Toronto

I was in Toronto for 5 days last week and it was a time of lots of learning, so I wanted to write something for my imaginary audience quickly before I forget. I was attending my 1st AAA (Anthropology) conference and it was really eye-opening and inspiring. There were hundreds of innovative panels on hundreds of unconventional topics, every facet of everyday life was being scrutinized through a critical social lens, from coffeeshop communication to cassette tapes, from Japan’s aging problem in the countryside to gamete donors in Spain! Each research presentation was a real presentation written for the audience (vs. reading a paper), so the audience (and I) understood the presentations, which generated very good long conversations after each panel. (The conference organizers put a great deal of emphasis on accessibility, I was grateful.) I think all this is what Cultural Studies wanted to do, but doesn't often do. One thing that surprised me is that folks at the conference who study human culture self-identify and present themselves with a lofty noun: anthropologists. How does one acquire a noun-title based on a discipline, when does it start and when does it end? I am curious about this as I like the sound of saying "I'm a ________." It gives a bit of relief to one's existential crisis! But I've never heard of anyone calling themselves as such until the conference.

Besides that, I got to explore the city of Toronto. Things I liked: 

running into and talking to the owner of the original Kim’s Convenience, 

walking around with my nephew Arveen, 

eating delicious vegetarian Vietnamese food at #SaigonLotus, 

running into and exploring a very good camera shop #downtowncameratoronto, 

staying at a hostel above a jazz cafe, 

and being able to walk to the train station and take the train to the airport! 

Things I didn’t like: 

US-style macho aggressive driving/car culture. I saw too many cars pressuring pedestrians to hurry across the street. 

Also, the city’s leaders have sold the city to millionaires and speculators. There’s nowhere central or semi-central for middle- and lower-income residents (like the fictional and real owners of convenience stores) to live.

La aventura de aprender // DIY desde Madrid

Estas guías son una maravilla, sobre cómo podemos (tú, yo, nuestros estudiantes...) mejorar nuestros entornos. (En particular me parece que la guía de "hacer prototipos" nos puede servir a los académicos.) 
Otras maneras de pensar y hacer las cosas. ¡Nos están esperando maneras más inclusivas! 

nature and our current economic/education/culture crisis

yesterday I found two original talks on the relationship between nature and our current economic/education/culture crisis.
1) last night was "nit de museus", "night of museums", where approximately all 60 of barcelona's museums were free and open till 1 in the morning (!!). loooong lines all over the city. i feel awkward in museums, but my housemate wanted to see the catalan modernism museum, so i went along with him. inside the museum the motif of nature/organicity was prominent in the paintings, posters, sculptures, and furniture pieces created BY and FOR the affluent 19th century burguesía catalana. (below, a photo of a snail handle on a closet that i identified with.)
2) more accessible and less visual, our colleague iñaki prádanos has been sharing ideas on today´s society/culture/economy in relation to ecology. i read his recent research piece “Degrowth and Ecological Economics” and contains some useful ideas and practical PROPOSALS (that students, politicians, voters, educators, big business people could use) to improve the quality and health of our communities at a time when our current economic/political system can no longer IGNORE the ecological/economic catastrophes that it is rapidly creating (as if the planet’s resources were infinite). our leaders' depletion of our natural resources is closely related to you and me, if not at the core of the problems we study (unemployment, poverty, immigration, mental well-being, education, history, sexism, crime, healthy food, discrimination...etc.).
“The economic system is nothing but a subsystem embedded in, and dependent on, the system of the biosphere. […] An economic system based on constant economic growth, global massive urban development, and an ever faster production and consumption of commodities is undesirable, destructive, unendurable, and unrealistic.” (p.147)