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Anthropology exhibit now at LBCC Library

Greg Dewar
The Commuter

Friday, May 22, 2009

Now through the first week of June, Michele Wilson’s anthropology class investigates the “Culture of Human Beauty” with an exhibit downstairs in LBCC’s library- located in Willamette Hall. “Beauty is culturally relative; that is, depending on the culture…” says Wilson of her students’ work. Work was submitted from 30 students in Wilson’s MWF 12-12:50 Introduction to Anthropology class from winter term of 2009. Wilson creates an annual anthropology-only public exhibit, with previous classes using the topics of: “The Cultures of Iraq and Afghanistan,” “Japanese Internment,” “Cultural Stereotypes,” and “Human Migration.” It should be noted that there are a few gaps in the exhibit. Wilson always tries to find a tie-in between hot topics and anthropological methods and theories and feels that charging students with “…the responsibility of being part of a community project seems to light the proverbial fire in just the right spot in their underside.”

“I can’t say enough good things about this year’s exhibit. The students pulled together some very telling data that are illustrative of the complexities and burdens of this thing we call beauty. For example, the audience may be shocked by some of the imagery of what is considered beautiful in other cultures. At the same time though, learning more about the constructs of beauty in our culture, in Western culture, is just as off-putting for many,” says Wilson when queried about her personal feelings on the way the project turned out.

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