Global Understanding, Effective Citizenship, and Valuing

    In NCLC 130 we explored more about the thing that affected our world than the world itself. We looked at polices and ideologies that made our society corrupt, and explored ways that we could attempt to fix them. I learned that America is not as great of a place that I was brought up to think it was, but it was mostly looking out for the wellbeing of its wealthy citizens. Not saying that the system is wrong, but it needs much improvement.
Personally for me I feel a lot of the country’s issues such as the use of the environment, health care, foreign aide, and global warming have yet to be addressed.  But being in NCLC 110 and 130, doing research, and participating in the Presidential Election has made me feel like I am at least attempting to concentrate on these problems.

    Now I am able to see how globalization affected not only the United States but also third world countries. I appreciate the things that I have more in life such as clothing and technology because I see the time it took to construct them and the low wages these people get because of them. Then again I feel self-centered because I know who much our (The United States) expansion is harming their economy, but I’m not willing or able to make certain sacrifices to benefit them. I also have a better grasp of what multiculturalism really is. I feel that by learning this I am able to see life in multiple perspectives. Although I may not agree on all of them, I feel that I am more tolerant of different cultures, ideas, and beliefs.

                                                                                                                                             Hemlock Overlook

Image    I feel that Hemlock Overlook was the ultimate experience in NCLC 110 that involved the competencies of problem solving, critical thinking, communication, and group interaction.  Here we did a ropes course that got the entire team involved. We were given an hour to get as many people across the course as possible. Our goal was to work quickly and efficiently, which I feel we did very well. In order to get as many people across safely and quickly, we had to communicate between the ground team (in charge of the ropes), and those actually going across the course.
    

    Positioning was critical in this challenge; we had to decide where to position the ground team in order to suit each person crossing the ropes course.   Whenever we noticed something did not work we would find a way to fix it quickly and learn how not to repeat the same mistake. Not only did we use communication to safely get our team member across, but we used it for encouragement. The course put each individual in a position where they could feel involved with the group and help make a decision that affected someone’s life other than their own.

African Art Museum..AAM

    Going to the African Art Museum we also had to travel within our study groups. I feel that we addressed the competences Group Interaction, and Aesthetic Awareness and valuing.  Catching the metro on time was the number one priority with our group because we didn’t want to be late for our tour. Once we got there we noticed the beauty of the landscaping outside of the museum as well as the difference between the architecture from the National Gallery of Art. The museum had round domes which was reflective of the typical housing in an African village. Also we noticed how different this building was from the National Gallery of Art. I was a lot smaller, and unlike the National Gallery this building had a focus from the very entrance of the building. Whereas the National Gallery once you entered the building you had to bypass security and the history of the museum.
      Once inside of the Museum and exploring its content, I was able to learn more about the African culture. I looked at all the sculptures and artifacts to understand their belief systems and customs. I understand the history of the colonization of their village in their perspective as well as the point of view of the Europeans. Also taking a look at pictures from the past and present, I am able to see how much they have evolved, but also how they kept traditions that were important to them. By traveling in small group we were able to engage in conversations about what each piece meant to us, and how we interpreted it. This allowed a deeper analysis of the museum because although we did not know much background information about African art and tradition, we could put our knowledge together to help along the way. Then once back at Mason we could do further research on our own, with other students and our professors to completely understand.



Bubbles bottom         Last Updated 12-05-2008

Butterfly

Strategic Problem Solving...

    During this semester at George Mason I did not encounter too many occurrences that involved problem solving. But I did learn how to perform strategic problem solving if needed. I learned in order to truly understand a problem; you must do lots of research. And in order to avoid biased opinions and find true facts, one must research multiple sources that are fully accredited. Also I learned that there is always more than one way to solve a problem, and sometimes you will need others to help because we all have different individual strengths. 

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