We attended a cooking class hosted by a Syrian refugee, in which she taught us how to make prominent Middle Eastern dishes such as tabbouleh and hummus.
Being able to watch a woman talk about the foods of her home that she held so close to her heart was a truly humbling experience. I felt as though she was providing a window into her culture and inviting us to take part in something extremely personal and special to her. I was deeply inspired by the power that food had to connect people to their homes and cultures, and bring together people that came from completely separate worlds
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12/17/18
I believe that The Band’s Visit provided a rare window into middle eastern culture for a Western Audience. There is a severe lack of cultural presence and representation of this region of the world. The lack of cultural presence worsens the tendencies some Americans possess to perpetuate negative ideologies and images towards cultures as a result of lack of awareness. The portrayal of this cultural as integrated with humanity and sincerity challenges this unquestioned hatred. As done in Global Studies, The Band’s Visit provided a juxtaposition between two cultures. The UN visit was a unique and enlightening experience, and I feel lucky to have been able to visit this imperative cultural center. I gained valuable insight and historical context. The Genocide Seminar was interesting, even in spite of the fact that I was unable to focus completely because of a lack of sleep. I was shocked about the meager amount of people and efforts dedicated to genocide prevention, given the history and the actions taken, or not taken, in the past. I learned about current events that I had not previously been aware of. On this trip, I improved my skills of multicultural competency and empathy. Prior to viewing The Band’s Visit, I had little to no understanding about Middle Eastern culture from a genuine standpoint. With this lack of concrete knowledge, I have been susceptible to to influence by outside interpretations of this culture, instead of gaining a genuine and well rounded interpretation of the culture. By attending this show, I have a broader, more authentic understanding of these cultures. Catie Ratchford
Meet Thy Neighbor Reflection 11/3/18 After attending the Meet Thy Neighbor: A Dinner Dialogue With Refugee Communities, I was truly amazed by the sheer amount of resilience and strength that millions of individuals must possess after being subjected to inhumanity and brutality. Despite being aware of the governments today that fail to see their citizens as human beings deserving of rights and compassionate treatment, being face to face with people that had experienced this first hand, and being able to hear about their journey personalized the truth in my mind. Being invited into people’s stories made the harsh reality about a widespread problem concrete for me. I was also disgusted by the dehumanization and presence of bigotry in the country, both the hatred that is deeply rooted in the history of this nation, as well as the currently heightened ignorance. Many people have a tendency to dismiss refugees, as well as those that differentiate from them, as inferior, or less deserving of fair treatment, in order to avoid challenging their own innate bigotry. Many people dehumanize refugees in order to avoid the guilt that would accompany denying other human beings that are suffering compassion and assistance. After attend this event, I strongly believe that more people, especially at such a tense time in the American nature, must challenge their own bigotry and attend events such as this, as it will render it near impossible for the compartmentalization of an entire population of human beings to continue, as it will be much more clear that refugees are human beings that have endured an immense amount of pain and deserve basic conditions of living at minimum. Additionally, this event illuminated for me the fact that there are people in communities everywhere that face barriers and obstacles that I have the privilege to completely lack knowledge of. Hearing people speak of language barriers, and having to work insane hours of the day to provide for what family they have not been separated from, I was made aware of the resilience and strength that refugees everywhere must possess to survive at the same level as others, and the stark contrast in the living conditions of experiences in those in the same country, communities and schools. After attending the Holocaust and Antisemitism Event, I began to reflect on the willful ignorance and blatant denial of Americans towards actions taken by their nation, especially those that impact the remainder of the world negatively. The lack of action taken to combat the extreme acts of inhumanity that occurred in Western Europe during the 1930s despite an extensive and current knowledge of the events. At the time, citizens used a lack of ‘irrefutable’ evidence, often photographic, to justify the lack of interference. However, this pattern, despite a an abundance of ‘irrefutable’ evidence, evidence that has evolved into video documentation of the inhumane acts of violence that are occurring.
Additionally, we were informed on the extent in which elements of oppression and hatred such as Antisemitism and racism are present in the everyday lives of today’s American. Acts of bigotry and violence towards minority groups, such as the Jewish community, that occur in various extremes from people of all ages, ethnicities, genders, and political affiliations. This issue is so widespread that many of the perpetrators of this discrimination are unaware of their own bigotry. There is deeply rooted hatred present in America. Coupled with the tendencies of Americans to be consciously blind to the hate that is present in the world around them, results in a vicious cycle of hatred and acts of discrimination that go unresolved, as people refuse to face their own biases and the acts of inhumanity that their own country is responsible for or refuses to prevent or stop. |
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