Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Video
I thought the video about the man who wants to help the environment by putting his cloned redwoods all over was super cool. Just the fact that it is extremely difficult to clone those trees in the first place, let alone plant them all over and safely store CO2 is an awesome idea. I hope that his idea gets attention and he can make a difference in the world with the Redwoods!!
Chapter 24..pgs. 723-752
Globalization started when people were first created on earth. The term "globalization" fascinates me because of the meaning it has had on our world since day one. The first quote of this chapter, "I think every Barbie doll is more harmful than an American missile" says so much about the power of globalization and the impact it has had on every country in the world. Barbie and Ken, which represent the "perfect" American couple are more lethal to surrounding countries because of the image and expectations that are being spread to children everywhere. Then, there was the Iranian Muslim dolls, Sara and Dara who were made to counteract the negative influence of Barbie and Ken. Sara and Dara were brother and sister, wore modest clothing, and there mission was to help each other solve problems while going to their parents for help and support. Where in our culture does Barbie and Ken go to their parents for help? When do they use each other's guidance to solve problems? Why does Barbie have multiple boyfriends and skimpy clothing? Barbie and Ken never get married, so what exactly are they showing little kids? The image that these dolls portray is extremely harmful to cultures across the world because it sends the wrong message for growing kids. What's okay and what isn't when your older.
Globalization sometimes refers to the growth in international economic matters that happened in the second half of the twentieth century and continued into the twenty first. But, the first half after WWI and during the great depression, the economy globally plumetted due to the loss of jobs and money, etc. Following WWII, the U.S. was determined to rise from the depression and then came technology and other boosts in the global economy. "Re-globalization" was a significant process in the acceleration of goods, capital, and people.
The 1960's struck me when reading this chapter because it was all about the feminist movements and many great protests began. Liberation for women meant that they first had to understand their own oppression, which took a number of groups protesting to really get the picture. A lot of the women in this time were subject to direct action and making things happen rather than the political lobbying by equal rights feminists. They did things like challenge the miss America pageants and brought sexuality to the attention regarding sexuality, free love, and lesbianism. The women's movements in the south were surrounded by many issues not all of which were strictly related to gender. I particularly liked reading this quote by a women who testified to the sense of empowerment and belonged to a women's support group, "I am a free woman. I bought this land through my group. I can lie on it, work on it, keep goats or cows. What more do I want? My husband cannot sell it. It is mine."
I think this quote is extremely powerful for this time period but the women's groups really gave support and hope for women all over to stand up and fight for what is rightfully theirs.
On a more global aspect, the twentieth century was able to centralize the "woman question" and put emphasis on the fact that women's right are human rights. All rights among men and women should be equal on an international level even though they may never be totally equal, the twentieth century raised a lot of questions and brought awareness to the issues regarding feminism.
I found the section on religion and global modernity to be really interesting, especially the area regarding the three different religions. (Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam). I thought it made a very valid point that the three of these had spread widely beyond the place they originated from. Particularly buddhism in the west, many people today are involved in buddhist practices and ideals such as meditation and yoga. I have never really thought about how far this religion has travelled and how long it has been around but it is definetly a big part of my life and my belief system. I am not a buddhist per say, but I do believe in the spirituality involved with yoga and the different beliefs like karma, etc.
As we talked about in class today, the environment plays a big role in globalization. The factors that play into the damages the human race has done to our earth and how we may fix them is very much so a global issue. As the world became industrialized, the populations grew immensly, therefore causing more and more pollution to occur. It is amazing to see how many people protest and fight for the environment all over the world and for all different places. Shown in the book, the picture of South Korean evironmental activists wearing death masks and holding crosses representing various countries sends a powerful message across the world. If more people were aware of or actually cared about the damages being done, our world might be in better shape.
Globalization sometimes refers to the growth in international economic matters that happened in the second half of the twentieth century and continued into the twenty first. But, the first half after WWI and during the great depression, the economy globally plumetted due to the loss of jobs and money, etc. Following WWII, the U.S. was determined to rise from the depression and then came technology and other boosts in the global economy. "Re-globalization" was a significant process in the acceleration of goods, capital, and people.
The 1960's struck me when reading this chapter because it was all about the feminist movements and many great protests began. Liberation for women meant that they first had to understand their own oppression, which took a number of groups protesting to really get the picture. A lot of the women in this time were subject to direct action and making things happen rather than the political lobbying by equal rights feminists. They did things like challenge the miss America pageants and brought sexuality to the attention regarding sexuality, free love, and lesbianism. The women's movements in the south were surrounded by many issues not all of which were strictly related to gender. I particularly liked reading this quote by a women who testified to the sense of empowerment and belonged to a women's support group, "I am a free woman. I bought this land through my group. I can lie on it, work on it, keep goats or cows. What more do I want? My husband cannot sell it. It is mine."
I think this quote is extremely powerful for this time period but the women's groups really gave support and hope for women all over to stand up and fight for what is rightfully theirs.
On a more global aspect, the twentieth century was able to centralize the "woman question" and put emphasis on the fact that women's right are human rights. All rights among men and women should be equal on an international level even though they may never be totally equal, the twentieth century raised a lot of questions and brought awareness to the issues regarding feminism.
I found the section on religion and global modernity to be really interesting, especially the area regarding the three different religions. (Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam). I thought it made a very valid point that the three of these had spread widely beyond the place they originated from. Particularly buddhism in the west, many people today are involved in buddhist practices and ideals such as meditation and yoga. I have never really thought about how far this religion has travelled and how long it has been around but it is definetly a big part of my life and my belief system. I am not a buddhist per say, but I do believe in the spirituality involved with yoga and the different beliefs like karma, etc.
As we talked about in class today, the environment plays a big role in globalization. The factors that play into the damages the human race has done to our earth and how we may fix them is very much so a global issue. As the world became industrialized, the populations grew immensly, therefore causing more and more pollution to occur. It is amazing to see how many people protest and fight for the environment all over the world and for all different places. Shown in the book, the picture of South Korean evironmental activists wearing death masks and holding crosses representing various countries sends a powerful message across the world. If more people were aware of or actually cared about the damages being done, our world might be in better shape.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Women in the Arab Spring
The Middle East’s pro-democracy uprisings may well be the latest in a long line of gifts (algebra, soap, even the fork) that Arab civilizations have given the world. Yet one might think only men were risking, and sometimes losing, their lives in these protests—and definitely leading them.
But women were (and are) involved at every stage, including leadership. This doesn’t surprise those familiar with Arab feminism, since women have been the most consistent advocates of civil society across the region. In most of these countries women suffer from such discriminatory legislation as “guardianship laws,” which imprison them in the status of minors, so they’re well aware that “democracy” for half the people isn’t democracy. But they also have reason to be wary about how male-defined revolutions betray women.
Western instances of this abound, but a notorious Arab example is fitting. During the Algerian revolt against French colonialism, women fought and died beside men in the underground, certain that their own future equality was at stake. But with independence won, their “revolutionary brothers” sent them back to the kitchen.
So it’s crucial to document the vital role women play in these uprisings, and how they’re planning to ensure that in post-revolutionary and transitional periods they (and democracy) won’t be double-crossed again.
Each country’s situation is volatile and different, and Ms. will stay with the ongoing story. This report will focus on Tunisia and Egypt, the two “post-revolutionary” states as of this writing.
Tunisia, where the ferment began and the “Jasmine Revolution” toppled President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, demolishes stereotypes. In the country’s (relatively) progressive, secular society, women have had access to contraception since 1962 and abortion since 1965—eight years before Roe v. Wade. After independence from France in 1956, the government abolished polygamy and legislated women’s equality in marriage, divorce and child custody. Later, a minimum marriage age of 18 was established, as were penalties for domestic violence. Still, daughters could inherit only half of what sons could, and a husband could hold property a wife acquired during marriage.
So Tunisian women, their democratic yearnings deepened by their feminist ones, were ready to rebel. Blogger Lina Ben Mhenni was probably first to alert the world to Tunisian protests, in December 2010. (Despite threats and censorship, she persists.) And women flocked to rallies— wearing veils, jeans and miniskirts— young girls, grandmothers, female judges in their court robes. They ousted a despot and inspired a region.
But building a new society is a different challenge. Feminist Raja bin Salama, a vocal critic of fundamentalist subjugation of women, called for Tunisia’s new laws to be based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She was denounced by Rashid al-Ghannouchi, exiled head of the Islamist party Ennahda, who vowed to hang her in Tunis’ Basij Square. He has now returned to Tunisia.
Still, Khadija Cherif, former head of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, guarantees women will continue to defend separation of mosque and state, saying, “The force of the Tunisian feminist movement is that we’ve never separated it from the fight for democracy and a secular society.”
The revolution Tunisia pioneered, Egypt made a trend, and one facilitated by women. Despite decades of dictatorship, a long-established feminist movement has survived there. Women had been key to the 1919 revolution against the British, but after independence were ignored by the ruling Wafd Party. The feminist movement erupted in 1923 when Huda Sha’rawi publicly stripped off her veil.
Remaining as active as possible in an autocracy, the movement embraces many NGOs and activists, reflected in the women at Tahrir Square who represented “all generations and social classes,” according to Amal Abdel Hady of the New Woman Foundation. At Tahrir Square’s checkpoints, men frisked men; women, women; and while there were several men’s lines to each one for women, that’s because in the past men—protesters as well as police— sexually harassed women so severely during protests that few women demonstrated. But Hady also noticed that the media paid much less attention to the women, fostering a perception that only men were in charge.
Yet, the action had been precipitated by a 26-year-old woman whom Egyptians now call “Leader of the Revolution.” On January 18, Asmaa Mahfouz uploaded a short video to YouTube and Facebook in which she announced, “Whoever says women shouldn’t go to protests because they will get beaten, let him have some honor and manhood and come with me on January 25.” The video went viral. The planned one-day demonstration became a popular revolution.
Soon, unsung protest coordinator Amal Sharaf—a 36-year-old English teacher, single mother and member of the organizers’ April 6 Youth Movement—was spending days and nights in the movement’s tiny office, smoking furiously and overseeing a crew of men. Google employee Wael Ghonim, who privately administered one of the Facebook pages that were the movement’s virtual headquarters, would later become an icon—but after he was arrested, young Nadine Wahab, an Egyptian American expert on new-media advocacy, took over, strengthening the online presence.
While Women of Egypt, a Facebook group, assembled a photo gallery of women’s role in the protests, neighborhood women wielding clubs patrolled their streets for security once the police vanished. “We see women, Islamist or not Islamist, veiled or not veiled, coming together and leading what’s happening on the ground,” said Magda Adly of the El Nadim Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence to Inter Press Service. “We’ll never go back to square one.”
Nonetheless, Nawla Darwish of the New Woman Foundation fears that because women weren’t pushing their own rights during the demonstrations, they’ll be ignored. “We are living in a patriarchal society,” she told Al-Masry Al-Youm, an Egyptian newspaper. And even the January 25 revolution may not be enough to change that.
Such fears are being realized. Nehad Abou El Komsan, chair of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, is indignant that women have been left out of the political dialogue since Mubarak was ousted. Deplorably, the committee to redraft the constitution excluded women, even female legal experts. The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights issued a statement denouncing the exclusion, signed to date by 102 Egyptian women’s organizations. So far, no response.
Egypt’s leading feminist, Nawal El Saadawi, now 80, feels a new social compact emerged in Tahrir Square: “But how to sustain this? We learned from Algeria. Women became angry when we heard the constitutional committee had not a single woman. Then the men dismissed our statement, since it was only paper. So we began planning a march and we are reestablishing the Egyptian Women’s Union—which had been banned—as an umbrella organization. We must unite for political power or men will exclude us. Once we are in the streets in millions, it’s not paper.”
Meanwhile, women persevere with stunning courage across the region.
In Yemen, protests were sparked by the arrest of 32-year-old Tawakul Karman, head of Women Journalists Without Chains. Now released, she insists, “There is no solution [to extremism] other than spreading the culture of coexistence and dialogue, skills that women master and possess.” In Bahrain, when police fired teargas at Shia women in chadors chanting anti-government slogans, the women sat down, and only after the police fled the caustic fumes did they leave. In Algeria, feminists marched, chanting, “Away with the family code!” In Gaza, Palestinians rallied, demanding that Hamas and Fatah unite, while Asma al-Ghoul, a young journalist known for her defiant feminism, called for a secular Palestine. In Libya, the revolt is, at this writing, still convulsively violent, including little-noticed reports of mass rape by government-hired mercenaries. Even less known is that it all began at the Benghazi attorney general’s office with a sit-in by lawyers and judges—led by Salwa Bugaighis, a lawyer in her mid-40s.
As Ms. goes to press, protests still are igniting in Jordan, Morocco, Libya, Oman, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon and Djibouti. International Women’s Day demonstrations were staged in Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen and Egypt. Rallies are even being planned in Saudi Arabia. In Iran—which is Persian, not Arab— thousands took to the streets against the theocracy. A regional young feminist action alliance, Women United for the Future of the Middle East, has just formed.
These women, who must confront first tyrants and then comrades, refuse to be stopped.
One last example. Syria, tightly controlling of its populace, boasts of setting records for women’s advancement. Vice President Najah al-Attar is the first woman in the Arab world to hold such a position (however questionable her real power). Yet in February, Tal al-Molouhi, a 19-year-old high-school student, stood in court chained and blindfolded and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. She had blogged about longing for a role in building Syria’s future.
Tal is that future. Sixty percent of the population in these countries is under age 30—and more than half is female.
But women were (and are) involved at every stage, including leadership. This doesn’t surprise those familiar with Arab feminism, since women have been the most consistent advocates of civil society across the region. In most of these countries women suffer from such discriminatory legislation as “guardianship laws,” which imprison them in the status of minors, so they’re well aware that “democracy” for half the people isn’t democracy. But they also have reason to be wary about how male-defined revolutions betray women.
Western instances of this abound, but a notorious Arab example is fitting. During the Algerian revolt against French colonialism, women fought and died beside men in the underground, certain that their own future equality was at stake. But with independence won, their “revolutionary brothers” sent them back to the kitchen.
So it’s crucial to document the vital role women play in these uprisings, and how they’re planning to ensure that in post-revolutionary and transitional periods they (and democracy) won’t be double-crossed again.
Each country’s situation is volatile and different, and Ms. will stay with the ongoing story. This report will focus on Tunisia and Egypt, the two “post-revolutionary” states as of this writing.
Tunisia, where the ferment began and the “Jasmine Revolution” toppled President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, demolishes stereotypes. In the country’s (relatively) progressive, secular society, women have had access to contraception since 1962 and abortion since 1965—eight years before Roe v. Wade. After independence from France in 1956, the government abolished polygamy and legislated women’s equality in marriage, divorce and child custody. Later, a minimum marriage age of 18 was established, as were penalties for domestic violence. Still, daughters could inherit only half of what sons could, and a husband could hold property a wife acquired during marriage.
So Tunisian women, their democratic yearnings deepened by their feminist ones, were ready to rebel. Blogger Lina Ben Mhenni was probably first to alert the world to Tunisian protests, in December 2010. (Despite threats and censorship, she persists.) And women flocked to rallies— wearing veils, jeans and miniskirts— young girls, grandmothers, female judges in their court robes. They ousted a despot and inspired a region.
But building a new society is a different challenge. Feminist Raja bin Salama, a vocal critic of fundamentalist subjugation of women, called for Tunisia’s new laws to be based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She was denounced by Rashid al-Ghannouchi, exiled head of the Islamist party Ennahda, who vowed to hang her in Tunis’ Basij Square. He has now returned to Tunisia.
Still, Khadija Cherif, former head of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, guarantees women will continue to defend separation of mosque and state, saying, “The force of the Tunisian feminist movement is that we’ve never separated it from the fight for democracy and a secular society.”
The revolution Tunisia pioneered, Egypt made a trend, and one facilitated by women. Despite decades of dictatorship, a long-established feminist movement has survived there. Women had been key to the 1919 revolution against the British, but after independence were ignored by the ruling Wafd Party. The feminist movement erupted in 1923 when Huda Sha’rawi publicly stripped off her veil.
Remaining as active as possible in an autocracy, the movement embraces many NGOs and activists, reflected in the women at Tahrir Square who represented “all generations and social classes,” according to Amal Abdel Hady of the New Woman Foundation. At Tahrir Square’s checkpoints, men frisked men; women, women; and while there were several men’s lines to each one for women, that’s because in the past men—protesters as well as police— sexually harassed women so severely during protests that few women demonstrated. But Hady also noticed that the media paid much less attention to the women, fostering a perception that only men were in charge.
Yet, the action had been precipitated by a 26-year-old woman whom Egyptians now call “Leader of the Revolution.” On January 18, Asmaa Mahfouz uploaded a short video to YouTube and Facebook in which she announced, “Whoever says women shouldn’t go to protests because they will get beaten, let him have some honor and manhood and come with me on January 25.” The video went viral. The planned one-day demonstration became a popular revolution.
Soon, unsung protest coordinator Amal Sharaf—a 36-year-old English teacher, single mother and member of the organizers’ April 6 Youth Movement—was spending days and nights in the movement’s tiny office, smoking furiously and overseeing a crew of men. Google employee Wael Ghonim, who privately administered one of the Facebook pages that were the movement’s virtual headquarters, would later become an icon—but after he was arrested, young Nadine Wahab, an Egyptian American expert on new-media advocacy, took over, strengthening the online presence.
While Women of Egypt, a Facebook group, assembled a photo gallery of women’s role in the protests, neighborhood women wielding clubs patrolled their streets for security once the police vanished. “We see women, Islamist or not Islamist, veiled or not veiled, coming together and leading what’s happening on the ground,” said Magda Adly of the El Nadim Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence to Inter Press Service. “We’ll never go back to square one.”
Nonetheless, Nawla Darwish of the New Woman Foundation fears that because women weren’t pushing their own rights during the demonstrations, they’ll be ignored. “We are living in a patriarchal society,” she told Al-Masry Al-Youm, an Egyptian newspaper. And even the January 25 revolution may not be enough to change that.
Such fears are being realized. Nehad Abou El Komsan, chair of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, is indignant that women have been left out of the political dialogue since Mubarak was ousted. Deplorably, the committee to redraft the constitution excluded women, even female legal experts. The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights issued a statement denouncing the exclusion, signed to date by 102 Egyptian women’s organizations. So far, no response.
Egypt’s leading feminist, Nawal El Saadawi, now 80, feels a new social compact emerged in Tahrir Square: “But how to sustain this? We learned from Algeria. Women became angry when we heard the constitutional committee had not a single woman. Then the men dismissed our statement, since it was only paper. So we began planning a march and we are reestablishing the Egyptian Women’s Union—which had been banned—as an umbrella organization. We must unite for political power or men will exclude us. Once we are in the streets in millions, it’s not paper.”
Meanwhile, women persevere with stunning courage across the region.
In Yemen, protests were sparked by the arrest of 32-year-old Tawakul Karman, head of Women Journalists Without Chains. Now released, she insists, “There is no solution [to extremism] other than spreading the culture of coexistence and dialogue, skills that women master and possess.” In Bahrain, when police fired teargas at Shia women in chadors chanting anti-government slogans, the women sat down, and only after the police fled the caustic fumes did they leave. In Algeria, feminists marched, chanting, “Away with the family code!” In Gaza, Palestinians rallied, demanding that Hamas and Fatah unite, while Asma al-Ghoul, a young journalist known for her defiant feminism, called for a secular Palestine. In Libya, the revolt is, at this writing, still convulsively violent, including little-noticed reports of mass rape by government-hired mercenaries. Even less known is that it all began at the Benghazi attorney general’s office with a sit-in by lawyers and judges—led by Salwa Bugaighis, a lawyer in her mid-40s.
As Ms. goes to press, protests still are igniting in Jordan, Morocco, Libya, Oman, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon and Djibouti. International Women’s Day demonstrations were staged in Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen and Egypt. Rallies are even being planned in Saudi Arabia. In Iran—which is Persian, not Arab— thousands took to the streets against the theocracy. A regional young feminist action alliance, Women United for the Future of the Middle East, has just formed.
These women, who must confront first tyrants and then comrades, refuse to be stopped.
One last example. Syria, tightly controlling of its populace, boasts of setting records for women’s advancement. Vice President Najah al-Attar is the first woman in the Arab world to hold such a position (however questionable her real power). Yet in February, Tal al-Molouhi, a 19-year-old high-school student, stood in court chained and blindfolded and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. She had blogged about longing for a role in building Syria’s future.
Tal is that future. Sixty percent of the population in these countries is under age 30—and more than half is female.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Chapter 23 part 1
This chapter has some interesting concepts regarding African and Asian independence. People like Nelson Mandela, who believed in fighting against the domination of African people and dedicated his life to making change. He later became the first black African president which then gave Africa ties to other countries that had overruled the control of European rule or white settlers during the second half of the twentieth century. What I understand from part of the reading was that the independence took place mostly because of the pressure from nationalist movements. Political leaders recruited people, came up with plans and strategies, and developed ideas to negotiate with each other and with the colonial state. The most powerful among these soon became the "fathers" of their new countries as independence came about. For example, Mahatma Ghandi and Jawaharlal Nehru in India, Sukarno in Indonesia, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, and Nelson Mandela in South Africa. I think it's fascinating to read about the countries gaining their independence through self determination and amazing people like these leaders that fought for what they believed in and wanted to create positive change in these places.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Feminism+Communism
I really enjoyed reading about the evolution of feminism after the rise of communism. The changes brought on by communism promoted efforts to liberate and mobilize women. In Russia, many of the laws that were being brought to the government's attention were regarding full legal and political equality for women, marriage had become a civil procedure, divorse was legalized, illigitimacy was overruled, women didn't have to take their husbands sur-names, pregnancy leaves for working women, and women were becoming involved in the country's movement of industrialization. The leaders of Zhenotdel, which was an all women organization, really helped push the women's movements in the 1920's. From conferences to training to muslim women being able to take off their veils, it was all moving in a positive direction until the male communists ruled against it and the leader at the time, Stalin abolished Zhenotdel. China came around with the marriage law of 1950 which promoted easy divorce, free choice in marriage, etc. With help from the CCP they tried to apply the changes, and also helped to create the Women's Federation.
The Rise and Fall of Communism
The reading from this section is packed with interesting information regarding the beginnings of communism and it's spread across the world. Starting witht the Berlin Wall being breached in Germany, which was there in the first place to prevent the people of east berlin from escaping to the west, sparked the first sign of communist tyranny. Modern communism stemming from the teachings of Karl Marx, referred to the final stage of historical development when social equality and collevtive living would be most fully developed with ownership of private property. It's crazy to think that a third of the world was living in societies which were governed by communist regimes. Communism in Russia powered through in a year due to the pressure of WW1 and Russian society full of tension. The chaos of society in Russia led to the end of the Romanov dynasty which had been around for over three centuries and transformed into a social revolution. Following Russia, China was overcome by communism in 1949 and their struggles lasted for decades. China gained help from a small communist party known as the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) which efforts were geared towards organizing the working class. Following the leadership of Mao Zedong, the Chinese faced an intense battle with the Japanese and were victorious in 1949. After the setteling of communism, then began the creation of socialism in the soviet union and china. Lead in the soviet union by Stalin and still under leadership of Mao Zedong in China.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Revolutions
I enjoyed reading about Zhou Enlai whose famous quote "It's too early to say" about the French Revolution just proved the crazy amount of controversies that were being started all over. I think the questions that are raised about whether or not the revolutions were really worth it and what did they really promote, bring up a valid point in this time period. For the people that actually benefited from them, they gave way to many possibilities, but in the end there was so much injustice that it was pretty much impossible to not have a revolutions. For the people that encountered the opposite outcome, these types of revolutionary changes only created more problems or "disasters". I feel like there are so many pros and cons and so many questions that can be raised from the revolutions.
"Were revolutions the product of misery, injustice, and oppresion?"
"Did the American Revolution enable the growth of the United States as an economic and political "great power?"
"Did the French Revolution and the threat of subsequent revolutions encourage the democratic reforms that followed in the nineteenth century?"
Interesting.
It's also really interesting to try learning this while sitting on the beach but hey, gotta do whatcha gotta do :)
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Founders week
Today I was super shocked by all the interesting things I learned while I was on the tour with Roseanne Murphy who is one of the nuns on our campus. She took us from the library to the chapel, over through the dorms a little bit, and then down near the mansion. We went in through the library and she explained how, where, and when the school started. It was cool to learn that our school started in Oregon and eventually moved down to California.The sisters of Notre Dame started a high school in San Jose and then found the Ralston property for sale and moved to Belmont to start a four year college for women. When we went into the chapel I was super impressed to learn that the medallions in the entry way were made by sisters, and the glass in the windows were made by one of the best window makers of the twentieth century. His name is Gabriel Loyre, and all of the glass pieces in the windows are cut, not stained. Making the images even more vibrant when the sun shines through them. Another cool thing I learned was the symbol of the sisters which is a sunflower. One of the sisters would tell people that when you are down, to "always keep your eye on God even in the darkness." This sister had been watching sunflowers and realized that even on a cloudy, dark day, they still follow the sun.
It was particularly interesting to learn that the sisters of Notre Dame exist on every continent except Australia. They are spreading the word of community and doing what they can to make an impact by helping others. Many of the buildings on campus are named after sisters that have had a significant impact on the schools' existence and I think it would be a neat experience for everyone to hear the story of how our school got here and what the sisters are striving to teach all of us. As well as what they've done to provide us with this education.
It was particularly interesting to learn that the sisters of Notre Dame exist on every continent except Australia. They are spreading the word of community and doing what they can to make an impact by helping others. Many of the buildings on campus are named after sisters that have had a significant impact on the schools' existence and I think it would be a neat experience for everyone to hear the story of how our school got here and what the sisters are striving to teach all of us. As well as what they've done to provide us with this education.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sugarrrr
Who knew sugar could be so intense! Reading the packet about the production and manufacturing of sugar was really shocking and interesting.
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