Cultural Anthropology Colloquium #8
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Published by David Sills, D.Miss, Ph.D.
on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 7:40 PM. 
In Globe-Trotting in Sandals: A field guide to Cultural Research, Carol McKinney presents the necessary information to enter, understand, and research cultures of the world. While the book reads much like the books of Proverbs in its succinct and choppy style, it is a goldmine of resources for field research in many contexts. I have always held that the guidance this book provides would assist even stateside pastors who move from one field of service to another. As you interact with this book, talk about the aspects that were most helpful to you and areas that you would like research more. In what ways does this book tie together all that we have been reading this semester?
Steve described McKinney's approach as "shotgun." I agree! I think had this been the first book of the semester...well...I'll not go there.
The fact is that McKinney's book is an invaluable resource. It does tend to be "encyclopedic", which can make reading it start to finish rather challenging.
There is no question that her work ties together the many facets of cultural anthropology that we have been introduced to over the course of the semester - orality, animism, cultural diversity, etc.
I found the discussion of emic / etic to be very insightful, not only for missions, but for ministry in general. A pastor, for example, who moves to a field goes through many of the same challenges of learning "insider" language, who key players are, and why certain activities are practiced. The insertion of real life stories throughout the text highlighted some of these challenges and were a "relief" from the more technical information. Well done, McKinney.
As a guy who enjoys music, I found that chapter to be quite interesting. As I read about the cultural uniqueness of musical styles, I was reminded of a song on a Steven C. Chapman album in which Mincai - the Waodano warrior who speared Nate Saint - chants. To hear the Western music followed by the more tribal is pretty cool. (Sorry, I know "cool" is not a PhD type descriptor!)
The statistical analysis section was instructive for those of us that are not "quantitatively gifted."
Again, overall a very useful resource for missions and ministry. Well placed as the final piece of the cultural antropology puzzle.