Final Exam Today

Posted by Lance Gravlee on December 18, 2008 
Filed Under Exams | 6 Comments

As you know, the final exam is today, Thursday, December 18. It will be available on E-Learning until 7:00 p.m.

Several students have already noticed there was a formatting problem with one question, such that the correct answer was already indicated, and you are not able to select an answer. It’s an unfortunate error on our part, but the good news is that you will all receive credit for that question.

If you encounter any technical problems, please call the UF Computing Help Desk (392-HELP). You can also leave a comment here on the blog — we’ll monitor it throughout the day.

Good luck!

Readings for this week

Posted by Lance Gravlee on December 3, 2008 
Filed Under Announcements | 1 Comment

Several students and TAs noted a discrepancy between the PDF and HTML versions of the course schedule. Until a few moments ago, the version of the schedule here did not list a set of required articles available through ARES. These readings are fair game for the final exam, so please take time to read them.

Sexual violence in the Congo

Posted by Lance Gravlee on December 3, 2008 
Filed Under Class discussion | 2 Comments

In class today, we viewed the first 30 minutes of The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, a 76-minute documentary that debuted earlier this year. See my blog post from last semester for links to more information about the film and the filmmaker, Lisa Jackson.

As I noted in class, this film is important because it pulls together several themes of the course and connects us in a personal way to the suffering of rape victims in the DRC. It also draws attention to the ongoing conflict in the DRC, which has only begun to catch the attention of the mainstream media in the U.S. during the last few weeks.

I invite you to share your thoughts on the excerpt of the film we viewed today. How did you react to the stories of the men and women featured in the film? What differences and similarities did you observe between the people in the film and the filmmaker or other victims of sexual violence in the U.S.? What responsibility, if any, do you feel for the situation in the DRC? Do you think about your cell phone differently now? Do you think most Americans know enough about the war in the Congo or its causes and consequences? How does the film relate to our earlier discussion of structural violence and global health? Other thoughts?

Taking the final exam from afar

Posted by Lance Gravlee on December 3, 2008 
Filed Under Exams | 5 Comments

Several students have written to ask whether it will be possible to take the final exam from off-campus. In short, the answer is yes (but read on).

The final exam will be administered on E-Learning, as the first two exams were. That means that you are free to take the final exam from anywhere you have an Internet connection. But beware that some students have had technical problems with exams when using their own computers, and if you’re not in Gainesville, there will be a limit to what we can do to help you. My advice is to take the practice exam on our course’s E-Learning site on the same computer you plan to use for the final exam. If there’s a problem with your computer’s configuration, it’s better to find out now and try to deal with it ahead of time. If you detect a problem, please contact the UF Computing Help Desk (392-HELP) — the sooner, the better.

If you have any questions or concerns, leave a comment to let us know.

Update (12/4): A couple of students have asked via email about the format of the final exam. Like the previous two exams, it will consist of 60 questions, and you will have 50 minutes to complete it. The exam will be available on E-Learning from 7:00 a.m – 7:00 p.m. on December 18.

No discussion or lecture on Wednesday

Posted by Lance Gravlee on November 24, 2008 
Filed Under Announcements | Comments Off

In a change of heart, I have decided to cancel both lecture and discussion sections this Wednesday, November 26. Our Wednesday sections normally run late into the day, making it difficult for those of you with Wednesday sections to get home by Thanksgiving, if you wanted to. Some of you were probably planning to leave town by Wednesday anyhow — but now you can do so without worrying about missing class. Happy Thanksgiving.

‘Passion & Power: The Technology of Orgasm’

Posted by Sarah Cervone on November 11, 2008 
Filed Under Events | 2 Comments

From November 14–20, the film Passion & Power: The Technology of Orgasm will be playing at the Hippodrome State Theatre.

This is the story of one simple invention, the vibrator, and its relationship to one complex human behavior, the female orgasm. The history of the vibrator and its medical use had virtually vanished until historian, Rachel Maines, researching needlework patterns in early 20th century women’s magazines, ran across ads for electric vibrators.

Piquing her curiosity, she traced the origins of this early electrified appliance and made an astonishing discovery. Under the guise of a medical treatment, Victorian doctors had used vibrators to relieve women of symptoms of hysteria. Symptoms of hysteria were vague – being cranky, reading French novels while wearing tight corsets, etc. It was a disease manufactured by doctors creating a lucrative clientele and a mutually camouflaged procedure that satisfied both. This film looks at the evolution of women’s sexual satisfaction from its use by Victorian doctors to its resurgence during the sexual revolution of the 1970s and on to its status today, when in some states laws still exist that restrict the number of vibrators one may own. 2008/ 74 mins/ USA/ NR

For viewing times and ticket prices visit the Hippodrome website.

Exam today on E-Learning

Posted by Lance Gravlee on November 7, 2008 
Filed Under Exams | Comments Off

As you know, the second exam is available today on E-Learning. You have until 7:00 p.m. today to complete the exam.

If you encounter any technical problems with the exam, please contact the UF Computing Help Desk at 392-HELP. If they are unable to solve your problem, be sure to get a ticket number from them, and then contact me directly.

Good luck!

See film XXY at the Hipp until today only

Posted by Rachel Harvey on October 30, 2008 
Filed Under Events | 2 Comments

xxy poster
XXY, an award winning film about an intersex child, is playing downtown at the Hippodrome now through Thursday, October 30th.

“For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15-year-old Alex who was born an intersex child. As Alex begins to explore her sexuality, her mother invites friends from Buenos Aires to come for a visit at their house on the gorgeous Uruguayan shore, along with their 16-year-old son Ãlvaro. Alex is immediately attracted to the young man, which adds yet another level of complexity to her personal search for identity. This sharp directorial debut by Lucia Puenzo treats the challenging subject of intersexuality with intelligence and sensitivity. 91mins/ 2007/ Spanish/ subtitles”

Special performance in class on Monday

Posted by Lance Gravlee on October 26, 2008 
Filed Under Events | 18 Comments

In class on Monday, we will be treated to a special performance of Birth, a critically acclaimed play based on interviews playwright Karen Brody conducted with mothers across America who gave birth between 2000 and 2004. Birth tells the true stories of eight women, painting a portrait of how low-risk, educated women are giving birth in America today. The performance will be followed by a talkback session, which will facilitate an interactive discussion on birthing issues, the subject of this week’s readings.

Special lecture Monday: Sex and violence

Posted by Lance Gravlee on October 26, 2008 
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On Monday, October 27, Professor Neil Whitehead of the University of Wisconsin will deliver the 2008 of the Marvin Harris Lecture. The title of the presentation is “Blood Jewel: A Performative Ethnography of Sex and Violence.”

This special event will take place at 5:30 p.m. in Weil 270. Here’s the abstract:

This talk will discuss recent performative ethnographic work in the Goth/Industrial music scene as the band “Blood Jewel” and how through the medium of cyber space this has led to different kinds of engagements with ethnographic “subjects”. The cultural meanings of sexual and violent representation, challenges to normative sexualities, and the emergence of digital subjectivities and ontologies are then examined in relation to the emergence of a post-human anthropology.

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