...i'm sad because I had a really cool font, but slideshare is incompetent...
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01 December 2010
29 November 2010
research questions
...brainstorming ideas for HR presentation...
> was the social atmosphere of South Africa already changing before Nelson Mandela took power?
> were there other factors which allowed for Mandela's success?
> how did Mandela achieve his goal of uniting a previously very segregated
country?
> how was the UN/international community involved in South Africa?
> what was the historical/cultural/international importance of Mandela's success? How did it impact South Africa, but also other countries as well?
to do:
- research before and after
- rewatch Invictus
- maybe talk to Mr. Kark
- look up news stories from the time period from multiple countries
- what was the international attitude towards racial segregation, apartheid, etc.
sign from the apartheid era:
> was the social atmosphere of South Africa already changing before Nelson Mandela took power?
> were there other factors which allowed for Mandela's success?
> how did Mandela achieve his goal of uniting a previously very segregated
country?
> how was the UN/international community involved in South Africa?
> what was the historical/cultural/international importance of Mandela's success? How did it impact South Africa, but also other countries as well?
to do:
- research before and after
- rewatch Invictus
- maybe talk to Mr. Kark
- look up news stories from the time period from multiple countries
- what was the international attitude towards racial segregation, apartheid, etc.
sign from the apartheid era:
20 November 2010
HR presentation proposal
I'm interested in Nelson Mandela and how he managed to united a country that had a very long history of extreme racial segregation. Mostly watching Invictus caused me to be interested in this, but then even just reading half of the Wikipedia article was really fascinating. Other than that I haven't really done much research yet. My questions mainly concern the technicalities of the issue, as I think I only really managed to get up to the 1950s in the Wikipedia article, so I will want to read more on the topic.
06 October 2010
Current Events in the DRC
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iMGkcxCx9iZPrr-0G3QgoHKE4YpgD9IL0KAG3?docId=D9IL0KAG3
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/africa-states-independence/2010/10/2010104111239448417.html
http://accra-mail.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25086:dr-congo-un-helps-seize-rebel-leader-presumed-responsible-for-mass-rape&catid=70:africa&Itemid=219
http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=2&language_id=1&headline_id=12119
Basically, there is still a ton of human rights violations going on in the DRC. Recently, a man who threw a stone at the president was jailed and then found to have committed suicide with a pillow case, although it is a known fact that DRC jails do not have pillows. There was also a huge mass rape that occurred during the summer, and although the leader responsible for ordering it has been seized, people are still very concerned about making sure that the victims are compensated. There is not much going on to prevent these things from happening or stop them. Mostly people are being punished after the fact. Everything is very chaotic, and the yearly income is $300, less than when it was still under Belgium control. This makes the Congo the poorest country in the world. Although the UN is trying to be helpful, it does not seem like there are any long term improvements or plans being made. It is difficult to do this though because there are so many crimes to deal with, both present and past. I feel like perhaps because the attitude of the world towards the Congo is so negative, the country does not feel supported, especially in the past where there is a history of sort of contradictory interference by other countries (BBC). Another problem is that leaders of the Congo seem to not last very long, and it is very difficult for them to get a leader that is popular. Because of the difficulties of leading the Congo, most leaders seem to resort to extreme violence, especially because the rebels as well are very violent. However, this gives the Congo the appearance of being very chaotic and dangerous. Although Aljazeera claims that the DRC is a "sleeping giant" and could potentially be a world power with all of it's natural resources, it also says that because of all the violence and human rights violations in the DRC, this is not likely. Really, the Congo is just a huge mess. Not really sure if this is because of what Leopold caused there, however, because of the Belgium government's hasty withdrawal and poor management skills, plus killing off the only extremely popular leader the DRC has had, I think there is definitely a cause and affect here. Much of what has happened in the DRC is an affect of the treatment the Congo received from King Leopold II and the Belgium government.
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/africa-states-independence/2010/10/2010104111239448417.html
http://accra-mail.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25086:dr-congo-un-helps-seize-rebel-leader-presumed-responsible-for-mass-rape&catid=70:africa&Itemid=219
http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=2&language_id=1&headline_id=12119
Basically, there is still a ton of human rights violations going on in the DRC. Recently, a man who threw a stone at the president was jailed and then found to have committed suicide with a pillow case, although it is a known fact that DRC jails do not have pillows. There was also a huge mass rape that occurred during the summer, and although the leader responsible for ordering it has been seized, people are still very concerned about making sure that the victims are compensated. There is not much going on to prevent these things from happening or stop them. Mostly people are being punished after the fact. Everything is very chaotic, and the yearly income is $300, less than when it was still under Belgium control. This makes the Congo the poorest country in the world. Although the UN is trying to be helpful, it does not seem like there are any long term improvements or plans being made. It is difficult to do this though because there are so many crimes to deal with, both present and past. I feel like perhaps because the attitude of the world towards the Congo is so negative, the country does not feel supported, especially in the past where there is a history of sort of contradictory interference by other countries (BBC). Another problem is that leaders of the Congo seem to not last very long, and it is very difficult for them to get a leader that is popular. Because of the difficulties of leading the Congo, most leaders seem to resort to extreme violence, especially because the rebels as well are very violent. However, this gives the Congo the appearance of being very chaotic and dangerous. Although Aljazeera claims that the DRC is a "sleeping giant" and could potentially be a world power with all of it's natural resources, it also says that because of all the violence and human rights violations in the DRC, this is not likely. Really, the Congo is just a huge mess. Not really sure if this is because of what Leopold caused there, however, because of the Belgium government's hasty withdrawal and poor management skills, plus killing off the only extremely popular leader the DRC has had, I think there is definitely a cause and affect here. Much of what has happened in the DRC is an affect of the treatment the Congo received from King Leopold II and the Belgium government.
20 September 2010
Blehhhsdjkfhdkj discussion stuff?
1. Lingering ideas/questions from discussion.
What exactly was going on in Belgium at this time? Hochschild didn't really go into it, besides saying that some Belgians were developing interest in the colonies. But besides assuming that the Belgians were once again arguing over their language, I have no idea what is going on.
2. Evaluate group discussion. What worked? What didn't? How can you improve?
Umm...it definitely was not the best conversation. We had moments where everyone was participating and moments where lots of people were definitely not paying attention. However, I also felt like we struggled with finding questions we could really talk about.
What exactly was going on in Belgium at this time? Hochschild didn't really go into it, besides saying that some Belgians were developing interest in the colonies. But besides assuming that the Belgians were once again arguing over their language, I have no idea what is going on.
2. Evaluate group discussion. What worked? What didn't? How can you improve?
Umm...it definitely was not the best conversation. We had moments where everyone was participating and moments where lots of people were definitely not paying attention. However, I also felt like we struggled with finding questions we could really talk about.
07 September 2010
King Leopold's Ghost Reading #1
"Stanly cannily sprinkled his tale with picturesque chiefs, exotic sultans, and faithful servants, and he introduced it with the sweeping generalizations that allowed his readers to feel at home in an uncivilized world: "The Arab never changes"; "The Banyan is a born trader"; "For the half-castes I have great contempt"" (30).
I found this interesting not only because it shows the extreme lengths Stanley went to to protect his alter ego, but because of the striking similarities to the sort of touristic stereotypes that are considered very common now: "The French are snobs"; "Americans are fat, rich, and lazy"; "Muslims are dangerous." These are obviously the more offensive ones, but generalizations like this still exist today. Even the perhaps not so offensive ones -- the Canadian "Eh", the British sense of humor, the Texan drawl -- can still be very harmful and insulting. Even though today we probably have the best understanding of the other cultures on our globe -- and the best access to information -- many people still rely on these generalizations to "feel at home." Xenophobia is still common. I think it is shocking, considering how far we have come, that people today can still be just as unaware of other cultures as those at the end of the 19th century.
- What parallels can you see between tourism today and Stanley's stab at touristic literature here? What differences?
- Do you think that people still make these sorts of generalizations? Why or why not? What purpose would these generalizations have?
I found this interesting not only because it shows the extreme lengths Stanley went to to protect his alter ego, but because of the striking similarities to the sort of touristic stereotypes that are considered very common now: "The French are snobs"; "Americans are fat, rich, and lazy"; "Muslims are dangerous." These are obviously the more offensive ones, but generalizations like this still exist today. Even the perhaps not so offensive ones -- the Canadian "Eh", the British sense of humor, the Texan drawl -- can still be very harmful and insulting. Even though today we probably have the best understanding of the other cultures on our globe -- and the best access to information -- many people still rely on these generalizations to "feel at home." Xenophobia is still common. I think it is shocking, considering how far we have come, that people today can still be just as unaware of other cultures as those at the end of the 19th century.
- What parallels can you see between tourism today and Stanley's stab at touristic literature here? What differences?
- Do you think that people still make these sorts of generalizations? Why or why not? What purpose would these generalizations have?
02 September 2010
New Imperialism Intro Thoughts
I'm really interested in learning more about the relationships that developed between the colonizers and the colonized, and the cultural effects these had. How did countries react to being colonized? Were there any that were fine with it? Were there any that really fought back? What sort of relationships developed? How the colonized countries feel now about their current/ex colonizers? What were the cultural, economical, social, political effects? Also, how did it change the language? Afrikaans, Creole, what sorts of linguistic mixtures developed and how did they survive? English itself is a product of a colonization of sorts: by both the Vikings and the French. And, how did colonization effect European view points/culture?
30 August 2010
Current Event Practice
1. What's being discussed in this article?
This article is talking about the debate over where to build Park51, a new Islamic community center. Right now they are petitioning for a spot very near ground zero, an this is causing a lot of controversy and debate not just in the US. People around the world are questioning this. Some see it as proof that the USA's constitution and principles will not hold up, as they are debating whether or not to allow the center, though it is technically legal. Others say that Muslims should back down and settle for a different spot, not only to appease Americans, but also to avoid associations with Islam and 9/11. They also say that Muslims can not expect Americans to always comply to their religious demands when most Islamic countries are very intolerant of other religions, refusing them locations to build their own houses of worship.
2. When did the event happen? (Is this breaking news or something that's been analyzed and discussed for a while?)
This article was published on Wednesday, th 25th of August, although it seems a commentary on events that have been going on for a while, especially because the article cites many other newspapers which have clearly already voiced their opinion.
3. What questions do you have that would help make this article make more sense to you? What more do you need to learn about to be able to report on this event?
I think perhaps the article could have explained a bit more what the details are of the site Park51 is trying to obtain. The most said was that it was a "zoning spat." However, as this article is almost in response to several other articles and occurrences, I would want to find out more about the facts of the matter to be able to completely report on this event.
This article is talking about the debate over where to build Park51, a new Islamic community center. Right now they are petitioning for a spot very near ground zero, an this is causing a lot of controversy and debate not just in the US. People around the world are questioning this. Some see it as proof that the USA's constitution and principles will not hold up, as they are debating whether or not to allow the center, though it is technically legal. Others say that Muslims should back down and settle for a different spot, not only to appease Americans, but also to avoid associations with Islam and 9/11. They also say that Muslims can not expect Americans to always comply to their religious demands when most Islamic countries are very intolerant of other religions, refusing them locations to build their own houses of worship.
2. When did the event happen? (Is this breaking news or something that's been analyzed and discussed for a while?)
This article was published on Wednesday, th 25th of August, although it seems a commentary on events that have been going on for a while, especially because the article cites many other newspapers which have clearly already voiced their opinion.
3. What questions do you have that would help make this article make more sense to you? What more do you need to learn about to be able to report on this event?
I think perhaps the article could have explained a bit more what the details are of the site Park51 is trying to obtain. The most said was that it was a "zoning spat." However, as this article is almost in response to several other articles and occurrences, I would want to find out more about the facts of the matter to be able to completely report on this event.
26 August 2010
Which Newsworthy Events Do You Remember?
What I remember...
9/11
I remember in third grade being pulled into the hallway as a class and not knowing that what had happened. It wasn't really till fourth grade when all the books came out that I realized what had happened.
Katrina
I remember after Katrina that Adam Barrack joined our class, and having discussions in class where he told us about New Orleans. I also had neighbors who moved the St. Louis after Katrina and all of their stuff was still in New Orleans - they took lots of trips back and eventually moved back.
BP Oil Spill - I remember hearing about the oil spill on the radio. It didn't really sink in at first because no one really knew the extent of the spill, but in the months afterwards there was all sorts of talk about it, especially all of the wacky solutions BP tried to use to plug the spill.
My mother remembers:
9/11 - At Whitfield and heard about it right before assembly from a substitute. Remembers being at assembly trying to figure out which students might have family and needed to talk to them and find out, etc.
Hostage Crisis in Iran - In elementary school in Houston, Texas, remember everyone wearing yellow ribbons and watching the news and everyone talking about it.
My father remembers...
9/11 - sitting at the office and heard it on the radio.
Challenger Explosion - walking towards job on college campus for work-study program. Around 1985-6. And a friend said something about it.
Hostage Crisis in Iran - In high school in Egypt and whenever there was political unrest in the middle east there would be armed guards outside our school.
9/11
I remember in third grade being pulled into the hallway as a class and not knowing that what had happened. It wasn't really till fourth grade when all the books came out that I realized what had happened.
Katrina
I remember after Katrina that Adam Barrack joined our class, and having discussions in class where he told us about New Orleans. I also had neighbors who moved the St. Louis after Katrina and all of their stuff was still in New Orleans - they took lots of trips back and eventually moved back.
BP Oil Spill - I remember hearing about the oil spill on the radio. It didn't really sink in at first because no one really knew the extent of the spill, but in the months afterwards there was all sorts of talk about it, especially all of the wacky solutions BP tried to use to plug the spill.
My mother remembers:
9/11 - At Whitfield and heard about it right before assembly from a substitute. Remembers being at assembly trying to figure out which students might have family and needed to talk to them and find out, etc.
Hostage Crisis in Iran - In elementary school in Houston, Texas, remember everyone wearing yellow ribbons and watching the news and everyone talking about it.
My father remembers...
9/11 - sitting at the office and heard it on the radio.
Challenger Explosion - walking towards job on college campus for work-study program. Around 1985-6. And a friend said something about it.
Hostage Crisis in Iran - In high school in Egypt and whenever there was political unrest in the middle east there would be armed guards outside our school.
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