The Once and Future Philosophers Club

Reflection 15: I once was a little Einstein

2009-12-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

Blogging has been fun. Tedious and time consuming at times, but still fun. And it completely messes with my procrastination (as you can see from this late blog post). But it wasn't my biggest problem ever. It was more like the tip of the iceberg.

College has just exasperated the worst in me. ADD Katie is not good, studious Katie. I've really been devolving since childhood. I was originally very bright and very mature. I got all A's and never missed a homework assignment. I can't say the same about myself anymore. And the funny thing is, my younger self totally predicted this. I live right next to a college town, New Brunswick, aka Rutgers-land. I remember once in my youth when I was driving down a street in Rutgers. We were stopped at light and I saw a bunch of college kids running around like total idiots. I thought to little self, "What a bunch of idiots. These teenagers are retarded, but then again all are. I, being dubbed as quite mature by various adults, don't act like that. Maybe you devolve when you become a teenager. Like you're real smart as a kid, then become stupider and stupider as you become a teenager." Okay, I didn't think it in those exact words, but I legit had this theory that teenagers were got stupider as they went through puberty. And it looks like I was right. Boy, what a genius I was. Damn puberty.

Final Reflection

2009-12-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

Damn, Explorations, I miss you already.

Throughout this semester, when I had to describe my classes to friends and family, Explorations was the hardest for me to define. When asked what we were reading, I shilled out a list of what must have been totally incongruous titles and authors. When asked about what I was writing, I attempted to connect relatively familiar topics like blog posts and new concepts like ethnographies. And when asked what I was learning, I often had to respond with a blank stare or resort to a rambling mumble before changing the subject.

But what did I learn? Actually, one of the most profound effects this class had for me was helping me to identify my personal values. While I've always had a vague idea about what I believe, the assignments and discussions in class have kind of worked like a lens to help me focus on and clarify exactly what these beliefs are (and I have had a wide range of material draw from- we have covered aspects ranging from human nature to the basic functions of tact, from a thorough look at spirituality to personality tests). I can actually define them now, put words to what before were just emotions and images.

I still don't know what my future holds, or what my role in life will entail. I am honestly not that worried about it. I have been blessed with opportunities that 99% of the world's population will never have; I think I, and all college students, should start from there and know just how fortunate we all are. What you have is not nearly as important as what you do with it; this applies to education perhaps more than anything else.

Finally, I just want to say that I really appreciate all the members of this UC. I know that I personally was one of the quietest members of the class, and when discussions began to wander my concentration was soon to follow. However, the majority of the discussions were insightful and clearly opined, if perhaps just a little circuitous. I am glad that our class had a diverse set of opinions, and that each member offered something of their own to the topic, whether it was a personal story to develop the conversation or a touch of humor to lighten tension. Oh no, I'm getting emotional. Seriously, if you could see me right now, I'm pretty close to tears. And its all because of you beautiful people.

Reflections

2009-12-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

It's snowing. I can't help but think that in many ways I'm no closer to finding what I want out of life then I was at the begining of the year. What's more, it appears that people get places by floating along and getting lucky. After a semester of books and labs, I don't think any of us are any closer to answering the question of where we fit in as an indevidual in a community than we were when the year started. I for one spent the year learning what I don't know, which is a great deal. But that may have been the point.

This year was more about learning where I stand. I learned I was closer to the middle politically than I had thought (back home it was commonly assumed I was a god hating liberal). I discovered the sheer amount of crap on my desk could be hiding early life forms. I learned that washing machines do not work when you have to force the door closed with your butt. I learned that peoples' backgrounds greatly influence their views and that identity performances are universal, whether it's a professional trying to make an olympic struggle seem simple or a class trying to tack down the answer to an unanswerable question.

Some performances are better than others but, like an audition, everyone is trying to make the most of the same script.

FINAL REFLECTION

2009-12-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

I came into this class with the expectation of having a better idea of what I want to do with my life. After 15 weeks, I'm not so sure that I do...but I also don't think that that's a bad thing.

Upon entering American University, I had the intentions of getting my bachelors in Business Administration with a speciailzation in International Business. I had the goals of becoming a high ranking executive in some international company. Though this still may end up being my ultimate goal, I feel like I need to do a little exploring into other options before I settle on that because of some experiences I've had in this class.

One thing that struck me when President Kerwin came in was how strategic his behavior was. I don't want to have to stragecially plan what I'm going to say and put up a front all the time. Though I know with every profession people will always be putting up fronts, I think this would particularly important for a high ranking executive. Another realization I had was when I read Habits of the Heart. I have always wanted to move out of my small hometown to a big city where there's something always going on. As I read Habits of the Heart, I found myself put off by the people who soley focused on their careers (I think his name was Brian) and more drawn to the fourth character who was focused on his community and his small town. This amazed me because all through high school I just wanted to get out of my small town and move on.

I'm conflicted. Small towns have reputation for being "behind the times." What am I going to a well-respected university and getting my degree in International Business for if living in a small town is what makes me happy? I think this is just really a more nostalgic feeling. In all reality, small towns really aren't as quaint as they're idealized to be...especially in movies (like "Hannah Montana: the Movie" which I'm doing my final assignment on!) In all reality, I really don't think I'll end up living in a small town, but the big city vs. small town community is a value that I question when thinking about my future.

I won't end up being a person like the fourth character of Habits of the Heart. Its a good ideal, but because of what our society is focused on, I don't think I'd feel successful. In all likelihood, I'll still probably end up majoring in International Business. I'll probably become involved in my career just like Brian in Habits of the Heart. I just hope that I don't get so caught up with my caeer that I let it negatively impact other equally, if not more, important aspects of my life.

LAST BLOG EVER!

2009-12-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

Soooo, last blog reflection ever! I attempted writing this blog last night, and I drew a blank. I thought I would try to reflect on the semester as a whole, but then I realized that I had already sort of done that in my last two reflections. So I was drawing a complete blank last night and still would be today as to what to reflect on until my mom sent me a text message this morning.

One of my dad's closest friends found out five weeks ago that he had esophageal and pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, I found out this morning from my mom that he passed away this past Tuesday. Now I had only met him like three times because him and his family lived so far away, but it really made me think about my life. The past few deaths of people close to my family or me have all been pretty old, so it was weird to have someone my parents’ age in their fifties die.

It made me think if one of my parents’ died. What would I do if I wasn’t able to talk to/go to my rational thinking mom or goofy carefree dad? I honestly have no clue. I could honestly never imagine being where I am in my life now and all of a sudden not having one of my parents anymore. When I go home in a week(!!!!!!!!), I think it may be one of the times when I am most appreciative of my parents. Not that I like take advantage of my parents at all- I just feel like they are one of the things in my life that I think will always be there, or at least until I am much older, and so it is not the biggest moment in my life to see them. Although I’ve probably said this about five hundred times in this blog already, I really don’t know what would happen if they all of a sudden weren’t there, and I guess you truly “don’t know what you got till it’s gone.”

blog question 13

2009-12-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

Although I believed that this question would be easy- it doesn't require me to examine a work of literature or attempt to draw information from society- I personally think it is the hardest one yet. Of course, like many of my classmates, Joe and Julie for example, I aspire to travel and to immerse myself in foreign languages; I think you would be hard-pressed to find AU student who didn't have this goal.

However, I think that foreign travel is simply one of the greatest components of my ideal community. Even though I have not been a particularly devout Christian; I am probably what both atheists and fundamentalists would call an "accommodator," or what I like to call "progressive." What this means to me is that I find the social gospel as compelling and important as the spiritual component. I therefore want, most of all, to join the community of community builders and human developers who work overseas. I don't believe that it is my duty to bring the message of Jesus to foreign heathens. I do believe that people in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are hungry, poor and hurting- and I have a calling to try and make a difference. I don't know if I will immediately set off on this goal, because I'm going to have a chunk of debt to pay off after college. I just know that I don't want to fall into a trap of easy living.

Shifting Idealistic Desires to my Realistic Future...

2009-12-02T22:13:00.001-08:00

So it appears Joe's blog is the hot topic this week. I might not have read it except when I signed on to our blog Annie had linked Joe's blog to hers so I was interested and I read. Besides the Peace Corps, I have similar dreams as Joe. I would love to spend the next few years traveling the world. Initially I'd like to backpack from country to country and then I'd like to stay for 6 months to a year in a few countries and work. So if there was a vagabond community I could be a part of until I became old and decrepit that would be just lovely.

But I imagine that even after being a vagabond for say 10 years, this carefree exploring lifestyle would even get a little dull. Exploring the world wouldn't be as exciting and I would be ready to settle down with a solid job and begin the stereotypical family life. I would work as long as I physically could because without a job I think I would feel like I lacked purpose and would be bored. But when it came time to retire, I want to retire in a golfing community and golf every day. But if I never had kids or they all died in some tragic accident I would definately retire somewhere like Italy or Greece though.

So I think this response turned into a rambling answer and might not have exactly answered the question. But honestly I wouldn't care what community I belonged to or if I was rich or poor as long as I was traveling the world and had enough money for my morning coffee. But this vagabond lifestyle is idealistic. Paying this much to go to this school and then just blowing all my money traveling the world for ten years doesn't really make sense. So I just have to put my head back on straight. Realistically, I'll become a graduate of American University, work for a couple of years, probably get my MBA somewhere and become a member of that community, then move somewhere and be a part of a neighborhood community, be a member of a church community, and be a member of a work community. Sounds so standard, so typical...so boring. I think at one point in my life I'll have some experience that has me become involved in some unique community. I hope this does happen, but at this point I can't even imagine what that community will be.

So in the process of writing this blog I shifted my thoughts from an idealistic community to a realistic one...I'm not sure if I like it.

Response 13: I belong with the rich and famous... theatre geeks?

2009-12-02T01:06:00.000-08:00

What community would I want to join? The community of the rich and famous! DUH! Who wouldn't wanna be r&f? I know in class we were talking about top money-making CEOs and how they may not be truly happy, but hey, money makes the world go round! In all seriousness, Being rich and famous is kind of a life goal for me. I wanna be COMFORTABLE; I don't want to live paycheck-to-paycheck or be in serious debt. But I SERIOUSLY want to be famous. I have this fear of death, like most people, which basically culminates into a fear of being forgotten. So in order not to be forgotten, I need to be in the history books. I could be a famous movie star, cure cancer, whatever. I just want to be famous so that people still know me and know my name. I generally like attention, and that doesn't stop when I die. xD

Besides from that, it's always been a dream of mine to join the community of professional entertainers. Acting, singing, and dancing have always been my passions, but I value having a stable career over possible homelessness. But it would still be amazing to be apart of that community. And it truly is a community. Have you ever met theatre people? They are the most fun, energetic people on the planet. And I LOVE THEM! Since coming to AU, I've realized that some of my favorite people here are part of the performing arts program. To be surrounded by my theatre homies all the time, and to be able to put my stuff out there on the stage every night, that would be a dream come true.

Paths to Community

2009-12-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

I, like many of my classmates have no clue what community I'd like to join later in life.

I don't know what I want to do with my life, where I want to go, or how I'm gonna get there. In this I think I am part of a community of not knowing.

We live in uncertain times and surely an uncertain community of non-belonging, non-commital people is in order. A group of wanderers, similar and yet different from those described in Joe's post. As our generation enters the workforce we are met by a defined lack of place for us in this world. Jobs are scarce and in many ways wandering the world with a backpack and hope is an attractive option. The current group of wanderers go form vocation to vocation searching for a rent check as opposed to truth.

If "good person" and "happy" are communities, I aspire to be in them. But when it comes to defined communities like workplaces and towns I'm at a loss.

Reflection 14: A late Thanksgiving reflection

2009-11-30T14:41:00.000-08:00

So looks like I forgot COMPLETELY about writing in my blog this weekend. Whoops, but then again I'm not the only one apparently. You can't blame me though, it was Thanksgiving after all. I was caught up marveling at how tall my cousin grew, the status of my other cousin and her boyfriend, and my parents' dilemma over a busted oven. So anyway, here we go, my Thanksgiving reflection... a week late.

I was terribly unproductive over break. I tried doing some homework, but ended up watching Say Yes to the Dress in my spare time. There was like a marathon on everyday! It was VERY distracting. Not distracting enough, however, to make me forget about my interesting family dynamics. I just seemed to cause loads of trouble right when I got home. I fell asleep in the bathroom and left the hot water running in the shower. I went to grab a pillow off the couch and spilled my mom's tea all over the magazine-laden table. My mom says I came back from college more opinionated, more stubborn, and much lazier. Then she freely told my psychiatrist how I'm the high maintenance one in the family, and how quiet its been without me in the house. Thanks a lot Mom, I love you too. At least Dad says he missed his little girl! XP

But anyways, I was really excited for Thanksgiving. It has extra importance for me especially because it starts this huge holiday triad for my family. First, there's the traditional turkey dinner at Aunt Judy's house, the big matriarch of my family. It's not quite traditional per say, since Aunt Maria brought Chinese-style duck from Chinatown and we ate more flan than apple pie. Second is Christmas at my house, which it always has to be. We held it at Uncle Johnny's one year, and everyone agreed Christmas was MUCH better at my house. It causes a lot of cooking stress for my mom, and she sometimes wishes she didn't have to entertain all these stinkin relatives, but she does it to keep us kids happy. Otherwise Uncle "Never RSVPs" Billy wouldn't even get invited. Third is Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is a huge holiday for my family. We're not quite sure who's holding it this year, but all that matters is that I'm gettin money! I'm afraid the haul will be a little lacking this year due to the economic downturn, but I think I'll be alright as long as nobody gives me 2 dollar envelopes. That's just a waste of time. But seriously, Chinese New Year brings everybody together one last time before the summer. We can bring guests too since it's a little less formal. For example, I brought my bff Jemila, and we got to play our Chinese orchestra music for everybody. It's also the perfect holiday to test out new boyfriends. ;)

So yeah I'm gonna end my post here. It's too long already. To recap: going home for Thanksgiving break is SO awkward, but happy, and the start to a jolly holiday season. I can't wait till winter break! (Unlike my mother. jk!)

Thanksgiving Reflection

2009-11-30T10:36:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it is one of the few times my entire extended family is able to come together in one place at one time. I consider the welter of conversation and laughter that accompanies our Thanksgivings one of the greatest blessings in my life. That is why I feel like this reflection allows a powerful opportunity to reflect on our recent blog discussion- where does an event like Thanksgiving fit into the Heinlein Theory of survival?

If humans are no different than the lowest forms of life in that we are fundamentally motivated by survival, then where do all the elements that most define humanity fit in? Why do we have the ability to appreciate food, music and other forms of beauty; why is it that humans most cherish memories that deal the most with our own pleasure, rather than those which teach us lessons? Thanksgiving Day and all the satisfaction accompanies it is incongruous with Heinlein philosophy.

Back!

2009-11-29T17:10:00.000-08:00

So I went home for Thanksgiving break this week! It's so weird how quickly I adjusted to being back home, and I have only been at school for about two hours and it already feels like I have not left.

I went into the city on Wednesday night, and it's really made me realize how much more I like DC than the city. My friends always call me crazy for not liking the city, but I personally find it dirty and some place I would never want to live. Funnily enough, I find DC to be super fun and somewhere where I could really see myself living when I'm older. I really don't know why- it could be because maybe I have been in and out of the city my whole life, but then again I have friends who can't get enough of it and go to college at NYU and Manhattan College.

I've also realized that up until my last sentence, I have unconsciously be referring to NYC as "the city." This just made me think of a story that my friend told me at breakfast this morning. He goes to school at Ithaca College and was telling me how he got into a screaming match with a girl who insisted that "the city" was Atlanta. I mean I guess it's because it's what I'm used to and is because of where I am from- I'm sure people from the suburbs of Philadelphia refer to Philly as "the city" just like I call Manhattan "the city." I just think it's funny. Could it be because we are egotistical and think that the city located near us should be called "the city?" Or just because it is easier to call it the city?

Reflecting a pie

2009-11-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

When it comes to Turkey Day festivities mine, and most families gatherings tend to run similarly to Joe's without the mad dash to a movie theater.

There's copious amounts of food and pointed remarks about my many short comings.

There's always something about family gathering that makes sibling rivalries comeback full force even without the siblings being present. Part of it is the ease with which we revert back to our old roles. Gathering the family together makes it easy to go back to the way things used to be. Pie and turkey or roast pork are traditions just like family sniping. It's as American as apple pie

Reflection 12....YUMMMM

2009-11-28T16:34:00.000-08:00

So it would be amazing if Sofie writes about this too, but I highly doubt she will. Wednesday, Sofie and I decided to enjoy all of the loveliness of the Tavern that we could while we wouldn't be enjoying it for five whole days. Inspired by thisiswhyyourefat.com, we concoted the most fattening meal ever from the Tavern: two pieces of pizza faced towards each other with diced chicken fingers and french fries in between...mmm mmmm! Surprisingly, this wasn't horrible.

Anyway, we were laughing because of a few of the comments that were made while we were eating it...

"This is exactly why America is the fattest country." -my friend Thomas who was visiting

"This is the essence of college food." -Sofie

These aren't exact quotes, but they're the gist of what was said because I really don't remember exactly. I thought about what Thomas said and realized some correlations with what we were talking about is class. Part of the United State's identity is that it is "the fattest country". Along with the obvious fast food culture that is part of America and the disregard for the importance of exercise, it's people like me and Sofie that ate about 2000 calories in one meal.

Then when Sofie said something about this being the essence of college food, I laughed. The sterotype is college food being like Ramen, Easy Mac, other unhealthy combinations of cheap products. Similar to the identity America has of being a fat country, the identity Sofie was referring to was the identity of typical college food. Again, we were just examples of an overarching identity. This whole experience reminded me of what we did in our ethnographys of observing things that contributed to the all-encompassing identity a place suggested. And P.S. the pizza-chicken tender-french fry sandwich was unfortunately incredibly delicious....if you're looking for a meal to cook for a fancy date I fully recommend this with 5 stars.

Question 12...Atta Boy Heinlein

2009-11-28T16:09:00.000-08:00

So basically I know this isn't before Thursday and I already have nine blog posts; but my parents dropped me off back at school early, I really don't have anything to do, and I actually did want to answer this question but just didn't get around to it while I was with the family....so I said, why not answer an extra blog question? This is just one example of my incredibly full life...

Obviously someone can always nitpick about a certain type of community where being prepared for war is not necessary to survive, but in general Heinlein is correct when proposing this theory. In smaller communities, the police force is important. In larger communities like countries, the armed forces are important. Without these forces, all hell would break loose. In the beginning, people with morals would continue on the path they are on, but that wouldn't last long as other people began to break the once enforced laws.

Let's be like Einstein now and do a thought experiment and look at the idea of militarily preparing a community from a macro perspective and only focus on countries. Let's say all countries agreed to abandon all types of military forces on the condition that no country will use any type of violence to solve an issue. Think about it...is there anyway this would realistically work in our world? No. There's always going to be that one country that secretly keeps their armed forces and war equipment in tact in case the need to use it were to arise. In this case, other countries might keep their weapons in case one country is actually breaking the treaty to save their weapons (this sentence really isn't clear, but hopefully you get what I'm talking about). Everyone abandoning their weapons just isn't going to happen. So its absolutely vital that a country maintain a strong militaristic base so that in case the need were to arise, they would have the addequate amount of power necessary to protect themselves and maintain their community.

This thought experiment is kind of similar to why Communism really wouldn't work. If everyone gets paid the same, there's no incentive to work hard. So one person starts slacking. If other people see that this person is slacking and still getting paid the same amount, then they might as well slack off too. Pretty soon everyone is slacking off and less is getting accomplished. The parallel can be drawn between slacking off and maintaining war products and troops.

Becaues there's always the possibility that others may be prepared for war, everyone has to be prepared for war in order to ensure the continuation of their community. Maybe Heinlein wasn't right in saving that the necessity to survive always ensures that a military must always be among the highest priorities of the community, but he's certainly right the majority of the time.

The Struggle

2009-11-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

Once again, Heinlein uses Dubois to espouse his militaristic philosophy. In this instance he attempts to ground this militarism in "a scientifically theory of morality"- that all morality boils down to the instinct to survive. Never mind that the majority of humans would reject that morality is a fallacious definition set to biological impulses- and that religious, spiritual and philosophical thought starkly contrast this statement, even if we follow Heinlein's logic he ends up incorrect.

If Heinlein is correct and humans have evolved to accept a certain code called "morality" and that our morals then constitute another construct called "society," humans should instead become more peaceful and cooperative. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, when the the negligible human population was struggling to survive, only the most cohesive groups would have survived, and they would have survived by adopting practices that encourage cohesion.

Some biologists predict that evolution should result in the eradication of charitable and self-sacrificing individuals. Why is this not the case? Because people realized that the best way to survive is through cooperation instead of force. Even if survival is all there is- I expect that a future society would have evolved even further towards this understanding- ridding the world of violent, self-destructive societies.

Reflection 13

2009-11-23T07:36:00.000-08:00

While he makes valid, interesting points about the true meaning of citizenship and the value of democracy, Heinlein shows an alarming disconnect from real problems problems in the U.S., class, race and crime. I do not know whether Heinlein meant for Dubois to serve as an avatar for his own political leanings. However, Dubois' explanation of the need for firm discipline to control "juvenile delinquents" in reality relays a significant ignorance about American society.

In Heinlein's book, the collapse of Western democracy arrived after violent crime was so prolific citizens literally couldn't leave their homes, and only because the kids weren't subject to enough discipline. "Well golly gee, why didn't those kids' parents take more time to teach 'em discipline? Now that we have corporal punishment and public floggings to look forward to, none of us kids act like that." That's right bland, utterly one-dimensional character, beatings are required by law in Heinlein's utopia. That is why this book strays from reality into fantasy.

Especially living in DC, we have to realize that, socially and economically, we do not live on "a level playing field." When you have to work two or more jobs to support your family, you do not have the same time or energy as do middle-class workers. When you go to poor schools in the inner-city, the culture among educators is unfortunately that some types of kids are unteachable and are better abandoned to their fate. Not so in the thousands of suburban schools, public and private. Young men do not commit crimes because they are thinking about the consequences; they do not intend to get caught at all. They commit crimes out of immediate necessity, the "instinct to survive," Heinlein's basis for all morality. Kids don't join gangs because they find violence fun, they do it because a gang offers the only semblance to a real family they can find. The cycle of violence in urban America won't chance if we instill corporal punishment as a means of rehabilitation. All that will result in is a generation of black, Latino and rural poor resenting even more a government which punishes them for being poor.

Reflection - Native American History Museum

2009-11-23T06:55:00.000-08:00

The highest level of the Native American History Museum had some of the trippiest museum exhibits I've ever been to. The glares were blinding in certain exhibits. There was this one exhibit that was behind a convex glass case. The convex glass caused there to be a hazy projection of 2 or 3 Native Americans that seemed somewhat three-dimensional. At first, we thought our eyes were playing tricks on us (hence the trippiness) but then we realized that with a museum of this scale, thought was most likely put into every dollar spent. Perhaps, the musuem builders were trying to perform the idea that the Native Americans are still part of our society today however their culture is not as strong (hence the hazy rather than the vivid projection). I remembered the presentation for the 5-year olds and what the tour guide said. He was talking about how Pueblo's shop in grocery stores and do what one would expect "regular" people to do. This could be an example as to how traditional Native American customs are becoming more hazy.

I was thinking about how this projection could be entirely accidental and I could just be attempting to explain something that isn't really seeking explanation. Even still, it caused me to think about how the Native American culutre is not only historically represented, but also represented today.

...On a side note, one thing PTJ mentioned was to think about what the circular room you first walk into represented. When i walked in I looked up and noticed the circular skylight. I immediately thought back to what I learned about Native Americans in elementary school. The teepees that the Native Americans lived in had a hole in the center so that the smoke from the campfire had somewhere to escape. Its so interesting to me how architectual aspects of a particular building representative of a culture cause one to remember certain aspects of said culture.

Reflection 13: Another 5:00am reflection...

2009-11-23T02:02:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna make this brief since I wrote a hella' long response to the bonus question (oh how I turn to good ol Ebonics as I lose alertness). Point 1: I didn't get lost this time! Probably cuz it's hard to get lost in a four-story museum... but we're just gonna keep this as an accomplishment ok? However, I was late AGAIN. My bad. I actually got up early this time too! But, alas, this led me to choose to take a shower. This led me to be inadvertently locked out of my room, delaying my changing of clothes, which delayed my drying of hair, which made me miss the shuttle. LEGIT.

I am quite enjoying Starship Troopers. I don't read much science fiction, but I do watch it. Me likey spacey stuff (lolz). Some scifi books get too deep and confusing for my tastes. Starship Troopers is no Fahrenheit 451, which I am GLAD of. While one of my darling roommate found the opening battle scene boring and poorly written, I LOVED it. The gadgets and tactics they used were fascinatingly alien (pun intended) to me. It was like a little glimpse into a different culture for me. It revealed the personality of the main character, how his life worked, and the alien part of this whole story (the aliens, duh). It made me hungry for more. So I tore up the next couple chapters waiting for the next battle scene. I instead was met the most cliche depiction of a training camp I've ever read. I swear, I've seen the entire sequence with first meeting Sergeant Zim in a movie. The whole time reading I was thinking, "Oh come on? Really?" I've seen it so many times; the commanding officers sees his new recruits for the first time and spits in their face. Then he challenges them to fight him. He whips their asses (ah-dur!). Then a little unsuspecting Asian dude pulls out the supa-dupa kungfu and lands the commander on his ass instead. OMG I was dying!!! This was totally the scene of an old war movie! I really don't like to think Heinlein copied this cliche crap. I'm just gonna say he wrote this first before anybody else did. I see not other explanation for it except Heinlein did this on purpose to get his readers to see how similar present military to this scifi military. But if this is the case, couldn't he have done something different? SERIOUSLY.

Bonus Question: To other, or not to other? That is the bonus question...

2009-11-22T19:57:00.000-08:00

I liked the National Museum of the American Indian. First of all because it uses the term American Indian rather than Native American, which can be confusing historically due to American Nativists. Also, when you use the word "native", it definitely has a negative connotation, as "natives" are seen as backwards peoples. It's a really new museum, and I really liked the wave-like design of the exterior. It was probably meant to signify the harmony the American Indian tribes had with the earth.

A major theme in many American Indian culture was the connection between stages of life, color, and the four seasons. One culture correlated adulthood with north and the color red, while another put adulthood in the east and the color was yellow. Symbols for death, birth, and the like changed with each nation, but there was still this theme of the cardinal directions symbolizing different stages in life, elements, and objects like corn and wheat. This way of categorizing life is certainly a tool of remembrance. It creates an order of the complicated world and made it manageable and teachable. The nuances of each culture was shown in the different ways they categorized similar things.

When it comes to othering the American Indians, I think the museum really tried its best not to create the "ooh look and the funny Indians" affect. Contrary to what my chill homie Tonks says (I was looking through other peoples blog post and I just knew I was gonna disagree with her), I didn't see the striking contrast between us versus them. On the top floor, they explored the cultures and customs of several A.I. nations (I'm getting tired of typing, sorry), which you have too if you're gonna make a flippin museum. What was good was that in each little section, they put up pictures and little bios of people alive today who were members of those tribes. The entire second(?) floor was devoted to the lives American Indians today, which I thought was really nice. This exhibit highlighted the incorporation of their culture with modern American culture. There was one display of a modern American Indian living room (idk why, seems kinda weird to me, but w/e). A museum-goer next to me said, "Damn, that looks just like a regular house!" aka it looked like a normal house. This exhibit showed that the American Indians are just like every other American, yet they haven't lost their precious culture. I think this was a great way to balance out the natural othering effect a museum creates on its own.

Making a museum in general others the American Indians. But then again, so does every other celebration of ethnicity. The Chinese New Year parades, Puerto Rican Day parades, even Gay Pride events other the individuals that partake in them. You can't avoid othering when everyday life involves the automatic classification you make in your mind of every person you see. Like Lucia says in her response to esta pregunta extra (I had to look up bonus on google translate lolz), the is "more a celebration of American Indian culture". For this reason I give the American Indian museum some props. Word.

P.S.- Having bangin food helped a bit too ;)

Reflections of Honor

2009-11-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

One thing that surprised me about our "military service as a condition for citizenship" discussion was how many of my peers had been raised to fear the military or at least military service. I was never brought up this way. The military took my grandfather, who grew up on a farm without indoor plumbing, put him through school and got him a doctorate in oceanographic geology to lay microphones on the ocean floor. The GI bill pulled my family off the farm and gave us a better life. We have never forgotten this fact.

My grandfather didn't want my dad to go into the military. When my grandfather went in, it was to give his children a better life. The military is great at moving people from poor to middle class. By the time my father was of age, his family was middle class. The military wouldn't move him forward, wouldn't give him a better life. So my grandfather pushed him to go to college to further advance himself.

What's more the culture of the south is very pro military. This almost militant attitude has roots all the way back to reconstruction. In the early years after the civil war (the war of northern aggression) the south was an occupied country. For many years joining the military was the only way to get ahead in society. Military service held a great deal of honor and respect.

I grew up playing army men and it has definitely influenced my opinions today.

Reflection

2009-11-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been pretty eventful- I attended my formal for the community service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, which was on a boat!, went to the Three Six Mafia concert, left the concert early to see New Moon (which was fabulous by the way), and I finally got my ears pierced! However, I want to talk about the semester as a whole so far.

Although everyone feels the same, I truly cannot believe that we have already been here for three months! Time has really flown by. Once we get back from Thanksgiving break, there's only like two weeks before we go home for Winter Break!

I'm really looking forward to next semester. Everyone has told me, "In college you'll get to pick all the classes you want! You'll have awesome classes!" Honestly, every class I'm taking this semester with the exception of two, I had to take in order to fill my requirements. And I am happy to say that I have much more options for next semester.

I have learned a bit as to what I do not want to do anymore. I came to American wanting "to change the world" with an optimistic attitude. I am completely changed in my mind now though. There are so many problems and issues with international relations, and I honestly think I would go crazy if I worked in a job where nothing really worked. That's another reason why I'm really looking forward to next semester- when I went to my advisor in a panic, we worked out a system where I will look at the different majors available here and inquire about any of the ones I show an interest in.

So, all in all, I'm so stoked for next semester!

Bonus of writing history

2009-11-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

the pro of kicking the crap out of an entire race of people is the ability to write history books that you in a positive light. "It wasn't our fault it was Manifest Destiny!" The National Museum of the American Indian kinda calls BS on that idea. It highlights the wrongs done the American Indian people while still showing them as a persisting culture.

"We're still here" was emblazoned across the Cherokee section of "Our People"

The museum is designed to express the American Indian's side of the story. There was a focus on the tribes as individual communities as opposed to the whole as a culturally homogenous community. Artifacts were organized by tribe and each tribal area was organized so as to detail the individual tribe's fight against oppression.

At the entrances there is a big focus on community and the idea that we are all similar people. (the entrance of one exhibit is lined with video screens that show American Indians walking through as you walk through the entrance) The artifacts are organized to show the diversity of the different tribes.

Blog Question

2009-11-19T06:27:00.001-08:00

"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. breed that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms."

He's right.

One cannot argue that when faced with a problem, the most effective to to get what you want is through force; every nation, civilization and society (and countless individuals) has resorted to violence to achieve its goals. History is a tapestry of violence, of its utilization to build empires and protect sovereignty.

This of course is true only if one examines history as nearsightedly as possible. Acts of violence settle immediate issues; by looking at the ramifications of violence, we see that a violent past will continue to play out into the future. Heinlein offers the example of Napoleon and Wellington to prove his point.

By crushing Napoleon at Waterloo, Duke Wellington preserved British dominance and protected the European continent. However, France's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars led to the Franco-Prussian War, Germany sought vengeance for France's brutal campaign and occupancy during the time of Napoleon, and the taking of Alsace Lorraine. Enmity between the two nations would help fuel WWI, the outcome of then led to WWII, when Britain found its dominance again threatened by a new European superpower that has already conquered the rest of the continent. The cycle of violence only ended after WWII, when the U.S. and its allies decided to rebuild instead of destroy.

Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan, and internal conflicts in nations like Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria, these are all proof that violent action by the government
and dissenting individuals only begets more violence. To believe that violence is the most effective way to settle conflict is to adopt the irresponsible and totally morally reprehensible belief that none of our actions have consequences.

The Best Way

2009-11-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

The person who utters our mother's immortal words "violence is never the answer" is likely about to have their ass beat because as the quote says violence settles things. And yes, violence is always AN answer, it's usually the most satisfying answer, and most are gung ho behind it until it's turned on them. Then "violence is never the answer."

Violence is always an answer but whether or not it's the best answer is up for debate. It's certainly effective, quick, and fulfills our primitive need to exert dominance but in the long run it is the worst answer. Violence creates its own enemies. Kill a man and any moral high-ground you once held is gone. He could have raped your daughter and killed your wife but as soon as you kill him, you've made an enemy of his brother, his father, his mother, and his sons.

Look at the conflict in the Middle East. With each bomb we drop, each man we torture . . . I mean "aggressively interrogate" we turn the collateral damage, the families and friends, against us. Shock and Awe is great if you're fighting a political force like the Nazis but when your fighting people who fear you then shock and awe just validates their beliefs that you are evil and to be feared.

But history is written by the winners and often times that means the most violent. The point is what is written by violence is HISTORY. In the past it was easy for the winners of a war to write the history books. It was easier to erase the pasts of those who opposed the "strong." *cough American Indians cough*

Today things are shifting. Our world of internet and instant information sharing gives those receiving the beating a voice. Those who are violent are more likely to be held responsible for their actions. Similarly it is easier for one occurrence to become the rallying point of a cause.

If violence is no longer a viable long term option and opening a can of whop-ass only creates more problems, then what is the answer?

I wish I could say the Gandhi had the answer but that kind of "peaceful protest" only works in certain situations and it certainly doesn't work between nations. Imagine sending soldiers to hold a "sit in" to overthrow Saddam or hunting Al-Queda with a march. You can't because it's absurd.

I can't pretend to know the Best way and neither can our world leaders but I do know what doesn't work and that's a start.

The Success in Violence

2009-11-18T16:31:00.000-08:00

"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. breed that forget this basic truth have always paid fot it with their lives and freedoms." -- Starship Troopers, p. 27

There is a huge difference in settling an issue effectively and settling an issue in a way that is fair for all parties involved. It's great when these two concepts -- effectiveness and equality -- can coincide, but this is rarely the case. When an issue is solved, the more powerful party gets most all of what they want.

People have tried to solve things peacefully in the past. Keara mentioned in her blog how they talked about the faults of the United Nations for two whole classes in World Politics. During high school, I was part of the Model United Nations club where we went to a college and participated in a mock version of the Model United Nations Security Council. Though its likely a bit more intelligence and efficiency is involved in the actual United Nations, the process was highly inefficient; the only resolutions that were passed were "fluffy" resolutions that didn't really do anything because there wasn't enough material for conflict to arise. Resolutions that would actually acomplish something did not get passed because there were too many people that were trying to get their beliefs and needs met.

Let's just look at a list of the situations in the past that have been effectively solved with violence:
1. World War 2 was ended with Atomic Bomb
2. Civil War
3. State using Police as Defense
4. Removal of Indians - Trail of Tears

One of these situations using violence, the state using police as defense, seems pretty fair to most parties involved while the rest of them seem pretty pointed toward one party. Kicking Native Americans off their land and forcing them to march toward undesired lands isn't really moral, but the issue was solved. Solving the battles between the North and the South was pretty effectively solved through the Civil War; afterall, the United States is still a union. The ending of World War 2 with the Atomic Bomb was even successful use of violence; firstly it was predicted that less people would be killed using the atomic bomb than with continued invasions and secondly the atomic bombing caused the war to end abruptly. Though I'm sure there are examples of peaceful attempts to solve issues (i.e. Gandhi), using violence and the fear that accompanies it has been the single most consistantly successful strategy to solve large scale conflicts.

Violence

2009-11-17T17:24:00.000-08:00

Some people say that violence is the last solution. Others say that it is never the answer. And others, such as Mr. Dubois, believe it is the only answer.

Okay, let's be honest. Peacekeeping is a great concept. Working issues our diplomatically, peace talks, the UN, etc. are all really great. However, how effective are these methods in reality? In my World Politics class, we spent a good two class periods discussing all of the faults with the UN. And for my Leadership Gateway class, we had a crisis simulation that was sort of similar to Model UN- there was a problem, and groups represented different countries and tried to work out the problems. And it was so annoying/hard t0 negotiate with the other groups. The teachers even had to abruptly stop the simulation because nothing was working. Although I personally do not believe that violence is always the answer, I have come to realize, especially during my first semester here, that diplomacy sounds great but does not always work.

Looking back into history, how many times have peace agreements just not worked out? Take for example the wonderful peaceful policy of "appeasement." Chamberlain and the other Western rulers whose names are escaping me right now allowed for Hitler to take control of certain areas in Europe- it was a peace treaty to allow him to satisfy (or so they thought) Hitler's desire for territory. And what was the result of this peaceful arrangement? World War II.

I feel like people are too selfish to be able to work things out peacefully. If two areas really hate each other, peace agreements will barely ever work effectively. How long have peace talks been taking place between Israel and Palestine as well as between the Greek and Turkish sections of Cyprus? Let's pretty much face it- if nothing significantly solid has happened yet, I don't see what another ten years of peace talks can do.

It is hard to say that I completely agree with this statement- I mean nobody really enjoys violence unless you are some crazy sadist. And the aftermaths of war normally cause huge tensions. I mean one of the main reasons Hitler rose to power and all that jazz was because Germany was an embarrassment after it lost in World War I. Even though there are tensions after the war, war actually "gets stuff done" much more effectively than talking. You have a much bigger impetus to become friendlier with another country if their army is completely demolishing yours. But then again there is violence that occurs during like colonization and enslaving. The Native Americans were pretty good until the white man came in and basically slaughtered a huge majority of their population. How was violence the answer then? I think I would probably support the stance that diplomacy is mostly useless (sad but true) and violence gets stuff done but ONLY when states are butting heads, a state is being a total jerk, etc. As for the times when greedy men come in and just commit acts of violence on another community, I really could not tell you that violence is that answer or that diplomacy works. It is just greed that causes them to invade and do this, and I wish I could come up with a better explanation/answer for this.

Reflection

2009-11-16T06:20:00.000-08:00

As a number of my classmates have already reported, Ambassador Quaintain was probably our most interesting speaker yet; his unique experience was fascinating and even inspiring to listen to. Yet as a a growing number of my classmates also pointed out, the ambassador's story shared fundamental similarities with speakers like Ms. Humphreys; the course that Ambassador Quaintain ended up on was not what he elected, nor even suspected. The most common theme throughout the various presentations has been how our speakers' lives were shaped mostly by forces outside their control; this utterly contrasts one of the most common pieces of advice we routinely receive: learn now what you want to do and push yourself as far as you can go in that field.

As Joe describes it, specialization is a part of adaptation and survival; species that don't find a niche die out, companies that cannot specialize their service collapse. It seems natural that for individual careers to be successful, we too must place our chips in one area of specialization.

In past blogs, I have argued in favor of a very different mode of education, a comprehensive "cultural literacy" seems to be the most effective education system for elementary and high school students. However, college in of itself isn't a continuation of the education one received in high school; a college education inherently forces a student to select the area of greatest interest to them and pursue that area above all else.

A college education centers around the pursuit of a career, or graduate school. That is its specialization. Judging from the speakers, however, it was not specifically the college education itself which prepared them for real life; it was more the traits such as hard work and independence, which they would have garnered from college despite any one major. The ambassador answered in class that he believed the Foreign Service has changed, that it would be near impossible for someone to replicate his story and have such a comprehensive career. Perhaps careers have shifted over the years, but I do not think that life itself has become any more predictable. So while I know what area I want to study, I think that I will continue to branch out, a little, and ruminate over these questions as luxuriously as only a college freshman can.

Reflection 12: Don't let me wander off alone EVER AGAIN

2009-11-16T01:11:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so I got lost in the Arlington Cemetery on Wednesday. I had to go to the bathroom before I headed off, and everybody went off ahead of me. I figured I could tackle Arlington on my own, but then i found out haw darn huge it was! I was in no mood for walking, but I had a project to do, so I was off. I had been wanting to visit the Kennedy graves since Ted Kennedy passed away, so I headed there first. It surprised me how minimalistic all the Kennedy graves were. They were obviously held to a great importance because there was a guard stationed there and special stone work display speeches and stuff. Anyway, after seeing that, I felt like climbing to the highest point of the cemetery. BAD IDEA. There is no direct route to anything in Arlington Cemetery; its just a bunch of confusing, meandering dirt paths. It took me much longer and much more energy than I expected to reach the Arlington House at the highest point. I was completely spent by then, partly from lack of sleep and no breakfast that morning, but I had to get down and back to school. WORST 45 MINUTES OF MY LIFE. I didn't want to go back the way I had come, because I thought it would take too long. The way I ended up taking led me to the roads cars use to access the cemetery. I followed these roads for FOREVER in the relentless cold and rain until I finally got to the gates. But these weren't the same gates I had used to get in. I ended up collapsing in the Women in the Military exhibit to muster up a little more strength. I finally got onto the sidewalk that led to the Metro, but oh my god, it felt like the LONGEST WALK OF MY LIFE. I know I sound pathetic, but I was really starting to think I'd never make it. I was cold, wet, hungry, and utterly exhausted, and the metro wasn't getting any closer! I finally did get on the metro; had a long, agonizing wait for the AU shuttle; and collapsed onto my bed with every intention of never moving ever again. I did eventually move, but that was after I had slept through my Chinese lab.

So there you have it, my journey through the cemetery. It was quite fruitless in the academic sense, for I spent most of my time there lost and confused. For the last time we take a field trip, I am NOT going around by myself. If I have to get lost, someone else is gonna have to suffer with me. "Oh Anaaaa..."

Reflection 10

2009-11-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed the speaker on Friday. From his story he seems to have lived a really interesting life and I hope I can say the same thing about myself as I get older. I did notice a common theme between him and some of the other speakers we had: what you plan isn't always where you end up. He talked about how he didn't have the usual qualifications for some of the many jobs he attained, but was fortunate and knew the right people. I don't remember what country it was, but I think there was one country he was sent to and didn't even know the language.

I could be mixing up the speakers, but I believe it was Debrah Humphries didn't plan on her job at the non-profit organization and it fell into place. However, both of these speakers gave advice for our success that differed from what they did to lead to their own success. They suggested that we develop a strong plan and the speaker Friday also said that we need to specialize in certain areas. Its interesting that people who, in my opinion, are pretty successful suggest different paths than their own to reach similar success.

P.S. If it isn't already obvious, I can't remember the name of the speaker from Friday; I'm on the top bunk and my notebook is across the room. Let's face it, that's so not happening.....so we'll just go with "speaker from Friday."

Reflecting the future

2009-11-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

I've noticed a pattern with all our speakers.

They all stumbled onto their current careers through sheer dumb luck. Yet several of them have touted the importance of specialized education. Almost none of them went into a career that naturally fit with their major (the economist excluded).

Their messages are contradictory. "Have a plan." "Don't stick to that plan." "Find Yourself." "Don't look too long."

The only thing all of them agreed on was "Get a Job!"

Great, me and a couple million of my unemployed friends'll jump right on that.

Reflection- Arlington Cemetery

2009-11-12T14:47:00.000-08:00

During our visit to Arlington Cemetery, one part really impacted me. I had gone in eighth grade, so the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Kennedys’ gravesite with the eternal flame was still pretty fresh in my mind. I don’t have any family buried in Arlington, so my first trip of walking aimlessly around the different gravestones was a bit different from this past Wednesday where a few of my classmates and I were looking for a specific gravestone from a fellow Explorer’s family.

While we were searching for it, we happened to be walking in a section that was all “Iraqi Freedom” gravestones. This was the part that really upset me- some of the birth years were 1987- the same age as my sister. It was so weird to see a) the burial places of soldiers from a war still going on and b) seeing soldiers as young as twenty dying at war. I’m not sure which part disturbed me more- the fact that it had somewhere made the current Iraqi War more tangible by seeing actual gravestones or that soldiers who were my sister’s age have died fighting for their country. It made me realize that my sister and I are not kids anymore- we are old enough now to go to war and even die in it.

This Arlington Cemetery visit was truly an eye-opening experience, and I hope to go back next year for Veterans’ Day and possibly even see the memorial service this time! (Darn you, Obama!)

reflection and relaxation

2009-11-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

When you are sick, there's a day about halfway through your illness when if you take it easy and nuke your illness with meds you could be better tomorrow. If you do anything fun however you'll be sick for another week.

I was at that point on Saturday. Saturday is the day for fun things but I knew if I went out and did anything I'd spend the next week paying for it.

Being the only person still on the floor gives you a lot of time to reflect on your week, like the themes of Antigone .

In many ways Antigone, all the Oedipus saga really, is like an illness. One action that seems relatively harmless, like a cough escalates into an unstoppable wave.

When Antigone begins Creon is in that crossroads day where you either sacrifice your social life or your health. He has the option of either allowing an honorable burial to an enemy of Thebes that would benefit his family and please the gods or attempt to unite Thebes through vilifying a common enemy even if it goes against the gods. Really it's a "screwed either way" set up.

Creon chooses the short game. By vilifying the brother who attacked Thebes he could temporarily unite the people against a common enemy but that kind of unity is short lived. In this case very short lived as Antigone goes on to disturb the peace. A better long game would have been to bury both with honors as "sons of Thebes" and say that "with this burial we put to rest the horrors of our past and through honor seek to rebuild for a stronger future." In the end uniting over building something is a better political strategy.

Creon was a bad king because he lacked an understanding of the long game.

Reflection 10

2009-11-09T06:06:00.000-08:00

Laws only exist to protect the rights and needs of the people. Therefore, when a law deviates from these rights, people have no obligation to follow it. That is why Antigone was right to disobey her uncle and bury her brother; proper treatment of a dead relative seems to be a human right a government has no right to infringe upon. That is why we as Americans were wildly supportive of the Iranian unrest following its dubious elections, even though popular support has wavered with waning media coverage- the Iranian people resisted an autocratic ruler because his laws violated their natural rights.

At the same time, arguments exist for the rule of law when safety of the majority overrules a right of the minority. Baruch Goldstein, a follower of Meir Kahane and a former member of the armed forces, in 1994 massacred a number of Muslims in a mosque. After he was killed by mosque attendants, extreme right Jewish factions made a shrine around his grave. The Israeli government later demolished the shrine after ruling that monuments cannot be made for terrorists in the state of Israel, fearing that the shrine would attract support for extremist forces, or attract violence from Palestinians angry over the pilgrimages to the shrine. Did the Israeli mandate violate the expression rights of those who built and visited the shrine? Yes, certainly. Was the action justifies? I think that is harder to argue; it was done in name of national security, a justification which always needs to be given a skeptical glance. There are many parrelles between Antigone and this real-life event, a terrorist is celebrated after his death, and the state, citing security and stability as their motivation, deny his friends and family the right to perform his burial as they see fit.

The greatest difference between the two scenarios is of course the different government structures- Isreal is a liberal democracy while Thebes was ruled by an autocrat whose word, and prejudices, were law. Therefore, I have to think that the state of Israel better represented to will of the people, who willed for stability at the cost of an extremist faction.

Reflection -- Antigone

2009-11-08T11:26:00.000-08:00

When trying to think about what to reflect about this week, I had some difficulties because lets just say Greek Tragedies aren't my thing. Anyways, I was thinking back to our "trial" in class and I remember I wasn't surprised that the group defending Antigone went with the insanity plea. I'm not saying it was wrong because if I was in their group I would have went with that defense too because that is what the text suggests. However, I feel like nowadays everyone uses that reason as a cop-out excuse. Though I know shows like Law and Order and CSI aren't true representations of reality, that's what I'm basing my knowledge of court cases on haha. It seems as if whenever the defense has no good evidence, insanity is their plea. This insanity plea because of current emotional conditions and incest has a little bit of validity I suppose, but people should just start taking responsibility for their actions.

Reflection

2009-11-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

When I first read Antigone in tenth grade, I remember thinking, "Wow Creon is such a jerk. I'm totally on Team Antigone." I even recall writing an essay on why Creon is classified as a tragic hero, and my teacher commented that I was too harsh on him. Now that I am reading it in college, I have different feelings. I can't help but feeling sort of sorry for Creon. Instead of a headstrong tyrant, I see him as a man trying to gain control of his kingdom as it is about to fall apart. I feel like deep down he knows that he should not punish his niece, but he needs to keep his credibility and reputation as a forceful ruler, even if his decree was a bit unfair.

This does not mean that Antigone is all to blame. Even though she technically broke the law, can you blame her? She just wanted to give her brother a proper burial. What the defense for Antigone said in class on Friday that it was a terrible law to begin with reminded me of something that I had learned in US History. Although I cannot remember the specific details, it was something like Senate didn't like that Andrew Johnson was being too lenient in his Reconstruction policies and they made a law that Senate approval was needed if the President wanted to either remove or instate a Cabinet member. Johnson disregarded this and was impeached. He was like one vote or something like that off from being impeached, but much later the law was considered unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

So, if Antigone was given a fair trial, would she have been declared innocent? This play is very complex and in the gray area of who is right and wrong, that I don't think any conclusions could be drawn that specifically state that Creon is right and Antigone is wrong or vice versa. I just thought it was funny/strange that I have formed completely different opinions of the characters in just the course of three years.

Question 10

2009-11-05T05:24:00.000-08:00

I agree that a society's management of wealth and poverty does reflect on its overall health and stability. This probably stems from my belief that, particularly in our nation, we have a degrading system of social determinism that restrains those born into poverty. Despite the best efforts of the Obama administration, our country is not nealy post-racial; racism quietly penetrates the economic life of Americans in almost every area: healthcare, housing, employment. Shortly after the housing market crash, reports of areas with high concentrations of foreclosures were taken; in cities like Memphis with a high black population, investigators found that maps of foreclosed houses fall perfectly along the bounderies of black neighborhoods. Banks targeted black Americans with the riskiets loans, hoping to make quick profits. Not everyone agrees with this opinion, but it shapes my belief that the existance of poverty in our country identify deeper societal ills.

Education specialists like E.D. Hirsch, who promote a system of "cultural literacy," have come under fire from traditional liberals who like progressive, individualistic methods of teaching i.e., teaching children "how to learn" is more important than grounding them in history, culture and language. Hirsch, however, maintains that a stable education system based on basic culteral literacy for each grade level in the U.S. “Cultural literacy constitutes the only sure avenue of opportunity for disadvantaged children,” said Hirsch in this article (http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_4_hirsch.html). The United State's education system is especially failing those from impoverished households, and a reformed education system will allow estranged populations minorities and the rural poor to better rise out of poverty, and better coalesce our nations' cultural identity as to better combat racism. My home state, Massachusetts, adopted Hirsch's model and its educational standards immediately surged; Massachusetts now leads the nation in NAEP test scores, whereas before its scores were stagnant, particularly in reading and writing.

Therefore, we can link an issure like poverty, and the distribution of wealth in our society, to social foundations like education. A failuire in our education is a severe societal ill. Our country has always been good at throwing money at problems instead of investigating their roots. Both liberal welfare systems and conservative methods of tax breaks have their problems in reducing the U.S.'s poverty, Even though I consider myself progressive, and don't usually believe that old dead white men know what is best for our modern nation, I too think that an education system better grounded in the democratic ideals proposed by Jefferson and other Founding Fathers is better for combating poverty.

Poverty

2009-11-04T22:50:00.000-08:00

We’re so rich that we forget about our poor people; people don’t realize how poor some people are. People in the country are often focused on the unemployment numbers as a way of showing how the market is doing in today’s economy. However, these numbers are more important. These show how the US is handling its citizens. As more and more people fall below the poverty line, the US is having a hard time taking care of its citizens. This can be a sign that the US is not reaching its full potential with its interaction with citizens.

Poverty proves if a society is interacting and working together. Since these are the most important parts of society, it can be only fitting that the poverty line shows is people are indeed working together as a community. The most important thing we should bear in mind in this social arrangement is that the society on a whole must interact and know each other’s problems, and not view these problems as simple numbers telling how this weeks Dow Jones Industrial Average is going to do.

the weakest link

2009-11-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

The old adage of a chain only being as strong as its weakest link plays directly into how a society copes with poverty or rather a working class. A strong, well cared for working class allows for a strong, well cared for class of idle rich. Just like an expensive chandelier the weight of the rich is supported and saved from imminent demise by the chain of oppressed working class.

If this working class is fed regularly on the American Dream (tales of how relentless hard work allows for social and economic mobility) then the chain will continue supporting the ever more cumbersome and gaudy chandelier but as the chandelier becomes neglectful of its support structure small cracks will form in arrangement.

Like Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution, the lower class starved of food, health care, and opportunity and burdened by the ever growing economic weight of the idle rich and . . . well like I said a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. It only takes one link sloughing off the burden of its oppressors to send the whole structure crashing to the ground.

Response 10: Dealing with poverty and developing societies

2009-11-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

The problem of wealth and poverty is a social ill. A country's state of development dictates how it deals with those issues. Established, developed nations are the ones that have time to look at their social construction and want to try and fix them. The US, UK, and other major European countries have come far enough economically that they can care for those who didn't entirely benefit from ecnomic policies. Those in the best "health" can take the time to deal with the welfare of all it's people. Unhealthy states, on the other hand, tend to focus more on the betterment of their country first.

Take China for example. China is now going through its industrial revolution and its economy is booming because of it. China wants to reach superpower status, so they ignore human rights and environmental issues within their state. This country of roughly 1 billion people has a huge amount of its citizens classified as the rural poor. China, being a developing nation, is ignoring their poor for now to continue their steamtrain towards being developed.

India too follows this trend. As seen in the recent box office hit, Slumdog Millionaire, there are many slum towns within major cities that are just ignored. The poor are grossly poorer than the poor of the United States. This is because India is still developing; they have yet to lift a majority of their people out of poverty. The more stereotypical "third world" also falls under this trend. States of this classification are just poor in general compared to other states. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, is plagued by ridiculous inflation rates and widespread poverty. This is due to its corrupt government, which is taking all the profits and manipulating the state's economy to keep the people down. This terribly unhealthy nation is defined by the lack of any action to deal with its poverty by its society.

Another way to view this litmus test to a healthy county is to examine the difference between poverty and economic inequality. In my world politics class, we're learning about how some experts believe we should focus on how inequally wealth is distributed in a country rather than poverty itself. The models given to support this were all developed or up-and-coming countries, like the US, Brazil, and China. The most developed countries, namely the US , have most of their wealth concentrated in small top percentiles of the population (i.e. top 2% in the US). The up-and-comers weren't as bad, but studies showed that the division between the rich and the poor had greatly increased as these economies of these states grew. It seems that as a society lifts itself out of "undeveloped" status, the divisions of the rich and poor inherently are created. The great divide that seems to occur is unpleasant to society, so it responds and tries to bring its poor up with the rest of the country. An undeveloped nation won't do that because there is yet to be a great enough divide in socioeconomic hierarchy in the general public. The societies most fervent and successful in their fight against poverty are only those that are truely developed nations.

Reflections of shiny objects

2009-11-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

I must first apologize for the lateness of my reflection this week.

In my defense I spent my Sunday in a Howard County ER getting flu medication that, had I been at home would have been mine after a short visit to the doctor's office.

Sitting in an understaffed ER for roughly five hours gives one plenty of time consider the state of our health care system today.

For many of the uninsured, the ER replaces a primary care physician. In our current system the hospital is often forced to eat costs that go unpaid by those who can't afford to get sick. The elderly and uninsured are often forced to choose between medications with inflated prices or utilities payments. Recently free health care has been provided to those in some major american cities like LA by Remote Area Medical. They send Remote Area Medical to disaster sites and third world countries that barely have enough hospitals for their sick and health insurance doesn't even come into play.

Yet even those who are insured aren't being covered when they need it most. Dental isn't covered, Optometrists aren't covered, only certain hospitals are covered, only certain doctors. My mother's health insurance company tried to duck charges for the emergency caesarian section that saved both her and my little brother's lives. Apparently the anesthesia was unnecessary for the procedure.

One of the main argument against socialized medicine is that those needing vital procedures would have to wait to get them. They already are. They're waiting for their insurance companies to approve the life saving procedures that they can't afford but can't survive without. As it is our health care is controlled by the rich and vocal. All those people who stand in front of the capital with signs that say "Keep government hands off my Medicaid" while people die in ER's or drown in bills they can't pay. Only the rich can afford to stay healthy.

What kind of self respecting first-world country would have a system that put a price on health?

Reflection 10: Good god it's November...

2009-11-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

Time has flown by so fast. I've been in college for 2 1/2 months. Some of my friends here feel like ones I've known for years. I'm used to the campus, the food, the schedule. Everything is fitting in very nicely for me. But for some strange reason on Saturday, I was the most homesick I had ever been since I arrived here on August 15th. Saturday was Halloween, a holiday grounded in the neighborhood where you live. I was upset because it was no longer the same for me. I was used to Trick-or-Treating with the same group of neighborhood homies, taking too much and running through backyards. I missed dressing up for the day before Halloween at my high school. I missed participating in the the Safe Halloween program where little kids get to Trick-or-Treat at my high school. I missed seeing my little brother in his video game character Halloween costume and opening the door for all the little kids. And I especially missed the CANDY. I wasn't swimming in mountains of free candy and Halloween just didn't feel the same!!! I was just plain sad all day on Saturday. I really didn't feel like leaving the dorm, but my homie Isaac managed to persuade me to go to Georgetown with him. I had fun looking at all the creative costumes and just being in the packed chaos of M Street. So the moral of the story is: when you lack your normal traditions, make new ones? :)

Reflection

2009-11-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

Our class seemed generally to doubt AU's motivation for its 35 million dollar donation to WAMU. There must to be an ulterior motive, American has to be getting something out of the deal. I am sure that our school's leadership knows what it is doing; AU most certainly will benefit in some way. However, I do not believe that self-interest needs to be the force shaping AU's policy, not anyone's. Instead of maintaing that charity and civic duty are viable only because the participant may get something out of it, why not instead consider that doing acts of good inherently benefits all parties involved. Our society does not need to be "zero-sum" if people abandon the mentality that other people's gains are their losses- the rich do not need to get richer only at the cost of the poor getting poorer.

People, and entities like American University, need not lead a Ted Oster lifestyle, where the only good is what immediately benefits you. That will only lead to a reduction is what political scientist Robert Putnam calls "social capital," the important, mutually beneficial relationships forged among community members. Civic engagement does not need to decline as it has. It just takes effort, something that Americans are too eager to avoid. I hope that my school is making an effort to benefit its community and create greater social capital. I would be proud to know that the university I atend is standing as a role model for other institutions and members of all their communities.

Selfishness still gets stuff done

2009-10-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

As PTJ stated during class, I was making multiple cynical comments. I actually found it funny because my teacher in high school told me I was the most cynical person he'd ever met. But anyways, I didn't quite have an answer for my comments, but of course right after class what I wanted to say came to me. People work for their self interest. Even when people volunteer, its for their self interest much of the time. For example, someone who volunteers because it makes them "feel better about themselves" is ultimately doing it for his or her own selfish reasons not because the people they're helping are being helped. Another example that's prominent is when people do public service because they have to. When I went to a soup kitchen yesterday (which I did because I had to for Macroeconomics), the people there asked why I had to come. Apparently, not many people come just for their own volition. This idea was sugggested in Habits of the Heart. They talked about how "getting involved" and service certainly has private and public reasons. I feel that the private reasons are more prominant.

Getting back to the class discussion, I don't believe that there's a chance in hell Amerian University is shelling out 35 million dollars a year just to be a good community member. AU must be gaining something from this. Whether its direct gains to the university or gains to the students of the university (which is still benefitting the university itself because we are a large part of it), this incredible financial contribution is not just a nice public act. I remember when it was said that everything President Kerwin did was calculated, this could be another one of those things. Even if the only benefit to AU is to suggest an image of public service to the community, the money is still being given for selfish reasons.

With this being said, AU is helping the community while helping themselves. So even with my cynical views on their selfish reasons for givingthe money, I can't deny that a public service is still being done.

Come On Get Happy

2009-10-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I do not want to appear to be out of line or rude, but I do not believe that the way our class discussions regarding our school have been what we as students should be saying about our school. Why are you at this school if you think you are better than it and settling? Yes, I applied to Georgetown as well and was wait listed. Am I settling at American and unhappy that I am here? No. I am not settling- American is an excellent school and let's be honest here. Barely anybody gets into Ivy League schools, and I have not found the work here to be easy at all but rather challenging and time consuming, as it is at any good college. There are people here, possibly even in our class, where American was a reach school for them and they could not be happier to be attending their "dream school." It sounds extremely condescending when it is stated that American is a settling safety school to someone who had possibly worked really hard in high school to get here. I just think that people need to be happier and stop being negative nancies.

On another note, I'm so excited for Halloween! I can't wait to see everyone's costumes!

Blog Post 9

2009-10-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

"Modern individualism seems to be producing a way of life that is neither individually nor socially viable, yet a return to traditional forms would be to return to intolerable discrimination and oppression" (Bellah et. al., p. 144).

I believe I understand what Bellah is saying here, that the rise of individualistic thought leads people to abandon traditional values; yet strict adherence to those traditional values squashes individual freedoms, our quintessential American dilemna. Bellah describes this better in the marraige portion of the book than he does in the paragraphs leading to this statement. Take for example, the arguments for a traditional Christian marraige- that seeing your love for someone as an obligation higher than your own personal wants leads to a more secure and fulfulling relationship. I think this has merit, it means you are willing to make sacrifices to make a relationship work. However, I don't want to think that there is an obligation, for example, for the wife to remain at home her whole life.

This conflicts with the lifestyle espoused by Ted Oster in the Values section. Oster believes that he "needs to try everything once" and that there is no good or bad except for what makes you feel good. While this may lead to an open and accepting lifestyle, it also makes your viewpoint extremely black and white- there is no moral gray area that many people want. If something makes you happier, it is autmoatically better, and something that requires to much labor or sacrifice instantly is bad. Oster cannot answer, for example, what would happen to his happy marraige if he met someone who was immediately more pleasing than his wife.

I think that we have are still in the argument section of the book. While Bellah raises interesting questions about American identity here, we still have not seen his idea of solutions to these problems, yet.

I Don't Understand This...

2009-10-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

Although I am not positive as to what Bellah is saying with this statement, I think he is trying to say that you can't win either way, which is a bit ridiculous. I don't really understand/agree with what he means by "individually viable." Why wouldn't it work for the individual if you are being the individual that you want to be? Also, what would he suggest if neither modern individualism nor a return to tradition would work. Even though I'm slightly confused by this quote, I feel like I really don't agree with it at all, and I think that Bellah needs to be a bit more happier!

Response 9: Well, this sure is a pickle...

2009-10-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

The authors of Habits of the Heart state that modern individualism is "neither individually nor socially viable, yet a return to traditional forms would be to return to intolerable discrimination and oppression" (Bellah et. al., p. 144). Modern individualism is dangerous because it puts the self over everything else, including the betterment and functionality of society. It would be like today's cliquey Congress; politicians are well-known for looking out for their self interests over compromising to pass effective legislation. If the whole world was this way, then we would live in constant competition with one another and all trust would dissolve. It could parallel realist World Politics, in which anarchy (the lack of a world government) creates a self-help system Anarchy is not a stable social system because people need to be governed by some form or else there is no order. Therefore, the possible future created by modern individualism is not "socially viable". There is no way to be completely individual and be apart of society.

In fact, you can't really escape society. Unless you live in a hovel in godknowswhere middle America, you will always be apart of some form of community. Whatever choice you make in life, whatever niche you put yourself into, you will always connected to other "individuals". For example, let's say you want to be the total indie non-conformist (as my friend was for his Halloween costume today). You really aren't a true non-conformist because there are a bajillion people like you also trying to go against the system. You can't be purely unique because your environment binds you in as well. You may be the only vampire-zombie-indie-ballerina-fruitloops dieting-zionist in New Jersey, but you're IN NEW JERSEY. As we demonstrated in class on last week, there is a "community memory" all New Jerseyans share that no one else could really understand. There was definitely and Us and a Them (us being Jerseyans and them being non-cool people). In fact, creating an Us and Them defines two different societies in and of itself.

Holding onto, or going back to the traditional forms as Habits talks about is definitely hard. Our complex society has created a need for people to go through change. The possibility for different ideas and lifestyles causes conflicts with family members along generation lines. Separation from your parents is necessary to resolve tension and pursue your own goals for self improvement. Getting to the next level of success yields more growth for our country than watching over your parents would. Going back to old traditions is unrealistic because we have already tasted individual freedom, and such a thing cannot just be taken away. We can long for the return to our "roots" but this would lead to the "intolerable discrimination and oppression" mentioned earlier. Take the example of Joe Gorman's town. Homogeneous, small town traditions let the townspeople boycott lower-income housing because it would let in minorities. This is discrimination and oppression at its core.

Personally, I don't find our current state of modern individualism all that bad. Having control oneself is the key to democracy, where the people are the government. Our needs and wants are vitally important, so we should have the freedom to do as we please. Of course, we cannot take this to the extreme. Anarchy is out of the question if we are to have a stable society. As long as we keep modern individualism to a happy medium, society shouldn't fall on its rear end.

The Death of Tribes and the Rise of the American Dream

2009-10-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Starting over is as American as Apple pie but just like pie too much is bad for you. As individuality progresses people pull away from their communities. This is unhealthy. Humans are social animals and as we pull away from those around us we suffer.

When humans were still tribal animals, children didn't leave, they didn't start over. They made their tribes larger, more rich. In the tribal era cultures were less homogenized and groups were more tightly knit. As a result there was greater discrimination. Our engrained fear of what is different from ourselves made discrimination and oppression of those we could.

The advent of the individual is hardly a bad thing. It has allowed great leaps forward in human rights as well as innovation in diverse fields of study. The importance of the individual allowed our civilization to move beyond agrarian based societies. It allowed for increased class mobility in addition to giving us a wider web of interpersonal connections.

Where this individuality and self reinventing becomes unhealthy is when we are so fiercely independent and reinvented that we cut ties with those from our past. The movie Whip It said it best, "You don't give up your old family just because you found a new one."

Dermot Mulroney has more insight than Robert Bellah

2009-10-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

In summary, this passage basically said that individuals can't be happy the way they are living now nor can they be happy if they returned to the way they lived in the past. This statement reaked of cynicism. I found this cynicism present in other areas of the book too. Page 108 discussed the utilitarian attitude of love and divorce: "A relationship should give each partner what he or she needs while it lasts, and if the relationship ends, at least both partners will have recevied a reasonable return on their investment." This comparison of a supposedly loving relationship to a business transaction was one of the most cynical things I read.

But getting back to the meaning of the orginal quote, from this cynical perspective the implication is that one cannot be happy with their way of life under any circumstance. This idea is ridiculous. If individuals want to be happy, they'll be happy. If they want to sulk in their own pain, they'll be depressed and unhappy. In the movie The Wedding Date, a woman is still depressed years after being cheated on and dumped by her boyfriend. Her escort, played by Dermot Mulroney, to a wedding explains to her that her unhappiness is her own decision. Once she is ready to move on and be happy with her life, she will be. She has the power to decide the happiness in her life. I think this idea is more relevant to "producing a way of life that is individually and socially viable."

I found the perspective of the "profound impasse" presented in the book quite interesting. It seems ironic that "modern individualism" doesn't seem to blame on the individual for their unhappiness.

Our Parents Reflections

2009-10-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

Parents weekend was an interesting ritual to view.

For so long we have merely been add ons to our parents and in our first months of college we work to forge our own identities without them. Parents weekend pushes our old selves into our new world. We are forced to compromise between the people we were and the people we are.

The parents were uncomfortable in our spaces whereas when we return home we are comfortable there. Because we are the ones changing we force those who were used to us as we were (our parents) to adapt to the new person who can do laundry, feed themselves, and operate sans authority. I assume my reaction would be the same as the parents on parents weekend were I to return home only to find that my family had moved.

Reflection 9

2009-10-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, before President Kerwin came to speak to us, I was pretty ignorant about AU's history. I was actually schocked when I learned that AU's narrative is not the nacreous one I had assumed since first visiting AU as a senior in high school. While I understand why the university may want its lurid recent past recondite, I personally do not think that is what is right for the school.

Far from making me wary or ashamed to be a part of the community, knowing this about AU's past actually makes me proud. I am proud to see that my school has been able to come so far in what must have been a relatively short period time. I actually feel a stronger connection to AU's community; the growth, and the projected growth, of our school should be something we can rally around, not something we skirt over.

Reflection 9: Fond feastings and.... RIOTS???

2009-10-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Parent's Weekend! I got to hang out with my parents and little brother Kevin for 3 days. We saw the Washington monument and I took them around Chinatown. It didn't feel weird seeing them after more than a month. It was quite natural, and enjoyable. I'd been on rocky standing with my parents with junior year, so it was nice having peaceful dinners with them. And they had to rely on me to get around the city. I'm usually the worst person ever with directions, so it was nice to have them trust me.

While I was being fed and doted on this weekend, something really awful happened back at my hometown. Friday was homecoming at my old high school, and a riot happened just after the dance that night. My good friend's sister wasn't there (thank god), but she knew people who were and apparently it was a huge mess. A fight broke out outside the high school. Police stationed at the dance called in back up from 4 other towns. They told the kids still inside the dance to get out, but they just got caught in the riot. Not knowing what else to do apparently, the police decided to MACE THE ENTIRE CROWD of kids and parents. Innocent kids trying to find their siblings and friends got BEATEN WITH NIGHTSTICKS. The most sickening thing, however, is how the press covered the incident. In this online article my boyfriend sent me, there were mentions of "assaults" on police officers, but NOTHING on the treatment of the innocent students. And worse of all were the comments people left about the students of my high school. (link to article below)

When people talk about the travesties of the DC community and the school system, it is very near to my heart coming from a high school with a really bad rep. Like American, my high school hired a revolutionary principal to turn things around in my hometown. Only unlike Mr. Kerwin, our principal left only after 1 year because another school system hired him to be superintendent. I feel like everything is getting worse and worse, especially with my class having graduated. This had never happened before at any of the homecomings I went to. It really upsets me to see my alma mater going down the drain. I think my old high school needs a strategic plan of its own.

Here's the article so you can see what I means : http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091024/NEWS/91024014&s=d&page=1#pluckcomments

Week 8 Reflection - President Kerwin

2009-10-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

Upon entering American University, I was set on pursuing a business degree. Ultimately, I planned to work my way to becoming a top executive at a highly ranked company. However when we were talking about how everything President Kerwin says is planned and strategically said, I began to reconsider this plan. A top business executive must practice the same type of care and strategery in his or her talk as President Kerwin does. I much prefer being around people who are honest and relaxed rather than someone who is constantly planning his or her words carefully. I'm still interested in pursuing my major in business but I realize now how important the direction that I take that major is so that I don't end up in a field where a very strategic performance is required.

Reflection 8- President Kerwin's Speech and the Strategic Plan

2009-10-23T22:24:00.001-07:00

I must admit that I was a bit surprised as how personable and down-to-earth President Kerwin was. I mean, he is the president of the university, so it is so easy for him to think that he is a big shot, but that was not the impression I got of him at all. I thought his speech was interesting, and I laughed when he started talking about JFK for a brief period of time. My mom’s family moved to the United States while he was in office, and my grandma was OBSESSED with him. She cut out all of the newspaper articles about him and all his pictures in the magazines until she had literally ten scrapbooks all dedicated to him, so I could definitely relate to what President Kerwin was saying regarding ex-president Kennedy’s impact on the Irish.

However, although the Strategic Plan is a good idea and looks great to build up the reputation and prestige of American, it kind of reminded me of when we went to the Navy Yard for Discover DC. Yes, everything sounded great, but is it really going to happen? I mean, this is a bit more realistic than Navy Yard…it is planned to only take ten years whereas the Navy Yard will take thirty years if I remember correctly. Also, how do we know that this will actually happen? Once again, it all sounds great, but I am a bit skeptical to see if everything will be carried out as planned.

Blog Question 8

2009-10-22T05:38:00.000-07:00

American University is definitely a type of community, especially if we think back on what defines communities. AU's students are all united by a basic common purpose- to further their education here; we have many other ties as well: we cheer the same sports teams, American University is united under a single leadership which has new and exciting(?) plans for its development. You can tell American University is a community just be listening to conversations around campus.

Person A: I am from the upper part of campus
Person B: I am from the lower part
Person C: I like living in central AU
A and B: There is no central AU, you idiot
Person not from AU: goddamn it, this conversation is stupid

Of course, AU contains many communities within itself: it has its different schools, and we all live in different dorms, and our floor certainly has its own community apart from the rest of the residence hall. However, I do believe optimistically that AU's community is shaped by the people within it. I like to think that we all ended up here because that is where we were meant to end up, and that our strong motivations and beliefs or whatever else brought one to the university shapes the community as a whole, for the better.

Discussion Question 8: Community

2009-10-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

What you define a community as all depends on the perspective you're looking at it from. The United States is a community within the world; Washington DC is a community within the United States; and American University is a community within Washington DC.

With that being said, American University is not a community in the sense that we all know each other and are friendly as the nostalgic 1950's idea of a community suggests -- that's obviously not true. With respect to the entire American University campus community, I know practically no one. This is why there are communities within the larger AU community. Each sports team is its own community; fraternities and sororities are their own comunity; and the general education program is its own community. Once you get down to this size of a community, you get more of the feeling where the people are connected. Now, people have to work harder and create situations for this connected community feel. The nostalgic idea of a community is becoming uncommon so that a simple common factor sometimes defines a community whether or not a deeper connection exists. So from the larger perspective, American University is technically a community but doesn't really have a community feeling.

Question 8- Community

2009-10-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

In class on Tuesday, my group discussed how there are totally different kind of communities, and it really depends on the situation to label what a community is. We came up with a broad definition of community, which was a group of people who share at least one thing in common. With this definition, yes, AU is a community- we all picked to go to the same school, so we have something in common that we all liked AU.

However, except for in these broader terms, I do not really feel like AU is a community. It could be that we have only been here for a little over two months, but I do not necessarily feel close to students I pass while walking to class who I don't know. It may also be because it is too big to be a community. With about 6,000 students (I think?) there's pretty much no way that you will get to know everyone and feel close to them. But then again, there are schools much much bigger than ours and people still say that they're part of their college community. I feel like that's what really defines a community though- a tight-knit group, so AU contains multiple communities. I think that our UC is a community. If you join a group or sport, you will more than likely feel like you became a part of the certain group's community. Also, because these groups or our UC is much smaller than our student population, which reiterates my idea that a community should be close with each other.

Matryoshka Communities

2009-10-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Communities are defined as groups bound by some uniting factor or commonality. In that sense yes American University is a community just like DC is a community or on an even larger scale America is a community. This is however only the roughest definition of a community.

An enrollment, temporary residency, or citizenship doesn't make a community if that is all we have uniting us. When we looked at bonds in class, even home state was a stronger tie than American University student. It also exhibited an interesting phenomena that tends to go hand in hand with communities. Often we don't fully realize how connected to a community we are until we leave it. In my case, I had always assumed that I was fundamentally different from my southern peers when I lived there but once I left and was out of my culture it became apparent that a great deal of my personality and beliefs were shaped by the community I grew up in.

Common experience is such an important part of making a community that large communities break down into smaller ones. Explorations breaks down into New Jersey people and Not from Jersey.

It also must be taken into consideration that we are new to the American University community. Perhaps with time it will seem more tight knit than it currently does.

More like Dumbdog Obviousaire, am I right?

2009-10-19T07:03:00.001-07:00

This week, I drew a blank on what to reflect on- so I decided to write about the movie Slumdog Millionaire, which I saw for the first time yesturday night. I also read an article from the Boston Globe which maintains a firm connection with the movie, "Let us now praise...the cliche." The article is a defense of the cliche, prose's socially awkward relative. Cliche's, the author James Parker argues, are a solid method of communication because they convey meaning clearly, concisely and without undue effort. Parker's writing reminded me of earlier criticism of Slumdog that I had heard well before I had ever watched the movie.

Because I am from New England my friends are all elitists, and elitists love nothing more than criticizing things that more stupider people like. I had heard that, "although the movie was good, the characters are too stereotypical/cliched." Parker and I, I assume, would respond with the same answer: Exactly! Suck on it! (He probably would actually say that in real life, most likely)

The reason that the Slumdog Millionaire story is so powerful is because the characters are painted so clearly and vividly, the young man fighting for his true love, the true love kidnapped by evil, and the evil brother who finds redemption; an obvious, emotionally powerful picture is worth well more than a thousand ambigous, intellectually stimulating words.

Reflection 7: All but PTJ can ignore this post...

2009-10-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

I was sick last week, so PTJ let me write this late. I don't think he wanted me to write this a WEEK late, but hey, I was TRYING to write that stinkin ethnography. So let's see if I can remember that far back...

I remember I wasn't in class that Tuesday because of the beginnings of my sickness. I'm still sick today, so that's what, 2 weeks already? At least it's just a cough now. Anyway, I heard that I missed out on an Invisible Man discussion, which is sad because I might have actually contributed. I really liked that book and got really into it. I think it was because it was narrative fiction, and a little closer to our time than good ole Augustine.

On Wednesday we saw the immigration documentary. I had never seen the story of immigration told from that perspective before. I found it very intriguing and eye-opening. I had only heard of the stories of illegal immigrants who came to stay, not the fathers that only wanted to earn some money and then return to their families. I think it's made me rethink immigration a lot. I think we need a specific policy to help migrant workers move between Mexico and the U.S. easier, so we don't get any accidental or forced permanency.

The economist Mary Hansen came to talk to us on Friday. I must say she was a very different kind of speaker. It seemed like she didn't have much planned to say and wanted to answer our questions. She did discuss her research at the end, but it seemed like the presentation was all on us for the bulk of the time. Eventually we gleaned some valuable stuff from her, like how she discovered she wanted to be a economist. I found that story very interesting. I was never one to box myself in with limited options (I have TOO MANY interests) but the ease in which she was able to change her mind on the direction she wanted her life to take eased some of my worries. Through the college application process, I was worried that I was going to pick the wrong school or the wrong major and was doomed to be stuck for life in a career I didn't like. Now I know this doesn't have to be such a big worry as long as I go with my gut, not what other may tell me.

Reflection 8: I waste weekends like college students waste money...

2009-10-19T04:47:00.000-07:00

Boy was this fall break was a waste. Sat on my ass and did nothing. NOTHING. It seems like the past year I've been devolving, and now I'm just a lazy pile of unmotivated goo. But alas, the sun is up and I didn't get any sleep tonight. So let's focus on the positive shall we...

The ethnography was interesting... hard to write, but interesting. I had to do my site visits this past week because I was sick last weekend. Turned out not to my advantage because it RAINED the only days I could go. So just sitting and observing a street in Chinatown was tough. I didn't want a soggy notebook. I solved this by popping into a couple of restaurants and huddling under some overhangs. But I felt that everyone I observed was the same, DC people trying to find a good place to eat. Maybe that was the whole point...

Anyways, that assignment took up most of my time (and money). Nothing else really interesting to say. Like I said, I felt like not sleeping last night so I'm not in my usual midset. So I'm going to end this by saying that this week I spent $28 on a hat, drank a lot of McDonalds sweet tea, and spent way too much time looking at the white walls of my room. Oh, and I saw Zombieland!! Great movie! ^_^

Reflection after being home

2009-10-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday in class some people were discussing the difference between finding yourself and creating yourself. Some people were saying like your identity and who you are is predetermined and you just have to find it. I disagree. I think that life is about creating yourself. All of the experiences you have and the people you meet play a part in creating who you are. It was amazing to go home after being gone for two months and seeing the people that played a large part in forming who I am. I had too many visits to people to fit in in just one weekend. It made me realize that so many people played a part in forming who I am and impacting my identity.

A country reflection

2009-10-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

This will probably kill off any of my remaining cool points but this weekend I discovered the musical stylings of one Taylor Swift and even though ever indie bone in my body is screaming is pain at my affinity for a mainstream artist she is actually very good.

Though her grasp on literature is a bit fuzzy, as seen in Love Story (neither Romeo and Juliet nor The Scarlet letter ended very well) her music shows a maturity that is beyond her teeny-bopper image.

Now this got me thinking about the stereotypes of country music. The first is that it centers around a few central story lines and subjects. (My wife left me, Booze, dogs, hometowns, cowboys or some combination thereof) While it is undeniable that "My wife left me for some cowboy and blew our hometown with my dog because I drink too much" would make a great country song and probably already has. There is more to it than that.

Country remains popular today because it reminds people of their roots. It makes them remember when a man's pride was rooted in his land alongside his crops or a man's honor was something to fight over. Things like this were mostly lost when the population moved from farms to the cities. Music can still remind us that what was left wasn't lost.

HOME!

2009-10-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

I am home! It's so surreal being home for the first time in two months. I came home to wet snow on Wednesday. In October? In New York? (And no, I am not upstate as much as some people repeatedly tell me where it snows 24/7! =] )

I thought it was going to feel weird and awkward when I got home, but I surprisingly felt as if I had never left, although I did have to remind myself that I don't need to wear shower shoes in my shower and I didn't have to contemplate how badly I had to use the restroom because I was too lazy to walk all the way down Leonard's hall to go. I finally had steak! That was definitely the high point of being home because for those who don't know I complain how TDR doesn't ever have steak or barely any other type of red meat besides burgers with the occasional roast beef or meatballs at least five times a day. I went to Rockland Bakery, which I will bet my life on that has the best bread, especially rolls, in the WHOLE entire world. I went to the Palisades Mall, as much as I hate it I always find myself there. I did all the things I normally do when home, nothing really has changed, the world didn't stop because I wasn't there. Hopefully now it won't feel weird when I go back to school!

Everyone who I have seen has told me that I look different, but I feel like this is just because I haven't seem then in a while. I don't feel any different. I don't feel like I'm "on my own"- yes I'm not with my parents anymore but there are twenty people surrounding me so I never really feel as if I'm "on my own." I don't feel like I've matured at all or even changed in the least bit. But after all, I have only been at school for two months. I have a little less than four more years to go!

May Hansen's Example

2009-10-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

I think that Mary Hansen gave a great presentation last week. Although "doing what you love" has definitely been a theme with many of our speakers, Hansen had a unique way of describing the processes that came with making her life choices. She explained how she could only make her big life decisions, like the adoption of two foster children, after scrutinizing her own beliefs, values and wants. I think that she gave an example for our class as to how we maybe can approach the most difficult decisions in our lives- that who we are and how we feel currently has to be involved the process of decising what we want to be.

Reflecting the past

2009-10-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

I really liked the speaker on Friday. She really reminded me of one of my favorite teachers from high school. She turned what would have been an almost painful subject, physics, into a fun class. Similarly our speaker's enthusiasm for her subject that I almost found myself wanting to take micro economics on the off chance that she'd be teaching it.

Teachers liek that really make you who you are. I learned work ethic and physics in that class and I get things done now because my teacher made me get things done then.

Reflection 7

2009-10-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I vividly remember from Mary Hanson's presentation on Friday was that she sat down and talked to us in the beginning of her speaking instead of standing in front of the class. I liked that; it made the atmosphere somewhat more relaxed. However, I must admit that I kind of lost interest when she started teaching economics. I never took economics in high school, so when she started explaining a certain aspect of economics that someone had asked about, it went right over my head. I also feel the same way that a lot of my other classmates do about her advice- it is a great idea to explore all of your options but with all the money that our parents are paying, I couldn't imagine telling them I was spending a fifth year here because I was too busy trying out other courses to take classes pertaining to my major.

Reflection

2009-10-11T15:03:00.000-07:00

I was very intrigued with what Mary Hanson had to say, but I also don't know if I can really live my life in the way that she suggested. In theory the idea of trying everything and taking classes in lots of different areas seems like a good idea, but its not as easy to put into practice. In order to take classes from all sorts of different areas, you'd have to spend like a year of just exploring classes. With scholarships only lasting four years, its hard to take just a year just exploring classes. Furthermore, I feel as if its emphasized to make sure you're on track for your major so if I'm not taking as many classes, even extra non-required classes for my major, I feel as if I won't be as prepared as other students on the same path as me.

The Invisible Question

2009-10-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Invisibility is not just a question of class or race. When someone lacks direction they seem to drop from view. They float, ghostlike through the world without really impacting anything.

In the book the narrator seems to move from mold to mold without really fitting comfortably into any of them. When he becomes a communist pundit he can't quite comfortably fit into the doctrine and so what shines through to those who hear his speech is the mold not the man within it. Similarly when he becomes a factory worker he is unhappy and unmotivated he is invisible. People only saw a factory worker they did not see the narrator.

Question 7

2009-10-08T06:29:00.000-07:00

I feel that the narrator's lack of identity, his special case of invisibility, is almost definitely caused by his status on the racial hierarchy. It seems like the idea of determinism plays a large role in the narrators life- no matter what he does he cannot escape his role as a subservient black man in a white society- even though he himself is obviously equal to all the white men presented in the novel. The narrator cannot forge an identity for himself because of the oppressive, exploitative relationship between white and black americans at the time.

The Vet brings this fact to the narrator on the bus ride north. He ascribes white men the qualities of cruel, unknoweable deities in that they are the "force that pulls you strings." The narrator still doesn't realize that he is trapped in his invisibility when he talks to Emerson's son, and realizes that Bledsoe has betrayed him. Even though the narrator always acted in propriety and tried to do the right thing, all in the hopes of bettering himself- he is trapped by forces beyond his control. Bledsoe only exists as an extension of white racism; he regards the narrator as a tool and discards him when the tool does not function in the way he expected.

Response 7: Is he invisible? Or is he...?

2009-10-07T23:46:00.000-07:00

*Disclaimer: I use the word Black in this post not because I’m racist, but because I’ve got many friends back home that say they prefer being called Black to African-American. As my best friend will often tell you, “I’m not from Africa! I’m Guyanese and Jamaican! Hmph!” x) Sorry if I’m not being politically correct by your standards, but my personal experience outweighs my opinion on the social norm of “African-American”. Thank you.

I wasn’t in class on Tuesday (very sorry, I was feeling pretty crappy) but I’ll try to answer the question the best that I can. The narrator’s invisibility in Invisible Man is both racial and general. Being Black is obviously disadvantageous in the narrator’s time and place. Being inferior and unimportant keeps one in the background. There wasn’t an uproar when a bunch of black teenagers were flung into a ring and made to duke it out for survival. You were to keep quiet and keep to yourself. Trueblood is a good example. Even though he raped his own daughter, he generally kept to himself and his farm. The white folk liked this, so they ignored his sin and gave him extra work anyway. The vet is a foil to this. He speaks his mind (from a true illness or not, I don’t know) and is in an insane asylum for it. An articulate white man is praised and thought of in the highest manner. A black man, however, is locked away to keep his words from doing harm. The vet displays the narrator’s invisibility to him and Mr. Norton. At the Golden Day, Mr. Norton tells the vet of his fate with the black college, and the vet tells Mr. Norton, “Poor stumblers, neither of you can see the other. To you he is a mark on the scorecard or your achievement, a thing and not a man; a child, or even less – a black amorphous thing.” Mr. Norton does not care for the narrator personally. The narrator is just another example of his accomplishments, a “black amorphous thing” that says he’s done his part in the world. The narrator is invisible as an individual.

However, the narrator’s invisibility is created mostly by his perception of what being Black is. When he travels to New York City, he is baffled at how visible Blacks are in the north. He is stunned by a Black policeman, by the sheer amount of them on the streets. He couldn’t understand how there was a riot of Blacks going on in broad daylight. In Harlem, in New York, blacks were not as ignored. But the narrator chose to stay invisible himself, to keep his white-petting ways. The tactic of appeasing the white men, to staying out of there way was the only way he knew how to act from living in the south. He actually managed to change his visibility when he became involved in the Brotherhood, but even that was sprung upon him and not of his own initial will.

explorations question 7

2009-10-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

In The Invisible Man, a member of a subordinate racial or ethnic group is invisible. But members of a superior class can be invisible as well; for example a rich man's housewife who does nothing with her life but sit in her lavish posessions can be invisible. Invisibility is a potential problem for anyone no matter what class you're in.

With that being said, it's much easier to be invisible when you're in a subordinate class. When you're in a subordinate class, people in higher classes don't really view you as a person anyway. This makes being anonymous very easy and invisibility fairly easy.

After the narrator's electroshock therapy, he wrestles around with a multitude of thoughts. The "Who Am I?" (Ellison 242) question comes up frequently and he also mentions "fretting his identity" (Ellison 242). His concluding thought is, "When I discover who I am, I'll be free" (Ellison 243). This is completely applicable to people in general. I think Justin mentioned something similar to this in class. When people don't know what they want to do with their life or are unaware of their life's purpose, they tend to wander around aimlessly without a set purpose or goal. If you're not truly passionate about what you want your life's purpose to be, you just kind of coast...and are invisible. When you let your passsions show, who you are is revealed and you become "visible." Though the narrator was just talking about being free from the hospital and free from the situation, I think that's the overall theme Ellison was getting at.

Reflection 6

2009-10-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

I was excited when I learned that we were to watch Children of Men for our latest Wednesday lab; it's one of my favorite movies of all time. Yet although I had always loved the themes of the movie, a bleak, futuristic re-imagining of the nativity, I had never thought about it in the light of the role of identity.

I suppose that any movie about faith and redemption would need to involve exploring a character's identity; tracking the progression of his development from the beginning to the end of the movie. But I think that the movie also has to do greatly with the themes of memory, albeit in a different light then how we have been discussing it. There is no more hope in the world once there are no future generations- there is no point in fighting and dying for others when no one will ever remember it. We get a strong visual as to what would happen if humanity had no more future and no more hope.

Reflection 6: It's All AU's Fault...

2009-10-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

I'm an ENFP. An Evil Narcisstic Fornicating Pokemon? No, more like an Enthusiastic Nonsensical Frolicking Panda! xD Just kidding, it’s my Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) type. It basically says that I am an individual of Extroversion (that sounds so weird!), Intuition, Feeling, and Perceiving. The description MBTI gave me was pretty accurate; I’m an imaginative, energetic, persuasive, empathetic people-freak who values harmony compliments. I’ve done a lot of soul-searching in my past 18 years, so I already knew this about myself. What I didn’t know was what on earth I should do for a career. I expected the MBTI test to tell me to be a social worker or actress like they usually do. But instead, the careers on the list turned out to be my dream jobs. Screenwriter, television producer, advising creative director – these are all the jobs I always wanted to do, but didn’t know if I would be good at. According to this test, I would be. You don’t understand how excited I am at the prospect of being most of the top jobs on the list. This has really made me rethink my major, or maybe do a double major. Thank you, Explorations, for helping me answer some of my questions, finally.

The funny thing is I never REALLY chose a major. I was supposed to go in Undecided, but on the Common App, my parents told me to put down International Studies and Communications down as my interests. I had been undecided on which would be a better career path for me. When I got the acceptance letter, it said was in the School of International Studies. I guess American just assigned me the major because it was the first one on my list of interests. I was like, “Oh well, I can always change it later.” I took on the title of SIS student since then, but now I think the School of Communications may be where my future lies. I’m gonna take a communications class next year and see if I like it.

stitching together some crafty reflections

2009-10-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to the Crafty Bastards craft fair. I had a blast, spent way too much of my own money, and got a couple very cool things. I also got to see the mingling of different social groups that in other circumstances would cross a street to avoid each other but I saw little old ladies in floral prints talking to six foot tall medal heads with full sleeves of tattoos. They were even smiling at each other.

such is the power of craft. most everything available there could probably be found cheaper made by an underpaid child laborer form an impoverished country in an Urban Outfiters but there's something about shaking hands with the woman who sewed the garment your buying or baked the cupcake you're eating that makes the extra couple of bucks worth it.

and for the record Urban Outfiters marks up their merchandise so high that you're better off buying stuff at the craft fair (perhaps Target would have been a better example)

MBTI RESULTS!

2009-10-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

My stepmom is a psychologist and wanted me to take the MBTI in high school so before I got my results this time, I already had an idea of what I was. With that being said, I was really excited to get my results back this Friday because I wanted to know if my preferences had changed as I've matured.

Both times that I've taken this test, I got an ENFP as my results. I don't remember all of my scores from the first time I took this test, but I do remember my stepmom telling me I scored every single point on the extraversion scale. This time, I only had 13 points in the extraversion scale which is just a moderate extravert.

One thing we talked about in class is how depeneding on the situation, the way we act may be a little different. For example, when some extraverts are in a group of really extraverted people tend to get a little quiet. I think the changing of my environment from high school to college definately affected my level of extravertedness and where I get my energy from. The last two years I was in high school I was basically an only child because all my siblings had moved out. So since I was alone at home a lot, I always wanted to be with people and would focus my attention to other people all the time. However now that I live in a dorm where people are around me constantly, while I still much prefer to be with other people I sometimes just prefer to sit and think more about the "inner world" as the MBTI says. I think this could have affected why I dropped from an extreme extrovert to a moderate extrovert. Overall it was really interesting to revisit this test.

Reflection 6- MBTI Results

2009-10-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

The presentation today was definitely my favorite one that we have had so far. Although I liked the other ones as well, I felt as if this was more personal. Rather than hearing about the guest speaker's life, I was finding out more about myself. And I must say I was a bit surprised by some of my results.

My personality type is ISFP (introverting, sensing, feeling, and perceiving). When we were supposed to guess what our results would be, I chose ISTP. I was actually really surprised to see that my results were feeling and not thinking. I normally weigh the pros and cons of each decision that I am faced with and then make what I think is the most rational choice. For example, while choosing which college I was to attend, I made really extensive lists about my top two choices, American and Villanova. After looking over my really cool lists that I had made, I decided that American would be the best choice for me. So I was naturally surprised to see that it told me that I make decisions best on what feels best or feels right. However, I definitely was not surprised that I was labeled as sensing. In order for me to process things, I need to write it over and over again; I do not understand charts or pictures of any abstract concepts of any kind. On my ISFP sheet, it told me that I need to be aware that I become “confused with…theoretical tasks.” While I was reading this, I had an “a-ha!” moment. I currently have a World Politics essay to write that is all about theory, and to be frank I have no clue what I’m doing in it.

However, the majority of my results that described me were definitely true for me. In high school, I definitely had a close group of really close friends rather than many people I wasn’t particularly close with. I hate confrontation, and my results said that I need my life to be “harmonious and tension free.”

I also enjoyed the jobs told me that I should look into pursuing, especially “exotic animal breeder,” “fish and game warden,” and “wilderness adventure leader.” All in all, I found the MBTI results rather helpful. Woohoo!

the difference between a memoir and a novel is in a million little pieces

2009-09-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

Augustine's book has weight because he uses his own experience to explain his philosophy and give his it a frame of reference. Were it a work of fiction the philosophy gained through years of thought and experience could be dismissed more easily.

Similarly were Ellison's novel a true story readers wold be less likely to read deeper into it. The factual nature of an autobiography makes the use of metaphor and foreshadowing seem contrived. In works of fiction such literary tools is a mark of good literature and forces readers to look deeper than the surface for further allusions and hidden messages and themes.

Question 6- Fiction vs. Nonfiction

2009-09-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

I feel like if a book is nonfiction, it is more meaningful. Having the author personally experience the piece gives him more credibility and will impact me as a reader more. If I am reading about say a war book, I would be more impressed if the author was actually there rather than making it up. However, obviously, I feel like that anyone would feel this way- if the person has actually experienced the particular events, it makes it more meaningful.

Take for example, the novel A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. It was supposed to be his memoir about his tribulations with drugs and alcohol and was a very moving book about him overcoming his addiction. After Oprah praised him and put his book on her “Book Club,” it caused controversy when it turned out that he emphasized that most of his life story. I had read the book before the truth was divulged, and I must say that it changed my opinion of the book. Before, I was really impressed with his story and the hardships that he overcame. However, once I found out that it was a farce, it really changed my opinion about the book. What I had once admired about him I now was disgusted.

Going back to Invisible Man and Confessions, I feel like they would be taken in a completely different context. If Confessions was a work of fiction, I would honestly probably be more excited to read it. I don’t know why, but no matter what the subject matter is, I always prefer fiction to nonfiction, which yes, completely contradicts what I said before that nonfictional memoirs are more inspiring than fictional stories. However, as contradictory as this sounds, I feel like if Invisible Man was actually a memoir, I would like it less. Because of the plotline of the story so far, I feel like I would be skeptical if it was a true-life memoir. So far in the book, he has taken a Trustee to a man who has impregnated both his wife and sister at similar times, been to a bar with mentally insane World War I veterans, and been expelled from his college. I could not imagine that ever happening to a person in real life.

reflection #something

2009-09-28T07:32:00.001-07:00

The strongest memory I have from last Wednesday is finding a small poem left behind on a small memorial for Vietnam. The poem was simple and brief, but it was heartbreaking anyway. In it, someone described their brother's return from Vietnam, and his subsequent crippling depression and suicide.

Up until recently, ptsd and other afflictions that plague soldiers after war have been taboo subjects in our country. Like the war itself, they were best forgotten and ignored, until at least as many returning soldiers committed suicide as died in the war itself. If the memorials recognize sacrifice, are their some things that our country is willing to sacrifice by keeping these losses hidden?

Reflection 5: My Evil Plans for Chinatown... >:)

2009-09-28T01:28:00.000-07:00

It amazes me how we’re already on the fifth week of blogging. The past month or so has gone by so fast. I’ve made so many new friends and developed those relationships in such a short time. I’ve already joined some clubs, like the Rude Mechanicals (thank you to everyone who saw my show!) and plan to get involved in a couple more. I bombed my first Chinese quiz and I’ve got a couple papers looming around the corner, but it’s pretty manageable. All and all, I am really loving college, every minute of it. I especially enjoy the dorm living. I used to live 15 minutes away from my friends due to the odd structure of my home town. Now, everyone is just 15 steps away. I actually look forward to the interview with Gunperi. I hope she hears positive things from everyone and not just me.

Let’s switch gears and talk about the week’s events. The ethnography exercise was okay; it was hot and tiring, so I guess it wasn’t the most enjoyable. I can’t wait until we do the real one. I really want to go to Chinatown and observe the culture there. The Chinatown I’m most familiar with is the lively, bustling one in New York City. The Chinatown in D.C., in comparison, is so awful. It’s not a Chinatown! It’s like a city block pretending to be Asian! I mean come on, there's a frikkin Chipotle! I can’t wait for the opportunity to rip Chinatown apart. Mwahahaha…

P.S.- I'm really loving Invisible Man. I've only read 70 pages and I can't wait to discuss it in class. I pose this question to anyone who actually reads this: Does anyone else feel like they'll never look at a watermelon the same way again??

Carnival!

2009-09-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

Today, Molly and I volunteered at the Latino Day Festival in Mount Pleasant. Not quite sure what was going to happen, I had no clue what I was going to be doing. When I got there, I was told that I would be surveying random attendees about what they thought about the Festival. As I was on my fourth or so survey, this woman dressed in a decked-out in jewels dress grabbed my arm and told me that she needed help. Walking through all of the different groups that were preparing for the parade, I truly realized how ignorant I am about the Latin culture. Yes, I know that there are many different Spanish-speaking countries, but I wasn’t fully aware of the extent that each country has a completely distinct culture. All of the costumes were different, ranging from angel outfits to men on stilts with colorful hats to showgirl-like costumes.

Not quite sure what the woman wanted me to do, I was startled when she handed me a huge colorful “Bolivia Carnival” banner. I was so stoked to be able to actually walk in the parade- I never imagined that I would. As I was walking, I was so surprised at the immense number of people who was there to represent their country and cheering and whooping as the country where their ancestors are from walked through the parade.

However, I did feel guilty because I knew absolutely nothing about the country that I was representing or about their carnival. All I knew is that Bolivia is a South American, Spanish speaking country. Towards the end of the parade, I felt even worse when a woman came up to me and asked me about Bolivia’s Carnival and how she could contact the group who was performing behind me. After researching it, I found out that it is referred to as the Carnival of the Oruro and takes place for three days and three nights with different dancing groups who dance the Waca Waca, Kantus, Potolo, Morenada, and many others.

This was one of the first times in my life where I really had no clue what was going on- my Spanish is not top notch, so I didn’t understand when the people working were instructing me. However, I feel like this was a good thing for me. I shouldn’t always be in a comfort zone and should literally “get out more.”

basking in the warm reflected glow . . .

2009-09-27T16:16:00.000-07:00

. . . of created lore. The kind of chilly and dark rainy days like the one we had yesterday beg for a cup of tea and a good solid horror movie.

The one I watched , Trick r' Treat, while not scary did present an interesting focus on identity. Trick r' Treat is essentially four short stories that inter connect. I didn't find scary at all but the cinematography was wonderful and the movie was full of dark humor and a pretty high level of Karma.

I know it's early to bring in Halloween, and I will definitely have another Halloween centered post but watching a Halloweeney movie made me think about the dichotomy of Halloween and identity.

When examined culturally, Halloween is really one of the few pagan holidays that Christianity was unable to infiltrate. Every October 31, without thought or question families go through the rituals of their pagan ancestors no matter what their current religious affiliation. They carve pumpkins and light candles (thought to keep away evil spirits), they dress in costume (to confuse evil spirits), and they leave offerings of baked goods and sweets, commonly known as Trick or Treating (to appease the spirits and honor the dead).

While our society touts its modern "enlightened" nature, Halloween highlights our habitual superstitious nature. It glows from behind the mask of modernist front like the candle in a Jack-o-Lantern.

On an individual level Halloween offers us the rare opportunity to be anything we want. The choice we make when we change our front for the night says a great deal about what Goffman calls our "backstage." Whether it's our wish to be immortal or wish to be an adored performer our costume says something about who we are behind our everyday facade.

Reflection -- Monuments in Japan

2009-09-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

At the end of class, the female trustee brought up a point that I definately connected with. She mentioned how it was interesting to see other countries's museums and monuments, especially war museums and monuments. When I was in Hiroshima there were two places I visited that were eye-opening experiences for me.

The first place I went to was the Peace Memorial Museum with special focus on the bombing of Hiroshima. Before going into that musuem, I had been taught that bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki wasn't actually just a pointless bombing with many many lives lost. I had learned that bombing those two cities actually killed less people than if an invasion followed by a longer-drawn out war would have occured. Though theoretically this may be the case, going through the museum about the bombing made me feel guilty and ashamed as an American even though I individually had nothing to do with it. Then again, I think that's partly how the museum was set up. Going back to what the performance of the monuments was supposed to be, I think the museum was supposed to project the victimized nature of Hiroshima and its citizens in World War 2.

The second place I saw was the Peace Memorial Park. There were huge silver structures with Peace written all over them in all of the languages of the world. The purpose of these monuments were to show how connected the world can be and to urge us all to see that we can live together in peace. As cheesy at this sounds, it was actually a pretty moving experience. A lot of what we talked about Friday was what all of the war memorials said about us as a country; I think the fact that Japan put all this money into a Peace memorial for the world shows what they value as a country.

Response 5: Mutt on the Loose: The Life and Times of Katie Brownlie

2009-09-24T02:31:00.000-07:00

In accordance to the question, I think the situation with biographies goes both ways. An interesting biography can be from someone important or someone who had some dramatic happenings. People will read a biography on Bill Clinton as others may read one on the Octo-mom. Important people will gain readers because they are well known, and will use this opportunity to teach their readers lessons based on their lives or show them what they’re really like. The dramatic subjects will get readers through shock value and keep them with the thrilling tale of their life, like the countless tales of Holocaust survivors.

So the lives of everyday people are not worth knowing, right? WRONG. Haven’t you ever picked up a book about a desperate teen trying to woo their dream date, or a newlywed who can’t deal with her mother-in-law? Sure, these aren’t biographies, but authors often write fiction by pulling from their own life experiences. The story of the everyday person can be interesting, if one can write it well enough. Or even act it well enough. Some of the most successful television shows have followed the lives of everyday people, like Friends. There was no real Rachel or Chandler, but the experiences they had were realistic or not so far-fetched. The writers for the hit comedy show Everybody Loves Raymond say they wrote their own stories of married life into the scripts. Someone who’s entire life is not characterized by drama probably shouldn’t write an autobiography. But if you’ve got some tales from your childhood that you could turn into a “based on a true” story, then why not publish it? There are millions out there already in one form or another. Just don’t hope to outsell the new book about Ted Kennedy.

And do I want to the kind of life that might merit an autobiography? Well, I already do. ;)

How far can it take you?

2009-09-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

I think that the background question to this week’s Explorations question is what does one seek to get out of an autobiography? Is reading an autobiography as escapist as other types of literature? I don’t think it is; I think that instead autobiographies force the reader to reflect upon their own lives. An autobiographical piece doesn’t exactly work as a mirror, but kind of an “opposite mirror;” it forces the reader to reflect on their triumphs in the face of the author’s defeats and acknowledge their weaknesses in face of the author’s greatest strengths. The most powerful biographical works I have ever read dealt with redemption, and evolution from

Ishmael Beah wrote A Long Way Gone to describe his descent into service as a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. A story like that raises powerful questions for the reader, even one such as myself, sheltered completely from violence and almost all conflict. When I read the book I feel secure knowing that I could never commit violence like that, yet at the same time the book condemns me; I realize things like, when I get really angry and say that I hate something, how callous that really is in light of reading about someone who was indoctrinated to hate as an instinct.

The other great autobiography I have read is E. R. Braithwaite’s, To Sir, With Love. Braithwaite is a poor black teacher in a London slum. The author describes his evolution into a man confident enough to stand for himself against white antagonists, and a reader will also see an evolution in his pupils, who gain the understanding as they age that since they came to respect Braithwaite, respect should override race in every case. This book poses to me questions as to whether or not I could overcome harsh conditions with dignity, even though as I read I can assume righteous indignation against the petty racism so prevalent throughout the book.

So I think that yes, an autobiography does need this sort of drama to carry the same importance. Every person deserves to be remembered, but when you read an autobiography of a person who comes too close to mirroring yourself, you will miss out on the experience of self-reflection that a powerful biographical work can deliver.

I'd read Miley Cyrus's Autobiography...

2009-09-23T21:58:00.001-07:00

The fact that someone has led an extraordinarily interesting life or the fact that someone has had a profound moment in their life is less important to the actual point of the book and more important to getting you to read the book. For example, Miley Cyrus has led an incredibly interesting life. (I don’t know if I’d quite call it profound…) Anyways, she wrote an autobiography at age 16. Sure people are going to read it because after all… IT’S MILEY CYRUS!…but does age 16 really merit you the ability to write your memoirs?

Now this next example I’m going is from the classic movie (or not so classic…) 13 Going on 30. Normally I wouldn’t bring up such a “quality” film in an academic scenario, but as we discussed in class…why should the source matter if the idea presented still has validity? Anyways, there’s a part in this movie where the magazine the main character works for is about to bust so the magazine has to do a complete redesign. The redesign is to show pictures of everyday people with the idea that every person has a story. In theory, this is a nice idea; wouldn’t it be nice to read about the stories of people you otherwise would never hear about? But in reality, no one will want to read this. Maybe one issue would sell well, but let’s face it, people would much rather read about what Brad and Angelina’s adopted kid is named than some 65 year old man who grows pumpkins for a living. It’s pathetic, but true.

It’s the story that’s ultimately important in an autobiography. However, we’re drawn in by drama. That’s where the important events and profound experiences come into play. They intrigue us into reading the autobiography, but they don’t make the autobiography itself valuable.

Question 5

2009-09-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

I feel like the concept of having something “dramatic” happen to you in order to write an autobiography has gone out the window. I mean, I can think of at least two autobiographies where the person had achieved no real personal merit and yet still managed to release their life story. Example one- Paris Hilton. Paris Hilton’s autobiography Confessions of an Heiress tells readers about her privileged life as well as instructions on how to be an heiress yourself. Some of these rules include, “Have absolutely flawless skin…never, ever wake up before ten; never go to bed before three…never only have one cell phone when you can have many…never weat the same thing twice… and act ditzy. Lose things.” Seriously?

Example two- Tinkerbell, Paris Hilton’s dog. Yes, her dog. Even though it is supposed to be seen as humorous, I cannot believe why anyone would ever think that a dog’s autobiography would be a good idea. Or even why anyone would want to buy and read The Tinkerbell Hilton Diaries: My Life Tailing Paris Hilton.

I think that the public is the biggest reason why these nonsense autobiographies are being written. People are buying these books. Even though these celebrities (or animals) have never really done anything to earn national recognition, prestigious awards, or even any award, they still have autobiographies. I mean, I personally would rather read about a man who worked hard all of his life to support his family and died with his family all around him than about Paris Hilton.

Reflection 4: National Cathedral = Dumbledore?

2009-09-21T01:39:00.000-07:00

I loved the National Cathedral. My grandma had told my father of it when we were to go to DC for vacation years ago, but I never got to see it. I'm really gald that I finally have. I'm a sucker for old architecture. I share this sentiment with my father; we also share the very limited knowledge of actual architectural terminology. But I do know a little bit about Gothic from history class, and I really admire it. The Cathedral really inspires awe in everyone that steps inside its cavernous walls. I was really happy to know that everything was done by hand. This Cathedral is a real gothic structure, not just a copy-cat. I think that fact portrays an interesting front. A cathedral in such a style exemplifies history and old culture. America at the time of construction didn't that, so like in Nationals' Stadium, the history had to be pulled from other places (like the abbey that donated stonework) and created.

I think the real reason I liked the cathedral is because it reminded me of a castle. As Allison T. said while on our tour, the place looked like Hogwarts. I imagine the cathedral to have tons of nooks and crannies to explore, just like the wizard school. I actually ventured up a set of stairs at one point out of the shear thirst for adventure. Sadly I was met with a locked door. But I would personally love to visit the National Cathedral again by myself or with a fellow explorer to inspect it and the grounds further. Any takers??

P.S.- Love the Darth Vader gargoyle! It would be funnier if they had one of Dumbledore. xD

Embracing the Community You're Involved In

2009-09-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

When reflecting this week, I chose to look at the overarching idea of Explorations rather than simply this week’s material. On the University College website, it states “The purpose of this course is to provide an opportunity for you to explore your place in the world, and how you as an individual fit into the various communities to which you belong.”

When we went to the National Cathedral, I couldn’t help but notice that our tour guide did not seem to be too happy doing her job. Instead of being happy that a bunch of college kids were genuinely interested in the Cathedral and things inside, she was like “C’mon guys…keep up.” When the tour ended she pointed us in the direction of the exit and quickly jumped on the elevator so she could leave. She just seemed crotchety.

It seems to me that part of this course is exploring how we want to spend our next four years in order to prepare us for how we want to spend our lives; part of this exploring is finding something we genuinely enjoy doing. Of course it’s possible she was just having a bad day, but she clearly didn’t look like she was enjoying her job, the community she chose to become a part of. Looking back at the purpose of this course, it seems important that we would not only understand the community we are a part of, but enjoy being in it as well.

Good Lord, how much bs can I fit into one reflection, anyway...

2009-09-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

On Beauty

For the beautiful objects designed by artists souls and realized by skilled hands come from that beauty which is higher than souls; after that beauty my soul sighs day and night.

-St. Augustine, Confessions

The good things which you love are all from God, but they are good and sweet only as long as they are used to do his will. They will rightly turn bitter if God is spurned and the things that come from him are wrongly loved.

- St. Augustine, Confessions

All these things have you said of beauty,
Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied,
And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.
It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth,
But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.

-Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

First, I apologize for the large amount of quotes; I am not merely using them to take up space in the assignment, I think they all tie together in the reflection.
This reflection was inspired both by the trip to the cathedral and ruminations over our current reading. When I visit a place like the National Cathedral, I am struck by its intense beauty- and I feel that the beauty has to reflect something higher than ourselves. I think that the abilities to create and appreciate beauty are too great to take for granted. Music, visual arts and architecture reflect prodigious talent and work and, according to my personal beliefs and the first quote of Augustine’s, a higher power.
So what does beauty mean in the light of religious thought, especially in the often harsh glare of thinkers such as Augustine? On the one hand, Augustine states that the beauty of crafts intrinsically reflects God’s beauty (this was simple to figure out, since things ascribing every good quality as intrinsically reflecting God is a big theme of Augustine’s’). This idea, that all things beautiful give praise to God is common in almost all religions; it can be found immediately in Islam in the Arabic word El-Musawwir, which means Shaper of Beauty, and is one of the 99 names of God (this word is important because God has numerous names that deal with him as a Creator, but one specifically as a creator of beauty).
Yet, earlier in the book Augustine warns his reader not to delight in beauty for the sake of the object, enjoy beauty only as a reflection of God; after all, beauty is a gift from him and is not to be spurned. What Augustine proposes is not easy for us accomplish. We are to delight in beauty, but do not enjoy the object itself? This paradox will supply us with an endless amount of temptation and guilt, and Augustine admits it does for himself.
I think that Gibran’s poetry supplies a proper balance. Although Gibran’s work usually flies over my head, I think I understand what he is trying to say in this poem. Leading up to the quote I borrowed, Gibran describes a scene where numerous people give their definitions of beauty. For tired people it is comfort, for restless people adventure. Gibran’s main character, however, reprimands those speakers for these words. You must identify beauty as a celebration; acknowledge that the way something beautiful makes you feel separates it from mundane wants and needs.
I think that beauty therefore has a place in faith. A constant exposure to lavishness will undoubtedly detract from the joy you should feel when you encounter something you believe to be beautiful, but a puritanical outlook will lead to a joyless life, one devoid of the celebration that should properly be there if one was truly to lead a rich spiritual life.

Reflection 4- Debra Humphreys and Movies

2009-09-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

When Debra Humphreys came to talk to us on Friday, I found her both helpful yet kind of arrogant. I liked what she was talking about regarding a liberal arts education. I agree that you should be a well-rounded student, especially since you may think that you want to be a lawyer your whole life and then take an anthropology class and realize that your hidden life-long dream is actually be a anthropologist. I think I kind of hope that will happen to me. I was, or so I thought I was, very interested in International Relations and all that fun stuff and was so excited for my World Politics class, yet it is one of my least favorite classes this semester. Who knows, it may just be because I'm not the biggest fan of the way my teacher presents the information, or maybe international relations just isn't really my thing.

I also enjoyed her spiel about how anywhere out of the United States, nobody gives up on a subject that they simply "aren't good at"- they just work harder. It's completely true though. Even if they do excel in a subject, they are still the hardest workers I have ever met. In my high school, a student from the Ukraine was on exchange for the year, and I was amazed by the amount of work and effort he put into his school work.

However, I did not like how she kept saying how smart she was or how prestigious and smart the college she attended was. And it wasn't even that she said it only one or two times- she repeatedly said it throughout the hour and fifteen minutes she was speaking. Maybe she was just trying to show us that she knew what she was talking about with her fancy college education, but I wouldn't have questioned her credibility about what she was talking about with a liberal arts education if she went to Harvard or a community college.

On a side note, at the pizza party, it was asked which book was made into the best movie adaptation. Now, I am the worst at thinking of answers on the spot, so it took me a while to think about it and come up with an answer. Even though there a lot of excellent adaptations, I would have to say that The Boy in the Striped Pajamas takes the cake. Even though it is a very easy read (I finished it in a day), the subject matter is depressing. It's about a family during World War II whose father is a Nazi officer. Although the main character, a little boy named Bruno, does not realize it, the family has moved to right outside the Auschwitz prison camp where the father now works. A true boy, Bruno defies his parents and explores beyond the family property where he meets a "boy in the striped pajamas." However, Bruno is too young to understand why the boy is behind a fence, and I won't give away the ending, but trust me, it's sad. Since I was such a big fan of the book, I was kind of nervous to see how the movie would turn out, but I was more than pleasantly surprised. It kept almost perfectly with the book, which in this case I feel like is a good thing because it was not an extremely complex and intricate story to tell. And if anything, I felt that the movie was sadder than the book. My sister and I were both bawling when we saw it, but then again, that may just be Hollywood feeding on human emotions with dramatic music. Or it may be that actually visualizing something taking place on screen has a much bigger impact than picturing it in your head while reading. Either way, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is one of the best book/movie combos out today.

Oh the horrors! My Reflection is a mess

2009-09-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

Last night my friend and I went to a "Horrors" concert and the selection of bands and their stage persona versus their fan relation persona brought up some interesting identity issues.

The Horrors looked like they'd read The Sandman and said "I want to be Neil Gaiman when I grow up." As for their performance despite being high energy they didn't appear to be enjoying themselves onstage at all. The bassist in particular looked as though someone had taken a pee in his morning coffee and he'd never recover. In fact the only one who looked like he was having a good time was the drummer.

Upon meeting them, my friend wanted a picture, however it was clear the "I hate the best job on earth" thing was only an act to add to the angst of their Cure-like melancholy songs. When it came to fan relation they were all upbeat, friendly, and helpful.

When you consider their profession their dual fronts make perfect sense. Without their angsty, aloof stage front, their melancholy music and lyrics would seem hollow but that same front when used in fan relations loses fans. When a performer is aloof (a tool) to their fans, who essentially write their paychecks they lose fans. If a diehard fan works hard to meet the band and the band are jerks the fan goes home, smashes his/her CD's and tells all his/her friends to never listen to that band again.

It's bad for business and so bands cultivate a friendlier front with which they greet their patrons. Most performers do this but I hadn't really thought about it until I saw the extreme contrast between stage and fan presence of the Horrors. While it was nice to see that they weren't angsty all the time it did make their whole show seem more contrived.

horrors image is from thehorrors.co.uk

Responce 4b: How're the Yankees doin?

2009-09-16T23:49:00.000-07:00

My grandpa was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few years before he died. We had put him in a nursing home prior to that for his health had been declining in general. We visited him on occasion, and I distinctly remember one of these visits. It was about half way through his stay in the nursing home. He was doing ok; he was always a quiet man, so it was always hard to gauge his condition through conversation. That day, Grandpa seemed progressively worse. He was always a quite man, but that day he was more unresponsive than usual. We were all trying to make light conversation when Grandpa suddenly asked, "How're the Yankees doing?" I never knew much about Grandpa, but I did know that he was an avid Yankees fan (I consider myself a 3rd generation Yankees fan because of him). My dad answered that they were doing ok, but they had lost a game the day before. My grandpa nodded his satisfaction with the answer and the conversation progressed. Then, about 5 minutes later, my Grandpa asked, "How're the Yankees doing?" My dad looked at him in dismay and said, "Dad, you already asked that" and repeated what he said earlier. Grandpa apologized and thanked him for the answer. Five minutes later however, Grandpa asked again, "How're the Yankees doing?" and my dad answered him. It happened several more times during the course of that visit and my father's responses got shorter and shorter with every repeat. Eventually, my dad just answered, "Fine, dad." Grandpa nodded his head in approval, oblivious and content.

To answer the response question, Alzheimer's robs you of your memories, but you still hold on to parts of your personality till the very end. In the case of my grandfather, he was still a Yankee's fan even when his short-term memory was going. The compulsion to keep asking about the Yankees was embedded in his long-term memory, where our personality and life experiences lie. However, once those go, so does your identity. I believe that a person's identity is based on his passed experiences and development. When you lose memories of those things, you do lose yourself. Or what you once were.

Hugh Heffner, My Great Uncle, and Alzheimer's

2009-09-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

Thinking specifically of the article on Alzheimer's that we looked at for this week, and also thinking about Augustine's analysis of the relationship between identity and memory: would you still be you if you couldn't remember your past?

What if Hugh Heffner were to suddenly be diagnosed with Alzheimers, the fact that he "liberated" women for 50 years doesn't go away, simply his memory of it does. Or take Ronald Reagan for example - he had Alzheimer's. He may not remember his presidential identity, but other people sure do. It still exists. Just because you don't remember your identity doesn't mean it isn't there.

Your memory doesn't what make you who you are. The events and experiences that the memory is based off of make you who you are. Once you experience something, it influences your identity in subtle ways, and is then ingrained in your memory; even if you lose that memory, you are already formed and that won't change.

My great uncle got Alzheimer's at the ripe old age of 99. Everyone in my family always talked about how we was the friendliest and happiest guy to be around. I didn't get to spend a lot of time around him but when I did, I noticed this as well. My dad and sister went to visit him after he turned 100; at this point, he had Alzheimers. Although his memory was gone, his personality and manner was still the same. When my dad and sister got there he said, "You know I'm sorry I don't know who you are, but let's sit down and chat." People knew him as a friendly guy - that was his perceived identity. And that didn't change with Alzheimers.

Question 4b

2009-09-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

Would you still be you if you couldn't remember your past? Absolutely.

First of all, what makes you you? Looking back at my notes from the first class we had, I had jotted down your experiences, your cultural identity, your family, your position in your community, and your ever changing elements. Even if you can't remember what you did last week, you are still you. Your family will still love you. They will still perceive you as you, not as someone else. They will remember the past experiences they've had with you even if you cannot. So if I say that they remember you as you once were, doesn't that mean then that you're technically not yourself anymore? This goes back to ever changing elements. Unless you pull a Freaky Friday and switch bodies with your mom/daughter, you are still you. Ever changing elements, which can refer to moving locations, switching jobs, or even in fact losing your memory, still form your identity. Memory loss just adds to your identity. You may have to be told the same things over and over again, but this just an additional aspect of your identity.

Even though she does not have Alzheimer's, my great aunt, who is like a grandma to me, does not remember anything anymore (which is perfectly understandable for a ninety five year old woman). She always forgets one of my numerous cousins' names or more frequently mixes our names up. I cannot count the number of times that she has called me Sinead, Pearse, Emma, Katie, and many other of my cousins' names. My mom has to constantly call her to remind her to take her medicine or to eat meals. Even though she is nowhere near as severe as Alzheimer's cases, she is still my Aunty Kay, my forgetful aunt who can talk for hours about books and smells of extremely strong Bengay.

In the tear jerker The Notebook, the character played by Rachel McAdams develops Alzheimer's. Did this stop her husband from loving her? Absolutely not. Because she is still the same person he fell in love with! During the course of the movie, he tells her the story of their relationship. He is still the same woman to her, even if she does not remember every single aspect of her life.

In a nutshell, you are still you even if you cannot remember anything. Your previous experiences are not altered, you just do not remember anything.

The Memory of You still hangs in the Air

2009-09-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

As much as I'd like to deny it, in many ways what we do and how we remember it are huge parts of who we are. In cases of Alzheimer's many relatives say that their loved ones are still in there but I don't see how.

Everything you experience changes you. You are in effect a compilation of things you've done, people you've met, and the effects of those things on you. If, for example you met someone who drastically changed your views and then forgot that person. Would your views change back or would you simply forget you changed at all? That change is an important aspect of you and if it was lost how could it be said that you are the same person.

It's understandable that you could, at core be the same person but without the memories. In that way it could be said that without your experiences or the people in your life you are a purer form of yourself because you lack the memories of past performances.

take that Goffman!

2009-09-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

For this reflection, I decided to reflect upon what I think was my favorite portrait in the gallery. That would be one of Martin Luther King Jr. that I spotted on the first floor.

Although it might seem that way, I am not a cop-out for choosing a picture of MLK. Even for all his virtues and triumphs, I am not going to use this reflection to extoll them. I instead will explain why exactly this portrait such a more powerful effect on me than any other.

The reason that I liked this portrait the most was becuase, instead of all the rest that I saw, it was natural. The picture was a snapshot, taken by a photographer for a newspaper at a conferance. For that reason, I think that this photograph, much more so than any presidential photograph, captures the identity of the subject. While every president chose whether to look regal, stern, composed or friendly, MLK was depicted in a natural state. I love the fact that, in a picture taken in split-second, he could look contemplative and forceful.

Maybe the Reverend Dr. knew that he was being photographed, and was sure to affect this pose for the entire conference. Maybe the photograph still only captures a front. I do not believe it does, and I think that this is one of the few portraits in the gallery that show an individual as he truly was in real life.

Reflection 3 - National Portrait Gallery

2009-09-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

I'll admit...when I saw that we were going to the National Portrait Gallery this week, I was less than excited. Sure I may find an art gallery interesting...but for about ten minutes. These were my expectations going into the experience; I was pleasantly surprised at the experience we had. Looking at the identities presented in the portraits through various symbols was more enlightening than I suspected.

While writing my reflection this week, I thought about if I were to be portrayed in a portrait what style would I want to be portrayed in. Would I want to be portrayed in a glorified manner like George Washington or a down-to-earth manner like George Bush? Would I want to be portrayed in an abstract manner like Marily Monroe or through an exact representation like Toni Morrison? I think I would most like to be portrayed more along the lines of Kennedy. In our times, photographs are so common so though photograph like portraits are amazing, I feel they more showcase the artist rather than the subject. If I contributed enough to society to where people would want my portrait, I would want them to know theres a story, something interesting to my life. I don't want, "That's a sweet portrait" to be their reaction. This in turn connects with the whole idea of perminance. Your earthly perminance is what you're remembered by...I want to be remembered for doing something interesting, not just doing something -- so I'd want my portrait interesting...not just there.

This whole idea of your portrait clearly representing your identity I certainly believed, but I don't know if I completely bought it. After going to the portrait gallery, I completely see how true that statement is. It made me not only question what identities were presented in their portraits, but what identity I would want presented in mine.