Readings for 3/19

The readings for this week focused on folk beliefs. The first reading was a collection of folk beliefs collected in Southern Indiana by Herbert Halpert and Paul Brewster. Indiana is rooted in agriculture, so not suprisingly  a lot of the folk beliefs had to do with farming and weather. Sayings that told when to plant certain crops and signs of future of weather were frequent in the article. Other sayings revolved around luck, romance, and money. Like many things in folklore, there may be a grain of truth in some of these sayings. Many of the weather related sayings surely would have come from observation. While not all of them are true, I would say that science could back up some of the sayings. I have some own personal experience with folk beliefs like these. I think everyone has heard that black cats are bad luck, or walking under a ladder is bad luck. I have heard the saying "red skies at night sailors delight, red sky in the morning sailors warning." This is a variation of the belief quoted in the reading which was similar but used rainbows instead of red sky.
The second reading by David Hufford focused on the traditions of disbelief. This article was very interesting because it the usual study of beliefs on its head. Hufford argued that disbelieving is just as much a tradition as believing. Most disbelievers will cite similar reasons for their disbelief's. The most common final statement of disbelieve is the notion that there is an explanation, it just hasn't been found yet. This way of thinking allows a better way of researching. Instead of thinking one side is right and one is wrong, everyone's opinions become valid. The disbelievers are just as legitimate as the believers.
I think that climate change is a good example of believers vs. nonbelievers. Both sides have their arguments and their traditions and beliefs form their opinions on the issue.

Questions:
1. Are their any folk beliefs that you grew up with that you did not see in the article?
2. Are you an adamant disbeliever of something?

Readings for 3/5

This weeks reading and video focused on dance and movement communities. The first article was titled "Running the Yard: The Negotiation of Masculinities in African American Stepping" by Tom Mould. As the title suggests the article examines male fraternity stepping competitions at college campuses. The major goal of stepping is to reinforce each groups identity and to show how they are better than all of the other fraternities. Each fraternity has developed certain identity traits throughout the years that are incorporated in each stepping routine. The Alpha Phi Alpa's projected sophistication and "smoothness." The Omega Psi Phi were the "nasty" fraternity and claimed to be the most manly of all fraternities. There was a party fraternity, a ladies man fraternity, and a fraternity that has yet to forge an identity. The step routines not only portrayed each fraternity's identity, but they also were a representation of the unity that existed within each fraternity. The many military style routines and clothing used portrayed a "unified toughness." Cracking is also a big part of stepping. Cracking is making fun of other fraternities to make your own group seem superior. A lot of the routines incorporated jokes about the other groups. Stepping is a performance. When the fraternities perform their routines, they may do overly exaggerated sexual movements, attempt to degrade other fraternities, or look like the meanest toughest guys around; however it's all in good fun. Many of the individual steppers say they would never do things like that outside of a stepping competition.
I think that stepping is another way for fraternities to create a stronger sense of brotherhood and unity. It takes hours of practice with the same group of people which would create a sense of community. Each group is representing their fraternity, trying to draw more membership and of course girls. Stepping is a performance art that has many social functions.
The video about the flow arts was very interesting. It examined flow arts, such as juggling or fire dancing, and their ability to reach a higher state of consciousness. Performing a repetitive physical movement like juggling can allow you to turn the rest of your brain off for a while. It is very similar to meditation. The video narrator used Maslow's hierarchy of needs to demonstrate why this happens. When we reach self actualization we can leave the rest of our worries behind and lose our ego. This can bring us to a state of "flow", where you just become part of the action with out thinking.
I can juggle alright and I totally understand what they are talking about in this video. After you juggle for a while it feels like you are meditating. You are not thinking about your hands catching and releasing the objects anymore. They just dot it. I think that the state of flow happens in a lot of areas outside "flow" arts too. Sports players talk about being in the zone. Musicians can be locked in. I think this happens when you focus your mind on one singular task and that allows everything else to be put in the back round.

Questions:
Have you ever experienced flow? What were you doing and how did it come about?
Why is stepping isolated to African American college fraternities?