Debriefing from BaFa BaFa

Debriefing from BaFa BaFa

-Note: The game itself will last about 65 minutes before we come back togetherIt is vital that we STRICTLY follow the time scale.

-Remind all participants that they are not to talk about the rules among themselves until invited to do so.

-Bring everyone together in the same room, sitting together in groups of Alphas or Betas (big circle if possible). (This should be at 11:35/11:40).

-Begin with the first 10 questions from the simulation itself (try to hold to 20 min.):-see the direction book in the BaFa BaFa simulation

-Then: (about 30 min.)-How is this exercise perhaps more useful in helping us understand the experience of being a tourist or a business traveler than that of historical interactions? [not real cultures; no change over time; no community; no sense of how it would be different depending on the context of the interactionthese werent tourists.]

-This game is about momentary contact in which people come together briefly and the separate and go home. That was our theme from last yearfirst encounters. Our theme for this year is building communities. Communities grow, change, have long and complex histories, and dont disappear, even when another group moves in. Communities in which cultures come together change both cultures to create something new. Moreover, how they interact depends on the context in which they come together and in which they live together, right? This is even true for first contact: first contact was different when fur traders met Iroquois or the Mandan met Lewis and Clarks team than when slaves met slave traders, for instance.

-So lets see what happens if we stretch this exercise to try to think about community.

-EXERCISE: . Imagine this: What if Alphas and Betas had to live together in a community? How might their cultures change? If we looked at the community when their kids had grown up and become adults, how might it be different?

To do this, were going to use some questions about environment, society, politics, economy, and culturebasic questions that communities use to define themselves and their membersto imagine a community that includes Alphas and Betas. These are questions that will (as youll see later today) inform our workshop this summer. Each of your groups will focus on one of those questions for right now.

-Mix up As and Bs and divide into about 5 groups.-Each group gets a question and a guide sheet. Drawing on what you know about the two cultures (Alphas and Betas), IMAGINE how these cultures would change over time if they lived in one community. How would the culture or community of their kids look?

-GROUPS:-Where am I? (think about environment and (esp.) resources)-Whos here with me, and what do we have in common? (what will the societyrelations among members of the community (e.g. gender, status, etc.) work?-What are the rules? -What do we do for a living?-Who are we becoming?

-In your groups, talk about this questionimagine how the community might work in regard to this one questionand use a piece of paper to write and/or draw your answer.

-Report out.

-Lunch-Get your lunch.

-When you are eating, think about this: How might your/our vision of the blended Alpha/Beta community be different if . . . -Alphas conquered Betas? (That is, forcibly moved in among them and took over the society.)-Betas conquered Alphas?-The communities came together through immigration (one group immigrated in and settled among the other)?-One group enslaved the other?-One group established a long-term trading depot in the other groups community.

-What other kinds of context might change the kind of community that developed?

-Were going to report out after lunch, so make a few notes. Then take a break. [ring a bell about 1:00were recommencing in about 15 minutes; take a break, go for a walk, etc. if you havent yet. Or if you did this, then be sure to talk about your questions now.

Group 1: WHERE AM I?

Drawing on what you know about the Alpha and Beta cultures, imagine what kind of community might develop if they had to live together in the same community. What kind of community would develop by the time their kids were adults? In particular, your group should focus on the environment and resources.

Admittedly, this question will require a great deal of imagination since the Alphas and Betas are not overtly situated in a particular place. However, all communities are ultimately grounded (no pun intended) in a physical place, a place that affects the resources available to that community, for instance. So your job is to imagine a physical context for the Alphas and Betas, based on what you know about their societies and their resources. What are their resources? Where do they come from? Does anything about their society suggest that they have particularly easyor particularly difficultaccess to resources? What might that imply about their environment? Consider, as well, what each culture perceives as resources.* Would living together affect the way the new community thinks about resources?

On a separate sheet, make a listwrite a descriptionand/or draw a picture of your conclusions.

[*Historically, note that different cultures in the same environment perceive its resources differently. While some folks might see the bison as a source of food, housing, glue, binding materials, etc., others might see them primarily as a nuisance that get in the way of trains and cattle.]

Group 2: WHOS HERE WITH ME, AND WHAT DO WE HAVE IN COMMON?

Drawing on what you know about the Alpha and Beta cultures, imagine what kind of community might develop if they had to live together in the same community. What kind of community would develop by the time their kids were adults? In particular, your group should focus on the question: whos here with me, and what do we have in common?

This question is one way of thinking about societythe relationships among the people in the community. As we will see, human beings organize their communities around certain basic relationships: family, gender, age, and status. Your job is to imagine the way in which a community that developed when Alphas and Betas lived together would structure their society (think in terms of these basic relationships).

On a separate sheet, make a listwrite a descriptionand/or draw a picture of your conclusions.

Group 3: WHAT ARE THE RULES?

Drawing on what you know about the Alpha and Beta cultures, imagine what kind of community might develop if they had to live together in the same community. What kind of community would develop by the time their kids were adults? In particular, your group should focus on the question: what are the rules?

This question is one way of thinking about politicsthe rules that govern how a community works. These rules are agreed upon, but are also contested. Your job is to imagine the way in which a community that developed when Alphas and Betas lived together would structure the rules of their community. Consider, too, how these rules might be contested.*

On a separate sheet, make a listwrite a descriptionand/or draw a picture of your conclusions.

*[For example, if there were political parties in your imagined community, what range of positions might they take? On what kind of issues?]

Group 4: WHAT DO WE DO FOR A LIVING?

Drawing on what you know about the Alpha and Beta cultures, imagine what kind of community might develop if they had to live together in the same community. What kind of community would develop by the time their kids were adults? In particular, your group should focus on the question: what do we do for a living?

This question is one way of thinking about economythe ways in which people in a community make a living (and also what they think making a living means). Your job is to imagine the way in which a community that developed when Alphas and Betas lived together would structure their economy.

On a separate sheet, make a listwrite a descriptionand/or draw a picture of your conclusions.

Group 5: WHO ARE WE BECOMING?

Drawing on what you know about the Alpha and Beta cultures, imagine what kind of community might develop if they had to live together in the same community. What kind of community would develop by the time their kids were adults? In particular, your group should focus on the question: Who are we becoming?

This question is one way of thinking about culturethe ways in which people define their identity as a community and as individuals within a community. Your job is to imagine the kind a culture a community that developed when Alphas and Betas lived together would have. You have some evidence to go on, but you can also use your imagination with this, grounding your ideas in what you do know about these cultures. What kind of religion, art, games, music, and so on might this community have?

On a separate sheet, make a listwrite a descriptionand/or draw a picture of your conclusions.

Lunchtime Discussion

After you get your lunch, come back together in your groups for a few minutes to talk about the following:

[NOTE: This lunch/work time is scheduled from 12:30 1:15. We will let everyone know when it is 1:00, giving you time to finish up your discussion, take a break, walk around, or whatever before we recommence at 1:15.]

How might our vision of the blended Alpha/Beta community that we developed before lunch be different if . . . -Alphas conquered Betas? (That is, forcibly moved in among them and took over the society.)-Betas conquered Alphas?-The communities came together through immigration (one group immigrated in and settled among the other)?-One group enslaved the other?-One group established a long-term trading depot in the other groups community.

-What other kinds of context might change the kind of community that developed?

As you reflect on these scenarios, try to keep the five categories in mind. That is, if the community that developed came about because the Alphans enslaved the Betans, how might the view of resources, the society, politics, economy, and culture of the resulting community(s) be different than what we envisioned?