Final Reflection of Showcase

At first, walking into the showcase room I felt a bit awkward and wasn't too sure of what to expect. There were teachers from my other courses present, along with many students. We had to wear a nametag and sign in at the front desk. When wandering and looking at others moments and icons, I took a liking for the icons portion, as it was a 3D representation of their learning. Two people in my seminar discussed two completely different items, but they both related well to themselves. This shows what the whole class is about, people see the world differently and gain their own perspectives on certain situations. I learned that the way I see something could be totally different for someone else. The icons brought in by students reflected that we all learn individually, and for example a rugby ball brought in my a fellow classmate meant to him collaboration and adapting to new goals and ideas, but to me a rugby ball would mean sport and teamwork. Another girl brought in an owl, which she related to insight and wisdom. I chose a bird icon as well, and to me it related to freedom, no limits and communication. This reinforces the idea that everyone sees the world differently and experiences the same situation differently as well. The final showcase had us think outside the box and explore and reflect what experience meant to us, which in all I think it what the course in general taught me. The showcase was a way for us students to demonstrate our learning and goals, that we achieved by participating in this course.

It's a Girl

                                                                     Reflection # 8
                                                          “It’s A Girl documentary”

Description

My friend Amelia is the community engagement class informed me that Brock University was showing the documentary “It’s a girl” I had seen previews for this back home in Toronto, along with people on the sidewalks downtown trying to spread the word. We had both wanted to see this film, so this was the perfect opportunity. Us two along with two of our other friends hopped on the bus on Friday night around 6:30pm, to make it for the 7pm start time. As we were sitting in the lecture hall thistle 247, I was looking around at the amount of people there for the viewing, and I was presently surprised by the amount of older people who had come to see the film. An older couple in front of us didn't have an affiliation with the school, but they attending because they were excited about this documentary. As the lights dimmed and the film started, it became very quiet, it was completely silent. I believe this was out of respect for the women throughout the film, they were sharing with us the emotional and touching stories of their lives. For these women to talk about aborting and even murdering their baby girls must have been extremely difficult, even though they believed it was in the best interest for the girls. The film was hard to follow at the beginning because the subtitles weren't turned on, so we only knew what was truly being said when the narrator was talking in English.

 The film explored the struggles that people faced in India and China. While sitting there hearing that baby girls weren't favored, and were killed because they weren't needed, I thought to myself how lucky I am to live in Canada. Being a twin to a boy, I wouldn't have survived if I lived in India or China. It was quite distributing listening to the ways in which they kill the child after it is born, by drenching a cloth in water and holding it over their face so they could no longer breathe. The story that stood out to me was about an Indian lady, who was having female twins and her husband and mother wanted her to abort, and left her in a room locked up. She ran away and delivered her twins prematurely, and is now the poster face for Indian women in walks against selective abortion. The term gendercide was mentioned throughout the film, and this is the killing of a certain gender purely based on being female. Males were thought to carry on the family name and take after parents in old age, which I knew before the film, but it also explained the idea that they gained a wife and the money form her parents, and a daughter was only a burden as she would get married and give money to the fiance  Overall, I really enjoyed watching and seeing the perspectives from the other side of the world, it made me really appreciate where I live.

Examination

Ivan Illich’s article “to hell with good intentions” he argues that when North American students take “Mission-Vacations” it is offensive to Latin America, that for North American wealthy students it is just the thing to do. He believes that when we go to ‘help’ the Latin Americans we are pretentiously imposing ourselves on them. This relates to the OCCLO of “it’s a girl” documentary because I think we have North American ideas about what is right and wrong. The issues that China and India are facing, we are the first to judge and think that we are helping by spreading the word when really in the end judging them and criticizing them for making decisions because of the culture and society they live in. The limitation on having children, and the want to have a boy because society has taught them that, causes these individuals to make these poor decisions of gendercide. Also in Ivan’s article while in Latin America, we would be socializing with people close to us, according to class and language, not the actual people who need help because they can’t speak our language and we can’t speak theirs. This shows that if we were to visit China and India we could make our own assumptions about the women there from our own perspective, we are quick to judge. This article, along with the documentary don’t really discuss if we truly can help these people, if more people are to be educating on both these topics than I think better changes would occur.

Articulation of Learning

I have learned that we in Canada are extremely privileged because issues such as gendercide don’t occur. Women are way more respected and aren't taken for granted in the western side of the world. China and India both have huge overpopulation problems, which makes them favor males over females, to carry on the family name and bring resources to the family. This brings many implications along with it, such as the ratio for male to female.

I learned this when the documentary addressed the issue of the three words parents dread hearing are “it’s a girl” this is what the film was named for. The society still follows traditional roles, which causes problems to occur for females in both China and India.

This learning matters because women’s rights have come so far in the western world, but yet on the other side of the world problems still exist surrounding gender issues. The killing of one gender is a genocide, which is not right and therefore something needs to be done about it.

In light of this learning I hope that more and more people are informed on this topic because spreading the word and making this known can only benefit. This documentary shows the perspective from a different point of view, they believe it is for the food of the baby girl, but hopefully this way of thinking will change.

Reference

Illich, Ivan. To Hell with Good Intensions. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Print.

Activism

Reflection Grace Week
Activism

Description

For my last and final OOCLO I had to partake in a activism activity, I decided to look online at change.org. While searching around the website, many different topics stood out to me, such as transgendered Ms. Universe or allowing a gay straight alliance at a Catholic school. I am majoring in Sociology and perhaps that is why these jumped out at me, they are showing change within society and people’s views on marginalized others. The petition that I signed and took part in was Teens get magazines to stop photo shopping models. I think this is a great idea, a girl named Julia won the petition over the popular magazine seventeen. The petition that I signed was to have this same impact on vogue magazine, I think this is so important because females compare themselves to the models in magazines, and when they are photo shopped the models don’t even look like that. "I Don't Look Like that & don’t Desire to Look Like That" is a famous quote by Kate Winslet on GQ photo shopping 1/3 of her weight off for the cover. Signing the petition I felt empowered, that I am actually contributing to a positive change. I know that I can do more to help the issue, but this is one step in improving giving girls a positive body image, and showing them realistic body types to achieve. When I purchase a magazine, it is all decided on whose on the cover, magazines are for looking through pictures, especially for younger females and therefore I would be impressed if I looked through pictures and noticed regular girls that look like me. These stereotypical beautiful women are often photo shopped, air-brushed, and edited to look thinner, and appear to have perfect skin, with barely any pores. A girl you see in a magazine probably looks a lot different in real life. These are the messaged that I took away from the change.org website while surfing the petitions. Julia is part of the SPARK Movement, a girl-fueled, national activist movement, she has been fighting to stop magazines, toy companies, and other big businesses from creating products, photo spreads and ads that hurt women. I think SPARK is an awesome movement, and I hope that more people join the motion.

Examination

Alisa Miller in the “The News about the News” describes how Americans have a distorted view of the world because of the news coverage they receive. News that involve celebrities are covered more because issues on Britney Spears or Michael Jackson dying is cheaper than relevant than issues that are actually relevant to the world. Soon enough Americans think that this gossip and tabloids are the news and become accustom to it. Through the usage of television, newspapers, radio and internet which I believe is becoming the most popular source for world news. Stories on celebrities are less money to process and therefore other more important news gets pushed aside. Celebrities such as Britney Spears or Michael Jackson dying is cheaper than covering worldwide news. Soon enough Americans think that this gossip and tabloids ARE the news and become accustom to it. The cost effectiveness of gossiping about famous people rather than global issues is the reasoning behind Americans having a distorted view. This is terrible to think, and who decides what is more relevant and important than other things? Some Americans believe these stories about celebs are the news when really things should change and more global coverage should be addressed. This relates to the petition on photo shopping in magazines, because teenage girls and women start to truly believe that the models look like the images in the magazines, which distorts their own body image and self-esteem. What is shown in magazines becomes what people think is normal, exactly the same as the news. Magazines show “perfect” and “beautiful” women, which leaves out the normal women, sex sells and therefore this is what is presented.


Articulation of Learning

I have learned that girls want to be accepted, appreciated, and liked and magazines should represent a healthy body image not unrealistic photo shopped ideals.

I have learned this when researching and searching on the topic of photo shopped models, how some celebrities don’t even appreciate being touched up and air brushed. For girls to be able to relate and maintain a healthy body image, they must be presented with this through media.

This learning matters because when the girls don’t fit the criteria, they try to fix themselves. This can lead to eating disorders, dieting, depression, and low self-esteem.

In light of this learning I plan on seeing what other petitions are taking place, if I can easily read up on the issue and help them out by signing I think it is a great way to make changes.

Reference

Miller, Alisa, dir. The News about the News. 2011. Film.

Welland Walk

Reflection 7

Welland Walk

Description

Last Tuesday was freezing, but my boyfriend and I were visiting Niagara Falls for a couple of days over reading week so I thought what better time to get an OOCLO done? We went at about 4:00 in the late afternoon, because it gets dark any later in February. I think he was more excited than me too embark on this Thorold adventure, and learn about the war of 1812. I really had no idea about the history. It wasn’t very busy perhaps because it was so cold out, good thing we dressed for the weather. Overlooking the canal, I knew that the ships were going to be massive but seeing them up close was a different story, along with the huge gates. As we continued walking we posed for some pictures with the murals, well mostly I did and in the pamphlet it said that these were the largest mural project of their kind in Canada, they were much larger than I had originally expected. The water I was use too and had seen before is in Toronto, so you can only imagine I was used to seeing water and the area around it highly polluted. Unexpectedly this water was clean, he wind caused it to be choppy and I can imagine very cold. Walking past the Constable house, the area was absolutely breathtaking, even though I found it a bit sketchy perhaps because the area was very old and it was starting to get darker out. I felt like someone was following us the whole time, it looked and felt like something out of a movie. Closer to the houses on Regent and Chapel, we noticed children outside which caused the eeriness to go away. The houses down Carleton Street were large in size along with the property they had, which I wasn’t expecting in this area usually the land suffers in older neighborhoods and the houses have character but aren’t huge. I enjoyed that all the houses were different, not like in my community all built by the same builder causing every other one to be the exact same. We than decided to return to his car, my glasses fogged up when entering the warm car which was slightly embarrassing. Tim Horton’s was the next stop to attempt to warm back up.

Examination

I was looking through all the past readings we have done, and Imagine Niagara popped into my head when thinking about this OOCLO. When I thought of Niagara before coming here, I imagined casinos, hotels, waterparks and haunted houses, a tourists dream. After doing OOCLOS and seeing this Canal it changed my mind and made me realize you can’t judge places before you see them first hand. Schneekloth & Shibley (2005) talked about two imaginations “industrial riches and natural heritage”. I think taking a walk through Thorold and seeing the canal is the perfect place to find this. You have the industrial aspect of the actual canal and locks with the metal and coldness, while the nature incorporated as well.

I think like Schneekloth & Shibley (2005) argue that the past makes us who we are and therefore we must treasure it and display it where we can. In 1812 I learned that this area use to be a battlefield so back then it wouldn’t have looked the same as now, but at least having this canal and murals holds on to some of the past. Schneekloth & Shibley (2005) say that places by their nature are going to change we just must hold onto the memories and meanings for the next generations which I believe directly relates to the Welland canal and Thorold walk.

Relating to our topic of social media from this semester, I believe that our phones and the internet have steered us away from getting to see the outside world and I for one am guilty of this. Looking at pictures and experiencing something for you are two totally different things. I hope that my children will still get to see and experience nature for themselves and not take it for granted.

Articulation of Learning

I have learned that history isn’t boring and is still significant to us today, by taking walks or seeing murals on the wall.

I learned this when I walked through Thorold, along the canal, down Carleton street, and past the houses.  

This learning matters because I think I myself take nature and history for granted, when really it is important to know the area in which you’re living in.

In light of this learning I plan on taking more walks around the area, as I am new to this area I feel like I should make a lot more effort to get to know where I live.

Reference

Schneekloth, Lynda H., & Shibley, Robert G. (2005). Imagine Niagara. Journal of

Canadian Studies, 39(3), 105-120. 

Art Centre

                                                                       Reflection 6
                                                             Rodman Hall Art Centre

Description

I have never been extremely interested in art and always thought it was boring, I have been trying to engage in activities to change my mind and have me think of art in a new light. The Rodman Hall Art Centre seemed like a great opportunity to do so. On Thursday January 24^th, I decided to tag my roommates along and visit this museum. The museum is located in an old house downtown St. Catharines, this added to the “artsy” aspect I was thinking of. I love that each season they display different events and exhibits every season, therefore it would keep people wanting to go back to check out the new designs. While we were visiting there was three, Usher the fall of the house, Settlement and All that is solid. The most interesting one was the settlement because it was outdoors. I had never seen this before and I think it would be awesome to see the sculptures within the garden atmosphere but they hadn’t bloomed yet while we were there. The exhibit all that is solid was all about technology and dimensions, and at first I thought of art as paintings and drawings hung up around a museum, but Rodman Hall Art Centre proved me wrong. They had displays and abstract objects which caused me to pay more close attention and think of art in different ways.

Examination

The article that relates to this OOCLO is The role of the voluntary sector in a modern welfare state by Neil Brooks. The voluntary sector is social activity that organizations take on without the government and not for profit. Because these sectors are non-profit and don't take money from the government, it is difficult to collect funds. Everyone in a given society is supposed to have equal rights to all services that are provided, and everyone in St.Catharines does have the right to visit the Rodman Hall Art Centre. Together people of the community can support one another and provide these services, such as having an art museum. I think societies don’t focus enough on the arts, perhaps these places aren't known about or people believe, like I did that art is boring and pointless. Even though most art museums aren't funded by the government I still think they play an important role in a community.

Articulation of Learning

 I have learned that you have to truly see things, and take things in for yourself before judging it. In movies and through the media, museums are shown as dull, quiet places were old paintings are hung. I have learned that this isn’t always the case.

 I learned this when the Rodman Hall Art Centre has sculptures or badgers and coyotes on display, and some of the art was based around technology and the future, not the past.

This learning matters because some people really enjoy art and believe that it makes people think outside the box, and have more abstract thoughts. If more people took time to really focus on art without any bias thoughts, I think they would feel the same.

In light of this learning I hope to visit other art centre’s, perhaps closer to home and think about the art and what the artists are trying to portray.

Reference

Brooks, Neil. (2001). The role of the voluntary sector in a modern welfare state. In J. Phillips, B. Chapman & D. Stevens (Eds.), Between State and Market: Essays on Charities Law and Policy in Canada (pp. 166-168, 185-202). Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press. 

Mid-term Meta-reflection

Thinking back over the course, the best sources of learning in general would have to be the OOCLOS because they were different activities every two weeks, and the expanded my way of thinking. Through the OOCLOS I met new friends, learned about what's available in the community and learned about myself when placed in different situations. The other activity that I enjoyed in the term was in class when we made towers out a newspaper, it was a fun class and I again got to meet new people. We worked as a team, and didn't come across any issues even though other teams had announced that they faced some problems. No matter who won, we had fun rolling up the newspapers and working together.

When arriving at the sites second term, I plan on taking more field notes to make it easier when I am going to write my reflection. I think that this will deepen my learning, because the notes will spark what I was thinking at that exact moment of the OOCLO. I am looking forward to continuing this class and doing more hands on learning. I hope to participate in more OOCLOS that involve people in the community, and I hope to engage with them and hear their stories.

Attending Religious Ceremony

Reflection Number 4
Attending Religious Ceremony

Description

I went home to Whitby for the weekend, and on the Sunday morning I asked my Dad if he wanted to go to church with me. We found a church called Holy Family Catholic Church near my house. My parents always wanted me to choose my own religion, if any at all. I am not baptized and I know nothing about the Christian faith. I figured that because so many people practice it, that it would be a good place to start my learning. Religion seems to be a touchy subject with a lot of people, and when I say I’ve never been to church I feel judged, so this was the perfect opportunity to do so. When arriving, I just wanted to sit in the back and go unnoticed because I didn’t want to say anything to offend anyone. Watching everyone it reminded me of a community setting, everyone was shaking hands and had big smiles on their faces which made the atmosphere feel more inviting then I thought it would be. I talked to a man sitting in the same row as me, and he explained that if I wanted to join the church it should come from me and not outside sources pressuring me. I always thought religion resembled somewhat a cult, and that they almost force you into their beliefs, but this wasn’t the case. Also there was water at the back on the church on the wall, and someone overheard me ask my Dad what that was for, they told me that it was for baptisms that took place and was called holy water. When the mass began, I simply followed what everyone else was doing so that I didn’t stick out like a sore thumb. Communion occurred, but good thing I knew that I wasn’t supposed to follow along with getting the bread and water, as it was purely for the Catholics and who were baptized.

Examination

Relating to the reading “Rethinking experience: What do we mean by this word 'experience'?” written by Karen Fox I believe that every experience is what we make it, and that it is personal. She says “What counts as experience is neither self-evident nor straightforward;” which explains that experiences are necessary and depends on one’s interpretation. Indulging in a different culture than your own is an experience in itself, and how I see it will be completely different than someone else. This is why experiences are so important, you learn for yourself and on your own. This was just a type of experience; there is no set definition especially for religious experiences.

Articulation of Learning

I have learned that finding out about peoples cultures and religions can be beneficial to you, it broadens your knowledge and makes you less judgmental. Catholic religion is very popular and even if you don’t believe in what they are saying, you must respect others decisions.

I learned this when the man sitting next to me at church said that they don’t want to push their beliefs on anyone; therefore they aren’t judging you and you shouldn’t in return. Everyone should respect whatever you believe in, and the people of this church did.

This learning matters because it would make more people get along, I believe that if we attended more religious ceremonies or different churches we would appreciate others more and see that everyone is similar.

In light of this learning, I want to attend more services with all of my friends from different backgrounds, and see what their families and they practice. It has showed me that religion is not so much a cult, but something for people to believe in.

Reference

Fox , Karen . Rethinking Experience . Colorado : Journal of Experimental Education , 2008. Print.

St. Catharines Museum

                                                                                Reflection # 3
                                                                       St. Catharines Museum

Description

When planning my next OOCLO I wanted to attend a place that was inexpensive and in St. Catharine’s, so it was easier to get to. What came to my mind was the St.Catharins museum; others had talked about it in seminar the previous week and said it was worthwhile. I am not from around here, so I figured it would be a good way to learn about the new place I am currently living in. This class gives me the opportunities to learn about this area, and it has made me want to go home and learn about Whitby as well. Exhibits focused on local sports heroes in the sport of lacrosse and the Underground Railroad. The main focus was the Welland Canal. I found the Underground Railroad the most interesting, because I have learned about this way back in elementary school. I was excited to learn that Harriet Tubman lived in St.Catharines for ten years; also that St.Catharines was the last stop for a lot of the people travelling to Canada, which makes sense because it is so close to the border. My favourite part was called the lock 3. I had never seen locks before and it was amazing to watch ships go by.it was such close proximity to where you stand. Before leaving we visited to information booth, where we learned that 93 million litres of water raises and lowers the ships. We took many pictures and enjoyed being outside. I thought that visiting a museum would be extremely boring but I came away from the experience learning a lot.

Examination

The article “All that we Share” by Jay Walljasper talks about the commons, which is land belonging to a whole community. This relates to my OOCLO experience because the museum is a common, it is a place that is free, or takes donations, and all the community pays to have it running. Anyone can visit this place. It explains the idea that everyone can share the resources, and even though I don’t think this will happen, the St. Catharine’s museum is an area that no matter what socio-economic status you have, everyone has the same opportunities to attend. This article talks about shifting people’s thoughts and making them less egotistic. It is an idea that happened previously in history, commons were present in society. This also relates to my OOCLO, where you have to go back and learn about the past to affect your future.

Articulation of Learning

I have learned that you can’t judge activities before doing them and don’t “judge a book by its cover”. I never thought that I would have enjoyed my time at a museum, but now learning about the area that you live in is interesting to me. I also learned about the history of lacrosse and more about the people involved with the Underground Railroad.

I learned this when I interacted with people at the museum, and by going out and giving something a try. That’s what I wanted to take away from this class, and this activity allowed me to do so.

This learning matters because our history effects our present. I think that it is beneficial for anyone to attend a museum and learn about the past. It shows learning in a different light, not just out of the books.

In light of this learning I will change my perspective, when I was younger I thought museums were boring, probably from what I heard and saw in the media. I now believe that you have to try things before judging them.

Reference

Walljasper, Jay. (2010). All that we share Welcome to a new kind of movement—one that          reshapes how we think about ownership and cooperation. The New Press: 288.

                                                

Random Act of Kindness Day

Grace Week
Random Act Of Kindness Day

Description

Last Friday my roommates and I participated in Brock University’s random act of kindness day, we decided to join the activities that were taking place on Brock’s campus. We went at around 2 o’clock to the people organizing the event; the student who had seemed to be the head of the event was thrilled to see us. We were asked to make cards for the bus drivers who come outside the tower. My roommate Maddie and I teamed up and got very creative. We made a butterfly and Sun card out of cut out hands. We thanked them for the work they do, but these cards took a lot longer than I expected. There was 6 of us girls working on the crafts, and I was surprised to see that no one in the two hours that we were there had come to participate in the Random Act of Kindness day. We were inspired by the idea of giving out cards to complete strangers to brighten their day, and continued making smaller cards with inspirational quotes and sayings on them. After everyone had made their cards, we caught the 4 o clock bus schedules and handed them out to various bus drivers. Then three of us decided to pass out the smaller cards to people studying hard in the library, along with chocolates and juice boxes. We quickly but quietly shuffled through the library passing out our homemade cards and trying to make it completely anonymous. We had all hoped that this act had brightened their day, and on every card we wrote pay it forward in hopes that they might do the same.

Examination

The book “Notes from young activists” and activism in general relates to this week’s topic. If more young people go out there and support a cause that they believe in, I believe that things can change. Today’s society is becoming all about “me” and everyone only cares about themselves. The “Notes from young activists” narrates people’s stories and how they have made a difference and what they have done, whether it is overseas or here at home. This shows that we can make a change, even here in our own community. Helping other people seems like such an easy concept, but there are so few people who actually partake in doing so. The Random Act of Kindness day brings to light the idea of doing something for others solely just as an act, with no recognition involved.

Articulation of Learning

I have learned that taking even a few hours out of your day, and performing small gestures can make you and others feel better about themselves. I know that people are extremely busy in their own lives but this activity only took about 2 hours and I hope that it made people pass along the message.

I learned this when people smiled after giving them treats, and simply saying have a nice day. The people in the library were taken back and the looks on their faces showed that these small acts didn’t occur very often.

This learning matters because unfortunately for most people like myself, we need a day to remember to be nice to others, but it should happen naturally and every day. We shouldn’t need a reminder to be nice to one another.

In light of this learning I now try and go out of my way more often for the benefit of others. I try my best to do simple tasks such as smile, hold open a door or say have a nice day to strangers.                      

Reference

Nutt, Samantha , Daniel Cohen , Severn Cullis-Suzuki , Kris Frederickson , Ahmed Kayssi , and Cynthia Mackenzie . Notes from Canada's young activits . Vancouver ; Berkley : D&M, 2007. Print.

Getting Lost

                                                                             Reflection #2
                                                                              Getting Lost

Description

As I was at my friend’s house visiting last week, I met a few of her roommates and one happened to also be taking this class. She was headed out to an OOCLO, so I decided to tag along. We had planned to head to Welland to check out the farmers market. As we were driving, we were getting to know each other, and happened to have the same taste in music. After figuring that out we of course had to play some songs, while singing and dancing in the car we got completely lost and could not find the market. As we were driving around, I looked to my left and saw a Memorial park, so we quickly parked the car and decided to go for a walk. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and all of the leaves on the trees had changed to beautiful reds, yellows and oranges. We had a great time taking pictures, looking at the scenery and enjoying the peacefulness when all of a sudden, my new friend noticed holes in the ground. While saying this to me a snake slithered right by my foot, and I darted out of the park as fast as I could to the car. That was the end of our adventure at the Memorial park.

Examination

Erik Olin Wrights reading “real utopias” explains why we sociologists should study real utopias and not fantasies. He explains that by knowing when opportunities arise to build on institutions that we humans recognize this and act upon it to make our world that much closer to becoming utopian. The park we visited was so quiet and beautiful that it represented a utopian society. Because this certain part of the land was reserved and saved for animals and people such as ourselves to explore I understand why in the second reading “Implications of highway development in Canada’s Niagara fruit belt” by Suzanne Hill causes complications and issues. People of the region expressed their feelings that the fruit belt would no longer continue. I believe that we need to preserve land, in any region of the world such as parks, because it is important to not destroy the entire natural world around us. Niagara has a lot of things to offer and in Imagine Niagara by Lynda Scheekloth it explains this in further detail. The falls is an especially big attraction, dividing the United States and Canada. It describes that each region is built and represented by what is there and the surroundings. Imagine Niagara explains our class, it tells us that Niagara has history, stories and meanings to show.

Articulation of Learning

I have learned that the Niagara region has a lot to offer, it is a beautiful place and through this class it gives me the opportunity to go out and see these locations and learn new things. Through this OOCLO I learned that it’s not the destination, but the journey, and even though visiting a park may not have been the best OOCLO experience, the part I liked best is that I made a new friend.

I have learned this when I was driving around, looking at the scenery and discovering new things throughout St.Catharines and Niagara.

This learning matters because there is a bigger world outside of my little town where I came from. It is important to learn new things and it will make me a better and smarter person. I believe that these experiences will give me a better outlook.

In light of this learning I am excited to perform my next OOCLO and continue to discover the area that I’m currently living in. This past OOCLO has taught me to go along for the ride, and take different things from the experiences I have, such as meeting new people and friends.

References

Wright, Erik Olin. (2011). Real utopias. Contexts: Understanding People in their

Social Worlds 10(2). 36-42.

Schneekloth, Lynda H., & Shibley, Robert G. (2005). Imagine Niagara. Journal of

Canadian Studies, 39(3), 105-120.

Hill, A. Suzanne. (2002). A serpent in the garden: Implications of highway development

in Canada's Niagara fruit belt. Journal of Historical Sociology, 15(4), 495-514.

Forum 6

Through the usage of television, newspapers, radio and internet which I believe is becoming the most popular source for world news, Americans views on these given topics can be distorted. Stories on celebrities are less money to process and therefore other more important news gets pushed aside. This has to do with the lack of coverage of world news, which everyone has mentioned to be 12%. The cost effectiveness of gossiping about famous people rather than global issues is the reasoning behind Americans having a distorted view. This is terrible to think, and who decides what is more relevant and important than other things? Some Americans believe these stories about celebs are the news when really things should change and more global coverage should be addressed.


The news about the news really opened my eyes to see that what I think of as news, truly isn't what matters. Reading tabloids on the latest celebrity is considered news in our society and our generation, we have a distorted view of the world this way. The coverage we do get of stories and events occurring, are only important and impacted Canada or the United states, not the rest of the world and therefore we lack to knowledge of what happens outside of these boundaries. We need more global coverage, on the internet the most because this is what youth is growing up with now. Our parents and grandparents generation will still sit down and read the newspaper, but for most of us everything is online, and therefore real news coverage from around the world should be shown and discussed for youth, including myself to be more aware. It is important to know what is going on elsewhere, it makes you a smarter person and perhaps will make you more thankful for where you do live.

Forum 5

Gill Seyfang suggests that having local organic food networks will develop new institutions which helps people change their consumption. By purchasing locally grown foods, you are helping the economy in your area succeed. The local farmers gain profit and the citizens are contributing to ecological citizenship by purchasing within their community. Therefore the key things for achieving sustainable consumption are growing and buying locally, community building which in return will reduce ecological footprints.

I agree with Gill Seyfang, although I don't practice what I preach. Buying food locally and organically is better for your and your community but it is also rather expensive. I learned in high school that  shopping within a 100 mile radius of your house will reassure that you are buying healthy and helping your ecological footprint, as the food therefore isn't be transported and shipped half way across the world into your hands. This is a solid idea, and changing consumption and helping local farmers succeed is a great solution, it isn't always the easiest as it becomes expensive and the food selection varies throughout the year.

Forum 4

Illich argues that when North American students take “Mission-Vacations” it is offensive to Latin America, that for North American wealthy students it is just the “thing to do”. He believes that when we go to “help” the Latin Americans we are pretentiously imposing ourselves on them.  The point that Illich makes about how to Peace Corps spends around $10,000 dollars on each corps to help him adapt to his new environment and to guard him against culture shock, when really this money could be going towards helping the poor Mexicans receive an education is valid in my eyes. He also relates going to the Ghetto in the U.S and trying to help the poor, they would act terrible towards you either hitting or spitting on you, which would make you aware of the irrelevance among the poor. Also while in Latin America, we would be socializing with people close to us, according to class and language, not the actual people who need help because they can’t speak our language and we can’t speak theirs. He leaves out if we actually do any help there, he only states that we do harm, but his article doesn’t discuss if there are any positives. North Americans need to hear his message, because this is who he was directing it at, and that’s who he would like to hear his message.


 Travelling and joining peace missions, helping people has become more and more popular, but we don’t quite understand the true impact that it has. Even though people travelling overseas to help say that they have a new global perspective and the experience of “culture shock” most students overshadow this with the fact that this will help in getting a job and career development. I, myself have thought about going and building schools or houses in Africa, but after reading further into these trips, I am now not sure if they do more harm or good. Barbara Heron says that “overseas volunteering is increasingly motivated more by the opportunity to learn than by the desire to help others”. I think this is very true, people are going on these trips to gain experience and better themselves not others, not the poor.  The idea of poverty and inequality isn’t the number one priority which I think it should be. In saying that, if I were to travel abroad I would also be looking for the full package, the experience and travel and meeting new people along with helping poverty.

Forum 3

Going off of Jessica’s point of water, it is supposed to be available to everyone in the world. But we bottle water and sell it to people everywhere. Therefore it is a common that has become commercialized. Also as many people mentioned parks, which are supposed to be about the scenery and experiencing wildlife whereas now people pay to camp and partake in parks activities such as camping and hiking. Museums also come to mind when thinking of a common that can be commercialized, sometimes we pay to visit a museum and learn about history, which I believe should be free. All of these things could be turned from commodities into commons and vice versus.

This forum is analyzing the idea of the commons, Jay Walljasper All That We Share explains the concept of commons and commodities and how they intertwine. I chose to evaluate this forum because I had never really thought about how assets that are supposed to be commons become commercialized. I read Jessica’s forum response, and she talked about water. I thought that this was a great example, bottled water is seen all the time and people pay for it when water is supposed to be available to everyone not at an expense. This was important to me because I think in the future more and more things will become commercialized and sold. Now a days, everything comes with a price, hardly anything is free anymore. Further questions that would arise are in the future what else will be turned from commodities into commons and vice versus? Also why is this happening?  I could have further explored the complexity of the issue by first expressing how this is an issue, or figuring out if it is one. There are positives and negatives, such as making money and helping the economy but things that use to be simple and free no longer exist.

Forum 2

I decided to read Chris Richards’s narrative called “Ah, so we are all the same” the message he portrayed and learned in Ghana was amazing. The narrative was named after a quote said by Charles, a person working alongside him as an engineer. This quote represents human equality, the men sat there quietly and realized that they were both human and even though Chris is from Canada and Charles was from Ghana there is not real difference, and I enjoyed reading about that experience. I also respected Chris when he said that although foreigners can help with production the work must be driven by local leaders. This showed that Chris didn’t think he was better than any Ghanaian worker; he was simply there to help and learn from them. Even though I can’t exactly relate to Chris because I haven’t performed a job like he has, one day I would love to travel overseas, perhaps not for engineering, but to experience life from a different perspective and learn firsthand the social issues that occur outside of Canadian borders.   


I really enjoyed reading the stories from some of Canada’s young activists. “Ah, so we are all the same” showed that everyone is human, and has similarities no matter where you come from. We can learn from watching others and talking to them about their experiences. After reading these entries, it has sparked my interest in travelling and helping overseas. I believe that everyone can learn from reading this book and gaining knowledge on what young people have done to change the world, or their own views. Later in the course, during a seminar a student brought up the idea of likism. I found this very interesting, because now we think by liking something on Facebook it is somehow a form of activism. We have to realize that there is a difference in making a change by doing something rather than liking a post. Activism is an important topic, and I’ve learned that when celebrities take a stand on a certain issue that it is easier to gain support but activism on any given issue can start from anyone. Many time when I think of activism I think of overseas work that is being done, which is the case for Chris Richard’s but I believe that we have a lot to do in our own country as well.

Forum 1

The question I wanted to know is does your socio economic status affects your education. This was done in a group discussion, and the census was that yes it does. The reasons as to why people believed this was because if you can afford a tutor, and school supplies and extra-curricular activities such as field trips through high school and elementary then you have a better opportunity than the rest of the kids who can’t. Also, if you have the money to attend post-secondary school, which is very expensive, you have more experiences, connections and again opportunities. Therefore there are connections related to money and receiving a certain level of education.

Through this forum posting I was trying to get at the point that education and socio economic status are related, and through a social analysis of the two we can see this. People who have more money also have more opportunities in all aspects of life, but especially education. An alternative perspective could be that there are situations where people exceed and receive a higher education even if they don’t come from money, but they would have had to work harder at it. Social analysis is looking at a census and questioning and becoming aware of the situation. It is learning by doing not just by listening in a classroom, which this class is all about. My thinking hasn’t changed since writing this forum; I still believe that the higher the socio economic status the easier and better opportunities come to you. Next semester I am going to try and comment more on others forum responses, and hope that they give feedback as well to my responses because it will help when trying to improve our forums.  

Critical Moments

I did this exercise I bit differently, I chose one OOCLO that represented strength, one that represented satisfaction and one that represented success.

First was strength, I chose "its a girl documentary" this shows the strength that I have because I am a girl living in Canada, the females in China and India suffer daily or are murdered for being a girl, this made me terribly sad and aggravated at first but than I had to look at my own life, and this provided strength to continue and pursue my dreams for the women that cant. second was the satisfaction and the OOCLO of random act of kindness represented this. this OOCLO including make cards for the bus drivers, and my group took it further handing out candy and little inspirational quotes to people in the library. seeing people smile over something so little really brought my satisfaction. the last was success, the activism OOCLO, signing a petition represented this. the girl Julia from the foundation got enough signatures for the petition against seventeen magazine using photo shop on the models, I had signed this petition along with vogue magazine. this shows success because Julia has won, and seventeen agreed to showing normal sized women, I think this is amazing and shows that you can go after what you believe it, and achieve success.

Icon-Bird

Birds are interesting creatures.

Birds generally symbolize freedom and no limits they can choose whether to be on land or in the sky. They have air of freedom about them, though they are bound by the land because they need the resources. They are the only creature that God made who can soar up into the sky, and still have the freedom to return to earth again. A bird corresponds with this course because throughout the OOCLOS I have learned that we only have the limits that we place on ourselves. Birds represent a variety of things, communication which was extremely important for this class, and freedom as we are free to explore our surroundings and free to interpret the world as we want too.

Self Introduction

Hi my name is Amanda Sexton, Welcome to my blog!

I am a second year student at Brock University. I decided to enroll in the community engagement class because it was different than any of the classes I have taken before. It gives students the opportunity to explore the area around them and partake in activities special to the community. This class has made me realize that every place has things to offer and adventures to discover. It gives you the chance to meet new people and see new things, which I wouldn’t have done without the class. These posts show the stories that I have experienced throughout the Niagara and St.Catharines region.

Hope you Enjoy!