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 16th 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...
