一些學生的思考（二）

（山靜）

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S:  “…I think the most important thing I have learned is that yet while ethnocentric behaviors and attitudes still prevail, it has helped me to realize to understand a people; you must understand their history, their own personal struggles and triumphs.  Herein you should be able to overcome ethnocentric attitudes and find common points of interest that being about mutual understanding and respect for each other.  I think that it is the sociological imagination Mills spoke of.  But live and let live will become harder because we are over extending our natural resources on this planet.  And it will take a reformation of generational proportions to give our children of today valuable lessons in social responsibility for the next generation to come.  This means we need to teach them critical thinking skills which will allow them hopefully to make better conscious choices for the good of the many and not just the one….”

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J: “ …I really enjoyed the text book, World Poverty: Global Inequality and the Modern World System, by Harold R. Kerbo.  This book looks at all aspects of poverty including what has been done in the past to try and alleviate the problem…I used to be very close minded and ethnocentric. I only thought about other nations and cultures through the eyes of my own culture and definition of normalcy.  The articles that were presented inclass provided different global perspectives and explained why civilizations and cultures do what they do. ..there was such a wide age range between the students in class so it was a very unique experience to hear what they have to say. Different generations had different ideas or beliefs based on their own life experiences….”

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W:  “…an eye opening learning experience…has given me a new perspective on how society works together.  Being a student in the college of business, I tend to look at globalization from an economic stand point where as this class has allowed me to look at globalization from a cultural point of view. ..loaded with lots of interesting and useful information presented in many different mediums of communication. …allows you to expand your horizon and critical thinking.  The class had a very diverse group of people of all genders, races, and age which helped contribute many different perspectives…I can honestly say that this was one of the best experience I have had here…”

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K:  “…One of the most important things I learned was how the process of globalization is changing the world. 500 years ago from today, all of the nations of the world were not as dependent on one another as they are today.  Most people back then probably didn’t even know of all the existing nations in the world; heck Christopher Columbus thought he was in India when he reached the Americas.  As the world is becoming more globalized, all of the nations are depending on each other more and more than they ever have before…I also found it extremely educational to watch all of those documentaries that discussed issues around the world.  It was extremely interesting to see how the oppression of women did not or does not just exist in European and American societies.  Around the world many women were forced into prostitution.  I found the statistics on how many women are imported into different countries as prostitutes staggering…”

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D:  “…there are so many issues in life, and they are so complex, that they cannot be summed up in one class.  Learning about just the differences between China and the U.S. presents so many different issues that it is almost impossible to comprehend.  It’s difficult to put into words how much I have learned from this class.  Though, I have been able to have been able to have discussions with people outside of class about China, the U.S., poverty, welfare, and just a tiny bit of history, and tell people things they didn’t know.  I think it has made me think a lot about the things that I take for granted here.  I thought I was a concerned person, but it makes it even harder to complain about many of our own problems…it’s also made me realize that by being fortunate enough to be a citizen, you have a lot of responsibility and influence….we seem to be so self-involved that we ignore other countries’ plights, as long as we can enjoy the fruits of their struggles. I would say that a lot of us are just plain ignorant of the consequences of their day to day actions are…I’ve become more aware of the things that I use…I’ve been recycling as much as I can.  I’ve realized that not only should I be very fortunate to be able to use things for my disposal, but I should also be aware of what I do with things once I am done with them.  It may seem a little naïve, but I’m finally realizing that there are consequences to every little action…I sit and wonder sometimes how much we really need in life…I think vanity occupies most people’s agendas here, and we completely miss opportunities to experience life as we should…I think what has been brought to my consciousness is that there is a whole world full of people who can benefit from what happens here…it’s hard for me to feel sorry for the poor here when I know how we contribute to the absolute poverty across the world…

Although all the world’s problems didn’t happen overnight, the solutions won’t either.  But I guess for the rest of my life I ‘ll learn as much as I can, and to think critically about what can be done to help make changes, by spreading knowledge and concern amongst the people I know, hopefully others will be concerned too…I just think that we have fallen into a passive state of expectations.  There are people who are fighting very hard to enjoy the things that we can take for granted. I just feel there needs to be more discussion on real world problems. We can’t ever solve them if we’re only focused on our own vain desires.”

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E:  “…I had no idea what to expect…I had very little concern with the concept of globalization before…now I can see the inevitable effects of this global integration all around me…helped me to broaden my knowledge of the struggles people face all over the world and how their struggles effect my life.”

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Z:  “…both informative and interactive…tie together much of the knowledge gained in my college classes during the last three years.  Things taught in classes that seemed irrelevant are now very apparent.  I was able to apply things taught in government, environmental science and sociology classes to form a clear understanding of the world’s issues and cultural differences.

         …helped me further my understanding on climate change and factors relating to the increasing intensity of it in the past and present.  It turns out much of the problems facing the international community are not purely business or political, but social.  These social problems are the basis for fueling the other issues in our world, such as climate change, conflict and economic instability. I feel very enlightened now that I understand this concept.

           I now look at the world much differently, especially the how and why of the new emerging powers in the world. ..most importantly I learned not to look at things in black and white. Everything is related, and everything is relevant. I believe the world would be a much better place if people took more time to study the topics covered in this class.”

12/26/2012