Reflection 02: Culture Shock—Cultural Appropriation and Religious Symbols

Cultural appropriation is the act of one culture "incorporating" aspects of another culture into its own. However, this is different than American hip-hop adopting Bollywood moves or fusing Thai ingredients into Mexican cuisine. In cultural appropriation, a dominant group assimilates aspects of a foreign culture without regard to their original use or intent. In other words, parts of one culture might be absorbed into another in insensitive (even offensive) ways, often for their perceived exoticism or cool factor. This practice extends to the religious and spiritual practices of other cultures, as well. Thus, in America, we've seen hipsters embrace Dia de los Muertos, the popularization of sacred Maori symbols as tattoos, celebrities sporting Kabbalah string bracelets, and the labeling of a clean, Asian-influenced design as "Zen" style. Each of these is misunderstood and, in turn, misapplied; and yet each has seeped into our pop culture. How have you seen the religious or sacred iconography of other cultures absorbed into the American mainstream? And what of those instances when a particular culture is offended by the use of their religious imagery in the mainstream, such as No Doubt's recent Native American controversy. What is the line between simply borrowing, often sacred, cultural artifacts and misusing them? For example, can we truly understand the traditions of Ojibwa dreamcatchers when they're worn as earrings, or respect Hindu principles when we do yoga with our dogs?

Include at least three of the following in your discussion:

• "A Much Needed Primer on Cultural Appropriation" (Jezebel)
• "Cultural Appropriation: Homage or Insult?" (Racialicious)
• "Hands Off My Gods" (Time)
• "Kanji Tattoos are Primarily for Western Eyes” (Japan Times)
• "On Hipsters/Hippies and Native Culture" (Bitch)  
• "Día de los Muertos: Cultural Appropriation Meets Craft" (ONTD Feminism)

Requirements:

• Be in MLA Style
• Be two full pages in length
• Works cited page
  

Find a sample reflection HERE.

Due: Th 02.14

WEEK 03: INDIA

“How can the mind take hold of such a country? Generations 

of invaders have tried, but they remain in exile. The important 

towns they build are only retreats, their quarrels the malaise 

of men who cannot find their way home. India knows of their 

trouble. She knows the whole world’s trouble, to its uttermost 

depth. She calls “Come” through her hundred mouths, through 

objects ridiculous and august. But come to what? She is not a 

promise, only an appeal.” 

—EM Forster, A Passage to India

WEEK 03: INDIA
Read: FOREVERS—Part 2: The Business of Burning

Tu 02.05
Lecture—“Writing as a Process, Pt. 2”

Th 02.07
DIAGNOSTIC ESSAY

UPCOMING:

WEEK 04: CHILE
Read: FOREVERS—Part 3: A Little Wildness

Tu 02.12
Reading discussion; Lecture—“Citing Sources in MLA: The Basics”

Th 02.14
Reading discussion; Lecture—“MLA Style 101”
Due: REFLECTION 02

World News 01.31.13

• CHINA: Beijing smog reaches toxic levels (Atlantic)
• ZIMBABWE: Government only has $217 left in the bank (BBC News)
• UNITED STATES: New York Times and Wall Street Journal computers infiltrated by Chinese hackers (CNN)
• BRAZIL: Americans uses less cocaine just as Brazilians use more (NPR)
• FRANCE: David Beckham to play in Paris for five months, donates earnings to children's charity (Guardian)
• CANADA: Vancouver Canucks invite a 16-year-old trans goalie to skate with the team on his birthday (Advocate)

PowerPoint Presentations, Sec. 11

As you know, this semester you and a classmate will be responsible for a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation and a class hand-out.

By midnight on Friday, February 8th, you and a partner should be signed-up for a topic and date.  All topics and dates are first-come first-served. Topics will be crossed off as they are chosen. Anyone that has not chosen by this time, will automatically be assigned a partner, topic, and date.

Follow these steps:

1. Click on "Comments" at the end of this post.
2. In the "Post a Comment" box, leave the group's names (first and last), section, topic, and the preferred date—only one entry per group is required.
3. Be sure that you sign up in the correct section.
   

Example:
David Cortez and Kerry Clancy - The World’s Greenest Cities , 03.14.13

Follow these guidelines for the presentation:

Requirements:

• The work distribution is up to each pairing, though it should be somewhat equitable
• The presentation must be approximately 10 minutes in length
• There should be approximately 10 slides, including at least one video clip (no more than 2-3 minutes in length)
• Must include a handout outlining your presentation (25 copies) 
• On the day of your presentation, email both your presentation and handout to me at dhdelao@gmail.com.

The best presentations will likely:

• Open with cover and introduction slides
• Begin by contextualizing the topic, then presenting relevant information 
• Include visually interesting illustrations
• Avoid a heavy use of animation and effects, choosing instead a compelling visual style
• Engage the class through a conversational style, utilizing questions and/or activities
• Utilize multimedia, such as YouTube*
• Conclude with a summarization of the information presented  

Remember, this is an opportunity to be very creative, so feel free to have fun with the visual layout of your presentation.

Lower scoring presentations might:

• Begin without an introductory slide and/or fail to offer contextualization
• Be thinly researched
• Allow visuals to overrun their content
• Not engage the class in any meaningful way
• Fail to incorporate any multimedia
• Conclude without a concluding slide

*Here is a quick video explaining how to embed a YouTube clip into PowerPoint 2007. Embedding clips can save time during a presentation.

Remember, you are responsible for providing your own laptop.

Choose from a list of topics, then dates, below:

1. What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
2. Cryptids of the World: Orang Pendek, Ogopogo, and Mokèlé-mbèmbé
3. How it Works: The Ivory Trade
4. Understanding Blood Diamonds
5. I Want to Host an Olympic Games
6. Cricket for Dummies
7. Mind Your Manners: Etiquette Around the World
8. Four Places to Visit—Before They Disappear
9. Inside Bollywood Cinema 
10. MTV Around the Globe
11. The World’s Greenest Cities
12. Divorce Proceedings: The Secession Movements of Quebec, Sicily, Chiapas, and Hong Kong
13. Strange Places: The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Aokigahara Forest, and Area 51
14. If You Have to Ask How Much it Costs: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Resorts
15. How it Works: The Heroin Trade
16. Explaining Ourselves: The Voyager Golden Records
17. All About Eurovision
18. Five Endangered Species Around the World
19. The Alternative Paris: What Most Tourists Don’t Do or See
20. Japan and Whaling
21. Lost Cities: Derinkuyu, Angkor, Pompeii, and Palenque
22. Megalopolis: The World’s Biggest Cities
23. All About the FIFA World Cup
24. How it Works: Human Trafficking
25. World Festivals: La Tomatina, Holi, Il Palio di Siena, and Burning Man 

Choose from these dates:

Week 05: The United States

Tu 02.19

1.

Th 02.21

1. Brittany Malcom - Five Endangered Species Around the World

2. Sam Bennett - All About the FIFA World Cup

Week 07: Maldives

 Tu 03.05

 1. John Tran and Josh Nouye - Japan and Whaling

Th 03.07

1.Alexa Raygoza and Puneet Sanghera - What We Know: Life Inside North Korea

Week 08: Egypt

Th 03.14

1. Veronica Peterson and Dennis Li - Strange Places: The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Aokigahara Forest, and Area 51
2.

Week 09: Canada

Tu 03.19

1. Darian Firestine - Understanding Blood Diamonds

Week 11: Germany

Th 04.04

1. Aaron Lisscomb and Julia Merinov - Explaining Ourselves: The Voyager Golden Records

2. Sherry Nguyen - The Alternative Paris: What Most Tourists Don’t Do or See

Week 12: Japan

Tu 04.09

1. Josey Kimani and Alex Garcia - Four Places to Visit—Before They Disappear

Week 13: Australia

Tu 04.16

1. Nick Wasemiller - What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

2. Will Simons and Michelle Geiger - World Festivals: La Tomatina, Holi, Il Palio di Siena, and Burning Man

Th 04. 18

1. Steven Velez and Jason Zhou - The Arab Spring: A Primer

Week 14: Spain

Tu 04.23

1. Joanna Vargas and Naila Tyner - Mind Your Manners: Etiquette Around the World

Week 15: Saudi Arabia

Tu 04.30

1.Abbas Akhtar and  Kenny Li - If You Have to Ask How Much it Costs: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Resorts
2. Sharmaine Olay and Fernando Cardenas - Cryptids of the World: The Yeren, Cadborosaurus, and The Jersey Devil

PowerPoint Presentations: Sec. 05

As you know, this semester you and a classmate will be responsible for a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation and a class hand-out.

By midnight on Friday, February 8th, you and a partner should be signed-up for a topic and date.  All topics and dates are first-come first-served. Topics will be crossed off as they are chosen. Anyone that has not chosen by this time, will automatically be assigned a partner, topic, and date.

Follow these steps:

1. Click on "Comments" at the end of this post.
2. In the "Post a Comment" box, leave the group's names (first and last), section, topic, and the preferred date—only one entry per group is required.
3. Be sure that you sign up in the correct section.
   

Example:
David Cortez and Kerry Clancy - The World’s Greenest Cities , 03.14.13

Follow these guidelines for the presentation:

Requirements:

• The work distribution is up to each pairing, though it should be somewhat equitable
• The presentation must be approximately 10 minutes in length
• There should be approximately 10 slides, including at least one video clip (no more than 2-3 minutes in length)
• Must include a handout outlining your presentation (25 copies) 
• On the day of your presentation, email both your presentation and handout to me at dhdelao@gmail.com.

The best presentations will likely:

• Open with cover and introduction slides
• Begin by contextualizing the topic, then presenting relevant information 
• Include visually interesting illustrations
• Avoid a heavy use of animation and effects, choosing instead a compelling visual style
• Engage the class through a conversational style, utilizing questions and/or activities
• Utilize multimedia, such as YouTube*
• Conclude with a summarization of the information presented  

Remember, this is an opportunity to be very creative, so feel free to have fun with the visual layout of your presentation.

Lower scoring presentations might:

• Begin without an introductory slide and/or fail to offer contextualization
• Be thinly researched
• Allow visuals to overrun their content
• Not engage the class in any meaningful way
• Fail to incorporate any multimedia
• Conclude without a concluding slide

*Here is a quick video explaining how to embed a YouTube clip into PowerPoint 2007. Embedding clips can save time during a presentation.

Remember, you are responsible for providing your own laptop.

Choose from a list of topics, then dates, below:

1. What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
2. Cryptids of the World: Orang Pendek, Ogopogo, and Mokèlé-mbèmbé
3. How it Works: The Ivory Trade
4. Understanding Blood Diamonds
5. I Want to Host an Olympic Games
6. Cricket for Dummies
7. Mind Your Manners: Etiquette Around the World
8. Four Places to Visit—Before They Disappear
9. Inside Bollywood Cinema 
10. MTV Around the Globe
11. The World’s Greenest Cities
12. Divorce Proceedings: The Secession Movements of Quebec, Sicily, Chiapas, and Hong Kong
13. Strange Places: The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Aokigahara Forest, and Area 51
14. If You Have to Ask How Much it Costs: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Resorts
15. How it Works: The Heroin Trade
16. Explaining Ourselves: The Voyager Golden Records
17. All About Eurovision
18. Five Endangered Species Around the World
19. The Alternative Paris: What Most Tourists Don’t Do or See
20. Japan and Whaling
21. Lost Cities: Derinkuyu, Angkor, Pompeii, and Palenque
22. Megalopolis: The World’s Biggest Cities
23. All About the FIFA World Cup
24. How it Works: Human Trafficking
25. World Festivals: La Tomatina, Holi, Il Palio di Siena, and Burning Man 

Choose from these dates:

Week 05: The United States

Tu 02.19

1. Daimen Ambers and James Medel - Four Places to Visit—Before They Disappear

Th 02.21

1. Hieu Huynh and Caitlin Achiles - Strange Places: The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Aokigahara Forest, and Area 51

2. Anthony Paratore and Mark Moroni - Lost Cities: Derinkuyu, Angkor, Pompeii, and Palenque

Week 07: Maldives

Tu 03.05

1. Charlene Acidera, Danillo Yabut, and Jacquelynnn Nguyen - Cryptids of the World: Orang Pendek, Ogopogo, and Mokèlé-mbèmbé

Th 03.07

1.

Week 08: Egypt

Th 03.14

1. Jimmy Dang and Jessy Corsillio - Strange Places, Too: La Isla de la Munecas, Hoia-Baciu Forest, and The Edinburgh Vaults

2. Jason Lai and Leonel Alvarez - All About the FIFA World Cup

Week 09: Canada

Tu 03.19

1. Bryan Linda and Jonathan Chen - If You Have to Ask How Much it Costs: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Resorts

Week 11: Germany

Th 04.04

1. Stephanie Nguyen and Kitty Kha - Mind Your Manners: Etiquette Around the World

2. Pamela Baraceros and Minh Tran - Cryptids of the World, Part II: The Yeren, Cadborosaurus, and The Jersey Devil

Week 12: Japan

Tu 04.09

1. David Warren and Jasmine Pandher - How it Works: The Heroin Trade

Week 13: Australia

Tu 04.16

1. Jared Kauk and Jaspinder Kaur - How it Works: Human Trafficking

2.

Th 04. 18

1. Chris Mirandilla - Megalopolis: The World’s Biggest Cities

Week 14: Spain

Tu 04.23

1.Karina Ng - MTV Around the Globe

Week 15: Saudi Arabia

Tu 04.30

1. 
2.

Editing Marks Guide

Here is a guide to some of the editing symbols (some standard, some my own) you'll be seeing on your papers this semester.

˄  -  insert
↑  -  fix spacing issue (usually when text is not properly double-spaced)
→  -  indent once
→ →  -  indent twice
+  -  good point 
?  -  meaning unclear
#  -  add space
" "  -  add quotation marks
¶  -  new paragraph 
Ҩ  -  delete
2X  -  double space
AWK  -  awkward phrasing
CS  -  comma splice
FRAG  -  fragment
OP  -  off prompt—thesis or paragraph is misaligned with the prompt  
HEAD  -  fix issue with the header
ITL  -  -italics—either add or remove
RO  -  run-on sentence
SP  -  spelling
SV  -  subject-verb agreement
TNR  -  change to Times New Roman
WC  -  word choice

WEEK 02: MEXICO

South of the border, down Mexico way
That's where I fell in love, where the stars above came out to play
And now as I wander, my thoughts ever stray
South of the border, down Mexico way

—Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr, 

"South of the Border"

WEEK 02: MEXICO
Read: FOREVERS—Part 1: Undercitizens

Tu 01.29
Introductions; Lecture—“A PowerPoint Presentation How-to”

Th 01.31
Lecture—“Writing as a Process, Pt. 1”
Due: REFLECTION 01

Upcoming:

WEEK 03: INDIA
Read: FOREVERS—Part 2: The Business of Burning

Tu 02.05
Lecture—“Writing as a Process, Pt. 2”

Th 02.07
DIAGNOSTIC ESSAY
Due: REFLECTION 02