Winter Quarter in Review

It is amazing how quickly this quarter has flown by! It seems as though this session we got to look at empire through many different perspectives and on a more personal level. We started the quarter by looking at the Incan empire and seeing how their identity was stripped by the Spaniards, we looked on empire from a different perspective than we had last quarter, this time we were looking from the point of view of the colonized rather than the colonizer.

We then moved on to The Tempest and studied the importance of language and how it is a major tool of empire and could also be used against it. This was building on what we learned about the Incan empire, as they learned Spanish and were not allowed to speak Quechua. You cannot unlearn a language or the ways of empire, you can only learn new ways and new languages.

After our trip through the land of Shakespeare we landed in Oroonoko, a book about the life of a prince who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. From this text we learned that power does not lie in who you are in empire, but where you come from. Oroonoko was a prince when he was in Africa, but once he was taken to South America he had very little power. He was a slave, so basically the only people that would really listen to him and take his ideas into account were other slaves.

Lastly, we studied the British Empire in India. We learned from Professor Vinayak Chaturvedi how empire was seen by leaders such as Gandhi, Nehru, and Savarkar, but we also learned how it was seen by peasants through reading the Ranchod letter. He gave us several different ways of seeing the same empire and their various approaches at gaining their independence from the British. Though we looked at people from different backgrounds and with different ideals, they all wished to leave the British Empire.

Overall I believe that this quarter has led me to think a lot more about how different groups are affected differently by empire. I have learned that when it comes to research you must follow your interests, for you will get much farther that way. I am excited to see where the final quarter of Humanities Core will take me.

Defining a Name

Have you ever thought about your name? The word that gets your attention. The word that makes people think of you. The idea of choosing a name for a child is often a stressful one for parents-to-be, and for good reason. By choosing a name for your child you are inadvertently impacting them and how people may perceive them. For example, if someone walked up to you and said, “Hi, my name is Tom, short for Tomato” you may be weirded out and think of that person as strange though you have no idea about who they are as a person. On the other hand, if someone came up to you and said, “Hi, my name is Joseph” you would not think anything of it. Many people don’t know the actual definition of your name. (find yours here!)

In lecture we learned that Vanayak (Dr. Chaturvedi)  got his name from a doctor when he was 6 months old. He later found out that he was given this name because the doctor was a supporter of Vanayak Savarkar and later was a part of the assassination of Gandhi. Also, his name was seen as strange to many people in India, as it was from a different region than his last names and you can often locate where someone is from based on their name in India. He was not named until he was 6 months old because they do not name babies in India until they are sure they are going to survive infancy. This is a strange concept to people in America, many of whom were probably named before they were ever born and officially named on the day of their birth.

A couple years ago I planned a baby shower for my cousin. She was really interested in the meaning of names, she originally wanted to name her baby Lorelei, but found out that it meant temptress. She ended up naming her baby Leanna, meaning light. So, when I was planning the games I had the idea to take the names of everyone attending the shower and make a matching game to the meaning of their names. Everyone in attendance thought it was fun to learn what their name meant, many did not know prior and had to guess.

After learning the meanings something interesting happened, everyone started to see how the meaning of each person’s name could be seen as a part of who the person was. My Aunt Christine, who’s name means Christian is a very religious person and goes to church every Sunday that she is able. My name, Rebecca, means binding. My mom knew the meaning when naming me and thought it was a strong name, keeping people together, connecting to others, creating a lasting bond. I don’t want to say that I do all of those things, because let’s face it, that seems a little arrogant. However, that is something I aspire to do. I want to be a teacher one day and if I could bind my students to one another, or to math, or make any lasting positive impact on them, then I think I would feel more accomplished than if I won the Olympics.

Our names have a big influence on our lives outside of who we are. The Romans would say “nomen est omen” meaning “name is destiny”.  This is a really cool concept. Subconsciously we relate certain names to different occupations, backgrounds, ethnicities, and social class. These assumptions are often wrong, however it doesn’t matter when we have already made them. Names are almost a pre-first impression when it comes to jobs, social networks, or basically any format in which you see the persons name prior to meeting them face-to face. And sometimes when you see what someone looks like, you might say to yourself, “they seem like a Rachel” (something I get A LOT). But why do I look like a Rachel? Why does that old lady feeding the birds look like a Mildred? Why does anyone look like they should be named anything? Answer: we stereotype names in our heads based on those that we have seen/met with certain types of names.

Some people even change their names to better suit their personality or have stage names. Lady Gaga’s real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, but that isn’t a very catchy name and wouldn’t be as easy to market as the iconic Lady Gaga. Just think, you can change the way that people view you just by changing your name. I feel like you define who you are throughout your life and either grow into your name as you have defined it to yourself, or you feel as though your name does not accurately describe you.

If you could change your name, what would it be? Or would you keep the name you have?

 

 

 

“Not My President” and Gandhi

In Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj, he says that civilization is an idea created by the Western Europeans used to justify the mistreatment of the colonized. He also claims that the reason that the British controlled the Indian people was that they allowed them too, not because they are inherently better than them.

Today, American civilization is being questioned due to our new president. There have been countless protests about various policies that President Donald Trump has put in place. Members of these protests have coined the phrase “not my president”, but what does this mean?

In the United States of America, our government is lead by an elected president, Trump won the election, not by popular vote, but by electoral votes, he had 302 compared to Clinton’s 232, but had 62,979,879 votes, 2.9 million less than Clinton’s 65,844,954 votes. This is not the first time this has happened in American history and is not the most drastic case of it either. However, many of Clinton’s supporters are still rallying against Trump and his policies.

*a sign at an anti-Trump rally

On February 20, 2017, protestors got together to celebrate “Not My President’s Day”, during which they spoke out against President Trump’s executive orders, stopping immigrants from coming into the country, and his plans to defund Planned Parenthood. If these people are American citizens, how could the President of the United States of America not be their president? Well, if you look at what Gandhi said about how the Indian people were not controlled by the British, but allowed them to control them, you might see a parallel.

*a painting of M.K. Gandhi in jail

A leader cannot lead those who do not wish to be led. By that logic, the president cannot control those who don’t wish to be controlled…to an extent. If you do not obey the law, then you will be punished. Some do not mind this and will continue to speak and fight for what they believe in. Gandhi, a nonviolent man who spoke his mind and was very influential over the Indian people, was imprisoned several times, but he did not let this phase or stop him. He continued to write from his jail cell and was influential throughout that time as well.

Leaders of other movements have also gone to jail. Martin Luther King Jr. went to jail and wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, continuing to make a difference while in jail, even though it was only for a short time.

Change is possible and can be attained through nonviolent means, however you must be willing to take risks. It will be interesting to see how the remainder of President Trumps term goes and if the protests make a difference. We know that his presidency will eventually end, but will the protesting end before or after? Will he listen or will he continue to do what he and his cabinet wishes and ignore the protesters? It will likely be the latter, but who knows? Maybe we’ll be surprised.