assignment 5 c.

Johnny Palacios Hidalgo’s centauro citadino

To take a look at more of his work go to: http://www.johnnypalacios.com/

The Museum of Latin American Art is the only modern art museum dedicated to the focus of Latin American art. When I first tackled this assignment I was not aware of the relevance of its claim. I thought, “oh, neat.” I will happily remind you that I didn’t care for the director, but the slides that one man that had visited put to music were great (he could have pause a bit more for each viewing but it is hard to time a slide show of that size.) I remember really liking Johnny Palacios Hidalgo’s untitled painting. When I went back to view the slide show again, I was unlucky, and unable to find what I was looking for. So I set off to find his website…I have included a link and, if you have time please look at his work. It’s really cool; it reminds me of Tim Biskup a bit. This piece completely relates to the topics that we have studied over this semester.

Pre-Columbian: The aloe plants that are up side down, the pottery, the flute all representing the innocents, beauty and culture of the Pre-Columbian era.

Columbus/Conquest: the lamplight strapped to his back, the bird house and tray that he carries are representative of the colonial conquest.

Independence Era: The faded images of the young people may be a reflection of the man when he was young. The pinwheel needs wind to move and change. The toys are a symbol for youth and freedom, the blanket- comfort and warmth.

And in each era there was always wisdom, strength and beauty.

OBSERVATION: There is a lot to see in this work, as I have described above. I like the way he faded the background characters as to possibly reference time. Every area is visually interesting, the detail is amazing.

INTERPRETATION: This is about the past, present and future. I now realize that it nearly impossible to separate the three. I wonder if it is like that for everyone/place or just this region and its people.

JUDGMENT: I chose this work because there was something that felt familiar to me about it. I think that the style as I said before reminds me of an artist that I like, but beyond that it tells a story, and everyone likes a story. Right?

QUESTIONING: I know that the artist has some affinity for these plants; he references them throughout his work. If those are really aloe plants or some other more important native Peruvian plant.

I would love to know if my interpretation was anywhere near what Johnny Hidalgo was thinking about when he created it.

assignment 5 b.

YEMANJA

http://ciganokallel.wordpress.com/tag/yemanja/

I came across this photo while researching Yemanja, mother goddess, protector of pregnant women and children, the owner of all waters, protector of the sea and the fisherman, (And may I say what a title!) As I was reading about the Anti-colonial/Independence Period, I was draw to the Virgin Mary. Because of my fascination with Brazil I had encountered Yemanja once before and remember her! Yemanja! Yemanja! Yemanja! (Pronounced, e-man-jah). The paintings information was in Portuguese, so I don’t speak or read Portuguese. I did read the text and find similarities and familiarities. I believe that I was able to figure out some of the information that was listed.

Observatation: A beautiful, strong woman half in and half out of the water. The sun is shining on her and reflecting off of the water. Her face is peaceful and resolved, she has a glow. Her hair is beautiful, long and dreadlocked with shells and material adorning the base of her head where her hair is pulled back. Her breasts are full and buoyant in the water, as mothers would be. At first glance I thought that there was a tapestry in her arms, however, when I took a longer look, I saw faces, all of them, with their mouths pointing toward her breast. I am not sure if they are wrapped in a blanket or if that is a shell? She has bangles on her arm and wrists with one shell bracelet. The bottom half of her body is in the water and I imagine her to be mermaid like. I love mermaids! The painting looks to be of oil paint. The textures are fluid, amazing and dream like. I love that when you look at the painting that you know the artist loves Yemanja. The painting also displays the artist’s great appreciate and understanding of women. I can only guess that the artist is a woman, by looking at the signature at the bottom left, the K and H are quite fanciful.

Interpretation: In one sentence: A strong, beautiful care-taking woman. Examples of this are: Her musculature, the fact that she is holding about 20 people in one arm, she is an inarguable beauty. As well as, the before mentioned points in the observation above.

Judgment: As with most cultures that have been influenced by the catholic religion, the appearance of their icons tend to pale over time…so, from time to time, our dear Yemanja looks a bit like Madonna (not the pop star). Seemingly most of her followers, don’t mind. The painting that I chose looks like the Afro-Brazilian women that worship her: beautiful and strong.

Questioning: I know that a person can see beauty and have a deep respect and understanding for , lets say: the opposite sex, the picture is so female, I have a hard time imagining a man as the artist. Yes, I know. Men have been painting women for centuries now, that’s not my point. I would love to know if the artist is female or male. I would also love to hangout with the artist, male or female. I like my interpretation of the people in the blanket, but I would like to know if that is really what the artist intended.

assignment 5 a.

The anti-colonial or ‘Independence Period’ era of Latin America/Caribbean was said to be inspired by the Enlightenment. Future leaders of the Independence period studied and observed this European awakening. Then came the American Revolution and then the French Revolution which fueled the fire for independence. The Independence Period span from1807 to 1824, the Spanish American colonies went first after many years of Spain’s power decline. Spain was only able to hold on to Cuba and Puerto Rico (until 1898). The Portuguese finally lost power of Brazil in 1822 thanks to war in their own country. All that was left was a pesky prince. Haiti reached independence by a slave rebellion that put fear in the elites through out Latin America. Bolivar was in Venezuela and New Granada proclaiming himself, “El Libertador”, while Jose de San Martin was fixing things in Argentina and Chile. This region had shaken free from their oppressive rule, Spain and Portugal.

I have a love for religious iconic art. I’m not religious, I simply: love pretty things. If you combine that, with a fantastic story about a powerful woman who saves everyone…well then, you’ve got my attention. So, while looking over the list of research topic I went right to the Virgin. But then I remembered another female religious icon from our region of focus: Yemanja. She’s perfect. Like the Virgin, she a little bit catholic, and a little bit local.

Yemanja (Brazil) is originally Yemaja (Yoruba) but became prominent in many Afro-American religions. Oral traditions and many dialects transformed her name but never really changed her description. Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti and the US all have a one or more names for her. She is the mother goddess, protector of pregnant women and children, the owner of all waters, protector of the sea and the fisherman.

In Vodou or Voodoo traditions, La Sirene(Haiti)/Yemalla(US), has 6 different personas, with that different colors are associated. Most intriguing being the “Okoto” this path is known as the underwater assassin. Her colors are indigo and blood red and her symbolism includes that of pirates. They seem to mirror the moods that a person might feel day to day. (I am hopeful tomorrow is not an underwater assassin day). Some of the others have a focus on the marketplace, beauty, health and old age.

My favorite part about Yemanja is when her patrons give thanks and worship. In most places and cases this involves floating resents and offerings out to sea (to her). Gifts range from delicious food to flower and perfume. Fireworks, which are my favorite thing in the world, are common. You could spend from Dec 8^th until Feb 2 traveling around to different festivals honoring the goddess of the sea. I hope to someday…

Now for the part that I always forget to do! My sources are:

Wikipedia.org

Infoplease.com

Encarta.msn.com

I believe my sources to be reliable. Wikipedia sited sources for the article, most came from texts…Encarta is a good tool and well known. I’m not too familiar with infoplease, but I liked what I read.

assingment 4 c.

Culture is what I want my daughter to be apart of and exposed to.

CUL-TURE:
The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.
These patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population: Edwardian culture; Japanese culture; the culture of poverty.
These patterns, traits, and products considered with respect to a particular category, such as a field, subject, or mode of expression: religious culture in the Middle Ages; musical culture; oral culture.
The predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize the functioning of a group or organization.
Development of the intellect through training or education.
Enlightenment resulting from such training or education.
The growing of microorganisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially prepared nutrient medium.
Such a growth or colony, as of bacteria.
Intellectual and artistic activity and the works produced by it.
Development of the intellect through training or education.
Enlightenment resulting from such training or education.
The growing of microorganisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially prepared nutrient medium.
Such a growth or colony, as of bacteria.
A high degree of taste and refinement formed by aesthetic and intellectual training.
Special training and development: voice culture for singers and actors.
The cultivation of soil; tillage.
The breeding of animals or growing of plants, especially to produce improved stock.
Biology
The growing of microorganisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially prepared nutrient medium.
b. Such a growth or colony, as of bacteria.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/culture
There are many ways in which you can refer to the term culture. As I began my search for knowledge I ran into the history of the word, culture comes from the Latin word cultura, meaning to cultivate. Which made me smile, that is what I was talking about. I want to cultivate the young mind of little McAllister, I can’t wait. As my sleuthing took me deeper into the word culture I noticed that like most words, it can have many meanings. Culture as a study or in a anthropological sense is a broad meaning of the term. There are subcultures, popular culture, high culture, low culture…and on and on. I think that the word has been over worked and like to original; to cultivate. But enough about me!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture
The topic fit perfectly into that definition, this is about cultivation. Or in the case of The topics covered in 4, the decultivation of the region that we are studying. This class is exposing us to new and different perspectives and cultures every week.
Catie Says: She viewed the video of Chichen Itza. That Mayans are considered one of the great civilizations of Mesoamerica. She was interested in the practice of human sacrifice the epees the god of rain. She Also pointed out that the Mayans were responsible for the colander and some of the first hieroglyphic writings. To Freire knowledge is power. Cultural strength is what should be shared a taught. The Mayans did all of these thing very well, until the Spanish arrived. The quick and sudden arrested development was devastating to the Mayan culture. The reason it applies to this region is because the Mayans were the beginning of an amazing history of an amazing people, although they were eliminated the culture resonates in the region today.
Isaac Says:At first I thought that I should pick a different classmate to review because Isaac and I chose that same topic: La Malinche! I’m glad that I kept with him, he was very thurough. Isaac explained the difference between conquest and colonialization wonderfully by saying the Spanish were, “there to exploit not to develop”. He also found more information on Marina la Malinche than I was able to. Possibly is Spanish???? He added to my knowledge of the topic with several interesting facts. The one that was impressive to me was that eventually she was given independent authority. WOW! I liked the way that Isaac tied in the past to present with talking about his biracial marriage. Because he is married to an American woman, he is considered to be: Malinchismo, the male form of malinchista, or traitor. Again, Freire would say that this was a great exercise in understanding. This not only relates to the region that we are studying but in Isaacs case, and millions of others this relates to us now. That a word, stemming from a person hundreds of years ago sets a feeling/climate that directly affects us today. Amazing.

please excuse my strange color/layout decisions. i had a hard time with a the link feature!

assignment 4 b.

Esta no fue una historia de amor
SINOPSIS:
La historia de Cortés y La Malinche no es una historia de amor, es
una historia de dominio. La vida de la Malinche se redujo a su
lengua, gracias a ella fue importante, no era ni persona ni mujer, era
una lengua. Esta es una historia donde las lenguas, las culturas
y las razas

www.fllanos.com/pinchemalinche/videos.html

I came across this fantastic piece of pop art while searching for information on Marina la Malinche. I thought that I would include the text because it is a good example of another perspective. It shows the way that a Latina views her. I do not speak Spanish well, but what I gather is this: The history of Cortes and Malinche is not a history of love, but a history of domination. Malinche’s life was reduced to a tongue, she was thankful for her importance, but she wasn’t a person, she was just a tongue. She is the history of the language, the culture, the race

Observation: I like the way the artist has used found images to make her own statement; she uses older and popular images of both Cortes and La Malinche. Puts them is a blender (a nice one I might add) adds some vegetables and makes a symbolic salsa, or Mestizos.

Interpretation: The artist is trying to summarize and express her feelings about the relationship of Cortes and La Malinche. While trying to make the greater statement of how it is not and romantic or idyllic start, but it is her culture all the same. The choice of bold colors expresses the strength and pride that she feels and the blender represents the machine that was the Spanish invasion.

Judgment: I liked that I had recognized pieces of the collage from other artwork I had seen during my search. I like that it is familiar, I was drawn to it because it seemed like something that I would hang in my house.

Questioning: I know that the artist is a woman, but would love to know what she was like. I like what she wrote in her synopsis, she seems sure of herself. I would have liked to have been able to access the mini video to see what else she had done. What prompted her to do this? Was it a school assignment?

assignment 4 a.

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue…until he got to Guanahani…then he:

Conquest: the act or state of conquering, or the state of being conquered; vanquishment. Anything acquired by conquering, as a nation, a territory, or spoils.

Colonial: of, relating to, possessing, or inhabiting a colony or colonies.

The Conquest/Colonial Era refers to the enormous amount of time from 1492-1810. Starting with the ever popular Columbus, lasting for nearly three hundred years, and then finally coming to an end with the Spanish-American War.

As I watched the videos that were assigned I was drawn to the two about Marina la Malinche. I was drawn to the iconic female figure, but also the drama that fills the story and the way that it affects us today.

3 interesting facts:

Marina la Melinche was on of 20 slaves given to Cortes by a Mayan King. She was fluent in Nahuatl and Mayan and began translating for Cortes’ army. She soon learned to speak Spanish and became the chief translator. Many think that if she was not involved that there would have been no communication and many more deaths.

There are opposing views of Marina. Some refer to her as if she were the Virgin Mary. She is sited as one of the first to birth a mixed race child, thus, the beginning of the Mexican race. Others think of her as a traitor and blame her for the fall of the Aztec empire. Many people feel that it was her character that molded the male perception of the female in Latin American culture.

A bit of a side note…I am a chef and have worked in kitchens for almost ten years now. Several years back, in the beginning if you will: I work in a very busy restaurant with a large line I was one of two non-Latin American cooks and the only female. It was super fun and for the most part we all got along very well. But if I upset any of the guys than I was La Chingada for the rest of the night! They would even sing a little song, “Chinga, Chinga…” So when I was reading about Marina la Melinche I was surprised to find out that La Chingada meant traitor, I always thought it meant fucker (feminine). How’s that for an interesting fact?

http://dictionary.reference.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQU4CXqrbDs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h-6cHlu5fk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche

assignment 3 c.

Knowledge is power, this I know for sure. Matthew McDonald gives a clear example of this in his assignment 1 b. He tells the story of Freire teaching sugarcane workers to read and write. Matthew goes on to explain that literacy was imperative to giving this group a political voice (literacy was a requirement to vote.) Freire gave workers, other wise powerless, and the ability to change their lives.

With the upcoming elections right around the corner, I have been thinking a lot about human rights and freedom. Not too surprisingly, the content of the next work was helpful in my current political reflection. I chose to read Katherine M Duartes’s assignment 1 b, I like the way her name sounds: important… Katherine quotes Freire’s book, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”:

“Freedom is acquired by conquest, not a gift. It must be pursued constantly and responsibly…”

This is amazing, because many people are still unaware of it. It is mostly inspiring. I love that I believe this! I love that I get to teach this philosophy to my daughter. It is a perfect time meditate on this idea and share it with your community.

To pull it back in to the class material, I think that Latin America has a long history of cultural and political evolution. I think that this region in particular is a fantastic example of a peoples move to change. The Caribbean and Latin American people have an impressive record of adaptability.

http.//mattymcd11.blogspot.com/2008/06/assignment-1b.html

http://katyintdis.blogspot.com/2008/08/assignment-1b.html

assignment 3 b.

MAKING A CANOE

From what I have gathered the Carib people were hunters, fisherman and warriors. Not known for arts and crafts. At first I thought I would look to the Arwak tribe, where most of the female population had originated, they were tremendous basket weavers. I imagined looking at collections of baskets…then I thought that I could just pick another group that was know for there strong artistic culture. I went back over my findings and it dawned on me- canoe making is an art form! The Carib made canoes, beautiful, magnificent canoes and this will be my topic. (Please note that I have tried to remove this messy bit below and have failed, sorry.)

http://www.avirtualdominica.com/gligli/index.html

http://www.aragornsstudio.com/CaribCanoeProj.htm

http://www.geocities.com/caribcanoe/

OBSERVATION:

What do you see in the artwork?

I think that many times a natural medium can be distorted so much that the natural beauty is gone, sometimes so much so that the end product can be ugly (i.e.: tract homes) I like that the canoe still honors the tree that it came from. It is functional, thoughtful and beautiful. It demands a group effort, up to 40 people to carry the tree from the forest.

What is the subject of the work? What is the work made of?

These particular canoes are made from a single gommier tree. Grommier trees are indigenous to the Caribbean rain forests; they are very large and remind me of the redwood, growing to massive heights.

What techniques does the artist use?

The canoes making process starts with the selection of one close to perfect gommier tree. Then several men chop the tree down using hand axes. Some forty people drag the tree to where they will carve out, then soak burn and stretch the wood until it finally resembles a canoe. This process take a few weeks. The photo I selected shows the stretching process when to canoes is filled with large rock to force the sides to expand over time.

INTERPRETATION:

What is the artwork about?

Well in this case it is quite literal, it functions as a canoe. But it is about survival, transportation, and a way of life. These people depended on the canoes to hunt and trade and war with other tribes.

JUDGEMENT:

What made you chose this piece? What do you think of/feel about this piece? Why?

As I mentioned above, I chose this piece because I wasn’t done with the Carib people and because they are not know for crafting…canoes it was. I love this piece, I love function and beauty together and the canoe exemplifies this.

QUESTIONING:

What would you like to know about this work?

I would like to know if traditionally the women had anything to do with this process. Pessimistically I could answer it myself by guess that the men and women spoke a different dialect so it is highly unlikely. A girl can dream, right?

Assignment 3a.

"Pre-Columbian" refers to the American indigenous cultures until they were conquered/influenced by Europeans. This term still applies even if this happened after Columbus' initial landing.

Carbi:

At the time of the Spanish invasion, the Caribbean people lived in Lesser Antilles and parts of the neighboring South American coast. The Island Carib were warlike immigrants from the mainland. They were expert navigators, who made distant raids in large dugout canoes. Internal conflict was common in their society. They lived in small villages and haunted animals by arrow or bow. Their culture was typical of a tribe of the tropical forest.

The Caribbean Sea as well as the English word cannibal are results of the Arawakan equivalent of Carib. Today the term Cariban is used to designate a linguistic group that includes not only the language of the Antillean Carib, but also many related Indian languages spoken in South America. In traditional Caribbean society, Men spoke the Caribe language and women used Arawark. This was due to the Carib raids on the Arawark people.

The religion that the Carib practiced was a type of polytheists. Columbus thought that they were pagan, but later discovered they were not. There was always the belief that the Caribs were cannibals because of bone collections found in their dwellings. This was disproved later, finding that they kept the bones of relatives for good luck.

I choose the Carib people to research because some day, hopefully soon, I will go to Barbados and meet them. So why not do a little brushing up for the trip…I used Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica as my two references. They are reliable and well organized. I looked on YouTube for a great little video and found one; it doesn’t have much to do with the Pre-Columbian Carib people. It is a fantastic example of what you might find in this Post-Columbian time; Festival Afrique-Carib!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carib

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/95780/Carib

Just for some fun…bonus video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPoQFaTH8mA

assignment 2 c.

I had to wait a while to complete this assignment as you may have read in my last entry…

I chose questions from fellow classmates David and Hannah. One thing that I realized while looking over the different links is that there is a new director listed on the MoLAA website, Gregorio Luke has been replaced! Perhaps he joined an acting troop???

Davids questions:

1. What kinds of Educational Programs Does MoLAA offer?
http://www.molaa.com/

MoLAA offers two types of educational programs; there are school field trips for K-12 as well as docent tours for more mature audiences.

2. How many visiting exhibits does MoLAA host a year (approximately)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcj6ld0gKck

There are 2-4 visiting exhibits each year.

3. On what day is admission to MoLAA free?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu5geLH1Q9A

Fridays at the MoLAA are free! I love free! This was one of my questions too!

Hannahs questions:

1. What percentage of Latin American affiliates themselves with the Roman Catholic Church?

http://www.molaa.com/

According to the MoLAA website 80% of the Latin American population affiliates themselves with the Roman Catholic Church.

2. Name one artist that has done an exhibit at the museum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcj6ld0gKck

Francisco Toledo is one of the many artists to do an exhibit at the museum.

3. How many square feet is the sculpture garden

http://www.molaa.com/

The sculpture garden at MoLAA is 15,000 square feet.

New baby makes me crazy!

So here I am...its really late on Monday night a I'm trying like hell to finish assignment 2 b. so that I can get to 2 c. ( you know, because its due at 12 midnight!) As I login in to turn in my work, which by the way has a spelling error that I am going to have to go back and fix!!! Any moment now McAllister, my three month old, is going to wake up for her scheduled feeding...

Why is David the only one with his assignment turned in???

I look a the deadline... Shoot, I'm going to bed. Sweet dreams sucker!

assignment 2 b.

MoLAA is Museum of Latin American Art.
I was able to watch the first two of the three video clips listed. The first one was Gregorio Luke, the museums (ex!) director and a few others give an excited and inspired description of the MoLAA. Luke went over the programs that are offered to the public, describing the exhibits and asking for donations for the future goals of the MoLAA. The MoLAA is located in Long Beach and is the only contemporary Latin American museum in the United States. They were excited to redesign the building, (which they have). The second video was a tour made from a collection of photographs set to beautiful music. The author did a great job cataloging the information; first- the introduction of the artist and title of piece followed by the article its self. I loved the folk art in the entry way. I really loved Walter Goldfarbs, “The Fall of the King II.” I was surprised and happy to learn that the MoLAA has several collage pieces, I enjoy that medium. I noticed that there were quite a few female artists being featured, which pleased me as well. As for the third video on the list, I was unable to access it, so I did a Google search for MoLAA news. I picked around at a few different articles and discovered that MoLAA is the only contemporary art museum dedicated to Latin American culture in the United States. They have an artist workshop program that ranges from children, novice and professional abilities. The MoLAA has a strong commitment to the performing arts as well, music and dance performances happen regularly.
Three questions for my classmates:
1.) Describe Johnny Palacios Hidalgo’s “untitled” piece.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kUa2HgJEITQ&
2.) What district in Long Beach is MoLAA located?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Lcj6ld0gKck
3.) What day is MoLAA free?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hu5geLH1Q9A

There was a few interesting facts that I picked up from the MoLAA website. The first bit of information was in an article describing the permanent collection the discussion was about how spiritual and religious practices affects art, “Cuban artist, Jose Bedia focuses on the Amerindian and Afro-Cuban cultures that practice the religions of Palo Monte and Santería or a ritual form of communication with the spirit world in search of man’s relationship to nature and animals.” I had heard of Santeria before, but never Palo Monte… so I look a little trip to http://www.wikipeadia.org/ and found out that Palo is a practice that originated in the Congo and came to Cuba and the Dominican Republic buy way of the save trade. The Palo focuses on the power of their ancestors and the power of the earth.
The second interesting bit was that the Robert Gumbiner Foundation donates over one million dollars a year to the museum.
Who is this Robert Gumbiner?
I googled him: Dr. Gumbiner conceived and founded the MoLAA in 1996. He was a successful physician and championed for fair and affordable health care for many years. He is a writer, a teacher and loves the arts.
Lastly the third fact that I found on the MoLAA website was that the building was originally home to a silent movie studio. So much art for one place…

assignment 2 a.

a.) Interdisciplinary studies is an academic program or process seeking to synthesize broad perspectives, knowledge, skills, interconnections, and epistemology in an educational setting.
b.)Latin America refers only to those territories in the Americas where the Spanish or Portuguese languages prevail: Mexico most of Central and South America, plus Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rican the Caribbean. A different website offered this as a definition: the part of the American continents south of the United States in which Spanish, Portuguese, or French is officially spoken.

When I started to look for lists of the countries that are considered “Latin American” and “the Caribbean” I found that every website varied. Some would include counties that were continental as a part of the Caribbean others would only include them if they were islands. Some websites did not include the French islands, and so on. So I think that I came up with a list that will make everyone happy by focusing on the task as a geographical one.
c.)CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES:
Anguilla, Aruba, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turk and Caicos. (Include US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico)
d.)LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES:
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador, Panama, Jamaica, Honduras, Paraguay, Bahamas, Nicaragua, Haiti, Barbados, Surname, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica.
e.)*An interesting fact that I didn’t know about Barbados: the word Barbados means bearded in Portuguese. It refers to the bearded fig trees indigenous to the island
f.) Sources used above:
http://youtube.com/
http://about.com/
http://wikipedia.com/
http://bajanproverbs.com/
I can’t say that youtube in a reputable site. For all I know I could have been watching a video of Turks and Caicos while thinking that Suriname looks great! It is however amazing. About seemed like a solid site. It was well organized and there didn’t seem to be any funny business going on. Wikipedia is great because the amount of people that use the site makes it difficult to have any wrong information posted. Wikipedia is generally my go to site. Bajanproverbs was really entertaining; take a look if you get a chance, as for me knowing if it’s the truth…I don’t know.
g.) Well I’ve noticed by looking at other classmate’s profiles that I am not the only one in my thirties. There are a handful of us in the group. Linda and I both live less than five miles from the JC. Katy and I have newborn babies…

assignment 1 c.

I have a confession: I have word hang ups. It is beyond my control. Sometimes they are perfectly fine words, like merge or loaf. Other times its word play that gets me. There are words that actually evoke a physical reaction: pedagogy is one of those words. I can’t tell you why this happens, but it does. It’s Funny really.
I took a look at Matt and Dave’s blogs for more information on Paulo Freire. Matt is a Taurus and doesn’t tell us much more about himself. Dave has a fantastic music collection and I can’t wait to listen to more… (check it out). Both gentlemen included great quotes in their reports. Matt writes about Freire’s belief in critical pedagogy, where students are encouraged to question the material presented to them by using critical analysis. Matt included this quote in his report,
“Nobody liberates anybody else, and nobody liberates themselves all alone. People liberate themselves in fellowship with others.”
Dave is a teacher and seems to be coming from a more mature perspective in his carrer. He included this quote in his report,
“Humility helps us to understand this obvious truth: No one knows it all; no one is ignorant of everything. We all know something; we are all ignorant of something. Without humility, one can hardly listen with respect to those one judges to be too far below one's own level of competence. But the humility that enables one to listen even to those considered less competent should not be an act of condescension or resemble the behavior of those fulfilling a vow...” (p. 39 of Teachers as Cultural Workers - Letters to Those Who Dare Teach)

assignment 1 b.

Paulo Freire came from humble beginnings in northeastern Brazil. While growing up he noticed a problem and was compelled to fix it. He began teaching grammar before he graduated from high school. All though he studied to be a lawyer, before his first before his first trial, he decided to follow his passion to teach. So began his inspiring grassroots effort to educate the people of Brazil. Amazingly, he once taught 300 farm workers to read in 45 days.
In 1965 came a change of power in Brazil, during a time when he was needed most; he was arrested and imprisoned, labeled a traitor then exiled. In this time of exile Paulo traveled the world serving as an advisor to help countries implement popular education and literacy reforms. His work had a profound impact on Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. There are now institutions all over the world inspired by the work and words of Paulo Freire.
Freire was a Social Reconstructionist. He believed that systems must be changed to overcome oppression and improve human conditions. He coined the term: critical pedagogy, which is the teaching approach that attempts to help students question and challenge the beliefs and practices that dominate. His practice would go against the conventional “banking” teaching method that focuses on depositing information (or banking) in to the brain. This new philosophy was a much more shared and fluid approach to learning.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire
http://www.paulofreireinstitute.org/
http://www.youtube.com

assignment 1 a.

!. My name is Sarah J
2. I am taking this class because it seemed to be the most interesting class under the ‘life long understanding’ requirements for transferable units. I hope to learn about Caribbean culture and I love Brazil. I have never been but have been romanticizing it for years. My mother-in-law just moved to Barbados, so a new interest has peaked in that particular island.
3. I live 4.7 miles from campus.
4. When I think of “Latin America and the Caribbean,” I think lets go! It’s beautiful and strong. I think of colorful buildings and amazing music.
5. No, how am I doing?