Smells and Bells

     Silence is a deeply unsettling noise and somehow does not allow my brain to form thoughts to its full capacity or even fully focus. Recently, I have been listening to various types of music while studying, such as instrumental, rap, hip-hop, or even reggae music like Sublime. Many of these genres I have been experimenting with have been distracting me with vivid memories from the past.   My morning commute to high school    Ackerman mentions that hearing can connect us to various feelings or memories, whether that be cultural, social, familial, or even seasonal, like the sound of your pumpkin spice latte being made at your local Starbucks. In my case, in studying with music, various tracks connect me back to various memories. Classical brings me back to when I was young, sitting on an uncomfortable wooden bench playing decent, clanky notes on the ancient piano while my piano teacher instructed me to play the measure over and over and over again, which...

or 6? 5 senses... For each of your blog posts, the prompt is to respond to the senses by drawing from your own experiences or/and or what's going on in the world around you, in a way that illuminates something about the senses under discussion.  Sensory Interpretation Web Blog Posts  (8 posts: 1 on Ackerman's book; 6 posts on each of the senses, and 1 final summarizing summarizing blog post the last week of class.  5% each  for a total of 40%).  These are short reflection writing assignments to be posted on a blog set up specifically for this class  here . Students will "log" what they are learning about the relationship between the senses and "religious" experience throughout the term, and be able to comment on one another's questions and insights.  Make sure you have one post each tagged with "taste", "smell", "hearing", "sight", "touch" or "6th sense."  To assure you ...

  Out of all the significant things that happened during our class, from the moment I shared in class about writing on the board, or setting up the banquet, or JBK’s truly impressive Cookie Monster impression, or any of the ice breakers, or getting to know the very cool people in the class through our talks, I find it very difficult to decide on any specific one. I do think I’ll say that I finally started taking some kind of notes for a few days during Diane Eck and Darsan, and looking at them, they might make no sense, with “RECIPROCITY” and “RELIGIONS ARE ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS AND YOU CAN’T DO THAT WITHOUT SENSES” typed in all caps, but it felt special and important to have a record of what was said and these big ideas of the class, even if I wouldn’t use them for a test or anything. I think I’m a bit of a hoarder, because like I said, I have a hard time picking favorite memories, so evidence like notes is important to me. Taking this class now, as sometimes the only freshman that ...

  I accompany my Chase Dining Hall meals with a TV show (Hulu, because Netflix has caught onto the fact that I’m not in my hometown any more) and recently it’s been The Great — a dramatized and sillified adaptation of the life of Catherine the Great, because I have developed an addiction to powered wigs and panniers— and in it is a scene where she is attempting to seduce a prospective conspirer. Beforehand, her maid gives her the advice to “eat the oysters. They’ll help your mood.” Of course, the man picks up none of her signals, and the oysters are spoiled. So, because in Natural History of the Senses Ackerman pays so much attention to sexy food, I want to try to explore unsexy food, inspired by the Empress of Russia puking oysters. Apologies for the ridiculousness.  Some of Ackerman’s reasoning is all to do with the earthiness of food. “Food is created by the sex of plants or of animals; and we find it sexy. When we eat an apple or peach, we are eating the fruit’s placenta”...

                 I tend to be awkward with touch, because I don’t want to risk making anyone else uncomfortable, and I was even more so as a little girl. Especially at elementary school age, certain rituals of touch are necessary to preserve friendships: if such things as hugs, cuddles, hair braiding, the physical exchange of friendship bracelets, or painting others’ nails don’t come naturally to you, you will be at risk of failing a good many social interactions.    Some friends are touchier than others, which likely starts in the home somewhat. Certain cultures are known for being more touchy and physically affectionate, and It’s usually parents that are the first people to be with us in painful situations to teach us how to react and how afraid to be. It would make sense that my mother and I were able to have a conversation agreeing completely about how much it peeves us when someone is talking to us and gives us a little li...

Hearing and Oral Story Telling       I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks. Like a lot. I love music but there has been something really addicting about podcasts for me over the last few years. I have spent a good amount of time considering why I spend so many hours each day listening to people talk into a microphone sometimes alone, sometimes in a pair or group, and occasionally reading something pre-written. I have also been asked what makes podcasts the particular field of many destructive philosophies right now.     The first and most obvious explanation is a desire for distraction. If I can jam in enough of other people's thoughts and a quick enough speed I won't have any space in my head for my own. Listening to multiple people conversing gives some relief to loneliness and if the conversation is elevated enough listeners might even leave feeling productive or proud.     A more positive argument has to do with the freedom that audio m...