March 30, 2011: Time Log

90 min- Reviewing and writing up reviews on this weeks sources, Daily Advice from the Heart and The Tibetan Book of the Dead.

30 min- Writing this weeks journal

120- Attending a PowerPoint presentation from a guy who just got back from India last week with Hailey

60 min- Meeting with Professor Bennion and getting my last coarse contract, ENGL 317R Creative Nonfiction.

60 min- Attending a safety and security meeting for facilitators

60 min- Eating at the India Palace and talking with some people who went on the Dharamsala field study last year

90 min- Revising my IRB draft

10 min- Setting up a class visit

Total-520 minutes

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Of all my preparations for India, this book was one of the most enjoyable.  Not necessarily because it is full of the easiest concepts to grasp, but because my particular addition is full of gorgeous pictures and illustrations.

You could see how this could be more enjoyable, but also insightful.  This was the first time I realized just how different Tantric, or Tibetan Buddhism, was going to be compared to all the other forms that I had learned about and experienced.  The images are very bright, and many times they are not the happiest sorts of pictures.  There are many demons, blood thirsty villains, bodies half devoured, pictures of a hell kind of depiction, and the list goes on.  In many ways it reminds me of some of the Hindu art I have seen.  The book explains that the reason they are so terrifying is so that people remember that they have to be on their guard and protect themselves from falling off the path by negative influence.

Other things I learned from the book were that the Tibetan Book of the Dead is very similar to the Egyptian Book of the Dead.  There is an almost undeniable relationship between the two, which I think is very interesting to consider.  In many ways, it looks as though Tibetans are obsessed with death, but I think a better way to look at it is to see that they are actually really obsessed with life and getting out of the cycle of reincarnation. 

It is not a thin book, but it is these doctrines that I would like to do more exploration on.  I wonder how these original Tibetan religious influences impacted their present day Buddhism and what that process looked like. 

Hillis, Gregory.  The Tibetan Book of the Dead.  New York: Metro Books, 2008.  Print.

Daily Advice From the Heart- 365 by the Dalai Lama

Sometimes I freak out that I have to get two sources a week for our preparation class, but as of right now I am actually really excited about it.  I've finally come to realize that finding sources does not necessarily mean that I need to find something that has everything to do with the exact topic I am studying.  In fact, it can be about the location I am going to, the religion of the people, and a world more.

This little book, Daily Advice From the Heart, is one of those kind of sources.  I've had it for awhile, but I have never had the time to look through it too intensely. It is stocked full of quotes for just about every stage and phase of life. Every time I pick up this book I find myself surprised.  I think it is easy to say that all religions have certain fragments of truth and and a similar core in the right spirit, but I think it is also important to recognize that there really are differences that cannot be missed.  For me, this is how I realized what the 8 Fold Path means as far as where attachment is concerned.  There is still a lot with this doctrine I do not completely understand.  I know that it is something I will definitely look into when I get to Dharamsala and get to know their beliefs on a more personal level.

Just an observation, the advice is very practical.  His Holiness seems to give advice that anyone can apply to their lives.  It is not wrapped up in theoretical mumbojumbo.  In many ways it is like a step by step guide through living the happiest life possible.

I've decided that I want to incorporate this into my scripture study each night.  Not replace it or anything, but just get into that mind set.  It is meant to be read daily, so why would I not do just that?

Lama, Dalai XIV.  Daily Advice from the Heart.  New York: Metro Books,  2003.  Print. 

March 30, 2011: Learning Journal 11

I am going a little out of my norm to write a journal first before I do my weekly sources.  I am doing this for a number of reasons.  Most notable, however, is that I have a burning desire to write and figure out what my experience in India looks like to me.

This past week has been crazy.  I feel like my world has been knocked off it's axis.  I feel like I have surrendered but that life is still shooting at me.  I am dragging my feet on so many things simply because I have a serious side ache and do not know how I can keep on running.

This week has been panic mode in terms of India.  On Sunday, I went with my friend, Hailey, who is also going to India with me, to a slide show presentation of a guy who just got back from India.  It was not so much what he said, but the images that stirred something in me.  The videos too.  It just made me realize that I am leaving in just a little over a month, and putting the number on it really makes it seem all too close.  How can I be leaving in a month?  Why is my visa not taking care of itself?  My immunizations?  IRB?  State of mind for crying out loud?  And hey, don't I have finals or something like that coming up around the bend?

March 16, 2011 PLUS March 23, 2011: Time Log

400 min- Preparing and presenting at the Inquiry Conference

360 min- Attending the Inquiry Conference

90 min- Finding this week's bibliography sources.  The photojournalist blog and The Art of the Personal Essay.

60 min- Writing this week's journal and time log

90 min- Doing mini project interview and write up

60 min- Setting up Digital Civilization course contract with Dr. Burton

60 min- Setting up Directed Readings course contract with Dr. Eastly

60 min- Finding information and emailing housing coordinators in Dharamsala

Total- 1010 minutes!

March 23, 2011: Learning Journal 10

It has been too long since I wrote a learning journal on this blog.  I never thought I would say that... but really, SO much has happened in two weeks.

First, let me say that I think that the inquiry conference was a great success!  My presentation went smooth, I actually won first place for the people's choice contest in the art show, and there were so many great presenters that aided my understanding of field studies.  Stay tuned and we'll get some recordings up!

Vice President Rogers gave a great presentation that had a lot of great advice and lessons that corresponded with field studies.  She talked about nurses wanting "good patients," or patients who were nice to them.  She found this interesting, because it meant that the patients were the ones taking care of the nurses.  In a field study context, I think this could work with a good informant.  What makes a good informant?  I think that it might be a little different than a patient, but it certainly is not someone who is just there to make sure you are taken care of and sheltered in your world view.  You need someone who genuinely cares but who is willing to tell you the truth and tell you when you are doing it wrong.

Mini Project: Part 2

As part of our mini projects Ashley assigned us, I chose to look at reasons why people choose to not go on  international study programs, and if they do, what factors influence what program they go with.

Since class was canceled because of the Inquiry Conference, we were supposed to do an hour of work on our particular projects.  Not too hard, right?  But then Ashely told us that we need to make our approach similar to what we are doing in the field.  Hmm... Now it suddenly is complicated.

My project is going to be different than the typical field study.  Yes, I am doing questions, but it is extremely informal and requires multiple encounters.  Participant observation is also something I will need in order to do a creative writing project.  However, given my mini project, I figured that participant observation is not really going to help me much.  At least, from just wandering around on campus. 

The only way I could figure out how to make this activity useful to my field experience in India was to only interview one person, and have it be someone that I could establish rapport with.  I tried doing various interviews in the WILK with just random undergraduate students waiting for their food, studying, etc, but it was awkward and did not facilitate any kind of deeper discussion. 

Rather than that approach, I chose to interview someone who I was previously introduced to.  I did not know him well, but I did know that he was envious of me for getting to go on several international study programs.  I decided to follow up with him.

Life in Exile in Dharamsala: by Shiho Fukada and Ed Wrong

Thanks to my friend, Jay, I found one of the coolest sources yet!  It is called the Life in Exile in Dharamsala, and it is a blog put together by a guy named Ed Wrong (text) and a photojournalist, Shiho Fukada, from the New York Times.

I find this source very refreshing.  I often feel like the photographic component of my project is left in the dust while I am always scrambling to find sources on writing or information about the location I am going to.  Here I get images.  Good pictures.  The kinds of images that I might be able to experience and also photograph (if I am lucky). 

For example, I can tell that this photographer did not use any artificial lighting.  It is all natural, which is what I use to photograph.  I guess it is nice to see that you can get good images even if you are not taking in the best and fanciest equipment in to the field.  I always knew that, but it is nice to have it validated. 

I am also noticing that a lot of the images are with people and places on the street (which turned out awesome!), but there are several with the Dalai Lama.  More than several.  I wonder how he was able to gain access to the point where he could photograph him.  That is the best part though-since it is a blog, I can ask!  It is immediate, and I have a good chance of having a discussion with him where I might not have otherwise. 

This source was encouraging.  I struggled a lot with photography when I was in Ghana last summer, but I based on the lessons I learned the hard way there I was hoping to do a better job of it in Dharamsala this summer. 

Dukada, Shiho.  "Life in Exile in Dharmsala" Photoshelter. 11 Mar. 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.

The Art of the Personal Essay: by Phillip Lopate

This book was recommended to me by my mentor, Dr. Burton.  Still frustrated that I have not been successful in finding someone in the English department willing to oversee my creative nonfiction course contract, this was a nice source to look through to get myself geared up for it.

What I like about this book is that it has 75 of examples of the personal essay and how it has evolved through time.  I was pleased to see that Walter Benjamin, someone I have been extremely fascinated with for my previous project in Ghana, had a few essays himself in it.  Another great feature is that it contains essays from both the East and the West, which is always good for someone looking at going to India of all places.

I think that this will be most directly beneficial for me not necessarily because of the content, but because of the form.  From my travel writing class I took in the field last year, I learned a lot about using other authors forms and attempting learning exercises and imitations off of those forms.  My mentor described it is as trying on different clothes.  Some will look absolutely ridiculous, some you would never in a million years try on, but it is fun to just try it.  You never know, sometimes you are pleasantly surprised by what you find.  I know that through those writing models I was able to learn much more about my own style.  I definitely integrated some other elements into my writing that I had not before. 

The moral of the story is that I think this is one of those books.  I do not have to agree with all the essays.  I do not have to just merely enjoy them.  I can learn from them and apply them to my own essay writing.  Now I just need to find someone to oversee that contract in literary nonfiction... Any ideas?


Lopate, Phillip.  The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present.  New York: Anchor Books, 1994. Print.

March 16, 2011: Time Log

See log for March 23, 2011.  I combined the two.

March 16, 2011: Learning Journal 9

As far as news, the Dalai Lama renounced his political leadership position, which will have all kinds of implications in Dharamsala.  I am interested to learn more about it since it is relatively new news.

This week was also a big one for being a field facilitator.  I emailed the housing coordinator and am waiting to hear back, but it just makes it so much more real making that first step.  Today we are doing a safety training at 3, which is something I have been thinking about for awhile.  Aside from having a rouge student, having to deal with a natural disaster, etc is one of the biggest fears about being a facilitator.  Stay tuned for more on that.

And on top of all of this, IRB and course contracts were supposed to be due.  I am still struggling to find someone to oversee my creative nonfiction contract.  It is stressful because in many ways I feel like this will be the most important part of my project.  I want it to be good, but what happens if I do not find anyone to work with me? 

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to watch a documentary called 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama with my roommate Maggie.  It was really informational, and great for expanding some of the things I am including in my bibliography!  There was a lot in there about Dharamsala, the location I will be going to in just three short months, and more history about the path to exile the Tibetans faced.

In general I enjoyed the material, especially learning more about the personality of His Holiness.  He is really modern, and the film mentioned that when a debate between science and belief come up, he usually sides with science.  He is also not the biggest fan of big parties and festive holidays, which are abundant in Tibetan culture (especially when they are for himself!)  You see him in the video fidgeting with something near him or laughing out loud, and it is just so endearing.  He is a real person, and to be honest he sounds and seems a lot like my idea of Yoda.  I am not sure that is very culturally sensitive....

One thing that I did not like about the documentary was some of the commentary of Rick Ray.  I could not help but wish this guy took the prep course, or some kind of course, to try and break away from his American paradigm.  I feel like the whole time he is trying to fight it by saying "America is bad for not doing this or that" but then he makes sweeping accusations like a smile = being happy, poor people in India are happier than the rich, etc.

I did, however, learn a lot more about the background behind the flee to India.  The Chinese invasion was a lot more brutal (according to this documentary) than I realized.  I also did not know that Google and other search engines and media were paid off by the Chinese to only pull up government approved sources about the Dalai Lama.  From an economical standpoint, Tibet has little to offer and it is a "moral decision" as the Dalai Lama told US congress, but money talks.  I also did not know that the next Dalai Lama was chosen, then captured by the Chinese as the youngest political prisoner in the world (hasn't been seen since), and that the Chinese instituted their own in an effort to control the Tibetans by hand selecting the next leader.  This is why the position of the Dalai Lama very well may end with the 14th.  Yet, I do not know how the people and culture can survive without that leadership role.  Hard situations...

This documentary did give me something else I did not anticipate- hope that maybe I could request an appearance with the H.H with my group.  It is a stretch, but if I email in advance like this guy did and explain that we are students really interested in this culture, maybe we could be granted the request.  If I had two minutes with him, what would I ask him?  How would I show him that I really was interested?  What would it feel like?  Anyways, it is worth a shot!

How to be a Mormon Abroad...

I cannot say enough about this blog post, so I am going to let Nephi Henry, the author of it, say it for me.  It might not be a conventional source for a bibliography, but for my personal needs I think it is really rich.  I am just copying and pasting his insights about religion in India.  I found it very helpful for some of my own concerns and big questions.

"My crisis this summer: Is my God in India? Was my idea of God an exclusive, ethnocentric view, blind to whatever truths might be around me just because I wasn't in a place where my American God wasn't immediately available? In a lot of ways, the answer to that question was yes: I couldn't find much of anything in India that I could easily call God. I had learned to call God a Being I could contact and get in touch with when I was alone with my thoughts, in a quiet or remote place. In India that type of situation seemed impossible to find. God for me had been a Father, in some very literal sense of the word, and I was to be like Him. Nothing around me indicated that possibility at all. It had me distressed - until, that is, my final night in India. That night, almost exactly a month ago as I write this now, I came to understand that God understands and appreciates cultures, and reveals truth within cultural contexts to allow humans to live moral, beautiful lives full of light.

Inquiry Conference

The 2011 BYU Inquiry Conference is HERE!!!!

I am presenting at 10 AM on Friday to talk about my experience in Ghana, Africa last summer.  I am doing a very similar project in India, and it will probably make a lot more sense if you understood what I was doing in Ghana.  I am also participating in a panel discussion talking about some of the ethics of travel photography later that morning.

In addition, I have two photographs at the art show.  This one you see here is one of them.  There is a people's choice award that I am looking to get and need YOUR help! 

At the very least, there are some great keynote speakers that you should check out.  Hope to see many of you there!

Rachel

Email from Professor Burton: Checking in July 3, 2011

Here is part of an email offering more advice on connecting and the importance of social discovery from my field study faculty mentor, Dr. Burton.

Rachel:

When will you all be headed to Amritsar?

Are you finding other creative writers abroad? Not just in India? And I do want to encourage you to diversify your means of social discovery, particularly by thinking in terms of "marketing" your experience. If you haven't already, review my post on Social Discovery (http://digitalcivilization.blogspot.com/2010/11/social-discovery.html). And as you can, browse my recent students' blog posts relating to that from Spring (especially the ones where they commented on finding people to invite to our webinar or to read our eBook). I know this seems like I'm beating a dead horse, but if there is anything I would change in my teaching it would be accelerating this and expanding it. Social discovery is both finding and telling, so keep it up and keep me posted. Tried reaching out to various educators?

Check in again soon.

Dr. Burton

(From a church parking lot in Culpeper, Virginia)

Sent from my iPad

March 9, 2011: Time Log

240 min- writing up second IRB draft

60 min- finding and writing up reviews on two new sources for bibliography, Hamlet and Tibetan Folk Tales

45 min- writing weekly learning journal and this time log post

60 min- attending field facilitator training on March 7, 2011

60 min- emailing faculty and looking up potential course contracts (meeting with Professor Burton tomorrow.. wait... it is 3 AM... I mean in 12 hours)

More things that I do not remember in this state of mind....

Total: 465 minutes

March 9, 2011: Learning Journal 8

Remember that time Ashley told us that we were not supposed to lose sleep over our literature reviews and project proposals?  Well, I do not think she was referring to the IRB process.  It is almost two in the morning.  I have been sitting at this screen for hours drafting my second version, and when I finally finish this I am going to study for a Spanish test.  I write a disclaimer just so you know that this might not be the most coherent journal.  

I do have a lot to talk about from this week, however.  We had a facilitator training two days ago that Margaret conducted that looked at how each of us deal with conflict, stress, and communicate with others. Maybe my little stressed out rant is not so random after all.  This is one way I deal with stress.  I write.  However, you can also see that I am a serious perfectionist, and will continue to stay up however late to make sure that I never have a late assignment on my record.  I do not think this is healthy, and I do not recommend it.  Any suggestions?

Anyways.  Between all of us facilitators, we tend to be the kind of people who take on a lot of responsibility, even when it is not necessary.  In the context of a field facilitator, this could be a serious issue.  One of the things that they try and get into my brain is that I am not responsible for others experience, and I am not!  Still, what if someone decides they hate India and never want to leave the house again, or someone stays out too late, keeps breaking the rules after fruitless warnings, etc.  Surely I cannot let the weight of those personal problems impose on my own experience, but it is easy to articulate than do in practice.  I just want all of the students to have an amazing time.  I want everyone to be happy.  I want to be a good facilitator, etc.  But this I know will be something that I struggle with.  It was nice to get a lesson on it so that I can start preparing for that now.

As a part of this lesson, each of us did a bit of a personality test that looked at how we deal with conflict and react in stressful situations.  I am slightly addicted to personality tests if you know me at all, so I am going to happily record my results here. I wish I could say where this thing came from, but I forgot to make note of it and for whatever reason my computer is refusing to open up the attachment to find out.

From a list of categories, you were graded on a scale from 0-3, zero being not existent and 3 being the max.  I found that I had 2 points in withdrawing (which I can see sometimes, but I have zero points in avoiding, which is also really true.  I can thank my step-mom, my Okasan, for that one, so glad I learned to deal with conflict sooner than later.)

I also had 3 points for starting with heart (too true), learning to look, making it safe, mastering my story, and exploring others paths.

I got 2 points on stating my path and moving to action

No points with avoiding, masking, controlling, labeling, and attacking.

Which I think is a good thing.  I think that developing a good approach when dealing with stress and conflict is important because most people will not listen, and will just despise you for your criticism, if you go about it the wrong way.  There is a lot of stress that can go on in the field, and I just hope that I can find a balance with everyone where I can help them enjoy their experience but also have those conversations if they need to come up.

 We all have different styles of facilitating.  I am curious to see what mine will look like, but I am pretty sure that this lesson revealed a lot of it to me.

Tibetan Folk Talkes: by Frederick and Aubry Hyde-Chambers

Jack POT!  I have discovered an anthology of Tibetan folktales!  I am so excited!

This work is taken from the ancient oral tradition and is packed with imagination, color, and wisdom-filled stories that are for all people of all ages.  It includes the Tibetan creation myth (which would be really interesting to read all the way through), and also some of the famous Jataka tales and stories form the former lives of the Buddha.  Of course, the most popular being the one most closely associated with Tibet, the great epic of King Gesar of Ling, "the warrior who became a national hero."  I have only had time to skim so far, but I can tell it is going to be a great read.

It might not seem directly applicable to the literature I have been collecting, but if stories do make up our identity (the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves), then wouldn't these traditional tales be rather revealing about the Tibetan people, at least in some degree?  I tend to believe so.

 This discovery got me thinking about my own project and my own paradigm of cautionary tales, etc.  The Brothers Grimm for example.  When I went rock climbing with a friend last week she was telling me that these brothers got their stories from traveling all over the world and documenting their stories.  I have got to look more into this, because I feel like I am attempting this in some degree (except no the world, and not necessarily mythical stories, but rather the lived experience).  Anyways, I think I found my next source for next week. :)

Hamlet: By William Shakespeare

I never would have guessed that Hamlet would be something I would throw into my sources, but lo and behold I found a great quote that could be a great argument, or at least a hook for a literature review in my project proposal.  It currently sits in my IRB second draft, but I know they do not like the cute-y stuff, so we'll see if it there for the final draft. 

This quote comes in during the final scene where Hamlet is on the verge of death.  Horatio is really upset and threatens to take his own life when Hamlet says:

"If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,

Absent thee from felicity awhile,

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain

To tell my story"

I guess it really just got me that this was one of his top concerns when he was on his death bed.  It had nothing to do with his unfinished business or messages to people (if there were any people he knew left by the end), but I think Hamlet knew the importance of stories.  This took me on a great stream of thought.  Why do we love stories so much as children?  Why did Jesus preach in parables?  Why are the gospels written by four different people on the same topic, but yet reveal very different perspectives?  There is some value to this.  Some method to the madness if you will.

Isn't it great!?  Hamlet always seems to have an answer to everything.

Shakespeare, William.  Hamlet.  New York: Bantam Books, 1980.  Print.

IRB Application: Draft 2

Application for the Use of Human Subjects

Part A  Application Information (Only typed applications will be reviewed; submit 2, unstapled copies to ORCA in A-285 ASB)

1.  Title of the Study: A Collection of Stories and Memoirs from the People of Dharamsala, India      
2.  Principal Investigator: Rachel Rueckert    3.  Contact Person:
(if different from PI):      
Title: Undergraduate Student    Dept: English    Title:    Dept:      
Address (+ ZIP): 489 Sandy Oaks Drive
Sandy, Utah, 84070    Address (+ Zip):
      
Phone:801-916-5211    Email: racheladventure@gmail.com    Phone:    Email:      
4.  Co-Investigator(s): Gideon Burton, English Professor
(Name & Affiliation)      
5.  Research Originated By:   (Check One)            ~ Faculty               X~Student               ~ Staff      
6.  Research Purpose(Check All that Apply):        ~ Grant          ~ Dissertation        ~ Thesis               
~ ORCA Scholarship       ~ Honors Thesis    ~  Course Project: Which Course?
      
7.  Correspondence Request:         ~ Mail            X~ Call for Pick-Up             

Part B  Research Study Synopsis

1.  Brief Study Description (Include Purpose of the Research):
  Stories are an essential part of the human experience, both wonderful and terrifying in their possibilities.  In order to understand this universal narrative, I want to write a creative project that encompasses two things.  First, I want to record stories from the population that makes up the unique city of Dharamsala, India, and second, I want to gain a better understanding of the nature of stories.  In order to put these narratives into perspective, I will also be constructing a personal narrative that highlights some of the limitations of my own subjective experience abroad to better understand the nature of stories.        
2.  Study Length

Mini Project

Ashley, the coordinator of field studies, has encouraged the field facilitators to create a mini project to get practice and skills about the things we will need when we are in our own fields.  I like this idea, since role playing in the classroom can only take us so far.  Here is my idea.

I want to figure out what the level of awareness is of undergraduate students about the different international opportunities available to them, as well as what factors encourage or discourage them from applying.  I figure I will gather some informal interviews, and maybe do some participant observation (though I am not quite sure how that will work), but it is something I actually really am interested in.  Stay tuned for more information!

March 3, 2011: Time Log

50 min- attending the facilitator class on February 23rd

50 min- attending my first field facilitator training on February 25th

120 min- gathering and reading through weekly sources (The Art of Happiness and Selections of Tales)

45 min- writing up weekly journal and this time log

60 min- figuring out travel plans

Total:  325 min

March 2, 2011: Learning Journal 7

To kick things off, I think that the most interesting thing I have learned about this week is reciprocity.  My good friend Maggie wrote a great blogspot about it that pretty much summarizes all of the things I felt when I went to Ghana, Africa last summer.  I highly encourage anyone to read it.

Reciprocity was also something we had the opportunity of discussing in the prep class on Monday.  Dave Shuller, the previous field studies coordinator, came in and gave us a brief lesson on it.  Reciprocity is really just a fancy way of saying the give and take in society, but it is something we as Americans are not so good with.  He says that the word itself needs to be fancy because then we will think about it more.  Some powerful rhetoric that we use over and over loses meaning, but he argued that this particular word is unique so that it will keep us thinking about this subject.

Dave said that the reason why Americans are not really great with reciprocity is because we operate on a contract system.  I've talked about this in my Peoples of India class too.  We seem to all act as contracting, independent individuals.  We see time as money, and money as the exchange for pretty much everything.  However, other cultures are much more interested in kinship.  Time is an investment, and being a part of a family is necessary.  Merely paying off our host family and getting them a nice present is not going to cut it.  That is not reciprocity.  That is the exchange of goods, what we are used to.

I wish that I could have learned more from Dave, and maybe I will get a chance to talk to him about it again, but a good recommendation he had was to bring a photograph.  As many issues as I sometimes have about the ethics of photography, it really is a great thing in a number of ways.  For one, I think it is a great ice breaker when it comes to getting into the community, and for reciprocity it is also priceless.  It is something that means just a little bit more than the average gift, and I think it can be appreciated for the most part across the board.

Still, this is such a sticky subject I do not know what to do about it this time around.  Do you have any ideas about proper reciprocity?  It would be nice to find something specific to Tibetans as well...

Speaking of community access, another important thing we discussed in class was the National Geographic photographer,  Stephanie Sinclair, who looked at the FLDS population.  She has some great insights in this interview about gaining access to the community.  As a photographer, this really speaks to me.  I never felt like I was able to really be okay taking pictures when I was in Ghana, and to hear how many months it took for her to get to that point helped me remember my limitations.  She also worked through a few gatekeepers, or people she had to get permissions from (such as the prophet, etc), and it was only then that she was able to do her work.  She had to go through this process through every different community she went to, but in the end she got some amazing footage that no one else has ever captured before.  In class we also talked about how humor was something that can help in getting access to a community.  For her, it was pretending to fall off a ladder in order to get some great smiles for that awesome first picture.

As far as other updates, I have completed my first IRB draft and am glad to report that I have not forgotten everything that I learned last year during the process.  I think this will be a much cleaner project, so maybe I will not have to go full board this time around.  I have gathered some pretty sweet sources for the week, including an official citation to why stories are important to this particular community.  Finally found it!  I am still looking for more support for that argument though.  Doing this makes me stop and look at my own paradigm and figure out what stories mean to our culture, and what they mean to me personally.  I am so excited to start this project!

And the best part?  It is really happening.  I bought my plane ticket and everything.  I am going a week earlier than my group to set up housing, and my friend Hailey (doing a field study in Deli) is coming with me!  After the program I am doing about 5 days of travel in North India, then I am doing four days in France and 4 days in Rome!  I am one lucky, happy girl.

Tales of a Dalai Lama and Tales of Uncle Tompa

I found a few different sources I want to look more into that are off the beaten trail.  Still looking for more evidence that the Dalai Lama encourages incoming refugees to tell their stories to the world, I came across two interesting books.  Tales of a Dalai Lama and Tales of Uncle Tompa.  Both are fictional, but could give me some great insights about the use of story in a Tibetan setting.

The first, Tales of a Dalai Lama is pretty didactic and is packed with cautionary tales.  It is supposed to be more religious and philosophical in nature, and in the beginning the author admits to not knowing much about Tibetan Buddhism.  This book also references some other religious texts like it to look into, like Mulla Nasrudin, the jataka tales, rabbinical midrashim etc.  Until now I did not even know that these existed.  This could make for some great reading before and during my field experience.  I am sure there is a lot to learn.

The Tales of Uncle Tompa, however, are supposed to be really funny.  It is less focused on the spiritual and more on a unique Tibetan humor.  All things regarding my project put aside, I think that humor is one of the hardest things to grasp when doing cross cultural interaction.  Reading this book could really get me a head start on that.

Apparently Uncle Tompa is a humorous collection of folktales about a rogue who is somehow spiritual despite being a little rough.  It is supposed to capitulate the everyday lives of Tibetans, which intrigues me more than many of the other sources I have come across.  Plus, it has pictures!  Can you really beat that?

Again, some more sources I want to look more into not just for their value in a literature review, but just for entertainment sake and better understanding the population I will be living with in just two short months time!

Delattre, Pierre.  Tales of a Dalai Lama:  Standpoint:  Lost Horse Press, 1999.  Print.

Dorje, Rinjing.  Tales of Uncle Tompa:  New York:  Barrytown Limited, 1997.  Print.

The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for living by the Dalai Lama

I landed on another great source!  I finally found a book that I can cite that talks about the Dalai Lama encouraging people to tell stories.  In fact, he is the one who wrote it!

The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living is by the 14th Dalai Lama.  It is made for all audiences, no matter where they are at in their personal journey.  He says that "Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, the very purpose of our life is happiness, the very motion of our life is towards happiness." 

As a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, His Holiness uses this book to talk about the things that bring inner peace and the keys to building a happy life.  This book is interesting though because it combines Buddhist philosophy with a Western psychiatrist (Cutler).  


One of the most important things I can gather from this book is that through meditations, stories, and the meeting of Buddhism and psychology, we can learn to defeat day-to-day depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy, or just an ordinary bad mood. In this book we have discussion on relationships, health, family, work, etc to show us how to get over the mundane and make life meaningful. 

Not only is this going to be a good source as far as finding the answer to the great question of where encouragement for telling stories is quoted, but I also think it is straight up interesting.  I am really fascinated with depression, and I think a Buddhist take on it will be an interesting read.  It is definitely going on my "to read" shelf on goodreads.com.  Hopefully I can add it to one of my course contracts and read it in the field as well.

Lama, Dalai.  The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living:  New York: Riverhead Books, 1998.  Print.

IRB Application: Draft 1

It is hard to believe that the IRB application is already here! The IRB is a review board on campus that ensures that all human subjects research is ethical. I have a lot of work to do. I know that somewhere on this thing I am supposed to write my methods and literature review, but I am not quite sure where? Anyone have any ideas? It is easier to fill out this time though, so that is really nice.

Application for the Use of Human Subjects
Part A  Application Information (Only typed applications will be reviewed; submit 2, unstapled copies to ORCA in A-285 ASB) Fill in every item For help completing this application, click here

1.  Title of the Study: A Portrait of Dharamsala:  A Collection of Short Stories      
2.  Principal Investigator: Rachel Rueckert    3.  Contact Person:
(if different from PI):      
Title: Student    Dept: English    Title:    Dept:      
Address (+ ZIP): 489 Sandy Oaks Drive
Sandy, Utah, 84070    Address (+ Zip):
      
Phone:801-916-5211    Email: racheladventure@gmail.com    Phone:    Email:      
4.  Co-Investigator(s): Gideon Burton, English Professor
(Name & Affiliation)      
5.  Research Originated By:   (Check One)            ~ Faculty               X~Student               ~ Staff      
6.  Research Purpose(Check All that Apply):        ~ Grant          ~ Dissertation        ~ Thesis               
~ ORCA Scholarship       ~ Honors Thesis    ~  Course Project: Which Course?
      
7.  Correspondence Request:         ~ Mail            X~ Call for Pick-Up             

Part B  Research Study Synopsis

1.  Brief Study Description (Include Purpose of the Research):
  Because stories are such an important part of the human experience, I am going to gather stories about the population that makes up Dharamsala, India.  As part of that, I also want to better understand the nature of storytelling and the authenticity of our experiences abroad.
      
2.  Study Length
     What is the duration of the study? (mm/yr to mm/yr format)01/2011-04/2011 for prep class, 05/2011-09/2011 for work in the field, and 09-12/2011 for post field write ups.      
3.  Location of Research
   a.  Where will the research take place? Dharamsala, India
   b.  Will the PI be conducting and/or supervising research activity off-campus?                       
      X~ Yes           ~ No         If Yes, please list sites:      
4.  Subject Information:
   a.  Number of Subjects:   5-20        b.  Gender of Subjects: Male and Female
   c.  Ages of  Subjects:  18 and older                       
5.  Potentially Vulnerable Populations:   (Check All that Apply)         
   ~ Children        ~ Pregnant Women        ~ Cognitively Impaired       ~ Prisoners        ~ Institutionalized    
   ~  Faculty’s Own Students       ~ Other.  Please describe: