Blog #2: TMoLA Beginning

So far in The Making of Latin America, I have been really impressed by my classmates and their ideas. The class is structured in a way that really encourages deep thinking about more than facts about Latin America itself. I have never had a class like this before. I obviously knew that the class was going to incorporate many critical thinking skills, but I wasn't expecting to be learning so many broader topics outside of Latin America. One topic that we've studied which interested me was cultural identity. It's fascinating how the world can be perceived in different ways by different cultures. For instance, native populations to the Americas were perceived by Columbus and others to be "uncivilized." However, many cultures in the Americas were advanced in comparison to the Europeans based on their clothing, tools, food, housing, and more. These cultures had adapted to their environments to be sustainable for the future. Because of this, one can contradict the traditional idea that Europeans were more advanced. It's odd to think about how history could be completely different based on solely who is telling the story. I'm excited to continue thinking and learning about Latin America along with its cultural ramifications on the world. 

Comments

  1. Ella CarrSeptember 9, 2021 at 2:16 PM

    Hi Ben! I have also been very impressed by our classmates and their ideas. The class and small group discussions have encouraged me to think deeply more than in any other class. This has made me excited to keep working with these people. I also found this weeks lecture topics quite interesting. I knew that indigenous people were not uncivilized as they have been portrayed to be but never considered that it was the Europeans who were uncivilized compared to the advanced ways of many cultures, particularly the Tainos as we discussed.

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  2. Joseph GreendykSeptember 10, 2021 at 9:25 AM

    Hey Ben! I think it's great that you brought up how different cultures see the world in a different light. I think many times we grow up in a sheltered reality, thinking that our culture or way of life is the "correct" one, and not realizing that other people looking in may view our culture in a whole different way. The idea that there are different "realities", and that the same situation or event can be viewed in opposing ways solely based on perspective, is really eye-opening. Thanks for this great post, I really enjoyed it!

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  3. Médar SerrataSeptember 10, 2021 at 4:38 PM

    Thank you for your post, Ben. I'm glad to hear how much you value your classmates' ideas. I have always been of the opinion that knowledge is not something that is transmitted from one person to another but something that is constructed through dialogue. You help each other build your own knowledge in class discussions as you engage with each others' ideas. I look forward to seeing how much more you will learn in the coming months.

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