Besides preparing for research and the technical sides of our projects, I'm finding that it will also be very important to prepare to respect the people, both in day-to-day life and in how we conduct our projects.
It's great taking a Tibetan and a Hindi class this semester because not only am I learning some of the languages, but I am learning a lot about the cultures and the many ways to show respect within those cultures. I am also taking a documentary class that focuses a lot on the ethics of making a documentary film; things that I will need to know to be respectful in the making of my film while in India and in editing it once we've returned.
I think there will be many other ways to prepare to respect the people as well, such as learning more of their histories and religions; things that I plan to study and look forward to learning more about.
Even though we haven't been to India yet, I'm already developing a great love for the people, their culture, and I hope that I will not be too intimidated to show it when we get there.
These are some great insights! I think that attempting to learn the language is one of the most important ways to show respect to the natives and show them that you are genuinely interested in what they are up to. Especially within a tourist community I think our Tibetan language class will be especially beneficial to get past that stereotype.
ReplyDeleteAnother big one as far as India goes is dressing appropriately. I guess that goes for all cultures though... In Ghana they had very different ideas about what modest dress is, and I am anxious to learn more about the way of dressing in our area.