Catching Up... Week 2/20/2017

Hey Anthros!

Here is the run down for the past few meetings, as well as the plan for this week!

• On the 3rd of February our president, Cesar De La Portilla, hosted a student presentation and discussion over meme culture. This was a very interesting event and many members sent in funny, discussion worthy memes! We learned that Richard Dawkins, famous ethologist and evolutionary biologist, coined the term "meme" and defines it as "a unit of imitation for cultural replication." Would you agree that a meme acts as a self-replicating unit of culture?

If you would like the link to Cesar's power point presentation, or more information on meme and internet culture, please contact anthropeopleunt@gmail.com.

• At our third meeting on February 10th, we hosted a movie night and watched "The Anthropologist," a film about climate change. For a brief synopsis and review of the movie, click here. For a trailer, click here. 

• At last week's meeting we had a post-Valentine's Day celebration, complete with a giant bag of sour patch kids and a presentation on Cultural Perspectives of Love by our VP of Community Outreach, Jena Chakour. Jena gave us twenty-three definitions of love from cultures around the world, which ranged from the euphoria of falling from for someone to the sorrow of fearing your loved one will have to live on without you after you have passed away. We also enjoyed learning about different Valentine's Day traditions cross-culturally, including 'Valentine's Day, White Day, and Black Day" from Korea, where the Koreans celebrate not one, not two, but three sequences of Cupid's holiday! To learn more about this cultural practice, click here for a short YouTube video from Jena's power point. 

If you would like the link to Jena's power point presentation, or more information on cultural perspectives on love, please contact anthropeopleunt@gmail.com.

• A huge shoutout to those who came out last Thursday to volunteer at or attend the 2nd Annual Applied Anthropology Expo!  The department was very pleased with the turn out. The department brought out prizes, tons of free anthropology "swag," great food and refreshments provided by the UNT Verde catering services, and of course, amazing applied anthropology research! The alumni panel at the end consisted of business anthropologists, medical anthropologists, research analysts, agricultural sustainability directors, and NASA employees! We learned that anthropology can truly take you in any direction you please. 

UNT Applied Anthropology Alumni Panel

• And last, but not least, our next meeting is THIS Friday in BLB060 at 5pm! Notice the room change... Student activities switched our room on us rather suddenly last week, so we apologize greatly to those who were confused by this switch and missed the meeting! This week and for the rest of the semester, you can find us in BLB060 from 5-7pm. At this meeting, Jena Chakour (VP of Community Outreach) and Bridget Landis (VP of Finances) will present over how to utilize resources to obtain an undergraduate research position. Please come hear about this fascinating research, and get updates for the upcoming Big Event and Meet An Anthropologist! 

See you Friday! :-)