By now I'm sure most of you have heard of Arizona's latest "WTF legislation," banning ethnic studies classes and English teachers with accents. I won't get into the English teachers with accents in this post other than to say, what the hell does that even really mean? Can Southerners no longer teach English? People from England? Canadians? What exactly constitutes "unaccented" English?
But I want to talk about the ethnic studies ban which states that schools will lose funding if they support ethnic studies classes in their curriculum because the creators of this law think such classes will cause people to overthrow the government. Also they do not want classes to "advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals." This point is particularly boggling to me, because I was previously unaware that "treating pupils as individuals" and "promoting solidarity with ethnic groups" were mutually exclusive.
(Sarcasm approaching...)
And you know what, maybe Arizona has the right idea. I must admit that I was not exposed to ethnic studies classes until college, and look how well I turned out. (Ok, that's a lie, I took a class on Native American culture in HS, but that was barely enlightening or revolutionary). I was not aware of the many injustices the US participates in at the expense of other cultures, and as a consequence I just did my work and played the good little student role, regurgitating the white history of the world in my classes, not questioning anything.
And then Amado Lascar and Amanda Harris came into my life. Now, as far as Amado's Spanish class was concerned, it was more focused on the literature of Mexico, Central and South America than US foreign policy or exposing aforementioned injustices. But he did introduce me to voices in literature that are often undervalued and left in the margins, voices that do criticize the colonial legacy in Latin America from the conquest until today. But Amanda Harris' class, "Ethnicity in the Americas" really opened my eyes. I would even go as far as to divide my life into before and after taking that class.
When I say this entry is a case for this new law, it is my tongue-in-cheek way of saying that ethnic studies classes can and do make a difference, they change people. I can see Arizona and a racist, conservative government in general being very frightened by the power that these classes can wield. It is no wonder that this happened when we see that conservatives in Texas also want to keep real information from getting into the impressionable and pliable minds of the nation's youth. If a smart cookie like me is introduced to ideas that expose the seedy underbelly of the US, we might turn out to work against the wrongful actions of the government. It is really a loss to conservatives in the US when students become aware of their wrong-doings. Although I was never really pro-America, even before the ethnic studies class because when I finally became interested and aware of politics, Bush was president for 8 years and it doesn't take a strong liberal lean to recognize the evil promulgated under his regime.
What I am saying here is that those of us who are appalled by this newest legislation should not take the path of denying the influence of ethnic studies classes. These classes do have the power to influence people and change lives, and that is something that conservatives fear. I am not one to make an argument that they do not change people's opinions of capitalism, the United States, or hegemonic powers in general, because that is what they have done for me. But as a person who embraces a post/de-colonial paradigm, I know how important these classes are to raising awareness to new perspectives, the perspectives of the marginalized whose voices have been silenced throughout History.
I was hoping we were finally in agreement within the walls of educational institutions that a new history needs to emerge, a new story needs to sound out in contrast to the white noise of History we have been exposed to our entire lives. No one should fear that the US will be demonized completely throughout social studies curricula, because the overwhelming majority of such classes are staunchly pro-US, look at colonization as a good thing, and look at events (such as the "discovery of America") through the eyes of dead white men. Even new textbooks are preserving this paradigm. The old way is not going anywhere. But the option to learn of a new perspective and take a new path is vital to the future of this nation.
I keep waiting for the turnover, for the day that these old, racist assholes are no longer in the majority in charge of things such as text books, education funding and dare I say, the government. I don't want to lose hope that things are slowly changing for the better, but when legislation such as that in Arizona is passed, I lose just a little hope that things are actually changing. When my family verbalizes their bigotry, I just try to tell myself that most people don't think that way. Unfortunately that is not always the case. But I won't lose hope because I see a lot of smart individuals doing a lot of good for the world and those who are marginalized. I hope that as the aforementioned old racist assholes die off, they will be replaced by these more enlightened individuals.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Monday, May 17, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Empowerment
As you may know, my thesis is about women involved in environmentally-related organizations on the US-Mexico border. In my thesis I investigate whether or not women are becoming empowered as a result of this activism. Of those women who consider themselves empowered, I want to know if they consider themselves feminists or if they are participating in any kind of activities that seek to improve the lives of women in their community, even if they don't embrace the term "feminist."
One of the biggest challenges has been the use of language. First of all, the term "empowered" is not literally translatable into Spanish. I asked one bilingual informant who was born in Mexico and went to grad school in Great Britain if they have a term that encompasses this, if the literal translation "empoderad@" works. She told me that she would know what I meant by that term, but I have a feeling it would require an understanding of English, Spanish and the idea of empowerment in the first place in order to embrace this term.
Another challenge with language is how to define the term empowerment, even in English. Trying to find a consensus of empowerment in the academic literature is understandably hard. But I have trouble, even in casual conversation, describing what exactly empowerment is. It might be the ability to control your own life and have equal control over resources despite class, race, sex, sexuality, ethnicity... For some people, it could mean obtaining knowledge. Some may think an empowered woman is an unmarried woman because she does not rely on, or have to compromise with a partner. It varies with each individual, and I don't think it can be quantified by comparing a list of traits (i.e. person A is more empowered than person B because she exhibits more of these traits).
My own personal empowerment is not something I was born with. I didn't achieve it in high school or even early on in my undergraduate experience when I studied abroad for the first time or took my first women's studies class. It didn't even come as a result of my chainsaw-wielding experience in the deserts of New Mexico (ok, maybe just a little. I miss those chainsaw muscles). It has been a slow process, for which I don't think I could pinpoint the exact milestones of empowerment achievement. (So how do I expect my interviewees to do the same?). I do know that one aspect of my empowerment was achieved this quarter, and it has nothing to do with my academic achievements per se.
I have been taking the Women's and Gender Studies capstone course this quarter. It was my final official class of graduate school. It has been quite a departure from the gender and development courses I have taken up to this point. My previous classes have had a strong focus on the theory and literature. We would spend most of our time talking about (sometimes) abstract concepts as applied to the readings, and it felt a little detached from reality. Other students in the course would complain that talking all of this theory did not help when it came to the real world and how they would bring empowerment through their actual development work. It did not feel necessarily practical. This quarter, although the readings have been intense, the class discussion has been heavily based on personal experience. We would read about "hegemonic masculinities" and "heteronormativity in schools," for example, and then we would talk about our experiences in high school and beyond. How do you see hegemonic masculinities in your own lives? Several (many?) students in this class complained that we did not focus enough on the theory. I understand their complaints, but coming from a history of classes that went overboard on theory, it was a welcome change. It is expressly because of the emphasis on personal experience in the class that I personally felt empowered. Empowerment, to me, is feeling that your own experiences matter and are relevant to the things you dedicate your life to studying. I have spent 2 years taking classes like global feminisms where the focus is primarily on women from other nations (read: developing world, global south, etc.) and their experiences. I feel that women from other countries and their experiences were favored in this class, while the only thing I could offer were second-hand accounts of my experiences in other countries. No one ever really asked me how my life related to any of the readings. I felt distant and removed from the subject matter a lot of the time, and that shouldn't be, because I AM a global feminist!
It was nice to have a class where I could finally relate the readings and subject matter to my own life. It gave me a new perspective on things and made me feel that my experience counted for something. I was disappointed on the last day of class when our discussion mostly centered around negativity. Some students felt the class was too western-centered and that it was not theoretical enough. Once again, I understand their complaints because I have felt the same way but on the other side of the spectrum. It is sad that not everyone could take away the same empowering experience from that class as I did. Though I suppose they may have felt empowered through their participation in classes like global feminisms. The only thing is, at the end of the quarter in global feminisms, we didn't have such a discussion.
It is my hope that everyone doing research in a realm that may seem miles away from their own reality can step out of the intellectual side of big theoretical terms, just every once and a while, and see that their personal experience is important, too.
One of the biggest challenges has been the use of language. First of all, the term "empowered" is not literally translatable into Spanish. I asked one bilingual informant who was born in Mexico and went to grad school in Great Britain if they have a term that encompasses this, if the literal translation "empoderad@" works. She told me that she would know what I meant by that term, but I have a feeling it would require an understanding of English, Spanish and the idea of empowerment in the first place in order to embrace this term.
Another challenge with language is how to define the term empowerment, even in English. Trying to find a consensus of empowerment in the academic literature is understandably hard. But I have trouble, even in casual conversation, describing what exactly empowerment is. It might be the ability to control your own life and have equal control over resources despite class, race, sex, sexuality, ethnicity... For some people, it could mean obtaining knowledge. Some may think an empowered woman is an unmarried woman because she does not rely on, or have to compromise with a partner. It varies with each individual, and I don't think it can be quantified by comparing a list of traits (i.e. person A is more empowered than person B because she exhibits more of these traits).
My own personal empowerment is not something I was born with. I didn't achieve it in high school or even early on in my undergraduate experience when I studied abroad for the first time or took my first women's studies class. It didn't even come as a result of my chainsaw-wielding experience in the deserts of New Mexico (ok, maybe just a little. I miss those chainsaw muscles). It has been a slow process, for which I don't think I could pinpoint the exact milestones of empowerment achievement. (So how do I expect my interviewees to do the same?). I do know that one aspect of my empowerment was achieved this quarter, and it has nothing to do with my academic achievements per se.
I have been taking the Women's and Gender Studies capstone course this quarter. It was my final official class of graduate school. It has been quite a departure from the gender and development courses I have taken up to this point. My previous classes have had a strong focus on the theory and literature. We would spend most of our time talking about (sometimes) abstract concepts as applied to the readings, and it felt a little detached from reality. Other students in the course would complain that talking all of this theory did not help when it came to the real world and how they would bring empowerment through their actual development work. It did not feel necessarily practical. This quarter, although the readings have been intense, the class discussion has been heavily based on personal experience. We would read about "hegemonic masculinities" and "heteronormativity in schools," for example, and then we would talk about our experiences in high school and beyond. How do you see hegemonic masculinities in your own lives? Several (many?) students in this class complained that we did not focus enough on the theory. I understand their complaints, but coming from a history of classes that went overboard on theory, it was a welcome change. It is expressly because of the emphasis on personal experience in the class that I personally felt empowered. Empowerment, to me, is feeling that your own experiences matter and are relevant to the things you dedicate your life to studying. I have spent 2 years taking classes like global feminisms where the focus is primarily on women from other nations (read: developing world, global south, etc.) and their experiences. I feel that women from other countries and their experiences were favored in this class, while the only thing I could offer were second-hand accounts of my experiences in other countries. No one ever really asked me how my life related to any of the readings. I felt distant and removed from the subject matter a lot of the time, and that shouldn't be, because I AM a global feminist!
It was nice to have a class where I could finally relate the readings and subject matter to my own life. It gave me a new perspective on things and made me feel that my experience counted for something. I was disappointed on the last day of class when our discussion mostly centered around negativity. Some students felt the class was too western-centered and that it was not theoretical enough. Once again, I understand their complaints because I have felt the same way but on the other side of the spectrum. It is sad that not everyone could take away the same empowering experience from that class as I did. Though I suppose they may have felt empowered through their participation in classes like global feminisms. The only thing is, at the end of the quarter in global feminisms, we didn't have such a discussion.
It is my hope that everyone doing research in a realm that may seem miles away from their own reality can step out of the intellectual side of big theoretical terms, just every once and a while, and see that their personal experience is important, too.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Career Commitment Phobia and Higher Education ADD
So I am coming to the end of my thesis. I am working on my results section, which is pretty much the final nail in the ol' thesis coffin. I will of course make many alterations to the other 4 chapters I have "finished," but what I am trying to get at is, the end is nigh. With school, there is always an end in sight with each little step of the way. But most of these ends are actually little hiccups. They are little pauses in productivity where you can actually not feel guilty for taking a break because you finished an assignment. Sometimes these hiccups are very short-sighted, like when I have a 2-page reading response. Once I get that done, I have reached the end of a task, one more thing to check off the list. Some hiccups are a little longer. Most notably, once I finish a semester, I get rewarded with a little vacation before it is time to load up with a fresh set of deadlines. My big pending deadline with my thesis is less of a hiccup and more of...the cliff of higher education, maybe. This means that once this thesis is really done, and I have reached my deadlines, there is no assignment waiting for me on the other side. Well except for maybe one...Get a job.
I like the sense of accomplishment I get out of completing an assignment or a semester. It gives me an excuse to let loose, travel, sleep, play videogames, consume substances. It lets me pretend that I am not responsible for meaningful productivity, at least for a little while. I don't think that a career gives me this same kind of freedom. After working for a company for a while, sure, I'll get paid vacation (or not. See my post about working for nonprofits). But there is no final assignment per se. I just think there are less hiccups to take advantage of in the real world.
Deep down I think I secretly hope that all of this hard work will pay off in that I will eventually build up enough productivity credits so that I will never have to be productive again. I know it's not just me, but all us Generation Y-ers are on this quest to do as little as possible while making the most amount of money possible. To be blatantly and embarrassingly honest, that is what I want, too. But you know, if I could sit around and watch movies, play videogames and consume substances all day every day, it probably wouldn't take me too long to get sick of that, too. I think I've gotten to the root of my problem in that I tire of things very easily. I want to complete one thing so I can move onto the next new thing.
Case in point: If I choose a career, I am afraid that I will get sick of it very quickly. My BA is in Spanish, but I also received certificates for Environmental Studies and Latin American Studies during my undergrad. I took a bunch of Plant Biology classes to change pace from those three areas of study. Now I am working toward my masters in LAS, and my thesis focuses on gender. Now I am obsessed with feminism and gender. My "skills minor" for the program is Second Language Education which comes from a combination of teaching Spanish, English and learning Portuguese. In other words, I am all over the map. What kind of job can I find that encompasses all of these things? Because I'll tell you right now, if I choose a career as a Spanish teacher I will get bored with the endless sea of grading and lesson-planning and teaching a language instead of something a little more "enlightening." If I work for a nonprofit that focuses on "women's issues" I will get bored with such a narrow scope. If I work for an environmental organization, I will probably get sick of that, too. Just like I quit softball, horseback riding and piano lessons when I was younger, even if it's just for fun, I can't stay with the same thing forever.
That is why I am thinking more and more about pursuing a PhD. Because I am ready to move on to something completely different. By going for a PhD, maybe I will not feel trapped in what I am doing, as it will not be set in stone as a career choice. I have already thought of possible dissertation topics that have nothing to do with gender or the environment. I want to study geography or media studies.
Hi. My name is Melissa and I have higher education ADD and career commitment phobia.
I like the sense of accomplishment I get out of completing an assignment or a semester. It gives me an excuse to let loose, travel, sleep, play videogames, consume substances. It lets me pretend that I am not responsible for meaningful productivity, at least for a little while. I don't think that a career gives me this same kind of freedom. After working for a company for a while, sure, I'll get paid vacation (or not. See my post about working for nonprofits). But there is no final assignment per se. I just think there are less hiccups to take advantage of in the real world.
Deep down I think I secretly hope that all of this hard work will pay off in that I will eventually build up enough productivity credits so that I will never have to be productive again. I know it's not just me, but all us Generation Y-ers are on this quest to do as little as possible while making the most amount of money possible. To be blatantly and embarrassingly honest, that is what I want, too. But you know, if I could sit around and watch movies, play videogames and consume substances all day every day, it probably wouldn't take me too long to get sick of that, too. I think I've gotten to the root of my problem in that I tire of things very easily. I want to complete one thing so I can move onto the next new thing.
Case in point: If I choose a career, I am afraid that I will get sick of it very quickly. My BA is in Spanish, but I also received certificates for Environmental Studies and Latin American Studies during my undergrad. I took a bunch of Plant Biology classes to change pace from those three areas of study. Now I am working toward my masters in LAS, and my thesis focuses on gender. Now I am obsessed with feminism and gender. My "skills minor" for the program is Second Language Education which comes from a combination of teaching Spanish, English and learning Portuguese. In other words, I am all over the map. What kind of job can I find that encompasses all of these things? Because I'll tell you right now, if I choose a career as a Spanish teacher I will get bored with the endless sea of grading and lesson-planning and teaching a language instead of something a little more "enlightening." If I work for a nonprofit that focuses on "women's issues" I will get bored with such a narrow scope. If I work for an environmental organization, I will probably get sick of that, too. Just like I quit softball, horseback riding and piano lessons when I was younger, even if it's just for fun, I can't stay with the same thing forever.
That is why I am thinking more and more about pursuing a PhD. Because I am ready to move on to something completely different. By going for a PhD, maybe I will not feel trapped in what I am doing, as it will not be set in stone as a career choice. I have already thought of possible dissertation topics that have nothing to do with gender or the environment. I want to study geography or media studies.
Hi. My name is Melissa and I have higher education ADD and career commitment phobia.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Prioritize your Life
You would think with my chronic and excessive worrying that I would be really good at prioritizing my most pressing obligations. My particular branch of worrying does not function that way.
Until my junior year of high school, I would say I was the opposite of a procrastinator. I would get an assignment, start working on it that day, and have it finished way before the deadline. Friends and acquaintances, panicking while throwing together an assignment at the last minute, would always blame their habit of procrastinating. Sometimes, they would ask me how I was coming along on said assignment, and I would lie, faking a procrastinator lifestyle myself. Why did I want to appear to be a procrastinator? It could have been because I wished that I had tons of cool things to keep me from doing my assigned work, or that dreaded "learning isn't cool" attitude that plagues not only high school, but college students as well (I see this play out in my Spanish class all of the time). Maybe because "everyone else" was procrastinating, I wanted to too. By my junior year of high school, I began to embrace the thrill of procrastination, as I adopted a more, *ahem*, well-rounded lifestyle that mixed work and play. Now, my very definition of self revolves around this balance between work and play. While I might not go out as much as I did in my undergrad, I cannot function in the academic realm without cramming in many hours of (what I call) recreation.
So now I am a procrastinator, I guess. At the very least, even if I do something productive, I do not prioritize. Exhibit A- This very blog. I should not be writing in this now, and if you get right down to it, I never should have started "La Pajarita Dice" in the first place. At least not until I knocked out my (supposed) number one priority, my master's thesis. (by the way, I just looked it up, and master's thesis isn't supposed to be capitalized).<-web of procrastination. In general, I make myself productive in some way to prove to myself that I am still as diligent as my early high school years. So I will feel productive after I write this entry. I will also feel productive after I look up 5 different versions of "Welcome to Tijuana" by Manu Chao to find the one most appropriate to play for my Spanish class, then think of some discussion questions to go to the song (will I write them on the board or use powerpoint?) Oh yeah, and I already planned today's class in its entirety, so I really shouldn't be adding anything. We rarely get through my whole lesson plan each class period anyway. This is my Exhibit B. Exhibit C- Then there are things I feel guilty about putting off, but when I do them I will be putting off thesis work to do them. Like working out. I have Wii Fit so I can have no excuse not to exercise. It's too cold outside, Ping Rec Center is too far, I can't leave the house right now. Well, that's what exergaming is for.
In case you haven't guessed, I am about to go do some Wii Fit to rid myself of this guilt. What will I do about the guilt I have about not even looking at a thesis-related document today? Maybe I will get some reading done for my Women and Gender Studies class, and that will be academically productive. Right? RIGHT? Ooo maybe I'll go grocery shopping! Needless to say, I will probably leave the most important thing for last.
Until my junior year of high school, I would say I was the opposite of a procrastinator. I would get an assignment, start working on it that day, and have it finished way before the deadline. Friends and acquaintances, panicking while throwing together an assignment at the last minute, would always blame their habit of procrastinating. Sometimes, they would ask me how I was coming along on said assignment, and I would lie, faking a procrastinator lifestyle myself. Why did I want to appear to be a procrastinator? It could have been because I wished that I had tons of cool things to keep me from doing my assigned work, or that dreaded "learning isn't cool" attitude that plagues not only high school, but college students as well (I see this play out in my Spanish class all of the time). Maybe because "everyone else" was procrastinating, I wanted to too. By my junior year of high school, I began to embrace the thrill of procrastination, as I adopted a more, *ahem*, well-rounded lifestyle that mixed work and play. Now, my very definition of self revolves around this balance between work and play. While I might not go out as much as I did in my undergrad, I cannot function in the academic realm without cramming in many hours of (what I call) recreation.
So now I am a procrastinator, I guess. At the very least, even if I do something productive, I do not prioritize. Exhibit A- This very blog. I should not be writing in this now, and if you get right down to it, I never should have started "La Pajarita Dice" in the first place. At least not until I knocked out my (supposed) number one priority, my master's thesis. (by the way, I just looked it up, and master's thesis isn't supposed to be capitalized).<-web of procrastination. In general, I make myself productive in some way to prove to myself that I am still as diligent as my early high school years. So I will feel productive after I write this entry. I will also feel productive after I look up 5 different versions of "Welcome to Tijuana" by Manu Chao to find the one most appropriate to play for my Spanish class, then think of some discussion questions to go to the song (will I write them on the board or use powerpoint?) Oh yeah, and I already planned today's class in its entirety, so I really shouldn't be adding anything. We rarely get through my whole lesson plan each class period anyway. This is my Exhibit B. Exhibit C- Then there are things I feel guilty about putting off, but when I do them I will be putting off thesis work to do them. Like working out. I have Wii Fit so I can have no excuse not to exercise. It's too cold outside, Ping Rec Center is too far, I can't leave the house right now. Well, that's what exergaming is for.
In case you haven't guessed, I am about to go do some Wii Fit to rid myself of this guilt. What will I do about the guilt I have about not even looking at a thesis-related document today? Maybe I will get some reading done for my Women and Gender Studies class, and that will be academically productive. Right? RIGHT? Ooo maybe I'll go grocery shopping! Needless to say, I will probably leave the most important thing for last.
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