Learning Letter/ Plan of Action

            What stood out to me more than anything in the course was during Jane’s visit. She presented data on China’s GDP and showed that it was approaching America’s. After this she said in a fully serious manner “doesn’t that make you want to be better?” To be fully honest, my answer is no. Numbers and statistics don’t usually influence my passion for teaching or the betterment of my society. To her, the idea that her country (now America) has to be the best in the world was deeply engrained in her thinking. This astounded me and made me think much harder about what I am doing and why.

Overall this class brought of perspectives I had never considered. I had to think about the perspectives not just of the countries but of the writers who were thinking about these issues. For example I wonder whose story has more truth, the memoir or the journalist. One has compiled perspectives and one has written only from his own. I wonder if I were to write about an issue if I would write from my own perspective or from another’s. Either way though, I have been able to vastly expand my perspective on the world in general. 

I find myself more empathetic about culture beyond my own I can recognize the hurt and pain beyond what we might call “first world problems.” Through the projects in this class I have been able to recognize even more vast perspectives and the hard work that goes into creating the art that is in front of the pain.

The question of the day however is “what now?” What happens once I have digested all this cultural information. First of all I do not want it to end. I do not want to discontinue seeking out new cultural background and knowledge. I do not want to stop empathizing and connecting with the cultures I have learned about nor do I want to stop discovering things about new cultures.

Learning is far from my true plan of action however. Though I don’t have plane tickets or a destination I have a distinct desire to teach beyond the locales I know and understand. Learning about China has already led me to research teaching opportunities there. I have also looked into the American Institute in Tel Aviv. My goal however is to teach in an area outside of the modern American city. I want to experience another culture and share my own experience somewhere beyond big city culture. Even rural Alaska presents radically different cultural experience and I have kept that open as an option. Some day I will teach beyond the borders of my current knowledge.

Graffiti Wall Artist’s Statement

Six years ago I went on a trip to Israel with a short stop in London. Many things about this trip astounded me and several things about this trip were downright devastating. One thing in particular that shocked me is how everywhere I went I was treated as a criminal. Sometimes I believed it was because I am a white male travelling alone, but there was an underlying hostility everywhere I went. Even at monuments dedicated to peace and love such as the Dome of the Rock is more closely guarded than any place I have ever been. Men with guns turned me away every day and lied to me about being allowed in later that day. But it was not only overseas that I felt this hostility. I have been scrutinized in many places I go right here in America.

The images I have created are a representation of the fear and closed off nature of the world as it exists today. Instead of a nation taking it’s landmarks and making them a free and open representation of their country, they have fenced them off and frisked anyone who wants to get within a mile of them. This culture of fear has spread through borders even. As an American citizen I can still be treated as a terrorist or a criminal at any time.  Landmarks like the Dome of the Rock or Big Ben should be open symbols to the world, but viewing these two things is one of the most difficult and toilsome things I have ever done in my life.

The idea of war and terrorism is not an easy one to overlook, but the fear and hatred it has caused in the world is making borders thicker. It is not easy to travel or to experience the world. It is not easy to view religious or historical landmarks in peace. I hope in the future the fear that put up the fences fades and the world can share it’s culture freely and peacefully.