ScotBlogs

The award winning program founded collaboratively by-and-for wooster students, faculty, staff and alums returns to India for the second year. Global Social Entrepreneurship (Global SE)  will return and work for EnAble India and Dream a Dream in Bangalore. Four students, … Continue reading →

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Today Will Cary, Yoav Avni (our friend from the Geological Survey of Israel) and I worked in the northern end of Makhtesh Gadol (“the large crater”). This geomorphic feature looks a bit like an oblong impact crater, but … Continue reading →

Everywhere you go at the major tourist sites on the peninsula, you see vendors of all kinds of handicrafts — some complete kitsch, some mass-produced but authentic-seeming items, and some undoubtedly authentic artisanal products.  But what is striking is how … Continue reading →

Tell me what you pay attention to, and I will tell you who you are. – Jose Ortega y Gasset Word of the day:  Mayaland. Now that I’ve read Matt’s post I realize that I’m echoing him in deciding that … Continue reading →

Today we took two tours of Chichen Itza, the first guided by Heath, a Mesoamerican archaeologist, the second by Carlos, a local guide who had 30 years of experience.  Our idea was to compare and contrast the tours and see … Continue reading →

This is a sign outside the artisan gift store at the major archaeological site of Uxmal.  Notice how the state appropriates and then regulates the whole idea of “artisan” or authentic crafts.  The sign reads “House of Artisan Handicrafts of … Continue reading →

We have written many times about the geology of southern Israel in our blog posts over the past two years, and there is plenty more to come this week. We haven’t discussed the little town we stay in during our … Continue reading →

The two irregular patches above are brachiopods known as Petrocrania scabiosa encrusting the ventral valve of yet another brachiopod (Rafinesquina). That species name “scabiosa” is evocative if not a little unpleasant — it is also the root of the English … Continue reading →

One of the most valuable things about traveling is the shift in perspective that it brings. Things we take for granted, like specific attitudes or experiences, may be very different in other countries. I’m particularly interested in cultural differences in … Continue reading →