Friday, May 22, 2015

2015 FYP Forum Highlights


This year FYP Forum was successfully held on Apr 20, 2015. 27 students presented their project on diverse topics relating to consumption, identity construction, heritage and conservation, popular culture, biopolitics, work and discipline, life course, activism, and altruism.

Presenters of 2015 FYP Forum
Our students and teachers voted to select the best three presentations among the 27 interesting presentations. This year the first prize went to Cheung Shuk Ching Salina, who worked on the topic “Volunteer Work―Who Does It Really Help?” The second and third prizes were respectively awarded to Yuen Ka Sin Claudia for her project entitled “Rethinking “Helping Others”: Homelessness & Youth Activism” and Lam Ka Ki Kiki for her project “A comparative study of university museum, the Nicholson Museum of the University of Sydney and the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong”.

Prof. Gordon Mathews and awardees of 2015 FYP Forum: (from left to right) Cheung Shuk Ching Salina, Lam Ka Ki Kiki and Yuen Ka Sin Claudia

To read more about the final year projects of this year forum’s awardees, please visit: http://arts.cuhk.edu.hk/~ant/tc/fyp.php

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

[HKAS Seminar] Coming of Age with "Internet Addiction": Institutional Encounters and Subject Formation of Chinese Youngsters


Title: Coming of Age with "Internet Addiction": Institutional Encounters and Subject Formation of Chinese Youngsters
Speaker: Rao Yichen
Date and time: 28 May 2015, 7:00pm
Venue: Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, 100 Chatham Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

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"Internet addiction" has been treated as a mental disorder in China since 2005. The past ten years have witnessed the rise and fall of a national campaign to "rescue" the 24 million "Internet addicts" in China. Some of them sat in an internet café for days or weeks without eating or drinking. Some committed suicide as a result of one quarrel after another with their parents. Some killed their parents as they "lost their sense" in the world on-line. Treatment camps for internet addiction were established across China under the mission of saving Chinese youths and their families. However, the media coverage of these institutions "disclosed" their "dark" and disruptive sides. Young people sent to these centers were said to have gone through a series of physical tortures - some were even trained to death. Based on three months' ethnographic fieldwork in a treatment camp based on different therapeutics, this talk gives an inquiry into the discipline and resistance, the institutional encounters and the subject formations of the youngsters who underwent the treatment of "internet addiction".

The lecture is conducted in English. All are welcome. (Space, however, is limited to 139 seats.)

For more information, please contact Stan Dyer on 9746 9537 or anthrohk@gmail.com.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

從瞭解文化差異到感受文化衝擊:一個人類學學生到墨西哥交流的體驗


人類在不同的環境中創造出不同的社會、政治、經濟及宗教體系。修讀人類學能培養我們的理解與分析能力,讓我們對文化制度之間的異同有更敏銳的觸角。然而,了解文化之間的差異是一回事,要適應這種差異又是另一回事。本系的文學士畢業生陳子晴(Cora)20122013年度參與大學的交流計劃,到墨西哥──一個由語言到風俗都跟香港截然不同的地方──修習一年。在這一年中,究竟Cora遇到了什麼「文化衝擊」(cultural shock),而她又是如何克服並適應墨西哥與香港間的文化差異?

記:記者
CCora

記:大學的交流計劃有眾多地點可以選擇,當中有不少都是能用英語/普通話作溝通語言的地點,為何你會選擇到以西班牙語作官方語言的墨西哥交流呢?
C坦白說,去墨西哥交流是一個意外⋯⋯當時要選擇最多十個地方,填完第九個後,我覺得最後一欄空著不好看,所以就填了墨西哥。心裡想著,反正不會抽中吧!哈哈,答案很令人失望吧?雖然得知結果後難免有點驚訝和不知所措,但我很快就接受了並開始準備。其實,每個人去交流的目的各有不同,有的是對某個國家很有興趣,有的是想學某種語言,有的是想修讀某大學的專科,而我則是純粹想看看外面的世界,尋找一下靈感或生命的方向,所以對於我來說,目的地並不那麼重要,重要的是那地方是否能夠滿足我冒險好奇的渴望,而墨西哥的「異國風情」就正正能滿足這個條件。亦因為如此,雖然身邊的人都跟我說墨西哥有多麼危險,但我都沒有絲毫動搖,反而更加期待旅程。

記:在墨西哥生活一年的時間裡應該遇到不少文化衝擊吧?

C參與派對應該是我面對最大的文化衝擊。對我而言,享受派對並不是自然的事,而是一樣我需要學習的事。喝酒,我不感興趣;抽煙,我不會嘗試;跳舞,我不懂竅門;沒意義的閒聊讓我覺得無聊。驅使我參與派對的原因就只有一個──體驗一下別的生活模式。以我有限的派對經驗,我嘗試分析在這種場合會用上的社交模式:跳舞主要是為了讓人放鬆,大家都是隨著強勁的節奏擺動身體,好不好看反而是其次;音樂是由重覆性的歌詞和刺激官能的節拍組成,讓人能暫緩思考;派對中所進行的對話是不著邊際的閒聊,過後很快就會被遺忘。

Cora出席朋友的生日派對

而這個文化衝擊亦引伸至另一個問題──我好像與其他交流生不太投契。孤陋寡聞是其一, 話不投機是其二。我連香港的流行文化都不太熟悉,更遑論歐美或墨西哥的流行文化。缺乏共同話題讓我難以在派對中建立友誼,結果就一直當個旁觀者。

記:那在日常溝通方面可有遇到什麼困難?
C在墨西哥,跟人打招呼的方式是輕輕擁抱,面貼面親一下;熟一點的朋友會抱得緊一點。對於這種打招呼的方式,我一開始也少不免會有點不習慣,畢竟第一次見面就親親抱抱感覺有點怪,所以起初也少不免有點僵硬和不自在──別人是面貼面,但我有時卻是面撞面。不過後來熟習了,就覺得完全沒問題,反而認為這種打招呼的方式也不錯──至少人與人之間肢體距離所造成的隔膜好像減少了。不過有些剛認識的人會擁抱得較熱情,也有少部分人會直接親我的面頰,這使我很不習慣。另外,有些人在聊天時會站得比較近,令我不期然會想後退,與對方保持一段距離。有一次大概我真的表現得太不自在,令對方忍不住問我怎麼了,使場面瞬間變得很尷尬⋯⋯當然,受過人類學的訓練,我知道肢體距離的差異是文化差異的一種,但明白歸明白,不自在的感覺始終會有,也唯有隨著時間慢慢習慣。

除此之外,我那初階的西班牙語也嚴重影響了我的交流生活。之前完全沒想過在一個陌生語境生活會怎樣,出發時報讀了中大的初階西班牙語就心安理得以為自己來到墨西哥應該死不了。結果那些初階西班牙語幾乎全都派不上用場。讓我最介懷的是,因為我不懂西班牙語,所以我參與學校的義工團時無法跟鄉村小學的小朋友們溝通。當有小朋友跟我聊天問我一些關於中國、香港的事的時候,我的回應往往是"QUE? Mas lento/repite, por favor" (什麼?可以慢一點/重覆一次嗎?)那刻的感覺真的很差。而且有時翻譯也未必有用,始終直接的溝通是無法取代的。另外,在做檢討的時候義工們滔滔不絕地分享感受、進行討論,我真的非常希望能參與其中,跟其他國家的人交流想法。如此寶貴的機會,我卻因為不諳西班牙語而白白浪費掉!我唯一可以做的就只有觀察,觀察他們語言以外的表達,從間中聽懂的詞語來猜來龍去脈。其實我絕對有一個很好的環境讓我好好學習西班牙語,但問題是我認識的詞彙根本不足以應付日常對話,任他說一千次我都不會聽懂。我知道學習語言急不來,但因為語言而失去的機會也著實令我覺得可惜。然而,可幸的是那時我一直懷著一鼓樂觀的傻勁,隨著西班牙語一天一天地進步,我也能一步一步地融入當地。

Cora與西班牙語課程的老師及同學合照

記:除此之外,當地人還有什麼習慣是你要重新適應的?
C對於我這個非常守時的人來說,要適應墨西哥人的時間觀念真是一大挑戰。那不是一般早到遲到的問題──支撐著"Mexican Time"的是整個民族的時間觀念及其獨特的民族性。簡單來說,墨西哥人的時間觀念跟我一向習慣的時間觀念有本質上的差別。若你被邀請去一個九點開始的派對,你十一點到還算早,十二點多到就剛剛好。我上的Mexican Culture課程其中一篇讀物提到於晚間派對遲到一小時以上並不需要道歉,準時到達反而會被視為無禮。當然這只適用於私人約會。這種時間觀念的出現是因為墨西哥人相信宿命論(fatalism),他們認為計劃未來是不切實際的事,因為未來總是設定好的。因此,守時對於他們來說並不重要,因為為了將來的約會而犧牲此刻的享受是不值得的。我這個慣於以時間規劃生活的人對這樣的時間觀念感到非常困惑,所以只能對別人遲到寬容一點,同時也著力控制自己不要太準時。

Cora與朋友慶祝農曆新年

記:這一年的異國經歷有讓你對香港的文化有新的見解嗎?
C與其說是新的見解,或許說有不同的感受會更為貼切一點一向以來,大家都讚頌香港是一個如何厲害的國際大都會,但其實香港並沒有那麼「國際化」。首先,香港並不如想像中般有名,先別說中美或南美的人,就算是在旅途中遇到世界各地的人,也有不少人沒聽過香港是什麼。然後,當我跟他們解釋什麼是「一國兩制」,香港跟中國是如何不同時,他們往往都會表示困惑,或者覺得香港跟中國差別根本不大。這個自己認知的「香港」與別人認知的「香港」之間的差距、香港本土文化與面向世界時所推廣的「香港文化」之間的差距,都令我重新看到香港在國際上的位置。不過,我相信對比起兩年前,香港現在的位置又轉變了不少。

到墨西哥交流對Cora來說無疑是一個很大的挑戰。然而各種的文化差異卻沒有擊沉Cora的熱誠。她在暑假時更在秘魯亞馬遜雨林的一個組織做義工。想知道更多Cora做義工時所遇到的經歷,請繼續留意我們媒體的更新。


Thursday, May 7, 2015

Conversations with Anthropologists―What is anthropology?


People who study anthropology may have answered this question time and again―What is anthropology? Dr. Gerhard Hoffstaedter, a lecturer in anthropology in the School of Social Science at The University of Queensland, had talked to different anthropologists and asked their definitions towards the subject in the first lecture of his open online course “World101x Anthropology of Current World Issues”.

Dr. Hoffstaedter, in the opening of the video, says, “The best way to start defining anthropology is perhaps by what it's not. We are not, unfortunately, Indiana Jones-like figures finding treasures in cowboy hats with whips attached… We're also not generally concerned with dinosaurs and leave that for the paleontologists. Nor do we study insects. That's for the entomologists. Social or cultural anthropology is about people: the environments they inhabit and the things they get up to.”

Other anthropologists also give inspiring definitions towards anthropology. Daniel Goldstein, a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the Rutgers University, defines anthropology in this way, “It's not about lab work, at least not the kind of anthropology that I do. It's not about quantification, numbers and formulas and things. It's about going out into the world and talking to people and meeting them as equals and getting to understand their lives and their worlds through the perspective of people living those lives. That was fascinating to me when I was 19, and it still is today.”

Sarah Kendzior, a coloumnist of Al Jazeera, talks about anthropology in this way, which is indeed very true, “You can go in with your own research question, and you'll often end up, as an anthropologist, in a completely different direction because you're following the lead of the people you're talking to. You're finding out what matters to them, what's important to them.”

Watch the video to see how other anthropologists define anthropology. (You may view the subtitle by adjusting the setting of the video.)


Tuesday, May 5, 2015

[Publication] 公路上的人類學家 Anthropologists on the Road



書本封面及目錄
Cover and contents of the book

上環印記及《香港濕地四季遊》後,張展鴻教授與野外動向再度合作出版公路上的人類學家》。書本記錄了人類學學者(當中有不少是本系的研究生及教授)在進行田野考察時的觀察和經歷,內容中英對照。書本售價為港幣$58於各區刊物售賣點
書名:公路上的人類學家 
編者:張展鴻 、駱吉婷 
簡介
「公路」,本來是連貫兩地的基建工程。
公路的旅程上,經常出現無法預期的「故事」,而其中的戲劇性情節不僅是社會萬花筒,更展示了人生無常和人事多變的情和境。因此「公路」也成為電影故事的敍事技巧,強調自我的探索和反思。
本書借用了「公路上」一詞來呈現一群從事人類學的年青學者和研究生在走過當下中國社會田野時的觀察和感受。他們從事研究的漫長歲月裏,和每個香港市民一樣,不單有成功的經驗,也有失敗的教訓,他們在奔馳過的公路旅程中留下段段心路歷程,把遊走在田野的機遇、探索和融會等經驗與大家分享。
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Professor Sidney Cheung's new edited book Anthropologists on the Roadpublished by Hong Kong Discovery, can now be purchased in various magazine/book outlets. The book, written in Chinese with English translation, retells the observations and experiences of anthropologists (many of which are our teachers/students) doing fieldwork in China. Retail price of the book is HK$58.
Title: Anthropologists on the Road
Editors: Sidney C. H. Cheung and Luo Jiting
Introduction:
A Road is an infrastructure that connects one place to another.
Anything can happen in a long road journey – every story tells something about society, and altogether they weave lives between individuals. For this, “road movie” is a popular film genre that stresses self-exploration and rethinking.
Taking the spirit of the “road”, this book retells observations and reflections after a group of fresh anthropology researchers and postgraduates walked through the fields of contemporary China. It’s been time that they began their journey of research and, just as any ordinary citizen of Hong Kong, have come through successes and failures. Miles and miles there are stories that touch their hearts, which they would really like to share with the readers along with their other experiences on the road.