Bonjour,
Hello from the Globalites of 2008-2009! We are excited to share with you through a series of letters for the next five months our journey into the cultures of Switzerland, France, Egypt, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, and South Korea, as experienced in Global Semester. We are a diverse group of students coming from backgrounds as varied as the humanities, social sciences, and the hard sciences. We even have two students who don't attend St. Olaf. They are from Knox College in Illinois and Valparaiso University in Indiana . Even now, a week into our study abroad, we feel these diversities have helped us come together as a group instead of pushing us apart. In a presentation in the spring given by Professor of Religion John Barbour, currently leading Term in Asia, we learned that though we may be visiting popular tourist locations such as the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, we should be in the mindset of a traveler or pilgrim rather than a tourist. In other words, we should be asking ourselves about the importance of the places we are seeing, not just to us, but to the people whose lives are centered on them.
This summer, in order to prepare ourselves, we read Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat . It detailed his journey of discovery (which began in Bangalore , one of the cities we will be visiting), in which he found that the playing field of the world economy was being flattened. In other words, the world as we know it is shrinking, and citizens of any country are beginning to be able to compete on the world market. His argument is useful but limited by its mainly economic focus. According to Friedman, this concept is known as globalization 3.0, in which individuals are empowered, transforming the world from a size small to a size tiny. In contrast, Globalization 1.0 empowered countries and lasted from 1492 until 1800. Furthermore, Globalization 2.0 was the transfer of power from the country level to multinational corporations. As we will be traveling to countries affected by Globalization 3.0 and will be observing how individuals assert themselves into this new paradigm, Friedman's book has introduced us to many concepts we will run into along the way. The first and second full days in Geneva , we had two class discussions, one of which dealt with our opinions on The World is Flat . We conversed about Friedman's strengths and weaknesses, some students connecting with his journalistic style, and others preferring a more academic, empirical approach. We were able to categorize his arguments, which allowed us to more easily identify our own points of agreement and disagreement with Friedman's work. This is an important introduction into our study, and it will be interesting to see how our opinions change throughout the semester. Through group discussions and personal experience in both Geneva and Paris , we were able to examine to a greater extent the interplay between globalization and tradition, and prepare ourselves for this field supervised course which will take place for the rest of our study abroad.
In Geneva , our first stop, our experience was focused on the European headquarters of the United Nations. We attended several briefings, which included speakers from departments such as Trade and Development, the Development Project, Humanitarian Affairs and separate entities such as the World Trade Organization. As the UN is the biggest intergovernmental organization in the world, these briefings served to give us a different perspective on global affairs. In addition to this, Geneva also historically represents a mixture of cultures, including French, Italian, German and Romansh. Although these are only European cultures, each has its own view of the world, and it was a learning experience to see them interact.
Our next stop was Paris (the favorite city of our two Professors, Richard and Wendy Allen), where we are currently engaging in cultured opportunities and observing the relationship between globalization and traditional culture in a mini case study. This is the topic which we will be pursuing throughout the semester. The French are unique in that their tradition is dynamic, keeping its root in history and at the same time absorbing new inventions and ideas into its national identity. For example, when the glass pyramid at the Louvre was first proposed, it was met with indignation and scorn. However, it has now become a treasured Parisian site. This lack of tension is mediated through the highly centralized French government, which has the directive to always remember tradition.
As we travel to Egypt on Tuesday, we are all looking forward- with a bit of apprehension- to our first taste of real otherness. We are all keeping our friends and families close to our hearts and look forward to writing again soon!
Sincerely,
Your Globalites
