Today was chaotic but rich with learning. We discussed mostly our current issues: the school calendar, media accuracy/inaccuracy, strike possibilities, district actions, legislative inactions, CIM, implications, cuts to state police, prisons, and those who cannot care for themselves (mentally ill), et cetera. There is so much going on and so much to try to understand. We are trying to gain an integrated understanding of it all.

I gave three assignments, all due next Thursday:
1)reflect/respond to yesterday's presentation on ecological footprint. Did it make you defensive? guilty? angry? apathetic? Respond to it personally, not dryly academic. 1-2 pages.
2)integrate your learning about media, globalization, ecological footprint, consumption. Be personal, don't bore me when I read these papers. (1-2 pages)
3)calculate your ecological footprint with the sheet I handed out in class. or use one of the web calculators in yesterdays blog.

We welcomed Amy Wilson from METRO to our class today to teach us a bit about a concept called "ecological footprint" which is "a measure of the ecologically productive land needed to provide resources for consumption, storage for wastes, and other ecological services." (National Audobon's definition) Though the US and Canada contain 5% of the earth's human population, we consume 56% of natural resources. Amy said that "we won the lottery by being born into this country", but we need to think more realistically and responsibly about how much we consume. We talked about some ways of reducing this ecological footprint in these areas: food, housing, clothing, transport, recreation, water, and garbage. A few ideas: local&organic foods, less meat, smaller housing, non-car transportation, more frugal water use, composting. We must do this not only for ourselves and our personal health, but for others who suffer because of our overconsumption as well as our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. She left us with the image of 65 enormous 18 wheeler semis which leave the Portland area each day full to the brim with garbage heading to the Arlington landfill 150 miles east of us.

I was particularly excited by the fact that eating less meat and local&organic foods is both healthy and good for others and for the world's ecosystems. The same for transportation. Biking, walking, busing are all less stressful ways of transporting ourselves which is to say that they are good for our mental and physical health as well as being good for others and the world's ecosystems.

Then we looked at some particular areas of the world and their possessions and their consumption and their waste. This was a rich day in class and this brief writing cannot more fully capture it. We'll talk more tomorrow and in coming weeks about this.

I encourage you to fill out one of the online ecological footprint quizzes: QUIZ from Redefining Progress
or QUIZ from the University of Texas

We discussed some current events. We talked about globalization a bit more. We finished "The Burning Season"--a powerful film about Chico Mendes and his advocacy for the rubber tappers and the people of Cashuera, Brazil, in Amazonia.

I handed back finals and evaluations. Most of the finals were wonderful. Way to use those hearts and brains.
We watched most of the rest of the "Burning Season" which we began on finals day.

More presentations today: tobacco and diseases.

We had presentations on the politics of nuclear weapons, terrorist groups, overpopulation, and hunger/starvation.

At the end of class, students evaluated my teaching, then they evaluated their learning and gave themselves a grade that they felt they deserved based upon their learning.

Today was chaotic. We did a bit of discussion and we had one project presentation on oil & natural gas. Thursday will be more constructive.

Global Studies final

I hope that all of you have learned a lot this semester. You¡¦ve probably noticed that my style of teaching is fairly informal and the content of what we¡¦ve learned can seem random. This is my design. I believe that most learning happens informally and randomly, so I¡¦ve tried to create as many opportunities for true learning (inside and outside the classroom) to take place as possible. My most important goal for this semester has been that you begin to form a worldview concerning all things global. There are a lot of details to learn, and they are forgotten readily by many, but we can find them in our sources/readings/videos/etc. On the other hand the worldview never fades from memory; it evolves into more mature versions of itself. What you begin to learn in this class can become a framework of your future worldview about all things global.

My goals for you according to the syllabus are: think more critically and creatively; see the effects of globalization in our world; recognize perspective and bias; evaluate events and movements based upon our values; and live life more fully. I think we¡¦ve gotten a good start on these, but we have a distance to go. Feel free to prompt me back on track.

What I want from you in this final is proof that you have begun to form that worldview. Some of you already began to do this with your Ladakh papers. In light of what I¡¦ve just written, here is your final, due on Wednesday, January 22nd:
________________________________________________________________________
Describe the world of human cultures and economics and interactions using the examples you are familiar with. Many of these are listed below. (and at the class weblog) State your opinions. Back them up with facts. Write fluently. I expect somewhere between 2 and 20 pages of writing. If you choose to demonstrate your understanding in another way (artistically, with a presentation, et cetera), be sure to provide some written documentation of what you are trying to do.

For those of you concerned about grades:
This final can contribute as much as 50% of your grade if you demonstrate to me that you have a clear understanding of what we¡¦ve learned so far. For those of you who have already demonstrated shown a clear understanding of what we¡¦ve learned so far (with your assigned work), this final can be a smaller part of your grade. Let me restate: If you have been a slacker regarding assignments, this final is your chance to catch up by proving to me that you have learned a lot this quarter and done some synthesis (putting it together). However, if you are a diligent student, this final can be a less important part of your semester grade.

Some of the things we¡¦ve covered inside and outside of class (in reverse order of study):
„X families as cultures
„X Martin King assembly
„X NAFTA: Michael Moore moving his TV show to Reynoso, Mexico
„X Palestinian situation with Allyn & Holly Dhynes
„X US foreign policy and its fascination with petroleum. Adbusters ¡§Got Oil¡¨.
„X "Let's move DC to Tijuana" by Michael Moore
„X the Himalaya region
„X the Dolpo culture featured in ¡§Himalaya¡¨ (the film) and their culture
„X Ladakh
„X NAFTA, FTAA, GATT, WTO, EU as trade agreements
„X Bill Moyer¡¦s "Trading Democracy" concerning NAFTA & MTBE & MMT
„X tobacco and bananas as trade examples from "The Alphabet Soup of Free Trade"
„X Ladakh modernizing/Westernizing/globalizing influences: tourism, compulsory schooling, highway development, foreign movies, imports of cheap grain, new retail.
„X "guilt" in the decimation of traditional Ladakhi culture: the Indian government, the Global Capitalist System, "Modern Ideas", the US, tourists, and the Ladakhis.
„X The continuum of economic systems. Command Economy--------------Free Market.
„X the importance of "we" rather than "I" thinking
„X The ¡§10 chairs if inequality¡¨: ten students (US people) sat in ten chairs (US wealth) illustrating perfect equality of wealth. Then Sam played the role of the top 10% of wealth in the US and sat on 7 of the chairs, leaving 7 people to fit on three chairs.
„X subsistence: hunting/gathering, herding, horticulture, industry, information?
„X conversations with parents/adults about globalization.
„X Bias, perspective
„X comparative advantage
„X urbanization
„X carrying capacity
„X hierarchy
„X Eurocentricism
„X globalization of McDonalds
„X endangered species
„X human rights
„X US alliance with Saudi Arabia and
„X microloans to 3rd world entrepreneurs (Grameen Bank or Cascadia Revolving Fund)
„X lactose intolerance is a global issue
„X chocolate
„X global weapons trade
„X sweatshops
„X global illicit drug trade
„X slaughterhouses
„X what is culture?
„X elements of culture: beliefs, behaviors, & "artifacts"(tools, clothes, homes, etc.).
„X the ¡§global pencil¡¨ and other global products (coffee, copper, etc.)
„X The Kurds and their unique place and political situation
„X Michael Moore's learning approach, especially with "Bowling for Columbine"

We had a chaotic class today where we talked about a lot of things. A bit of discussion about the Martin King assembly last Friday.
We had one presentation today and the rest are all slated for Tues, Thurs, Friday.
We watched a few more minutes of the Michael Moore video.

assignment: notes on presentations

We talked about families as cultures and many told of their particular family traditions surrounding Christmas. We discussed the upcoming Martin King assembly briefly. We watched a part of a Michael Moore video about NAFTA in which Moore goes to Reynoso, Mexico and tries to relocate his tv program there and take advantage of NAFTA's benefits. We'll finish it Monday.

We had Allyn & Holly Dhynes come to speak to us today. They work in Palestine & Israel doing advocacy work on behalf of the poor. The work for an organization called World Vision and are involved in a wide variety of relief and development and advocacy and public education concerning the plight of many Palestinians. They work with groups like Rabbis for Human Rights and other organizations that work to stop violence against children. They gave a presentation.

We discussed a few current events, including US foreign policy and its fascination with petroleum.

We spent the remainder of the period in the computer lab researching presentation topics for next week.

Assignment: read Michael Moore's chapter "Let's move DC to Tijuana" about NAFTA.

Here are some helpful links for your research:

nuclear weapons politics

overpopulation

overpopulation, with many links

population trends from the UN

terrorism

more terrorism

Center for Defense Information concerning American military presence

water

more water

more water

CIA greatest hits

from the CIA's website

world progress forum

We discussed a few current events. I passed around a couple of Himalaya books. I read a part of one that was the same story as the movie we watched before the break. We talked about culture a bit. I reiterated an assignment about culture.

Assignment: write about your family culture. If you were an outsider, what would you observe about your distinct family culture.