Bradley Keliinoi

Review staff writer

On Oct. 28, Michael Osmera, adjunct professor of sociology, gave a lecture titled, “Pakistan and Afghanistan Through the Social Science Prism.”
As part of the “Three Cups of Tea” event series, the presentation encouraged freshmen students to delve deeper into the text of their summer reading, “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time,” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.
“Our goals for students are to be a part of the academic Linfield community and to help them understand what it means to be a liberally educated student,” Kate Elias, director of academic advising, said.
Drawing from his experiences in South Asia, his participation in the Peace Corps in Afghanistan and travels to Pakistan and Nepal, Osmera used various examples to examine how social sciences illuminate encounters within the book.
Elaborating on three areas of the prism, sociology, anthropology and geography, Osmera identified complexities within the region that he believes are in the best interest of students to know.
Osmera said in sociology, there are three ways to look at society: structure and function, social conflict and the notion of symbolism.
As an example of the notion of symbolism, Osmera used a scene from the book where Mortenson uses Pakistani President Musharraf’s helicopter. Some people may view Musharraf’s helicopter as a symbol of Mortenson’s power and support from the government, while others may view it as contradictory to Mortenson’s efforts, Osmera said.
In anthropology, Osmera discussed the importance of cultural values and the concept of “saving face.”
While working in the Peace Corps as an English teacher, Osmera was astonished by a peculiar occurrence. When he gave his students their first exam, they passed all of their tests on to one student.
“I later came to understand that many students came from the same area as the minister of agriculture, and failing the exam would have been a reflection on the minister,” he said.
Lastly, in geography, Osmera said he introduced the fear of place, also known as topophobia.
Fear of place is culturally manipulated by those in power. Stereotypes are also attributable to that fear.
Given these social science concepts, Osmera hoped students could approach the complexities of other societies and feel confident in learning about them in a systematic way.
“While South Asia presents immense challenges given present military conflicts and international stresses, there are local development projects that are productive and use human energy and talent to address the aspirations we all have for a better world,” he said.
The next “Three Cups of Tea” event will be 7 p.m. Nov. 11 in Ice Auditorium. The lecture will be given by Mohammah A. Rahman, president of the Islamic Center of Portland.