First Blog Entry [11-December-2008]

Question: How will this [Oaxaca] study-abroad program
help fulfill your academic and personal goals?
.
.
Answer: This Oaxaca program will provide:
.
* 3 Credits in my major
-- I need to graduate.
* 4 Honors credits
-- I need to graduate with honors.
* 1 credit Spanish language study [in a Spanish-speaking country, no less]
-- The Spanish language is widely useful in the Western hemisphere.
* Travel experience in Latin America
-- Travel experience is broadly useful,
and Latin America is somewhere I’ve never been before.
* Knowledge of Mexico’s history and current situation
-- A working knowledge of the world has some value to me
[if it didn’t, I wouldn’t be a history major].
* Familiarity with US-immigration issues
-- This could be useful if I ever get a job at the state department.
-- It will be nice to gain an opinion of immigration issues more nuanced than
my current position: Let everyone in – many of my friends are immigrants,
and they reinforce the stereotype that immigrants are harder-working and smarter than
most Americans. Why work to prevent people from adding themselves as assets
of the United States?
…Of course, there are many things obviously wrong with that opinion,
hence the need to become better informed to revise [or substantiate] it.
* Familiarity with another part of the world
-- ^ Maybe I will not like Mexico, and then not have to wonder about it anymore
^ Maybe it will be a wonderful place, and I’ll decide to live there,
surely for less than the cost of living in the US
^ Maybe it will merely serve the utilitarian purpose of
being another place in the world that I can navigate
* Mexico will provide future research options.
-- There is the obvious topic of immigration, and there is the topic of Native Americans.
The livelihood of Native Peoples could be compared between Mexico and the US,
between more American countries, or between Mexico and the Aboriginals of Australia,
the Adivasis of India, or even some peoples of Asia – the Eastern Tibetans I saw
this summer had a bit of a Native-American feel to them – maybe there are some cultural
commonalities between Native Americans and the Asian peoples they descended from,
10-? thousand years ago.
…Granted, that last one is a bit of a stretch, as most people in Asia don’t live in a traditional,
nomadic manner, like the ancestors in question. On the other hand, Asia is a big place.
And, in my case, academic endeavors have proven to be effective means towards the end
of seeing the world, so, far-fetched research ideas are sometimes worth keeping in mind.

- Justin Maher, 11-December-2008