Well, my name is Baylie and i'm a 4th year Sociology major with a concentration on social justice and social change. My research interests fall mostly within the subject of contemporary drug use and government policies, and any facet of deviance and crime. I fell in love with anthropology in my second year of college after reading an article on drug use by, in my opinion the best anthropologist on the subject (and a British Columbia native) Wade Davis. His rich background in ethnobotany, anthropology, and many field expeditions into regions and contact with tribes I can only dream of (hatian zombii's for example) led me to taking Erin's previous 392 course about Vikings. I enjoyed it so much that a course on death was the only logical next step for me. (I'm starting to think I should have taken a minor in anthro...)
Anyways, after taking Erin's fall Anthro course, I had to take "To the Grave and Beyond" as i've had a morbid obsession with death and cemeteries since I was a young child. A rather peaceful place, I was always interested in how different families in different regions and time periods valued different rituals, and ways of presenting their dead for the uncertain journey into the afterlife. It is the ritual, and the significance of such practices that I am most excited about in opening the dialogue for this course, for they explain a great deal about the belief systems for both during life, and the afterlife. My personal experiences with unnerving spiritual phenomena has also kept me interested in the study of different cultural beliefs of the spirit world and the afterlife, and that is what has brought me to this moment. At times my blog may ramble, but I will try to keep it as to the point as possible, but I am known to include some interesting/non-relevant tidbits as I go.
I hope you all enjoy this class as much as I am going to, and I look forward to working with some of you on our group project.
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