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Fyi From: Robbie Davis-Floyd <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Date: Wednesday, 20 April 2016 07:12 To: CAR <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Cc: "Usha Amin ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>)" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Subject: [CAR] FW: BBC Rituals Series Dear Members of the Council on Anthropology and Reproduction, I received the following request for information from Usha Amin of the BBC. She asked me to send it out widely. Please read her email below and see if you can help! Her words are in black; my responses to her are in blue—I left them in so you could see what I already told her to avoid repetition. All best wishes, Robbie Davis-Floyd Senior Advisor to CAR From: Usha Amin [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Monday, April 04, 2016 6:51 AM To: Davis-Floyd, Robbie E Subject: BBC Rituals Series Dear Robbie, My name is Usha Amin and I work for the BBC Natural History Unit in the UK. We are currently working on a four part documentary about rituals across the globe, looking into what they tell us about human beings and how they shape our relationship with the world around us. We are struggling to find interesting birth rituals to include in the series and I came across your website - I hope you don’t mind me getting in touch! Just to let you know a bit more about the series – we are considering it as a kind of sequel to 'Human Planet' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00llpvp/clips). Through intimate stories that follow the experiences of one individual, we'll celebrate the uniqueness of each ritual whilst also revealing how united we are in our human experiences. In one of the episodes we are looking at birth, marriage and death. Using rituals associated with these life passages, we want to look at how different societies around the world understand and come to terms with the universalities of human life. I’ve just finished co-authoring a 440 page book called The Power of Ritual. It’s being indexed now and will be out in a few months. I’d be happy to email you a copy in the meantime if you like, though perhaps it’s more information than you want or need? At the moment we are struggling to find any birth rituals that are both interesting and visually spectacular (we’ve found lots of fantastic colourful funerals and weddings!) I was wondering if you might have come across any birth/baby rituals that you recommend considering? I would be really keen to chat to you further about any advice or ideas you have! I can see your problem—there really aren’t many birth rituals that are visually spectacular. I recall in Alma Gottlieb’s book A World of Babies that the Beng of the Ivory Coast glue pretty feathers all over their newborns (symbolizing something, I can’t remember what, but the book will explain) and then everyone in the village comes in to greet the newborn. And Tibetan birth rituals can be pretty spectacular, as I recall being described in a book called The Tibetan Art of Parenting. I believe. These are the only two examples of visually spectacular birth rituals I can think of—but if you like, I could send your request out on my anthropology of reproduction listservs to see if any other birth scholars have better ideas? As you might know, I have long analysed standard obstetric procedures as rituals, as explained in an article of mine called The Rituals of Hospital Birth, which has been reprinted numerous times, the latest of which is in the issue before last of a magazine called Pathways to Health and Family Wellness. Here is the link: :http://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Pregnancy-Birth/the-rituals-of-american-hospital-birth.html I look forward to hearing from you! Kind regards, Usha ---------------------------- http://www.bbc.co.uk This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views which are not the views of the BBC unless specifically stated. If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system. Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender immediately. Please note that the BBC monitors e-mails sent or received. Further communication will signify your consent to this. --------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CARlist" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. To post to this group, send email to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.