Anthropology at UCSC

Around 1989 I transferred to UCSC from a Community college. My major then was in Anthropology. At the time my then wife and I wanted to go to Nepal, Northern India or Tibet if we were allowed to to study Tibetan Culture and Tibetan Buddhism in a Cultural Anthropology setting to archive as much knowledge as we could for future generations so it wouldn't be lost.

Now much of that knowledge is being lost in many ways because in Tibet if you want to make a living you have to speak Chinese so financially you are penalized for speaking Tibetan. So, only those who want to preserve their cultural heritage are speaking Tibetan now in Tibet.

What is happening to Tibetans in many ways is the same thing that happened to Native Americans from White people and the U.S. government until around the 1960s or 1970s when Native Americans were forbidden to speak their native languages a lot growing up and were forbidden to practice their cultural traditions and religions.

They were forced to speak English and to become Christians and forced to integrate into White American Cultures.

In some ways all that has changed now since the 1960s, 1970s and the American Indian Movement began.

But, understanding that the same things is and has been happening to Tibetans since around 1950 by the Chinese in various parts of Tibet makes one also want to preserve Tibetan Culture the way many have tried to preserve the best of all Native American Cultures too along with their languages for posterity.

However, my wife and I doing this was interrupted by a divorce and custody battle for our now 28 year old daughter who is now skiing with me and hanging out with me in Mt. Shasta as I write this for you here.

However, I still believe that Tibetan culture is one of the most amazing cultures on earth I have ever had contact with and it has much to teach us on into the future. So, my original idea I think should still be championed by those of you out there still young enough to do something like this if you are so inclined as your life's work or as one of your life's works.

In some ways studying Anthropology at a university level can be very depressing simply because you are often studying about cultures having been destroyed or presently being destroyed.

However, I think the priority should be finding ways to preserve as much information about all cultures as possible in the world.

All Cultures exist for a reason and understanding those reasons may help all future civilizations survive difficult times as well.

So, it is important for us to study all cultures so that we might learn how to survive things they went through to and survived.

By God's Grace