Ben Kaczmar GVSU

 It's been quite the eventful semester in this class in terms of readings, papers, and assignments; however, overall, I have enjoyed this class more than any other. I've made a lot of connections on a personal level with my classmates that I haven't experienced compared to in my other classes. Speaking of being comfortable around our class, I really enjoyed the Rueda de Casino lessons with all of you. I don't think the experience of this class or the dance lessons would have felt the same without everyone being there with me. I've learned so much from everyone else after having gone to the same school district my whole life prior to Grand Valley. The ideas that some of you come open with have really challenged me to think in different ways for every single class we met. Even looking back at the email with all the Rueda de Casino dance moves that we learned the other day was shocking to me. It's incredible how we were all able to learn so many dance moves in less...

 Good evening, Lexie! I was also pretty shocked by the whole situation. It's so hard to put myself in another person's shoes in this instance, but I would have been infuriated if someone close to me had been hurt or killed and an investigation had willingly been avoided through excuses. Simply put, it's just morally wrong when dealing with the death of a human-being to not do everything possible to give closure to those grieving. The government should serve the people, not ignore them.

 I enjoyed reading the first part about Rigoberta Menchu this week because it was something completely new for me to read about and enjoy. Something that I noticed in the book that kind of surprised me was how Menchu portrayed her culture to her readers. Although this sounds kind of obvious, Menchu was telling her own story as a Latin American woman. When I have learned about indigenous cultures or even Native American cultures here in the United States, I feel like many resources haven't accurately portrayed many aspects of history. After reading the first part of , Rigoberta Menchu , I was surprised to see how Menchu viewed her own culture and other cultures as well. Compared to what I have learned in history, Menchu is very honest and realistic whereas other resources now feel almost fake in a way. It's hard to describe how I feel, but this book has helped me better understand how America and Europe have influenced how we view Latin America sometimes even more than Latin Ame...

 Good evening, Seth! I found our discussions on poetry to be very insightful and helpful for our critical thinking skills. At the first time of reading, the context of the poems wasn't stated revealed in. For myself, I did a little bit of research just to familiarize myself about the poems before class. I found that learning about the authors a little beforehand helped me understand the meanings behind the poems. Our class discussions then helped further develop my thoughts, which helped me and everyone else with our interpretations.  

 For this week, I enjoyed studying the poems on the Cuban Revolution. Yes, one of the benefits of studying poetry is that it's short, but it almost always has a significant meaning. I found our discussion of Guillen's poem "I Have" to be interesting. One point that stood out to me and was basically what I said in my discussion question was that Cuba has changed and is living in the present in the setting of the poem. The phrases "I have" and "I can" are present tense phrases that show what Guillen has gained at has at that moment. Everything that has happened with the Cuban Revolution has led to the peace that Guillen feels.  Cuba has changed in Guillen's eyes for the better. In a way, Guillen feels that he and the rest of Cuba deserve the positive changes that have happened to the nation. This is especially reciprocated in the last line where Guillen says, "I have what was coming to me." I know that we mostly talked about the poem fo...

 This week was a very memorable experience for me. It's been quite a long time since I've gone on a school field trip. Going to the Detroit Institute of Arts was a great experience for me because I had never gone there before in my life. After going through the museum, I'm surprised I had never visited before. I feel like my family always visits just about every museum we come across, so it was nice to discover something completely new. I had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone from the class. I think being there as a group with Professor Serrata and Professor Stark along with the tour guide for Rivera's mural made the experience more meaningful than an ordinary visit. All the messages, stories, and images of Rivera's murals were astounding to me. What really took me aback was how Rivera painted four absolutely massive walls in less than a year. On top of the sheer size of the paintings, the images included had so many intricate messages and details in quality. R...