4/27: Social Movements - Professor Irons

On Tuesday, we discussed social movements and the various ways that one can become involved with their community or other similar group to be an “activist.” We discussed what being an “activist” means and how working for social justice can often place you in difficult positions. Our class then tied in the readings, the first of which being The Costs and Risks of Social Activism: A Study of the Sanctuary Movement Activism by Gregory L. Wiltfang and Doug McAdam. In this piece, two issues were addressed: why social movements emerge, and why do certain individuals become involved with these movements? The answer in the study cited authors such as Rude, who examined the French Revolution, and the relation between “class and ideological allegiance” (Wiltfang, 988).

This area of study led us into our second piece of the day, The Ethnography of Transnational Social Activism: Understanding the Global as Local Practice, by Hilary Cunningham. Cunningham’s research in this study focused around the ideas of evolution and globalization and how they related to a global civil society and a transnational network. She then built upon these ideas to address and further develop research on social activism across borders, which tightly tied into the work that our class did with No More Deaths and our other experiential components.

A large portion of the class was spent discussing the many issues and topics that our class faced over the semester, and how we have learned more about the idea of “borderlands” as our class has proceeded forwards throughout the semester. Students were able to share their different experiences and how they related to the class, and furthermore, how they were able to connect their real-world experiences with what they learned in the classroom. However, the most significant portion of our class session was when we discussed where the ideas we had learned in the class would take us, whether this would be to continue The Borderlands class in the fall semester, lead additional No More Deaths trips (which several students have already volunteered to do) or continue the simple role of spreading the word. Regardless of where the class will head in the future, one point was painfully clear: the knowledge that we have learned in the borderlands class has caused us, as an entire class, to be more informed about the current issue of immigration along the U.S. / Mexican border at present, and more prepared to do something about this growing challenge.

-Peter M.

**Sorry this is so late!! Technical difficulties!!

**Thanks to Kate for lending me her login information so I can post this!!

Class of 4/20

Sorry this is so late! This is the Blog for the class of 20 April. For this class we read two pieces by Cherrie Moraga, a play entitled Hungry Woman and a short essay named La Guera. Not knowing much about Greek mythology, I did not realize that Hungry Women was partly based off the story of Medea. I found it interesting that Moraga was able to incorporate the stories of a Greek tale, the Mexicano legend of La Lloronoa, and the Aztec tale of Coyolxauhqui.

As part of the class, we were assigned to bring three questions about Moraga’s works with us. As a result, we spent most of the class answers questions people raised. Was the Medea in Moraga’s work a Lesbian or Mexican representation of the original? What time period was this set in? What does the ending of the play not only mean, but also mean to us?

We also discussed Moraga’s other work Lu Guera, which dealt heavily with Moraga coming to terms with her many identities, and how they worked together to make the person she was. I really enjoyed reading and talking about this piece because I find the concept of identity very interesting. Should we present ourselves as one, dominant identity (gender, race) or allow ourselves to express all of our many identities. I believe that the second option is what we should all strive for.

I’ve really enjoyed taking this class, and I want to thank all the professors, Corinne, Kate, and all the rest of you guys for making this class awesome! :)

Cultural Landscapes - Nieves

Today was an interesting and unusual day in class. Professor Nieves began class by posting a sign at the door that prevented anyone who didn't have i.d. on them from entering the classroom. The class was divided in two and only those who could show a drivers liscence were permitted to go in. After this surprising and unexpected exercise, we began class by discussing the purpose behind it. We talked about how it felt to be either inside or outside, included or excluded. Many of else said we felt silly or embarrassed for having to prove who we are. Those on the inside of the classroom who happened to have their ids generally felt lucky, but they also felt bad for the rest of us.

Professor Nieves then shifted our focus from this exercise to a discussion of space and how we think about it. He taught us that all space means something, even the space of the classroom we were sitting in. He talked about the literal and figurative meaning of space between people and/or between objects and he then showed us a power point of images that helped us apply this concept to the borderlands as a space. As we moved through different pictures of the borderlands, we began to define the term "cultural landscape" and the many layers of meaning that such a term carries. We looked at the wall, at particular signs, and also at images of the expansive desert. In compiling these images, we began to formulate a more rounded view of the U.S./Mexican border as a physical location that enabled our discussion of the figurative spatial limitations that exist there.

Professor Nieves then collected all of the short pieces we had written about "nervous landscapes" and taped them to the board. We spent about ten minutes walking around the room and reading one another's interpretations of what, exactly, the phrase "nervous landscape" means as it was defined in the aritcle we read, and also how we can apply it to a place like the Sonora Desert. This exercise was intersting because it didn't require each person to explain his/her write-up, we were able to read fellow students' thoughts and think about them without analyzing for a few minutes. We then discussed our various interpretations of this assignment and moved on to talk more in depth about "nervous landscapes" as places. We specifically talked about the nervous landscape in Australia where the colonization of Aborigines through a manipulation and imposition of space damaged an entire society of people.

Lastly, in order to reemphasize the point that space matters everywhere and that nervous landscapes exist all around us, Professor Nieves broke the class into three groups. Each group had to discuss different places as a nervous lanpscape. Some examples of the places we discussed as nervous landscapes were the World Trade Center or Kirkland College. This shifted the way we had been talking about cultural landscapes from something along a faraway borderland to something much more close to home. In conceptualizing a nervous landscape as something that can and does exist at Hamilton, we were able to understand Professor Nieves' point that everywhere, space says something that has serious consequences for those that inhabit it.

Public Presentation

On Wednesday, April 28 the Borderlands class and participants in the No More Deaths spring break trip gave a public presentation on their experiences and the knowledge gained in the class. The audience first received a summary of the borderlands course and the border issues in all disciplines covered, which Natalie delivered. Peter then gave a brief explanation of a feeling shared by many in the class: that border issues are much more complicated than they appear at first glance, and that many of us have finished the class more confused than when we began. Next Kate and Corinne introduced the No More Deaths component and the involvement that Hamilton students have had with the organization over the past three years. Sam, Connor and Christina shared the thrill they felt when the opportunity to help migrants arose, but the frustration they felt when the migrants left the camp abruptly and could not take with them the containers of water they were preparing. Exhilaration and frustration was a common experience, as Carlos shared the experiences of the week 2 participants. Carlos told the story of an immigrant who had been robbed by the coyotes he paid to take him through the desert and left without food and water. After three days of wandering the migrant stumbled into the campsite, which he only found when he heard a No More Deaths leader singing and playing guitar. Carlos shared his frustration with the condition that migrants are met with when they arrive in a US city. As an illegal immigrant himself he has seen these conditions firsthand, and while able to obtain an education himself, has seen the effects of insufficient education opportunities for spanish speakers in the US in his own family. The last group of presenters shared what they learned through other experiential components of the course. Stephanie presented on her experiences in Argentina, interviewing the mothers whose children were victims of political kidnappings, and staged a protest. It was a very successful evening that helped raised awareness and likely will help grow the Now More Deaths organization at Hamilton.