Comments for Time to Eat the Dogs

Comment on Anthropology of Expeditions: Travel, Visualities, Afterlives by Giants’ Shoulders #44: The Grand Bazaar Edition. | The Renaissance Mathematicus

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:04:56 +0000

[...] Robinson discusses the Anthropology of Expeditions at Time to Eat the [...]

Comment on Anthropology of Expeditions: Travel, Visualities, Afterlives by Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:12:23 +0000

Good post, Michael. You are right to talk back to the argument of her keynote which I don’t find persuasive either.

Comment on Anthropology of Expeditions: Travel, Visualities, Afterlives by beckyfh

beckyfh — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:27:55 +0000

I think you’re quite right to be suspicious of the chronology offered by this talk. If we think about maritime travel and exploration rather than land, there are a host of adventurous, romantic, scientific heroes. People like Henry Foster and James Clark Ross spring to mind, who were consciously presenting themselves as part of a tradition going back to Cook. The physical test, the authority of the eye-witness and the devotion to cause were hugely important.

Comment on Anthropology of Expeditions: Travel, Visualities, Afterlives by erika

erika — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:29:24 +0000

I think you are spot on here — great post. One way of getting access to the importance of “adventure” or “fieldwork” in any science may be to think about the kinds of scientific credibility travel endows. I wonder if it was (perhaps even continues to be) a way for people without official scientific credentialing to make a name for themselves. It could have offered, then, a parallel (albeit more localized) authority to that of museum curators with access to a broader range of specimens but without such deep local knowledge.

Comment on Anthropology of Expeditions: Travel, Visualities, Afterlives by Sarah L

Sarah L — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:15:05 +0000

Very interesting. This reminds me of all the “man confronts nature” stories I had to read in high school English classes. Too much Jack London and you start to assume one much face blizzards, floods, fires, mountains, and killer ants to be fully alive.

Comment on Anthropology of Expeditions: Travel, Visualities, Afterlives by fran

fran — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:08:22 +0000

So I happened to be teaching history of photography on Monday and talking about stereoscope images (start appearing about 1850, hit popularity through the 1880s; the one I own is from 1902, with a card collection from the 1880s-1900s). There are some of these anthropological images in there–the “documentation” of physical types and cultures. It really makes me wonder not just how these images shaped this scientific discussion but how it influenced home discussions–perpetuating certain stereotypes and expectations at the same time it must also have ignited the fire of some budding field scientists who started with these armchair travels.

Comment on The Greely Expedition by susie henry

susie henry — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:40:53 +0000

I’m sure it was. I have been trying to find the muster rolls for the ship in 1884, but still cannot find it.

Comment on The Greely Expedition by Michael Robinson

Michael Robinson — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:49:39 +0000

Thanks for the note Susie. It must have been quite an experience for your grandfather.

Comment on The Greely Expedition by susie henry

susie henry — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:48:26 +0000

My great-grandfather, Peter Johnson, was on the Thetis during the rescue. I have been collecting documents for years. I have a newspaper article interviewing him in New Jersey when he was an older man. Thanks for the article.

Comment on Prester John by Sigve R. Leland

Sigve R. Leland — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:15:07 +0000

Wasn’t the common assumption in Europe by the 15th century that Prester John was the emperor of Ethiopia? I’m not saying that’s where the myth originated, but I was under the impression that the myth was firmly associated with Ethiopia by that time.