Monthly Archives: January 2022

So far, this reading has been my favorite of the three books. I was immediately drawn in by the introduction with the author explaining how she reached the “mushroom world” and essentially the backstory for the book. I am already … Continue reading →

Okay, so hear me out. Anna Tsing has somehow created a beautifully anthropological piece that could easily be mistaken for a novel filled with articulate, heartfelt, philosophical soliloquies. From the very beginning, she presents a lens of the world both … Continue reading →

Tsing’s argument that honing in on mushroom picking to expand our imagination and thought process on the rigid debate of jobs or the environment intrigued me. Usually, when I imagined the economic impact on ecological resources I think of forests … Continue reading →

I find Tsing’s perspectives on the precarity of our modern ecological situation as a result of humanity’s desire for progress to be illuminating. I’m interested in the potential avenues for debate on the topic as the various visions of our … Continue reading →

As someone who is very unfamiliar with ethnographies, the aspect of this reading that first struck me was the style and tone of writing. Rather than assuming the tone of a scientific research paper, this read much more like a … Continue reading →

In chapter 1, Tsing mentions the view of progress as inherent towards humanity and how this view makes it easy to miss other patterns of humanity. Humans have consistently caused change within the environment around them, but the changes are … Continue reading →

The tone of Tsing’s prologue and first chapter seemed particularly pessimistic yet accepting. While asking questions like, “how much chance do we have for passing a habitable environment to our multispecies descendants?” (3), Tsing implies the hopelessness of our situation … Continue reading →

Stylistically, the Introduction of the book provided a novel form of writing to me: the inclusion of poems within the discussion. I think this style is quite useful when dealing with phenomena or cultural practices that are formed and represented … Continue reading →

Hello Class, Welcome to our course blog! I have given you a list of questions that can frame your blog posts, but I really want you to experiment with what works for you. If you have questions about specific arguments … Continue reading →

I read some selections from The Mushroom at the End of the World last semester, and it struck me as a story about damage, destruction, and human greed. I used it to argue that humans are more alienated from ourselves than ever before … Continue reading →