Lecture helps shed light on Afghan clime and culture

Penn students suggest everything from turning Afghanistan into a nuclear lake to ending the conflict through nonviolent discussion, but few of these recommendations reflect any sort of cultural understanding.

So Anthropology Professor Brian Spooner had some work cut out for him on Wednesday at "Afghanistan and the Taliban: A Cultural Briefing," an overview of the region's history and culture.

"Our aim was to provide educated people without any specialized knowledge with the information they need to develop informed opinions about the crisis," Spooner said.

The lecture, which filled the University Museum's Rainey Auditorium, falls under the department's new Anthropology and the Modern World initiative.

"This initiative was prompted by our feeling that undergraduate education is not preparing students to be world citizens," Anthropology Department Chairman Greg Urban said. "Part of this initiative... is to provide cultural briefings as flashpoints in the world emerge, with the idea that the media in general are ill-equipped to give a sense of cultural depth in any part of the world."

Certainly, the events of Sept.11 provided such a flashpoint, as well as a wakeup call.

"I would hope that September 11 would lead to a more conscious effort in university administrations to encourage the study of parts of the world, like Afghanistan, that receive very little attention," Spooner said.

Seven-year Anthropology Graduate Student Jacqueline Fewkes said she came to the lecture because she felt she did not have an adequate comprehension of the region and its conflicts.

"On the news, I think you tend to get immediate reactions of daily events, which is a very limited perspective," she said. "I was hoping to get a better understanding of the historical and cultural background of the region."

Nothing is scheduled yet, but Urban said that the initiative is already planning courses for this spring, including everything from "Witchcraft in the Modern World" to the "Medical Anthropology of Alcohol Use."

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