Group 10 12/7/2016

In the morning, we had an anthropology lesson. We read an article on an unknown tribe, “Nacirema”. The article is about body ritual of the tribe. We did some in-depth discussion about the religion, culture, civilisation and superstition of the Nacirema. Most of us agreed that they were not too civilised in a way. After this, we were so surprised when the lecturer told us to spell the word “Nacirema” out from the right to the left — it was the word “American”.  In fact, the writer attempted to use a different perspective to analyse the lifestyles and culture of modern Americans. This fulfills the Anthropology approach of “Make the familiar unfamiliar; make the unfamiliar familiar”. Afterwards, we studied the case of Brexit, which is Britain leaving the European Union. We evaluated how different stakeholders in the society, such as lawyers, media journalists, and anthropologists would react to the issue and discussed the pros and cons of this issue. Lastly, we studied the differences between Hong Kong and China by watching an interview video by CNN and discussing about a series of comics which partially reflects the difference explicitly.

In the afternoon, we had a design thinking lesson. This was a very special lesson that we have never experienced before. We first did a meditation session and we are reminded of Helen Keller's quote of how to be daring in life and the importance of falling hard because that's why we can learn fast. This was a very special lesson that we have never experienced before. Then we headed off to do some interesting activities. We went outdoors and played some games. We used our bodies to present different objects and events, such as the moon and the sun. First we started with pairs then in small groups and then everyone was involved, such that we learnt how to collaborate and work interdependently. We even formed groups to form an i phone! Moreover, we had a tour around the design school and we were amazed of the facilities in the classrooms. Many facilities in the classrooms are actually made and redesigned by the students so that they can be used conveniently. One of the most characteristic feature of these classrooms is that many of the furniture have wheels such that they can be moved around easily and everything is of great flexibility. Last but not least, we were assigned an interesting activity, which we traced a paper tip with people in the Stanford University for something more useful. Some of us got a dollar at last, some of us got a pen, some of us got a passport holder... Though the game seems intimidating at first, it builds up our bravery and confidence, teaching us not to be afraid or embarrassed to ask.

After lesson, it is our shopping time! Though time was tight, we had an amazing time roaming around in the Stanford shopping mall. We had so much fun!