A large part of my language learning process has also been centered around applications of cultural engagement. Looking back to the 205 GEM Seminar, I was reminded of an assignment where our class was asked to describe our respective “intercultural heroes”. For my intercultural hero, I chose my Aunt Tricia. She has been an educator …
Kitchen Céilí and Friends: Traditional and Original Music from Ireland, North America, the British Isles, and India: In this concert, language and song functioned primarily as a vehicle for history and folk tales. It was especially interesting to be a part of this concert because, in a week centered around the power of language, it …
(Kenzie Kelly, May 26, 2024, Retiro Park) This photo was taken one day in Retiro Park during my abroad experience in Madrid, Spain. Pictured in this Spring scene is a community band that came together to play and practice in the park. They started as only 3 musicians, but as more and more people straggled …
In the Fall of my Senior year at Wesleyan I took a course titled “Venezuela: The Effect of Oil Discovery on People, the Environment, and on Democracy”. Throughout the semester we studied the cultural, political, social, and environmental changes that developed in Venezuela, and specifically, how these changes were influenced or caused by the discovery …
Walking through the center of Madrid, the artistic and historical monuments almost jump at you as you turn the corner to a new statue or museum or public garden. Amazed by the knowledge surrounding me, I could not have found a better time to enroll myself in an art history class. Once back in the …
Throughout the book, Kennedy’s childhood stories shocked me the most. It is one thing to hear statistics on the amount of violence, abuse, rape, hunger, and other things in an area removed from you; however, hearing a personal account of these atrocities was incredibly startling. Such a raw and real account of these issues opened …
I most appreciated the anthropological definition of culture as a vessel of shared meaning. I think it is beautiful to view culture as the thing that brings communities together, but more importantly, that gives meaning to our daily tasks and lifestyles. The notion that culture and developed symbols give purpose to the things we do …
