I have found the neatest article yet in my reading through academic literature in the search for potential programs and advisors.
Shannon Lee Dawdy's "Clockpunk Anthropology and the Ruins of Modernity" addresses just
tons of the things I'm interested in in urban anthropology. The importance of examing ruins as part of the lived experience. They symbolism of ruins. Architecture in general and the meanings embodied in the buildings of people like Le Corbusier and the Nazi architect Albert Scheer. She talks about an approach within the discipline that sees modernity as exceptional and distinct from the past, and why that's wrong. About how important it is to compare not just cross-culturally, but cross-temporally. The placement of ruins and the demolition of ruins within the urban political economy. Oh, and so much more stuff. She mentions the steampunk/clockpunk subculture and urban explorers. Even better, she describes particular academicians as being "....the intellectual equivalents of the UrbEx movement."
One of the quotes that most had me bouncing in my chair:
"Studying why and how ruins are not only made but also erased, commemorated, lived in, commodified, and recycled can tell us at least as much about society as the processes that created the original edifices. Often, a site's period of decline and vacancy is much longer than its Golden Age or peak of production. To ignore these
chapters is to ignore a substantial part of urban experience."
The best part? She's at the University of Chicago! Now, all else being equal, I'd rather live in New York City than Chicago. But all else is not equal. My partner Danae, with whom I've talked often about the difficulty of maintaining a relationship between two people in academia, is in Chicago. If I did a doctorate there, not only would I be able to see she and my sweetie Lisa much more regularly, but Danae and I might even be able to give living together a try; something that my current work and school situation precludes.
I'm not going to be too hasty here, but this woman's work sounds amazing. I'm going to find more by her, as well as start tracking down her citations to read. There's
so much here. I'm feeling almost unreservedly excited about this process right now for the first time since I started really working at it.
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That said, here's my picture of the day for you all! I'm looking
much less tired than in the one from yesterday, which I was apparently too tired to post before falling into bed. This one shows more of my hair! And a smile that actually looks kind of manic. I'm not always the best at posing.
Hair Down - Pic-a-day 20 June 2013
Copyright Stormdog 2013
