Though I don’t have the energy to expound upon my thesis at the moment, here are some recent articles that are relevant to my topic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/opinion/03Raffles.html?_r=1
http://ecopreservationsociety.org/site/index.php/the-news/reforestation-blog/314-sustainable-forestr
For readers that do not attend the University of Mississippi, the Croft Institute for International Studies is the institute that houses the International Studies major at the university. It is a competitive program at the university as you must apply to major in International Studies, and there are several special requirements to complete the program.
Within major, you must focus on a region of the world (in my case, Latin America), a language spoken in that region (Spanish for me), and a thematic concentration (“Politics and Governance” is mine). As a major, you a required to study abroad for at least a semester in your chosen region, write a senior thesis, and take the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) in your chosen language during the last semester of senior year.
For anyone interested, this is the website: http://www.croft.olemiss.edu/home/
As most (all?) of you know, I studied abroad in Ecuador for the academic year last year. Though it was only required that I stay a semester, I would recommend anyone truly trying to learn the language to stay two. I at least doubled my abilities by staying another semester. (Though I could stay 10 more years and still be learning. You are never quite like a native).
Now, to the topic I wanted to discuss: Croft events. Croft has always been very good at contacting experts in and well-known academics within various fields of international studies/relations and getting them to speak and answer questions. Every year, they have a “Fall Speakers Series” open to the public, and many students always attend. I want to discuss briefly some of the most recent events that have been held at Croft.
John Dinges, current professor of Journalism at Columbia University and author of several books
Mr. Dinges came to speak to us specifically about his book, The Condor Years. In my class, History of Latin America during the Cold War, we read this book the week Mr. Dinges came to Croft. It was a fascinating look at Operation Condor, an alliance among various South American countries to fight communist threats and assassinate “terrorists” both in South America and in the United States and Europe. This alliance was formed in the 1970s and led by President Pinochet of Chile. This era in several South American countries was notorious for disappearances of citizens, assassinations, murders, torture, and repression–all led by the military regimes. Operation Condor is an example of how various regimes in different countries worked together to promote this repression and mass violations of human rights.
Mr. Dinges was interesting because he was in Chile when Pinochet came to power and for several years before and after. He has first-hand experience in South America during this time period. Though his speech was not the best I’ve heard, I think this was due to computer issues and nerves. I met him earlier on a small student panel, and he was very knowledgeable about these events and an interesting person to meet.
Bolivian Indigenous Representatives
Another recent event was a panel held by five Bolivian indigenous leaders. There were three women and two men. Two of the women were wearing traditional clothing, and one of them only spoke her native language, Aymara. The other panelists spoke Spanish and their native languages.
The Bolivians were especially interesting because Bolivia (and the Andes in general) has several indigenous organizations (both political and non-political) that are gaining much recognition and visibility in recent years. This is notable because indigenous peoples have traditionally had a tougher life in these countries due to forced labor during colonialism, racism (that is still present today), and poverty. The situation is much more complicated than that, but too complicated to explain here.
The panelists were leaders of various indigenous organizations in Bolivia. They were very confident and proud of their heritages and were ready to continue pushing for their positions in Bolivia. It was very impressive to me because it is very sad to see indigenous people denounce their heritage and try to blend into mainstream society simply because they need more money or acceptance in society.
Anyway, these are some (very) brief descriptions of recent events at Croft. I guess this post is much more interesting for those of you who don’t attend school here, and I hope it was somewhat informative.
I am grateful to be a part of Croft for many reasons. The opportunity to listen to intelligent authors and leaders and learn about cultural and social situations in which I never have lived is truly amazing, and I think Croft is doing a better job every year choosing speakers for events.
The Scarlett Letter 