arbitrariness – Language is not simply motivated by its sounds structure. we cannot tell from the sound structure which meaning is behind it. Hence, words and their meanings have no a priori connection. language can be iconic, which means that there is a direct correlation between form and meaning.
7. FOXP2 Gene
Idiolect is an individual’s unique way of speech.
Accent is a person’s distinctive way of pronouncing words, which is typically associated with a particular region
Dialect: a variation of a particular language
Lexical dialectal variation – tonic in Boston, you will get a drink called soda or sodapop in LA
Phonological dialectal variation - accent, word variation. “caught” and “cot”
Morphological dialectal variation – Different changes in word order – I likes him,we goes
Syntactic dialectal variation - She done already told you.
Appalachian English syntax  - AE makes use of double modals: I useta couldn’t count. Multiple negation:I can’t hardly read it. Deletion of the relative pronoun in subject relative clauses:
Code-switching - a speech behavior where bilingual speakers typically move back and forth
between two languages
Style or vernacular refers to the kind of language that one uses in a particular situation or location. Formal/Informal
Slang – Certain words used in informal styles that change rapidly among groups. Slang is equivalent to lexical dialectal variation. Different words referring to the same object
Jargon (or Argot) - Jargon or argot refers to the technical language used in a particular domain.
Bilabial consonants - /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/ consonant articulated with both lips
Fir words: eg. mama, and papa
William Labov an American linguist, widely regarded as the founder of the discipline of variationist sociolinguistics.
Motor cortex is a term that describes regions of the cerebral cortex involved in the planning, control, and execution of voluntary motor functions.
Primary auditory cortex is the region of the brain that is responsible for the processing of auditory (sound) information. temporal lobe, and performs the basics of hearing—pitch and volume.
Visual cortex of the brain is that part of the cerebral cortex responsible for processing visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe, in the back of the brain.
Wernicke’s area is one of the two parts of the cerebral cortex linked since the late nineteenth century to speech (the other is Broca’s area). It is involved in the understanding of written and spoken language.
Broca’s area is a region of the hominid brain with functions linked to speech production.
Stories (key features)
sequenced and interrelated events
foreground individuals
crisis to resolution progression
(stories definition)
“A narrative is a perceived sequence of non‐randomly connected events,typically involving, and the experiencing agonist, humans, quasi‐humans, or sentient beings, from whose experience we humans can ‘learn’.”
a connected sequence of events, with at least one central character, who moves towards some goal or purpose
Key Point
stories conceal as much as they reveal
Belief - an idea held to be true

Humanities Notes 3

Rites of Passage

Transitional periods that culturally mark a change from one stage of life to another

 

Rites of Passage (Examples)

Religious rituals (formal and codified): bar/bat mitvah (Judaism), reconciliation, communion, confirmation (Catholicism), oral recitation of the Koran (Islam), monkhood (Buddhism), circumcision, samskaras (Hinduism), marriage, pilgrimage, festivals, carnivals, etc.

Secular rituals (informal and flexible): birthdays, anniversaries, getting a driver’s license, turning 16, 18, or 21 years old, dating, having sex, experimenting with drugs, getting a first job, graduating from school, getting married, participating in a job interview (for a tenure-track faculty position), etc.

Underground rituals (secretive and mysterious): initiation into clubs, fraternities, sororities, secret societies, house parties: e.g., hazing, fighting, tattooing, forced drinking, etc.

 

Rites of Passage (Structure)

I. Separation: leaving, stripping “old” identity, bodily marking, etc.

II. Transition: moving to a new space, subjecting initiates to physical challenges, etc.

III. Reincorporation: welcoming individuals into a new status, giving a new name or symbolic insignia, participating in a communal meal, etc.

 

He viewed world religions (and notions of the sacred) not as absolute entities or qualities, but as relative or sequential processes that dynamically shift in different situations and

different ritual stages.

 

Bruce Lincoln

I. Enclosure: purification, safety, containment

II. Metamorphosis: gradual change and evolution, role-reversal

III. Emergence: given new name, identity, recognition by community

 

Rumspringa (Amish for “running around”) highlights the cultural tension between joining a long-standing religious tradition based on family, community, work, and worship of God, and participating in the “English” world of sexuality, drugs, dating, and consumption.

 

Emile Durkheim

Collective Effervescence: energy generated by gathering in groups; “god and society are one of the same…the god of the clan…can be none other than the clan itself, but the clan transfigured and imagined in the physical form of a plant or animal that serves as a totem”

Sacred and Profane

 

Victor Turner

Liminality: an ambiguous state of being; “betwixt and between” normal states or conduct; in other words, rituals often allow for normal “rules” to be suspended or subverted Communitas: feeling of tight solidarity and group unity

 

dancing:

“transient mode of expression, performed in a given form or style by the human body moving through space” (Joann Keali’inohomoku)

 

ecstasy:

an altered state of consciousness that allows an individual to symbolically “stand outside” of himself or herself; in other words: an individual experiences a exhilarating sense of joy and excitement through dynamic group movement

 

Eight Functions of Dance

1. an emblem of culture identity

2. an expression of religious worship

3. an expression of social order and power

4. an expression of gender-specific behavior

5. an expression of classical art and tradition

6. as a medium of cultural fusion and hybridity

7. as the creation of individual artists and choreographers

8. as an indicator of who we are today and where we are going, especially popular and historical trends

 

“Kecak a form of

Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting “cak”, and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where monkeys help Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.”

 

Tango, a creole Argentinian dance that emerged in the late 19th century, combines art and sensuousness, exploring mutual affection through turning, flicking, flexing, twisting, stamping, and spinning. We witness a lustrada, which came in from the barrios, humorously miming the act of shining shoes.

 

 

The Chalk Line Walk, or Cake Walk, as it was originally known in 1850 in the southern plantations and later became very popular from 1895-1905 as the Cakewalk with a resurgence around 1915. It originated in Florida by the African-American slaves who got the basic idea from the Seminole Indians (couples walking solemnly).

 

VOGUING: a dance form popular in the 1970s and 80s. Voguing began in the Harlem gay scene as a non-aggressive battle between two feuding individuals who chose to use dance instead of violence to settle differences.

 

Food is essential for human (and animal) survival.

Food involves the expression of creativity, novelty, and intense social engagement.

Food categories encode social events.

Food is a vital part of kinship and friendship networks around the world.

Food is a sign system tied up with concepts of race, class, and gender.

Food is a key symbol of identity.

Food for Thought!

1. Space!

2. Time!

3. Language/Communication!

4. Social Relations!

5. The Body

 

foodways:!

the cultural practice of eating  i.e., the process of making, preparing, packaging, and distributing food  among groups

shopping:

the cultural practice of buying or consuming !

marketplaces: places where objects are sold and bought (for profit)!

 

Food is a code by which messages and teachings are passed among humans.

Paradigmatic operations: For any single element in a sequence, there are groups of items that may fit.

Syntagmatic operations

(sequential relationships)

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT

 

Four principle foodways

(the ecology of “food chains”)

(1) the hunter-gatherer age

(2) the farming age

(3) the industrial age

(4) the organic age

 

THE HUNTER-GATHERER

• Collected food from the natural world

• Stored it for others to share

• Cooking transformed organic matter into edible and digestible foods

 

THE FARMER

• Required planning for the future

• Preservation and domestication

• Barley, wheat, rice, maize, potatoes, sheep, goats, cattle, horses, etc

 

THE INDUSTRIAL AGE

• Preservation techniques enhanced

• Drying, salting

• Refrigeration

• Fertilizers, pesticides, breeding, chemical preservatives, genetic modification

• Cans, bottles, cardboard and plastic packaging

• Mechanized transportation has allowed us to easily transport preserved foods from regions of excess supply to regions of excess demand

 

THE ORGANIC

Food is produced by “farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.” (USDA)

EXAMPLES: local food production, farmers’ markets, science of food

 

jeans: Originally derived from a workwear fabric, called fustian, a blend of heavy twilled cotton, wool, and/or silk, first produced in the sailors’ port of Genoa, Italy during the late 15th century

 

denim: May be derived from the phrase, serge de Nimes, a trade term for a cotton-wool blend first produced in Nimes, France

during the sixteenth century

 

indigo dye: dark blue dye obtained from the plant Indigofera tinctoria (originally grown within India and Africa)

 

Defining Religion

Substantive or essentialist

definitions characterize religion by some basic essence which is common to all religious systems, but not to any non-religious systems.

Defining Religion

Functionalist definitions focus on the way religion operates or functions in human life.

religion:

a set of symbolic forms and acts that relate man to the ultimate conditions of his existence – Robert Bellah

religion:

(1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long

lasting moods and motivations in [people] by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem

uniquely realistic. – Clifford Geertz

Definitions of Religion

• sacred vs. profane

– profane: ordinary elements of life

– sacred: extraordinary elements of life; revered and awed

• religion as existential questioning

– immortality; purpose in life

• religion as supernature

– beliefs about things outside of nature
Evolution of Religious Systems

1. Primitive Religion

2. Archaic Religion

3. Historic Religion

4. Early Modern Religion

5. Modern Religion

- Robert Bellah

(1) Ritual or Practical

(2) Doctrinal or Philosophical

(3) Mythic or Narrative

(4) Experiential or Emotional

(5) Ethical or Legal

(6) Organizational or Social

(7) Artistic or Material

Doctrinal or Philosophical fundamental beliefs and practices: e.g., impermanence, sin, etc.

Mythic or Narrative

Stories, histories, traditions, “founding” myths, life, death, and resurrection, heroes and villains

Experiential or Emotional

Enlightenment, redemption, visions, healing, holiness, health, conversion, redemption, quest

Ethical or Legal

Legal codes, ethics, morals, virtues, taboos Organizational or Social Religious specialists or authorities: gurus, lawyers, shamans, doctors, pastors, rabbis, imam, teachers, therapists, politicians, coaches, etc.

CHRISITIANITY (Classical)

(1) Ritual or Practical: Mass, Liturgy, Eucharist

(2) Doctrinal or Philosophical: Jewish tradition, Platonism

(3) Mythic or Narrative: Egyptian mythology, Old and New Testament, The Last Supper

(4) Experiential or Emotional: Monasticism

(5) Ethical or Legal: Ten Commandments

(6) Organizational or Social: priests

(7) Artistic or Material: monasteries, icons

THE GREAT CHAIN OF BEING

(1) Virtually all of the great wisdom traditions subscribe to this philosophy

(2) Reality is made up of interwoven levels of meaning reaching from matter to body to mind to soul to spirit

(3) Each senior level contains or envelops its junior dimensions – a series of nests within nests of Being Religious Pluralism

• multiple religions – leads to denominationalism

• possible explanation for the high levels of religiosity in the U.S.

Types of Pantheons:  Social Organization of the Spirit World

• Egalitarian polytheism

• Ranked polytheism

• Henotheism

• Monotheism