Behold The Power...of the Heritage Galler-CHEEEEEESE!

So today, Haley and I presented our Heritage Galleries to the class. I think that we really benefitted from going during the second gallery and not in the first because we had a better idea of how much time and thought to put into the project. It was pretty awkward to talk about my family through the lens of a cheese that I couldn’t even find in North Carolina. Letting the other people in the class into our personal lives is weird but also a valuable exercise considering we are all so different. As students with 18 unique experiences we have a lot to learn from others and tons to teach each other. I think that the process of picking my gallery topic even taught me a lot about the way that I perceive myself and my family: and what makes my particular heritage unique in comparison to the rest of the class. I never knew that Grana Padano could say so much about where my family is from, what family does, and how we interact with each other (I got a pound of it for my 16^th birthday. Yeah. That happened.).

I’m a little nervous about how we are going to be graded on the project because they are all so diverse. How can you compare a song to a picture to a cheese to a book? It really will be a tough job for Marcy. The more I think about this project, the more I realize how cool it is and how ICS it is. We are taking this small project that seems more show-and-tell than college class, and turning it into a truly meaningful experience. There are so many different implications about perspective, difference, and communication that expose themselves as more and more people present.

This exercise is also such a bold contrast to the rest of the classes I have taken at Duke. In all of my classes (from 5 people to 50) we don’t know anything about the rest of the class. We go through semesters and years sitting next to other students and the only defining qualities they have are their test grades or their answers to the questions that teachers act. They are legitimate strangers. In this class, personal narratives have become a learning tool: like a novel we would read or theories we would study. Beyond being fun and interesting, I think that this activity is perfect in a class like ICS 200S where we talk about international conflict and issues. We now have a better understanding of each other’s interests, thoughts, and perspectives: how their heritage influences their thinking (just like on the first day when we shared our international experiences). This is another piece of putting together the puzzle of our international thinking and why we are ICS seniors.

It was important to dive head-first into the project and not be worried about being too personal, but still I am glad it is over. I wonder if Marcy will present anything...

Showing off my heritage in the gallery.

I’m trying to decide what to talk about for my Heritage Gallery assignment. I am supposed to bring in something that expresses my heritage to tell the class a little bit about what has shaped me. I’m not really sure what to bring in. Julie presented last class and told us about how her family always makes guacamole together. My family doesn’t really do anything like that. Hmmm.

So I called up my dad and asked him for suggestions. He’s always good at things like this. He suggested I talk about my grandfather. After much deliberation, I took his suggestion. He sent me the picture of my grandfather that sits on his desk at home. This picture never really had a great significance to me because I never really got to talk to my grandfather about his experience in the war, but it is something that he and my dad used to talk about a lot. I vividly remember going to visit my grandmother’s house with my dad once a year. She would sit us down on her black plether couch with towels covering them to protect from dirt. She would take out the photo albums. The same ones, every year. “This is your father when he was a little baby…. Look here, this is when your father was leaving for college….” She had albums upon albums and albums of pictures. The ones of my grandfather during his time as a soldier were in a separate shoe box. Each photograph, postcard and letter was dated and labeled. My grandmother is big on pictures. She loves telling stories of the past. And so this is why I decided to bring in the picture. It is something that reminds me of spending time with my family.

I am nervous to present my Heritage Gallery assignment because I know its going to be a lot different than everyone else’s. But I suppose that the point of this exercise, learning about each other and our similarities and differences. Not only will this give us a better understanding of each other and where we come from but it will give each of us a great appreciate for our differences. I’m interested to see what everyone else brings in...

FDOC

WOOO FDOC!!! (First day of classes) Today was the first day of ICS 200S, the capstone for the ICS major. After only one real ICS course, I am still a bit confused as to what this class is going to be about. There are only 18 of us. It’s a small class, and as a seminar, I expect that we will have some pretty in depth discussions. We started off the class introducing ourselves and filling out a map, coloring in where each person and their families were from, and where they have traveled or studied. North America was covered along with Europe and China, different parts of Africa were colored in and both Central and South America seemed to be popular places of study. I couldn’t believe that almost half the class had done some type of abroad experience in Argentina. Did I miss the bandwagon on this one? Should I be packing my bags for Buenos Aires this summer? (I hear the beaches are great!).

Our class is quite eclectic. Jim (Marcus) is from Sweeden, Johnny is from Alabama, Izzie is from Haiti and Ashley and Nathalie are both from Colombia. Charlie and I probably gave the least exciting presentation of everyone in the class. But maybe this will be a good thing. Maybe Charlie and I have a few things to learn from everyone. Although it does make me a bit nervous; will I have anything to contribute to our class discussions? I sure hope so.

The rest of the class was kind of overwhelming. We did a free association activity of terms that come to mind when we think of ICS. Everyone started blurting out words: identity, boundaries, and ethnicity were obviously some of the first buzz words that came up. Hmm… not like went spent too much time with those in ICS 125… or did we? The list went on. Words like NGOs, power, and colonization were added to the list. Development was one of the words that stood out to me. I don’t know too much about this topic but it seems interesting. Lastly, Marcy (our professor – She told us to call her Marcy) asked us to think about how these relate to place, as in location and how each of the terms is used in different disciplines. And so it was that we got our first assignment.

On the car ride home, Charlie and I talked about the list. We both felt a little overwhelmed but we came the conclusion, that we were okay with it. We discussed the terms that we thought were most relevant and since we are both Western Europe focuses and interested in History, we narrowed our list down a bit. I think it was a helpful activity to do on the first day. It kind of gave us an overview of all the topics we would be covering and helped spur my memory since its been quite a while since ICS 125.

First ICS 200S Class Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow will be the first day of senior year and my only class is ICS 200s. Despite the fact that I took Intro to ICS last semester (125), I have no substantial ideas as to what we are going to be studying during this semester. I know that we are going to be participating more in class which I look forward to since I may be able to understand the concepts more, but it will be weird to share and listen to other student’s ideas since we barely did this last semester. I’m also nervous that I don’t fully grasp the ICS topics like boundaries and identity: I remember writing my final exam and thinking “I literally have no idea if this is what I am supposed to be saying or not.” It felt like no matter how many times we went over the concepts and the ideas, I didn’t have any real-life applications or experience to apply to the topics. My cognitive map was about a food court (lame!). Hopefully, I will feel less clueless, less frustrated, and less stuck with the olds ideas from ICS 125 and whatever new ones come up.

I wonder how much we’ll talk about the topics we discussed last semester and if my understanding of easily-definable terms, like “globalization” will continue to change and continue to complicate. I also wonder what kind of work we’re going to have to do. More country projects? More guest lecturers? Who knows?

Thank goodness Haley will be in class with me. I wasn’t that close to my friends in 125 and that definitely made things difficult because I had nobody to bounce ideas off of before or after classes. It also means I’ll have a ride to the John Hope Franklin Center and someone to pass notes with if I need to! Well enough rambling for now, I have pencils to sharpen and I need to label all of my folders. See you tomorrow!

Welcome World

Welcome friends, family and fellow bloggers.

First of all, thanks for coming.

We started this blog because we don't like to do things traditionally (and we like to have fun). When Marcy told us about our final paper assignment, we both kind of looked at each other and knew that this wasn't what we had in mind. After one discussion in the car ride home from class, the blog was born.

We are both very outspoken and have a lot to say. We are not afraid to express our opinions and we wanted to show this in our project.

We have spent the last semester with the world at our fingertips...



Exploring and searching for answers on all different pathways....




The purpose of this blog is to reflect on our past semester in ICS 200S and the ICS major as a whole. We hope it gives you a little bit of insight into our thoughts, feelings and emotions. ICS is not your typical major. We are not your typical students. And this is most definitely not your typical final project. But, as we have learned throughout our time as ICS students, this is okay.

With that being said, thanks for coming, and ENJOY!