CEforumTopic 6: Barack Obama, European Anthropologist?
Maureen Dowd's OP-ED in The New York Times (4 April 2009) purports President Obama as
"The First Shrink"
Could it also be . . .
"The First Anthropologist"?
Dowd reports, "Barack Obama grew up learning how to slip in and out of different worlds — black and white, foreign and American, rich and poor."
"The son of an anthropologist [Dr. Stanley Ann "Anna" Dunham Soetoro], he developed a lot of 'tricks,' as he put it, training himself to be a close observer of human nature, figuring out what others needed so he could get where he wanted to go."
And others have noted that "In an interview, Obama referred to his mother as 'the dominant figure in my formative years. . . . The values she taught me continue to be my touchstone when it comes to how I go about the world of politics." [President Obama's Mother, his primary anthropology teacher, did her Ph.D. Dissertation on "Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia" (University of Hawaii, 1992)]. Wikipedia
On his European tour President Obama will visit, London, Germany, Strasbourg (in France, and seat of many important European institutions), Prague, and Turkey.)
1. From what you can tell, is Maureen Dowd correct in suggesting that President Obama be extolled for his skill in the fields of Applied Anthropology and Psychology of Europe?
2. Why? Or, why not?
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REM: If you have any questions, you can post them on the CEforum
or bring them up in class
Dr. Willie Henderson, the Director of the Royal D. Alworth, Jr. Institute for International Studies will join us, and you will get to meet him and discuss some of the current key issues with him. He is most knowledgeable on international affairs, as one might expect, and is also a captivating speaker and great person. You will see.
Tuesday 7 April 2009: Italy:
The makings of a Metaphor (slides) to #73, insecurity leading to a fatalistic world view
Thursday 9 April 2009: Italy:
The makings of a Metaphor (slides) to #129, emotional and dramatic but evaluate carefully, and viewed video clip: "Love Italian-American-Style," excerpt from Episode 1: "Food & Life" of The Meaning of Food, PBS
(DVD 1700, 10 min., 2005)
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