Marvin Harris

During the fifth week of class Food: The Key Concepts, a book by Warren Belasco, was assigned. As the title suggests, this text is an overview of conflicting and seldom thought of elements of food. Chapter two, “Identity: Are We What We Eat?” discusses the conflicting ideas of identity. The chapter concludes that food is memory and identity, which other people use to create bonds. However, sometimes people do not eat what they are, when they are trying to make a statement. This reminds me of…

Witch-hunting in Early Modern Europe The infamous witch hunting which took place in Early Modern Europe is a fascinating and recently contested event of significance to New Zealanders. From around the time of the mid-15th century to that of the 17th, the European continent was plagued by what is now known to be ‘The Great Witch Craze’. Many were put to trial under the belief that they had been practising Satanic rituals that did not align with conventional Christianity. Now, as historians look…

Christiana Kohler talked over the formation of Egypt. Archaeologist Marvin Harris’ hypothetical scenario accurately and expressly described the state unification, “the more production is intensified, for example, the more there is to redistribute and trade, the larger the population becomes, the more intense the warfare, the…

John Legend, singer, songwriter, pianist, is a 36 year old extremely talented man who has succeeded in far more than just reaching fame in music. He comes from an interesting historical background; his 4th and 5th grandfathers were born slaves and died freed men. Being that John Legend was always into Classical soul, hip-hop and gospel music since early childhood, he carried that interest into the music he composes today, which makes him one of the few artists in the r&b/hip-hop music industry…