Hi!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tunisia----Egypt
Beyond Borders
I have been all over the place for this research project. Mostly influenced by topics that were popular in the class, I went with South America and from there to Egypt. I like the idea of freedom and if media has made us more or less free. Looking at the Egyptians one might argue that the revolutions (born of social media) have caused more problems than prior to the outbursts. However, I have moved my focus another direction.
After much thought, I have decided to focus on the spread of Revolution from Tunisia to Egypt. In my lab on campus, we just hosted a woman from Tunisia, and it was interesting to hear her perspective even as an upper class member of society. She told me "we will fight for our freedom." I found information of the people of Tunisia writing about freedom and revolution on facebook, triggering a revolution in Egypt shortly after.
I got to thinking, how interesting that two neighboring countries would start revolutions simultaneously. I then became curious about how little of a coincidence it could be! This website got me going in the right direction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/opinion/31eldin.html
I have been all over the place for this research project. Mostly influenced by topics that were popular in the class, I went with South America and from there to Egypt. I like the idea of freedom and if media has made us more or less free. Looking at the Egyptians one might argue that the revolutions (born of social media) have caused more problems than prior to the outbursts. However, I have moved my focus another direction.
After much thought, I have decided to focus on the spread of Revolution from Tunisia to Egypt. In my lab on campus, we just hosted a woman from Tunisia, and it was interesting to hear her perspective even as an upper class member of society. She told me "we will fight for our freedom." I found information of the people of Tunisia writing about freedom and revolution on facebook, triggering a revolution in Egypt shortly after.
I got to thinking, how interesting that two neighboring countries would start revolutions simultaneously. I then became curious about how little of a coincidence it could be! This website got me going in the right direction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/opinion/31eldin.html
Traveling Ideas!
My biggest passion in life is traveling! In my spare time I look up new places I want to see around the world. I am not the white picket fence type of girl. I would not survive working a 9-5 job! This is what I want out of life...to live out of a suitcase.
I recently came across a website with ESL teaching jobs http://eslcafe.com/. My husband and I are looking at the possibility of teaching in Taiwan for at least a year and then moving on into mainland China. From there who knows where we'll go!
CIEE has some attractive programs, but I am in search of other programs around the world to check out! Any suggestions, be sure and let me know!
The power of blogging
This article discusses the events in history which have lead up to recent political unrest in Egypt, but as Hirschkind states, "it did not come out of the blue." Many of the activists (both Islamic and secular) in this movement were utilizing the social web in order to make their statements. In 2004 a group of Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and secular leftist organizations found a common ground in support of one another. Although these groups had much to quarrel about, they agreed on one thing: to end the Mubarack regime. Their coming together is known as the Kiyafa movement. Many human rights issues in Egypt had been questioned prior but always denied. However a local Egyptian uploaded a video to his blog of a prisoner being physically and sexually abused by police. Within a year, these blogs jumped into the hundreds. Many of these bloggers played huge roles in the recent events. Clearly new forms of media have made tremendous changes globally.
http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2011/02/09/the-road-to-tahrir/
http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2011/02/09/the-road-to-tahrir/
Robots
Ok so my first semester at K-State (Spring of 2010) I started noticing a trend as students walked to class. It all started when I was walking by Ackert Hall and I could vaguely hear the old Pringles commercial song...you know the House of Pain's song "Jump Around". Anyway, the closer I got to Waters Hall, the louder the song got. I thought, there must be an outdoors event going on or something. However, to my surprise, down the steps came a guy with a huge boom-box on his left shoulder. As I got close to him I smiled and and said, "That's awesome man!" To my surprise, everyone around me continued walking, looking down, no expression on their faces. Maybe they said seen him around and we're now unaffected by the display, but this made me start observing students more.
I had been at other campuses where it seemed like people were more lively. I had lived in Mexico where you greet people and smile; when you're leaving a restaurant you say to those who are staying "Provecho" roughly translated as -"have a nice meal". Anyway, I started noticing in classes that very few if any started conversations with people next to them. To avoid awkward eye contact or silences, people seemed to be on their phones.
The interesting thing is that I know all these people who walk around like robots, afraid of possibly breaking any social norms, are updating their facebook statuses at least once a day. I'm sure that at least 40% have a blog, so I know they have a voice, but for some reason I will never hear it unless I go read it through a text...through media. That reminds me of the contrast between talking to someone online and talking to them in person. Is it that they're too shy to let their true selves show? Are we becoming poor face to face communicators because a majority of our communicating takes places through some form of mediation? started when I was walking by Ackert Hall and I could vaguely hear the old Pringles commercial song...you know the House of Pain's song "Jump Around". Anyway, the closer I got to Waters Hall, the louder the song got. I thought, there must be an outdoors event going on or something. However, to my surprise, down the steps came a guy with a huge boom-box on his left shoulder. As I got close to him I smiled and and said, "That's awesome man!" To my surprise, everyone around me continued walking, looking down, no expression on their faces. Maybe they said seen him around and we're now unaffected by the display, but this made me start observing students more.
I had been at other campuses where it seemed like people were more lively. I had lived in Mexico where you greet people and smile; when you're leaving a restaurant you say to those who are staying "Provecho" roughly translated as -"have a nice meal". Anyway, I started noticing in classes that very few if any started conversations with people next to them. To avoid awkward eye contact or silences, people seemed to be on their phones.
The interesting thing is that I know all these people who walk around like robots, afraid of possibly breaking any social norms, are updating their facebook statuses at least once a day. I'm sure that at least 40% have a blog, so I know they have a voice, but for some reason I will never hear it unless I go read it through a text...through media. That reminds me of the contrast between talking to someone online and talking to them in person. Is it that they're too shy to let their true selves show? Are we becoming poor face to face communicators because a majority of our communicating takes places through some form of mediation?
I had been at other campuses where it seemed like people were more lively. I had lived in Mexico where you greet people and smile; when you're leaving a restaurant you say to those who are staying "Provecho" roughly translated as -"have a nice meal". Anyway, I started noticing in classes that very few if any started conversations with people next to them. To avoid awkward eye contact or silences, people seemed to be on their phones.
The interesting thing is that I know all these people who walk around like robots, afraid of possibly breaking any social norms, are updating their facebook statuses at least once a day. I'm sure that at least 40% have a blog, so I know they have a voice, but for some reason I will never hear it unless I go read it through a text...through media. That reminds me of the contrast between talking to someone online and talking to them in person. Is it that they're too shy to let their true selves show? Are we becoming poor face to face communicators because a majority of our communicating takes places through some form of mediation? started when I was walking by Ackert Hall and I could vaguely hear the old Pringles commercial song...you know the House of Pain's song "Jump Around". Anyway, the closer I got to Waters Hall, the louder the song got. I thought, there must be an outdoors event going on or something. However, to my surprise, down the steps came a guy with a huge boom-box on his left shoulder. As I got close to him I smiled and and said, "That's awesome man!" To my surprise, everyone around me continued walking, looking down, no expression on their faces. Maybe they said seen him around and we're now unaffected by the display, but this made me start observing students more.
I had been at other campuses where it seemed like people were more lively. I had lived in Mexico where you greet people and smile; when you're leaving a restaurant you say to those who are staying "Provecho" roughly translated as -"have a nice meal". Anyway, I started noticing in classes that very few if any started conversations with people next to them. To avoid awkward eye contact or silences, people seemed to be on their phones.
The interesting thing is that I know all these people who walk around like robots, afraid of possibly breaking any social norms, are updating their facebook statuses at least once a day. I'm sure that at least 40% have a blog, so I know they have a voice, but for some reason I will never hear it unless I go read it through a text...through media. That reminds me of the contrast between talking to someone online and talking to them in person. Is it that they're too shy to let their true selves show? Are we becoming poor face to face communicators because a majority of our communicating takes places through some form of mediation?
Early Writing Systems of South America
The earliest form of a writing system found in the Incan Empire of South America prior to colonialism was the Quipu. Although writing system may not be fitting, it served as some sort of a "transmittal system." The quipu is colored strings made of wool and cotton which are joined in many different ways and knotted in order to communicate. Several South American societies were capable of reading it.
Upon the arrival of the Spanish in 1531, the conquistadors were suspicious of the quipu and burned most of them. To this day, only 300 quipu's remain.
As to what the Incans were communicating with each other about, archaeologists remain uncertain. They do know however that they were used for administrative purposes such as tracking tributes. They might also have been used as maps or legends to be told orally in the future. Little is still known about this fascinating system of communication.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
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