Monthly Archives: March 2022

To start I thought the book was very interesting as starting from the title. The land of the open graves brings a sense of thought into one’s mind as you would think about how a grave can be open. one … Continue reading →

I appreciated the choice of reading for this week as it covers the main topic of last class, cultural artifacts. The author well blends the items shown, with the interviews presented in the work. It did bring up a few … Continue reading →

I enjoyed this week’s reading by Jason de Leon particularly because of his multi-disciplinary approach to the study of migrant experiences. By visually enhancing his storytelling through imagery, photos, and artifacts, he does a very good job of anchoring his … Continue reading →

Had a chem test last week so I couldn’t do my usual long rambling blog post. Anyways, the author’s opening remarks about how after spending lots of time in their field the stand out details of the field site lost … Continue reading →

In last week’s reading the strengthening of the Dominican-Haitian border being used to fuel nationalism, which is something we have definitely seen in the United States with the demonization of Mexican immigrants as a threat and as a scapegoat for … Continue reading →

I really enjoyed the approach to ethnography that De León took in The Land of Open Graves. Not only was it really easy for me to understand and follow along with the reasons why De León thought that archaeology and studying the … Continue reading →

I really enjoyed this week’s reading and felt as though it was a bit more lighthearted despite some of the darker descriptions (in comparison to some of the other ethnographies we have read). I thought that De Leon did a … Continue reading →

I was really excited to read this book, the Land of the Open Graves, because I had the opportunity to meet Jason de Leon last semester when he came to campus during his exhibit, Hostile Terrain. I got to chat … Continue reading →

As an Anthropology major, I’d actually taken a course last semester– Cultural Anthropology– in which we read The Land of  Open Graves in it’s entirety, which I would highly recommend if you liked the introduction and Chapter 7. I also had … Continue reading →

Through interviews, participant-observation, photography, and archaeology, De León sheds light on the lived experience of migrants traversing the Sonoran desert. Their first hand accounts reveal the disturbing reality of Prevention Through Deterrence and the hybrid collectif. In chapter 7, De … Continue reading →

I genuinely enjoyed this reading by De Leon and thought that the ethnography he presented took on a unique stance. Allowing his subjects to document their own experiences was something I had never considered, but as the author discussed, a … Continue reading →

The Land of Open Graves struck me from the very beginning because of De León’s writing style. At first, the less monotonous, more conversational language and style of De León’s ethnography was offsetting as I am used to a more … Continue reading →

Dr. De Leon does a phenomenal job at outlining the path migrants cross to enter into the United States. The author nicely infuses  ethnography and archaeology to depict migrants’ journey. I love how the author allows the participants to take their … Continue reading →

The Land of Open Graves details the violent and dangerous experiences of Mexican migrants crossing the border to the US. Although this topic has been widely studied, De Leon brings a new perspective to the narrative. He states that historically, … Continue reading →

Of all readings in this class, the title of this book used such vivid imagery that it struck me for seconds. Throughout the book, the author continues to rely on visual elements to communicate his raw observations by using images … Continue reading →

I think one main difference between this ethnography and other ethnographies that we’ve read is that in Jason De Leon’s research, he incorporated methods of biological anthropology. Although it is not explained in detail in Chapter 7 or the Introduction, … Continue reading →