1. Children's health. This is interesting to me because this issue has affected Whitfield through the changes we made to our lunches, so I wanted to see how much of an issue it is throughout STL and what is being done/can be done to improve the health of our city.
2. BandTogether: This is a free music program open to any adults that "provides an opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, straight and transgendered musicians to perform and have fun in a relaxed, friendly environment." I'm interested in music, so this looks like a unique program. http://www.bandtogetherstl.com/?q=node/1
3. Beginning Babies with Books: this is a program that stresses the importance of childhood literacy and teaches kids to read. I've always liked reading, so I thought this would be interesting.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Research Question
If the LRA can't be stopped with violence and an army, how can they be stopped?
How does Joseph Kony force children to join his army?
What is being done to help these children?
Why is the world just now starting to help, after two decades?*
How are the children's rights being violated?
Why does Kony use children to do his dirty work?
How has religion contributed to the acts of the LRA? How do they use religion to justify their actions?
How has this issue been addressed? Has focus made any impact? Have there been any repercussions? When was the peak of global focus, and why was that? Ugandan history (why Uganda)? Why children? Family roles? Security? Released children (effects)?
How have abducted children been affected after they were released?
How has this issue been addressed in a global view, and what repercussions have come because of it?
Research Question:
How has global involvement influenced the conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army in Northern Uganda?
I will need to look up articles, books, and more that illustrate a global reaction to this incident, specifically whether it was a large focus and what repercussions, if any, that focus has caused. I will need to learn about various organizations that are responding, as well as what governments have done. I will need to find out when the peak of interest in Northern Uganda occurred, and why that is.
How does Joseph Kony force children to join his army?
What is being done to help these children?
Why is the world just now starting to help, after two decades?*
How are the children's rights being violated?
Why does Kony use children to do his dirty work?
How has religion contributed to the acts of the LRA? How do they use religion to justify their actions?
How has this issue been addressed? Has focus made any impact? Have there been any repercussions? When was the peak of global focus, and why was that? Ugandan history (why Uganda)? Why children? Family roles? Security? Released children (effects)?
How have abducted children been affected after they were released?
How has this issue been addressed in a global view, and what repercussions have come because of it?
Research Question:
How has global involvement influenced the conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army in Northern Uganda?
I will need to look up articles, books, and more that illustrate a global reaction to this incident, specifically whether it was a large focus and what repercussions, if any, that focus has caused. I will need to learn about various organizations that are responding, as well as what governments have done. I will need to find out when the peak of interest in Northern Uganda occurred, and why that is.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Tentative Research Proposal
1. I am interested in researching the Lord's Resistance Army and the child soldiers in Uganda. I'm interested in this situation because I heard about the organization Invisible Children, which works to stop these abductions, from a friend and I want to know more. I want to know the background information of what is happening and what is being done/has been done to stop it. I want to focus especially on children because I'm shocked at the extent that their rights are being violated.
2. http://www.invisiblechildren.com/our-story
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/uganda_25184.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lra.htm
3. I'm not sure what exact aspect of this conflict I'm going to research, but I know I'm going to research something related to the child soldiers. What would be some good books to use (especially some that contain primary sources)? What other organizations, besides UNICEF and Invisible Children, are working to resolve this conflict?
2. http://www.invisiblechildren.com/our-story
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/uganda_25184.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lra.htm
3. I'm not sure what exact aspect of this conflict I'm going to research, but I know I'm going to research something related to the child soldiers. What would be some good books to use (especially some that contain primary sources)? What other organizations, besides UNICEF and Invisible Children, are working to resolve this conflict?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Maus Discussion - image
Image: pg 74. bug spray.
I talked about this image a little in the discussion but it still is the one that jumped out at me the most. Art was so nonchalant about killing the bugs, it's ironic and I drew many parallels with it. All of the characters in this book are animals, but they symbolize people. He said the flies were bothering him and just eating him up, so with a quick spray of pesticide they were killed and taken care of. I drew parallels with the Nazis killing the Jews, especially because the language they used was very similar. This image especially impacted me because it was the last of the reading. I was taken aback, and then went back and looked at it again. I think the thing that was the most shocking was the ease and the nonchalantness that Art had when he killed them, then said it was too cold and he went inside to read.
I talked about this image a little in the discussion but it still is the one that jumped out at me the most. Art was so nonchalant about killing the bugs, it's ironic and I drew many parallels with it. All of the characters in this book are animals, but they symbolize people. He said the flies were bothering him and just eating him up, so with a quick spray of pesticide they were killed and taken care of. I drew parallels with the Nazis killing the Jews, especially because the language they used was very similar. This image especially impacted me because it was the last of the reading. I was taken aback, and then went back and looked at it again. I think the thing that was the most shocking was the ease and the nonchalantness that Art had when he killed them, then said it was too cold and he went inside to read.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Democratic Republic of the Congo Today
"UN releases 'heartbreaking' human rights report on the Congo"
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/10/01/congo.atrocities.un.report/index.html?iref=allsearch
This article is about the UN report that was just released about human rights violations in the Congo over 10 years in the Congo. It accuses Rwandan forces of committing these atrocities with the help of several armed Congolese groups. There have been thousands of murders and rapes in the Congo, with the violence being aimed especially at women and children. It says that Rwandans have been murdering ethnic Hutus who had fled to the Congo. I thought it was interesting that this article brought up the point that these children have only grown up with violence as a solution to problems, so that's all they'll ever know, and this strategy will deteriorate the situation in the Congo even more. Most of these atrocities had gone unheeded, but at the end of the article it said that hopefully justice will be able to be given, which I agree with.
"Rwanda threatens UN over DR Congo 'genocide' report"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11122650
This second article was written 2 months before the first article I chose. It's about Rwanda's threat to withdraw cooperation with the United Nations if the report detailing the violence in the Congo, which accuses Rwanda of being responsible, is published. They say they will withdraw peace-keeping operations in various parts of Africa, which analysts say would be a huge blow because of the escalating violence in Darfur. The Rwandan governments says that they went into the Congo when it was known as Zaire to pursue the Hutu militias responsible for carrying out mass killings of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994l, while the UN says they killed thousands of Rwandan and Congolese Hutus. I am interested to see what Rwanda will do now that the UN report was leaked. Will they follow up on their threat? And if they do, how will that affect the situation in Africa, especially in countries like Darfur and the Congo?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/10/01/congo.atrocities.un.report/index.html?iref=allsearch
This article is about the UN report that was just released about human rights violations in the Congo over 10 years in the Congo. It accuses Rwandan forces of committing these atrocities with the help of several armed Congolese groups. There have been thousands of murders and rapes in the Congo, with the violence being aimed especially at women and children. It says that Rwandans have been murdering ethnic Hutus who had fled to the Congo. I thought it was interesting that this article brought up the point that these children have only grown up with violence as a solution to problems, so that's all they'll ever know, and this strategy will deteriorate the situation in the Congo even more. Most of these atrocities had gone unheeded, but at the end of the article it said that hopefully justice will be able to be given, which I agree with.
"Rwanda threatens UN over DR Congo 'genocide' report"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11122650
This second article was written 2 months before the first article I chose. It's about Rwanda's threat to withdraw cooperation with the United Nations if the report detailing the violence in the Congo, which accuses Rwanda of being responsible, is published. They say they will withdraw peace-keeping operations in various parts of Africa, which analysts say would be a huge blow because of the escalating violence in Darfur. The Rwandan governments says that they went into the Congo when it was known as Zaire to pursue the Hutu militias responsible for carrying out mass killings of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994l, while the UN says they killed thousands of Rwandan and Congolese Hutus. I am interested to see what Rwanda will do now that the UN report was leaked. Will they follow up on their threat? And if they do, how will that affect the situation in Africa, especially in countries like Darfur and the Congo?
Friday, September 17, 2010
Lingering Idea
The question that I felt we discussed the most and that still interests me is the one that says:
Hochschild talks about an African chief, Nzansu, who fought for years against the whites in the Congo in a large rebellion. The whites were determined to defeat and kill him, yet there is no mention of his fate. Why would this be?
I think it's interesting to think of how Nzansu was one of the whites' greatest opposers, yet there was no mention of his death. The motives behind that interest me. It was one of the quotes that stuck with me most after I first did the reading. We had a good discussion hypothesizing motives for this, some of which were that Leopold didn't want the world to know there was opposition in his supposedly philanthropic colony to no one bothered to record it. I think it's fascinating how so many people must have either been there or known about the event, yet we have no idea what happened today.
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