My GEM journey
My GEM journey
I had the opportunity to rediscover myself through Social Psychology: “Who am I?” This was the question I asked myself when I pretended to like wrestling because all my classmates did in grade 6, again when I shaved off all my hair before high school, and, more recently, when I arrived in Middletown, CT, USA, …
I took a class on Social Psychology in my third year at Wesleyan, and here I found quite a number of insights that complemented my knowledge from Introduction to Global Engagement. One of the topics we discussed in class was implicit bias. Implicit bias, specifically in the context of racism, challenges the prevalent misconception that …
In my time in Kenya, it was so interesting to see how English functioned across different social settings. I paid careful attention to when people used English, when they shifted into Swahili, and when they used various indigenous languages. My observations reminded me of Alastair Pennycook’s critique of English as not merely a language but …
The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is about two rival Gikuyu villages in colonial Kenya, divided by Christianity, traditional beliefs, and the question of female circumcision. Waiyaki, the main character, tries to unite the people through education, but he is caught between tradition and colonial Christian influence. His love for Nyambura, a Christian girl, …
In this reflection from the introduction to the Global Engagement class, I wrote about a few thoughts I had after watching the movie Crossing Borders. This is a movie about some students from Spain who go to Morocco for a class trip. It explores geopolitical concerns between these two countries and how they may be …
In my Global Engagement Senior Capstone class, we put together a photo compilation of our most significant GEM experiences across the years to tell our GEM stories. This assignment deeply resonated with me, as it gave me the opportunity to reflect on my global engagement journey thus far and to see and hear how people …
In my Global Engagement Senior Capstone class, we were tasked with submitting a meaningful photo from our global engagement journey so far, along with a description. Following this, the class was presented with each person’s image without a description and asked to reflect on what they thought it might mean in the absence of context. …
The Only Difference is Time(Ama Tuffour, 08/1/24, Cape Coast Castle) The Cape Coast Castle was built by the Swedes as a trading post in the 1650s. It was later transformed into a slave fort in 1644 by the British. Following Ghana’s independence in 1957, the Cape Coast Castle now serves as a museum to commemorate …
I attended an event titled Bangla, Belonging & Beyond during the Power of Language Week and took some field notes. Sonaly Mehnaz stood in front of the room with an orange-patterned scarf elegantly draped around her neck. She stared intently at her laptop screen, slightly fidgeting with her trackpad. My eyes were immediately drawn to …
In my Introduction to Global Engagement class (CGST 205), we were tasked with creating a mini auto-ethnography in the form of a creative cultural self-portrait. This assignment encouraged me to tease out multiple aspects of my identity and thoroughly reflect on them. It took some vulnerability and bravery to acknowledge, or in some cases re-discover, …
