Diverse Forms of Human Expression

Presentation Location

VSU University Center, Magnolia Room 2

Document Type

Event

Start Date

10-3-2023 1:15 PM

End Date

10-3-2023 2:15 PM

Description

Diverse Forms of Human Expression (Dana Dawson, Session Chair)

  • Charles Steven Ellis. (Valdosta State University). Virtual Reality Offers the World: How Digital Representations Transcend Culture and Language.
    Humans communicate thoughts by using language to illustrate images. Pierce any one of these elements, we can make inroads into understanding the others. By more clearly defining vocabulary, we can understand another person’s thoughts. By visualizing a person’s thoughts, we better comprehend how they use language and understand their world. We use simple diagrams to explain and teach students concepts, from material mechanics to more abstract principles. Illustrations are able to transcend language and cultural obstacles. By building a catalogue of images, we begin to establish a vocabulary that helps us understand and communicate through cultures while we can better envision our world from various perspectives. Virtual Reality technology helps us to experience these paradigms rather than only recognizes them. To accomplish this requires an interdisciplinary approach in both its creation and its subject content. Linguistics is involved by examining the relationships between thoughts and language. Artistry is needed to find the most effective ways to represent these images and diagrams. Philosophy contributes its ability to work through abstract ideas to connect them to what is being represented. Psychology lend itself to mapping the thoughts to be represented. Anthropology guides the project by contextualizing the thoughts and ideas within a humanistic framework. This paper explores the possibility and worthiness of embarking on such a project.
  • Ari Saucier. (Valdosta State University). Experiencing Art and Gallery Culture.
    What is it like to exist in a gallery among the art? What draws individuals from different walks of life to these places to spend time interacting with others in the spaces as well as with the art itself? How popular are these spaces? Do the same people often frequent them or is it a new crowd for each show? How, and for what purpose are these spaces used? Qualitative research was conducted over the course of a semester in the spring of 2022 in order to address these questions. Specifically, data was gathered through participant observation as a gallery assistant, alongside the collection of interviews with important figures from the gallery. The paper this research culminated into describes both the space itself and typical social interactions occurring within it to “set the stage” on which art and gallery culture plays out. The paper then explores subjective experience, the so-called “gallery effect,” the appeal of student art, and lastly the socialization that occurs within gallery and art spaces. Findings suggest that a distinct gallery culture does exist which can be felt and observed within the space. These findings are in line with other scholars’ work, such as that of Cameron, who suggests that gallery culture not only exists, but is actively constructed by those involved. Other researchers, such as Grosvenor, also argue that galleries and their culture have a direct impact on society at large through processes of public education. The research discussed herein is important because it shows how we create different cultural spaces through our held beliefs and their practical applications, as well as the broader impact these spaces can have on people, generally. This tells us more about the emergent nature of culture through our designation and delegation of space.
  • Dana Dawson. (University of Alabama at Birmingham). Embodiment & Meaning: Muay Thai in Different Cultural Contexts
    Drawing on ethnographies, martial arts studies, cultural studies, and anthropological literature to examine Muay Thai, this paper seeks to explore the different meanings that emerge in the different cultural contexts in which Muay Thai is performed. In exploring the different cultural contexts of Muay Thai, this paper will also address concerns of cultural heritage and the global diffusion of martial arts. Drawing from anthropological literature on embodiment, anthropology of the body, and cultural performance to frame martial arts generally as an embodied cultural performance disseminated through bodily knowledge and practice, martial arts become equivalent to something like dance: versatile in meaning and significance, depending on the practitioner and the context. The meaning that emerges from Muay Thai changes depending on the performing body(ies) and the context: the cultural contexts I will be analyzing include 1) Native practitioners in Thailand 2) Foreign practitioners in Thailand and 3) practitioners outside of Thailand practicing Muay Thai within the broader discipline of mixed martial arts.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Mar 10th, 1:15 PM Mar 10th, 2:15 PM

Diverse Forms of Human Expression

VSU University Center, Magnolia Room 2

Diverse Forms of Human Expression (Dana Dawson, Session Chair)

  • Charles Steven Ellis. (Valdosta State University). Virtual Reality Offers the World: How Digital Representations Transcend Culture and Language.
    Humans communicate thoughts by using language to illustrate images. Pierce any one of these elements, we can make inroads into understanding the others. By more clearly defining vocabulary, we can understand another person’s thoughts. By visualizing a person’s thoughts, we better comprehend how they use language and understand their world. We use simple diagrams to explain and teach students concepts, from material mechanics to more abstract principles. Illustrations are able to transcend language and cultural obstacles. By building a catalogue of images, we begin to establish a vocabulary that helps us understand and communicate through cultures while we can better envision our world from various perspectives. Virtual Reality technology helps us to experience these paradigms rather than only recognizes them. To accomplish this requires an interdisciplinary approach in both its creation and its subject content. Linguistics is involved by examining the relationships between thoughts and language. Artistry is needed to find the most effective ways to represent these images and diagrams. Philosophy contributes its ability to work through abstract ideas to connect them to what is being represented. Psychology lend itself to mapping the thoughts to be represented. Anthropology guides the project by contextualizing the thoughts and ideas within a humanistic framework. This paper explores the possibility and worthiness of embarking on such a project.
  • Ari Saucier. (Valdosta State University). Experiencing Art and Gallery Culture.
    What is it like to exist in a gallery among the art? What draws individuals from different walks of life to these places to spend time interacting with others in the spaces as well as with the art itself? How popular are these spaces? Do the same people often frequent them or is it a new crowd for each show? How, and for what purpose are these spaces used? Qualitative research was conducted over the course of a semester in the spring of 2022 in order to address these questions. Specifically, data was gathered through participant observation as a gallery assistant, alongside the collection of interviews with important figures from the gallery. The paper this research culminated into describes both the space itself and typical social interactions occurring within it to “set the stage” on which art and gallery culture plays out. The paper then explores subjective experience, the so-called “gallery effect,” the appeal of student art, and lastly the socialization that occurs within gallery and art spaces. Findings suggest that a distinct gallery culture does exist which can be felt and observed within the space. These findings are in line with other scholars’ work, such as that of Cameron, who suggests that gallery culture not only exists, but is actively constructed by those involved. Other researchers, such as Grosvenor, also argue that galleries and their culture have a direct impact on society at large through processes of public education. The research discussed herein is important because it shows how we create different cultural spaces through our held beliefs and their practical applications, as well as the broader impact these spaces can have on people, generally. This tells us more about the emergent nature of culture through our designation and delegation of space.
  • Dana Dawson. (University of Alabama at Birmingham). Embodiment & Meaning: Muay Thai in Different Cultural Contexts
    Drawing on ethnographies, martial arts studies, cultural studies, and anthropological literature to examine Muay Thai, this paper seeks to explore the different meanings that emerge in the different cultural contexts in which Muay Thai is performed. In exploring the different cultural contexts of Muay Thai, this paper will also address concerns of cultural heritage and the global diffusion of martial arts. Drawing from anthropological literature on embodiment, anthropology of the body, and cultural performance to frame martial arts generally as an embodied cultural performance disseminated through bodily knowledge and practice, martial arts become equivalent to something like dance: versatile in meaning and significance, depending on the practitioner and the context. The meaning that emerges from Muay Thai changes depending on the performing body(ies) and the context: the cultural contexts I will be analyzing include 1) Native practitioners in Thailand 2) Foreign practitioners in Thailand and 3) practitioners outside of Thailand practicing Muay Thai within the broader discipline of mixed martial arts.