Reflections

During the semester, one lecture I found particularly interesting was that of Peter Motavalli, who educated us on the global food insecurity crisis. I found his lecture to be very emotionally and ethically appealing, and he supplemented his presentation with the perfect balance of moving photographs and informative charts and statistics. He presented the food insecurity crisis in such a way that seemed to frame it as an critical problem, but with a viable solution. His lecture lead me to reconsider my own consumption habits, as well as think about what actions the United States could take in order to address the problem of hunger in developing countries. His lecture tugged at our moral responsibility to provide for our brothers and sisters across the world, and ensure that their basic human rights were being met.

          (Image retrieved from http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/hires/2012/globalhunger.jpg)

I am just starting to gain a semblance of an understanding of the vastness of our world and its peoples and cultures. Studying the country of Iran throughout the semester has revealed to me just how different citizens of the world can be, due to a delicate balance of culture, religion, and geographic location. Iran remains an enigma that has yet to be solved by not only me, but the entire Western world. I have studied the fragile relationship that exists between Iran and the United States; I believe there is much work to be done and progress to be made in terms of peace and understanding. As Americans, I believe it is of critical importance for us to seek understanding and possess a willingness to learn about cultures that are different from our own. The average American's perception of Iran is shrouded in fear and misconceptions about Islam and their culture. It is imperative for both countries to close the gap in miscommunication and strive to work together as two world powers. If this doesn't occur, I foresee trouble on the horizon.

Insight into Morrocco & Guest Lecture

           In my opinion, the lecture that was most informative and inspiring was the Global connection and religion presentation by Deborah Mason. In the Middle East, the religious restrictions are much higher than they are here, and a lot of times we really don't think about that. As I have pointed out in several previous blog posts, we as Americans have an extremely hard time understanding other places and cultures. With all of the current events surrounding the terrorist attacks and problems our country has been facing that are tied to certain groups, such as ISIS, we forget that it isn't necessarily an entire religion at blame.

Facing online backlash about religious officials is a problem that our world may not ever be able to completely dissolve. We struggle so highly with crossing the line between freedom of speech, and hate speech. The stories happening in today's news have been chewed up, tossed around, and spit out by people on social media sites who think they completely understand what is going on and who is at blame. 


              In studying Morocco, I learned one of the most valuable lessons I could possibly develop, and that doesn't stem from just one simple idea. I gained insight into another culture, in a fully 360 point of view. The most valuable thing I learned from studying Morocco is to always be greatful for what I have as a woman living in America. Many times I forget how much privilege I have to be living in a society that doesn't put so many restrictions on being a woman and having a job and my own voice.
             "In conservative Morocco, the reality is that even women may be reluctant to challenge Islamic traditions that discriminate against them. “Women are very attached to the book and it is very clear on inheritance,” said Sonia Terrab, a Moroccan novelist, referring to the Quran. “If given the choice, they will reject reform. There needs to be a strong state that imposes it until it becomes a solid gain in two or three generations.” (NY TIMES)
   
     Islamic traditions in Morocco require strict laws on women's rights that are governed by both the religion and the law. Many women are not allowed to completely speak their minds and have the same rights as Islamic men. Studying places like these always remind me to be thankful of my freedom and rights as w woman in America.

Insight into Syria

The guest lecture I found most informative, inspiring, and/or challenging was the lecture on globalization and agriculture by Peter Motavelli. The discussion that occurred in class was very intriguing. It made clear to me how important global food shortages are, and how challenging the problem is to tackle. It also made it clear how the problem must be approached from many different angles and places if it is to be solved at all.

This semester, I’ve been doing research on the Syrian Arab Republic. I chose this country as the one I would focus on mainly because it is commonly in the news, and I felt I would have many sources of information to utilize when writing my blog posts. When the class began, I didn’t know much about Syria in general, other than some basic details about the civil war currently going on in the nation. In order to write the blog posts required throughout the semester, I had to do lots of reading about different topics related to Syria. From this process, I have learned a lot about the country.

Before starting my research, I basically knew that Syria was currently in a civil war, and that ISIS was somehow involved. I did not know what started the war, who was involved, or any of the details about the war, other than some involvement of chemical weapons had occurred. After reading numerous articles, journals, and security reports, I’ve learned much more about the situation in Syria. My research gave me insight into how the war started, with protests during the Arab Spring that turned violent when the Assad regime opened fire on protestors in March of 2011. I learned that climate change caused a long lasting drought in the region that caused many rural farmers to lose their livelihoods and added to the initial tension in the country. I learned about the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons, particularly sarin gas, on civilian populations that nearly led to full scale US involvement in the country. But one of the topics that was most interesting to me was the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. With this faction being in the news so often in recent times, and with the recent attacks in Paris and across the world, gaining more insight into this terror organization was very helpful in my understanding of the situation in Syria. I learned about their evolution from an al-Qaeda splinter cell to the self-proclaimed “caliphate” that al-Qaeda has severed ties with that they are today. I’ve also learned about the other factions involved in the Syrian Civil War, how convoluted the war is, and how there is no real end to the conflict in sight.

But perhaps one of the most important issues I’ve gained insight on is the Syrian refugee crisis. With so many people fleeing the fighting in Syria, it was inevitable that this issue would become as important as it is now. Immigration is an issue in nearly every country, and the issue is made much larger when there are hundreds of thousands of refugees seeking asylum in nearby countries in Europe. After the attacks in Paris, the issue became one of national security, and politicians, especially in the US, were quick to jump to the conclusion that we should not allow any Syrian refugees into the country for risk of them being undercover members of ISIL. However, a proper understanding of the situation in Syria, as well as the sheer numbers of the refugee crisis, show that there are over four million people seeking asylum, and the US was slated to accept only 0.25% of those refugees. The statistical chance of even one of them being a stow-away terrorist is so miniscule it does not warrant the refusal of thousands of men, women, and children who are legitimately seeking a better life.

Overall, I was glad I chose the Syrian Arab Republic as my nation of focus for this class. I’ve learned a lot about the country and the region in general. My understanding is now much better than the average person, and this allows me to objectively view the developing news stories that come from the nation. Without this class, and my focus on Syria, I believe my view on these issues may be much different than it is now.

Guest lecture and insight

The guest lecture that I found most informative, inspiring, and/ or challenging was Debra Mason on digital religion in global landscape. I thought this was real informative considering all the issues we are having with ISIS and the Syrian Muslim refugees crisis.


As stated by the First Amendment "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Unfortunately the world does not really work like that. In recent times with the 911 and Paris attacks by Muslims everyone has a biased against that religion and thinks everyone that is Muslim is a terrorist. As Debra showed in her presentation that religion restrictions in the Middle East and Asia are at a much greater level than America and it evident as bloggers have been killed for just speaking their mind. Many are blaming the whole religion and some don't feel safe with Syrian refugees. It's hard to control hate speech especially with the growing digital world. The digital world makes us a much smaller world with connections that also means that people's opinions can be spread much more and that there is more hate evident. I thought this presentation was really on point with the times today. As our Human Rights we have the right to believe in what we want and say what we feel, but many get punished for doing so. Our perception have been so distorted simply by what we see and hear that we apply it to an entire religion, an entire race and it is only increasing the division and the hate speech. It's a challenging subject because everyone wants to express themselves, but won't accept others form of expression. 

The insight that I gained doing research in Egypt is that they are having some major issues politically and along with climate issues. The continual issue of global warming is causing the rise of sea level and Egypt being a costal county it is trouble of losing land and income. I learned that 95% Egypt's population lives along the Nile River, which means most of Egypt is not habitable. Being the biggest Arabian country they still have many issues to fix regarding Human right, women equality and after the removal of their past president there is some tension with the Brotherhood. There is much fear that the Brotherhood will turn into a terrorism group, if they don't already have issues with ISIS. Being born in Ethiopia the only thing I really knew about Egypt was that we shared the Nile, but there is a lot more to this country than I thought. I have a whole new perspective for this country along with gaining much insight on their issues.