End of a long but Quick road......

I have to be honest. This class went by very quickly! When I decided to take this class I was doing so on the basis of fulfilling elective credits that I needed to graduate. I have one class after this one and I will have my bachelor’s degree. I have to admit that the class surprised me. I was under the impression that it was a diversity class when my advisor recommended it. She stated that she had taken it and that it was an interesting and fulfilling class. After 12 weeks I have to agree. I was not aware of numerous items that we covered and there were a few that stuck out to me.

·         I was very impressed with the ideas and also scared of the notion of overpopulation as laid out by Malthus in chapter 2. I had never taken the time to consider the possibility of the world’s people outgrowing the ability to provide for themselves, and to be honest it is quite scary! I also have to be amazed at Thomas Malthus’s ability to calculate this type of data at a time when there was limited scope to the possibilities that technology and the industrial revolution would bring to people. It was a very limited time in the world’s existence. Oh how our scope has broadened.

·         I was also amazed by the size of the English language and the number of people that actually speak it worldwide. I was also under the impression that it was not as widely diverse and contained so many different dialects. I think that this gives a really good view of the attempts of Europe to expand and the influence that they had throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa during the early centuries of our world (1200’s – 1500’s).

·         I was also amazed at the differences between folk and popular culture. This was also a topic that I had never really considered or spent time thinking about. The things that my family and I did growing up had never really stuck out to me as “folk” culture until I realized the differences between the two. I too and scared of the onset of popular culture and the way that it can snuff out the important cultural things that define us in our individual regions. When I stop and think about the ways that things have changed in my lifetime (for example the way that cooking has become trendy and the “style” of cooking and preparing meals today as compared to the down home, roll up your sleeves and throw it together method on the kitchen table, that seems so normal then and old fashioned now) and the ways that they will into the future it makes you realize how ways of life can wither and disappear.

The things that stuck out to me the most were in the beginning of the 12 week class. As we rolled on the class became more heavily layered with reading and assignments. It was harder to keep up with it and I wish I would have had more time to devote to certain areas of my homework. But that is the reality of working full time and having a 4 year old little girl! I wouldn’t have it any other way though. I was amazed and my eyes were definitely opened to the ideas and concepts of expansion and diffusion of religions and customs worldwide. Overall I enjoyed interacting with everyone in this class and it helped me see a different viewpoint from other people that you don’t always get the benefit or realizing. This is one thing that I have enjoyed about online classes and discussion boards. I wish everyone the best and good luck with their educations and futures!

CURSE YOU LEVI STRAUSS !!!!

So back in chapter 4 we talked about different cultures and popular cultures. I was kind of knocked back by a fact that we were taught in that chapter. Obviously I had realized it subconsciously because I had been a victim of it for years but could never put a thumb down on what the reason was?! The downfall of Levis jeans! I could never find my size and the type of Levis that I wanted (either carpenter or Silver Tabs) were never readily available. I would often go to JCPennys, Dillards, Kohls and Gordmans looking for that every elusive pair of jeans that I could never find. I grew up on Levis. Everybody I knew in existence did. My Mom, Dad, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and other family members that I knew ALL wore Levis. It was the American way. As the sun comes up in the morning, so too does everybody wear Levis. I could not understand as I got older how these iconic cultural items could be so hard to find and get a hold of. It didn’t make sense. Were everybody and their dogs buying these things or was Levis Strauss just not making enough. For years I always thought that I had missed the boat and that everyone was beating me to the punch and buying my favorites before I could get into the store. After reading chapter 4 and doing a little looking of my own online it started to make sense. Levis are not producing like they used to and they are beginning to disappear and be replaced by other brands that are more cost efficient or easier to produce. Here is an interesting article that I found. I will miss my Levis but as with so many things in American culture; it just moves on and is replaced by the next trendy thing. Thank you Levis………I will miss you!!

Levis Jeans Only Care About Costs Now??

Amish and Mennonites

Funny that we should be covering so many different elements of human geography in this class! In chapter 4 we talked about different types of folk culture and the way that they diffused across the United States. The Amish was one such culture that we talked about and I have had some interaction with some Amish people over that last several years. One of my previous neighbors retired several years ago and he and his wife decided to build a new home in the country and move away from town. Now to say that they are thrifty is an understatement. They found a few Amish workers that lived about 50 miles away from us that were in search of work. Their handcrafting ability and work ethic was very top notch. My neighbor drove 50 miles one way, twice a day, 5 days a week to pick these nice Amish people up. They would work on building his house all day and then he would drive them home at the end of the day. This went on for numerous months so to be honest I lost track exactly how long. He would order all the supplies and they would do the work. There were 2 Amish gentlemen that did all the work and my neighbor helped out as well. Now I haven’t seen their new home as it was a couple years ago that they moved out there, however it has always been mind blowing how it was cheaper for him to do all this driving AND pay their wages than to have a contractor hired and do the job. It was amazing and I thought that this was an excellent way to help cut costs and also help out these great Amish folk that were nothing more than good hard working people. I thought it strange that they would even ride with him since Amish do not care for technology but my neighbor explained that there were different beliefs among the Amish people and these people were willing to stretch their beliefs some in order to be provided with a good job. He said that there are numerous different Amish families that do this sort of thing nowadays. I have seen some of the Amish television shows advertised on TV and it looks as though some of these Amish settlements are beginning to have some dissension in the ranks. Overall I thought it was a great way for my neighbor and the Amish workers to help each other out! Here is an article that I found that portrays this sort of thing well! Great stuff!!

http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009308239943

The Parables of Jesus

Well after our chapter in religion (Christianity chapter 12 in Religions of the World) I was comparing notes with a friend of mine who is a devout Christian. Bill is a big believer in Christianity and he loves to talk about perception and how he believes that it is possible for human beings to evolve to a higher form and how it is all based on perception. Bill reads the bible constantly and we love to talk about how we think that physics plays an interesting part into the realm of perception. It is his belief, through his readings, that our life that exists around us is nothing more than a choice. The perception that we see (our daily lives, the people and things around us etc.) is nothing more than a choice and we are all part of a greater scale of things. Now the funny thing about this is that he is definitely very religious but he is also super interested in those things meta-physical. Science, physics and space/time are very interesting to him. Although he dabbles in those things scientific he loves to talk about the teachings of Jesus and the way it impacted him. In chapter 12 we touched on the parables of Jesus and this was neat to him for us to be talking about it in a college course. We compared notes on the interpretation of Jesus’ parables and how they were unique and we also talked about how the interpretation of these parables is so difficult since they happened during a time that we, as a modern culture, cannot see as easily. I found an interesting webpage and I am including the link to it below:

http://www.cerm.info/bible_studies/Topical/parables.htm

If you get a chance take a look and let me know what you think about this??

Thanks for stopping by!!

Forward Yo !!!

Well this course is definitely an interesting one! In this week’s reading I found it interesting to discover the topic of “taboo” and the ways that they are different from one culture to the next. I had no idea that prostitution was legal and actually promoted as a means of income in Germany. Prostitution is actually an employment benefit or reward for some companies in Germany. Check this out:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/prostitutes-as-perks-sex-incentives-no-exception-in-german-business-world-a-765052.html

Crazy to think of this as so socially acceptable. Granted it’s not necessarily talked about or promoted. It just quietly happens. Still crazy!

I have been muddling through our class (One World: Many People) and it is a very interesting class. I juggle a full time job with about 6-10 hours of overtime a week, plus trying to find time for my wife and 4 year old daughter so it can be challenging. At least this is an interesting class and the things we have covered and discussed have been entertaining to say the least. I am working on trying to divvy up my time better and trying to be thorough in my responses to discussion questions with everyone else in my class. It has been fun to read the feedback from all of you and grasp all the different ideas and opinions from those in my class. I look forward to the rest of it and I have enjoyed it so far!