Maus Seminar 1

I think this Maus seminar went ok, but it could have been better. I think a lot of people's views got shut down after they would say things, or that people did not always elaborate on questions asked or ideas shared. But, I am still very curious about masks, and the significance of the masks. I would love to learn more about the meaning of the masks and why they are worn even when the author talks about more recent events instead of just in the pictures of Auschwitz.

Free Write on Rights

1. Write about a particular statement from today's activity when you noticed your thinking change
What was said to sway your oppinion
2. How is your understanding of which rights are important a reflection of your own identity and life experiences

2. I think life experiences are really important to which rights you think are important. Things that I have seen, or things that have affected me or people I am very close to has changed the way I think about things. In particular, because of Kivu and the Braners I have an oppinion about a lot of things that I wouldn't be passionate about. After experiencing Slum Awareness day at camp, I realized how crucial things like water and freedom are. I learned about sex trafficing and how horrific and awful that is. Though the day did make me thankful for the things I have and my freedom, over all it made me want to do something. To take action on these kind of things.

Seven- Issues In the Congo Now

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/10/01/congo.atrocities.un.report/index.html?iref=allsearch

-human rights violations past ten years were heart breaking
"Tens of thousands of people were killed, and numerous others were raped, mutilated or otherwise victimized during the decade," the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

"Far too often, Congolese voices go unheeded. I truly hope that this time it is going to be different."

UN released a report of deaths in the Congo. Interesting how the human rights violations are still continuing through the Congo now. The killings of the people from the past ten years is interesting when compared to the Congo in Leopolds time. It also discusses how the voices of Congolese do not get heard, which was also seen in King Leopold's Ghost

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/09/24/congo.un.rape.report/index.html?iref=allsearch

Different report on how UN is saying that leadership in the Congo did not prevent mass rapes.
"I fully recognize the enormous difficulties this involves, but we have to do better. Impunity for rape in the past, and now, will simply breed more rape in the future. The cycle of impunity for sexual violence in this part of the DRC must be broken,"
Rape, death, and violence are still problematic in the Congo. And, like with King Leopold's time, officals still arent

Six- Current Event Notes

Article:
Vatican Bank faces money laundering Probe
by the CNN Wire staff
posted September 21
from CNN.com

There is an investigation by italian authorities over a violation of the money laundering regulations in the vatican. A different Italian bank alerted investigators that they had found 2 vatican transactions that did not fit into their requirements. The Vatican Bank is the most secret bank in the world, and no one actually knows how much money it controls. The requirement that was not met in the transaction was that the bank did not give enough information about the transfers, the transfers were one for twenty million euros and one for three million euros.
it gets tricky because vatican city is technically a sovereign state- italy only has
certain powers over them
pope created the account for only holy causes
the two transactions did not give enough detailed information

i i thought it was interesting how there is a top secret bank account, and since the vatican is its own state how it has its own special regulations.

it was slightly biased because not much information is being given from the vatican, not enough to give reasonings for the two transactions, or even what rules the bank has, and where and what is the money directly going to.

FIVE- First Small Group Discussion

I was really pleased with how the discussion went. I finally felt like I could voice my opinion and everyone was very respected and listened to. A lingering thought about the discussion I have, is the question of King Leopold's ghost. It was interesting to see how we have individually figured out an answer, and after discussing, I feel like we have a really good understanding of what the ghost might be. No one felt the feeling like they wouldn't be listened to or respected, which really created a good environment in which every one shared their thoughts.

Four- King Leopold's Ghost First Response

It was really interesting reading about Stanley and how he wants to recreate his history. It was just an interesting idea.
“Stanley not only gave himself a new name;he tried for the rest of his life to give himself a new biography” (23)
It made me curious if any other people in history have done this. Is this a common thing? It was really interesting to read about, and I'm excited to learn more.
What other parts of history have been twisted?


Why is there a need for Stanley to twist his biography, when he is the main character?

What does the slavery of Alphonzo's nephews say about the culture?

Three- Thoughts on Imperialism Lecture

I learned what imperialism was in general, which was pretty neat. I want to learn more about the effects of the imperialism or colonialism on the country was. After the mini research I did on Rwanda, it was interesting to see why the genocide happened. I would be very interested in seeing the other effects on different countries.