In Anderson’s piece on the Cosmopolitan Canopy, he introduces the idea of folk ethnography and the power and implications of ephemeral place making. In many ways, millennial mindsets are dominated by the tenets of the cosmo canopy. In the ever growing urban metropolis it is hard to find moments of community that involve heterogeneous mixes of people. Racial, class and social divides seem to dissipate within the cosmo canopy and though there is an understanding that it is ephemeral, it is still important to understanding how folk ethnography can operate as an agent of mutual societal exposure and acceptance. In a way, the concept of the Cosmopolitan canopy is to yield a kind of social cocoon. How? Well, a cocoon is an enclosed area in which transformation and growth happens. The expectation is that a caterpillar goes in and comes out a butterfly. The same is true of cosmo canopies. Participants go in and engage in what is expected to be a positive, inclusive experience (one that has the power to bypass and exist despite the myriad of socio-economic and socio-cultural hindrances inherent in society), most of which is not visible to those outside the canopy. After a period of time, the participants come out butterflies, momentarily enriched by the experience.

The material that binds the social cocoon of the cosmo canopy together is civility. The process tha takes place within the social cocoon is folk ethnography. Participants enter what Anderson considers a “neutral space”, a place with no apparent owner. However, in a way I want to challenge that notion of a neutral space. I think of Bowdoin College when I think of the cosmo canopy. Bowdoin in theory wants to operate like an extended cosmo canopy. Bowdoin prides intellectual fearlessness and champions the common good over all else. Whether it succeeds in this mission or not is something I am curious to know.The two mottos of our school challenge us as students to conduct responsible folk ethnography and work towards building an inclusive community. In my opinion Bowdoin can’t necessarily succeed in being a cosmo canopy because the time spent here is too long. The cosmo canopy depends on its fleeting and ephemeral nature to yield best results.

As optimistic as the cosmo canopy is to alleviating some of society’s issues, roadblocks persist. In hunter’s piece on black nightlife we see the ways in which black bodies can derive their meaning and advance their place in social situation despite the connotations of the color of their skin. In a similar sense, the Spot (nightclub) acts as destination in which a kind of Cosmo canopy can be experimented in. Social capital (clout) is leveraged in these spaces and can be used as a means towards upward mobility. The concepts addressed in both of these pieces deal with the ways social capital, social interactions and engagement with other social groups can act as a way of temporarily suspending society’s greater issues. The participants, drawn together by unspoken codes of civility and “neutrality” , use social environments as the even playing field to evaluate and test the validity of their perceptions