I am so glad that we all got to participate in this project together. All the different experiences that came together to create our amazing project. Our Groningen counterparts told us about the story about how they found a pizza restaurant, which first was interesting because it was also technically an ethnic restaurant in the Netherlands as well, but they told us it was even more interesting because it was Halal as well!
Having more people in this project that have alternative perspectives lets us become more culturally aware on what happens in the world around us. The diversity really helped the group dynamic!

(Revision)

The process of doing our photo journal essay took some times, but, through all of our combined efforts, I believe we were able to find some really incredible photos that effectively display globalization here in Arlington and across the pond in Groningen!

The most evidence that we had that there was migration into our Arlington/Columbia Pike community was the amount of advertising, promotional material, and public works signs that were sprinkled around the mile that we walked around.  It was also evident because of the diversity of people that I saw around the community!  It was incredible to see the different people and business around the area.  Our observations of the community show that globalization is a gradual but physically evident process in many places.  For our group, it was easy to see the five aspects of globalization because it was all around us.  There were ethnic restaurants run by people who were from where their food was from.  I think that is what is so special about the Columbia Pike, because it truly is such a diverse-melting-pot style community with so many different people.  As for the photos themselves, I am quite proud of how they turned out!  They are all very good quality (I took them with my camera, slightly edited them, and then uploaded them for my group!), and I like the way that other parts of the photos can show globalization in the communities.  For example, the Washington Hispanic photo seemed to have more muted color tones, but I liked how the colors of the newspaper box were those of the American flag– red, white, and blue.  The community itself is such a wonderful place, but I genuinely feel more connected to the “global village,” mainly because I am not natively from here– my home is in Montgomery, Alabama, around 14 hours driving from Arlington!  While I do like the community here, I think it is more important to maintain a global perspective in order to help others and be aware of global issues.

All of my group members brought their own specific flare to the project.  Our Groningen counterparts were incredible– they managed to do some much work between the two of them, which helped us so much.  They had awesome pictures of their community, offered great insight for our photos, and helped write great captions!  My Arlington teammates were awesome as well– they kept me in the loop when I was unable to attend meetings because of my sickness, and were extremely attentive to me when we went to go and take pictures (a bit late).  Overall, we talked about how cool and different the community was when we went, and we were really surprised by the different restaurants that were around!

The problem with the Arlington communities is that they seem to be separated, almost like boroughs. It seems like culture and diversity is set to one area of the city, and it does not infringe on other part of the city. This “us-them” dynamic keeps diversity from the city, and creates a barrier that people who immigrated to the community cannot cross. Therefore, we need to make sure that these people feel welcome despite the current tension in politics. It is the individual in the community’s responsibility to promote diversity in Arlington.

(Revision)

The us-them dynamic is definitely present in our class, but I don’t believe in the negative way that the article is making it out to be.  While the article seems to imply that this dynamic operates on forced stereotypes of people when they have discuss other cultures, I think that it can also be used to evaluate a more healthy dynamic between two groups of culturally diverse people.  In the local community, I can see more about how this idea might have a different connotation, as sometimes it seems like we are trying to infringe and appropriate other cultures.  The problem with the Arlington communities is that they seem to be separated, almost like boroughs. It seems like culture and diversity is set to one area of the city, and it does not infringe on other part of the city. This “us-them” dynamic keeps diversity from the city, and creates a barrier that people who immigrated to the community cannot cross. Therefore, we need to make sure that these people feel welcome despite the current tension in politics. It is the individual in the community’s responsibility to promote diversity in Arlington.

The author of the text says that her idea of Communicative Moral Relativism is “the name given… to this alternative based on encounters and human rights.”  This is the ultimate example of “dependence and autonomy” when it comes to conversing with one another.  In the view of the world, discussions about the world and diversity are crucial.  In the view on culture and diversity, every person and every point of view is unique.  Finally, in the view of interacting with man, all people are able to enact change, and everyone has the power together to enact change and change themselves.  In reference to how it works with my group, we have to use all of these tactic to work together; this is not even between the Marymount students and the Hanze students exclusively.  We have people in our class that are also from different cultures and places, but we are all able to have respectful conversation about where we are from.  I think that respectful and informed civil discourse are makes conversation about culture and diversity even more effective.

Macy – you tell us just enough to make us curious, and not enough to see how you are making connections between the course materials and activities! As an example, when you say “… when we were doing our timeline, the points that we chose to include were really different. While we prioritized more political points, the students in the Netherlands tried to focus more on cultural ones!” can you give the actual events? How did your group decide which to include in the end?

(Revision)

I apologize for this getting up late, but here I am now!

In doing this project, I have realized that we had a touch of adverse circumstances when meeting out of class.  This is not because of any one person, but because of our busy schedules that we have to work around!  Our timezones are actually not our biggest problem, as Google Docs makes everything extremely easy.  It truly is coordinating all of our schedules together, particularly here in America.  Also, when we were doing our timeline, the points that we chose to include were really different.  While we prioritized more political points, the students in the Netherlands tried to focus more on cultural ones!

My group found more political aspects inside of our timeline– for some reason, we prioritized the more political aspects, like major wars and colonization, while our Netherland counterparts focused considerably more on culture. Because of this contrast, I believe that we created a timeline that honored many different aspects of globalization. Eventually we all had to decide to create a balance between these two parts, as well as the other three sects of globalization. There was a mutual understanding that all both politics and culture are intertwined, they move cyclically, one forms the other, and so on. Thus, it was understood that all of our points were leading towards the same places in history, we just highlighted different areas over others!

If I was to repeat this assignment, I would have tried to help more with the editing process of the video, because I genuinely felt bad for the group member that decided to edit the videos all on her own.  I did really like the format of the video though, so I would like to do a project in this format again.

I really do like my group though.  I think we all bring something different and useful to the table, but next time I think we should try to communicate more about our schedules and about the amount of work that we are loading on each other.  I’m excited to work with them again on future projects!

Hello Macy,
Technology will always be an asset and a challenge in these courses. But that in itself is globalization… to be able to connect and exchange ideas. And at the same, dealing with the fundamentals of any kind of collaboration: trusting each other’s intentions, even more so then trusting technology.. wouldn’t you think?
Loes

(Revision)

I would be a little too optimistic to say that a project like this isn’t a tad difficult because of the restraints put on us for both the time and the distance.  However, coming from that as well, I am right now able to communicate with people from across the globe!  That is so incredible to me!

So, in the globalization piece of these interactions, I have to say that technology has been the most apparent factor.  Without the use of this technology, we would not be able to really even connect at all.  As we move forward with our project, I have high hopes for what we can accomplish for the aesthetic/presentation piece, but our timeline is good.  We have decided to focus on more the cultural aspects of both places, which balances out nicely.  Also, I think it I may be more correct in saying that technology is an specifically an asset, not the main part of globalization. Trust between people can be facilitated through the use of technology; when we are able to communicate with each other on opposite ends of the world, transportation of different ideas and beliefs can occur, and that is what globalization is.

I think the question we should be asking ourselves going forward, though, is what if we agree with the same time points that other people put on theirs as well, and engage in healthy debate about why/why not we think these historical points are important, and under which globalization “category” they fall under!

(Revision) In reality, though, we are quite similar– we are all just college students with many intense classes that want to excel as much as we can.  The only other dissimilarity is that we do not have the same grade systems, so the way that we are being evaluated is different.  I have a great respect for anyone that is willing to add a pile-on class on top of their already busy schedule.
Unfortunately, I have never actually worked with people from another country in a classroom setting. I had friends in high school who were international, so I suppose I could say them, but from a working with people across the world standpoint, I have not.
I’m very glad I am able to have this opportunity to work with other people; I want to learn more about what higher education is like in other countries, as it has been lauded as the most advanced and effective education system in the world.

(Revision)

Hello again!

Upon trying to connect with our teammates across the pond, we hit a lot of roadblocks before we were able to connect with one another!  But it was rewarding and exciting nonetheless to be able to interact with people from different cultures.  Technology is an amazing thing (when it works well!).

While this is the first time I am interacting with students from a different place on a personal level, I have had classes before where our instructors and international teachers would allow us to ask each other questions about our lives for a period or two, but never to discuss actual issues that affect all of us, despite where we are on the globe.  As for just “people” who are international that I have communicated/worked with, both of my grandmothers are immigrants from Europe (one from Portugal and one from Germany), so I have had interactions with both of my grandmothers in that they may not necessarily know certain cultural things about the US; other than my family, though, that is it!  In reality, though, we are quite similar– we are all just college students with many intense classes that want to excel as much as we can. The only other dissimilarity is that we do not have the same grade systems, so the way that we are being evaluated is different. I have a great respect for anyone that is willing to add a pile-on class on top of their already busy schedule.
Unfortunately, I have never actually worked with people from another country in a classroom setting. I had friends in high school who were international, so I suppose I could say them, but from a working with people across the world standpoint, I have not.
I’m very glad I am able to have this opportunity to work with other people; I want to learn more about what higher education is like in other countries, as it has been lauded as the most advanced and effective education system in the world.

It is incredibly interesting to be able to talk to other students who do not live in America; it is already evident that they have different schedules and times to meet (as not only is this their “elective” course, so to speak) but that we have a time difference that inhibits us from doing work together all the time.  While this presents a challenge, I have no doubt that we will be able to overcome this and get to know each other better over the semester!  I am keeping my hopes very high!

Other than that, I just hope I am able to figure out how to do Wordpress better before we really start talking about the subjects at hand.  See you all in class soon!