Reading Response:
1. Why are ceremonies important for Kimmerer? How do societies remember for Connerton? Either chose one author and flesh out their insight, or compare (and/or contrast) insights from Braiding Sweetgrass to How Societies Remember?
2. Chose a sentence or paragraph from the Connerton or from the Kimmerer that you feel is at the heart of their topic. Engage with either author through this citation in any way you choose.
3. Connerton discusses what he calls incorporating practices. They are "techniques" of the body, "properties" of the body, and "ceremonies" of the body. Pick one of those to elaborate on further, perhaps with example from your own experience.
4. Connerton writes about habit memory and incoporation. Can a "gesture" be thought of in this way? Is a gesture more pronounced than spoken word? If you see someone's gestures while delivering a speech do you "believe" the gestures more than the words? Why or why not?
5. In terms of cultural differences, can you think of gestures, or bodily comportment (properties of the body) you acquired in childhood? Or, has Brown changed your "gesture of origin" in any way? If so, where did those other gestures, or ways of being in your body, go?
6. A few videos might give you some ideas toward a response paper. The Nimoy video raises really interesting questions about the afterlives of gestures when they jump from one context to another. What do these videos make you think about Connerton's or Kimmerman's claims vis a vis gestures appropriated across time, or vis a vis Jewish and Italian gestural differences? Can people adope each others gestures or ceremonies? This is a thorny quesiton, so this is just an invitation to think about it and write something (there are no right or wrong answers!).
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