People who know me well know that I love to speak (haha). However in this class, I find myself listening more than talking. I love the energy that flows through the discussions that we have. During class on Monday, we studied John Locke's letter, and compared his thoughts to Machiavelli's regarding morale, life, liberty and property. Later in the week, we analyzed Federalist Papers 6 and 10 (Hamilton and Madison, respectively). Tomorrow will mark the 6th World Politics class. We will be discussing Shotter's text as well as the idea of Social Constructivism. Here's a video that I found that gives a background of John Locke and his theory:
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Yesterday marked the first day of fall, and I'm quite excited. Growing up I did not have many chances to witness the changing of seasons. Over the weekend I had the opportunity to visit the African American History Museum for the very first time. This reminded me a lot of the book "The Truth About Awiti". As my companion and I went through the exhibits, I was able to point out things to her that were mentioned in the story or related to it. In one of the exhibits, my friend found and pointed out a small section dedicated to the Drayton Plantion. Being that my name is Talia Drayton...I'm actually not quite able to articulate how it felt to see that exhibit. A mixture of rage and sadness, I suppose. And like Awiti, that's what I am. A mixture of colonizer and slave. Depending on how far you chose to go back in my lineage, not all of the intermixing was consensual. The museum for me was not as heavy as Goree. To my surprise, it was actually filled with more joy than anything else. I go to see multiple generations crowd around the booths and exhibits, eagerly soaking up all of the information. There was also a sense of pride and justice, to FINALLY see parts of our history be recognized and celebrated. These are the types of things that (I think) bring the type of peace that Awiti was searching for. After visiting the museum, my friend and I spontaneously were able to attend a performance called: "Africa Umoja". My employment with WAMU was also made official a few days ago, and I am very excited to be working as an assistant producer with the Kojo Nnamdi show. Overall, I had a wonderful week. The themes that we discussed in class were virtu, fortuna (Monday) and power, strategy (Thursday). We spent a lot more time analyzing Michiavelli's work compared to Kelanic, but both added different dimensions to the multi-layered science that we call International Theory. There is so much to unpack with The Prince, I almost do not feel that I would be doing it enough justice to try and explain it in my own words. It is honestly so fascinating to me. While I would not call myself a Machiavellian, I do recognize some of a Prince's traits in myself and in others. Even thinking back to Diplomatic Risk, my mindset whilst playing would probably border on Princely tactics. Something I learned from the world wide web is that Machiavellianism is one of the three personality traits that are "referred to as the dark triad", with the other two traits being narcissism and psychopathy. I imagine the three of them as princes who are all brothers. They look something like this in my mind: Machiavelli is one of the dark triad personalities, a cynical disregard for morality, and a believed that the main focus for any ruler/principality should be on self-interest and personal gain. Virtues were only important in appearance, and further were only necessary if society deemed them as important qualities to have. Using that logic, a Prince could have a complete lack of ethics and standards, but would still be successful if his agenda was. The Church described this as "morally bankrupt tactics and utter manipulative leadership." Michiavelli would probably shrug and sum them up as necessary evils. Third week down!
This week was a little busier than most for me. In class today we continued our game of Diplomatic Risk. Now with more of an understanding of the game, it was a very hush hush bloodbath, imo. We all were out to push our own agendas, and felt very clever when we were able to one up other teams. I have been in the throes of a stomach bug, so I switched roles with Corwin (he became the Diplomat and I became the Press for our team). I sincerely hope that this game becomes a published board game someday. Halfway through, Corwin switches roles with Hannah (with Hannah now becoming our Diplomat and Corwin serving as our "Mr. Money Bags"). Something that I did not mention in my previous reflection about this game is the fact that my group is the hegemon of the game. We possess quite a sum of money chips, and our empire is quite expansive. A HUGE surprise that occurred mid game is the fact that Wyatt (a member of the Yellow team), veered off with Olivia in order to form the "Brown Team". They are now pursuing their goals of one world religion. They say world peace of religion but I am cautious about how much of their agenda they would actually share with us. To say that this news blindsided me would be an understatement. How odious this process can be! To create strategies and side plans of execution, only to have other agendas get in the way and muddle up everything that you have been working towards. This is, of course, this world of politics...but is very frustrating when you are trying to win a board game. To be a good leader, I'd imagine, you must be able to quickly recoup your bearings and react in a way that may put you back on top...or at least will bring you closer to your goals. I will not lie and say that I am not very invested into this game and its outcome. We got through around two rounds , and decided to meet up on Thursday to finish the game in the Sky Lounge of our building (Letts). We did not have class on Thursday, but it was recommended that we get started on next week's reading. We will be focusing on a new author, which happens to be Machiavelli. I am not well versed in his material, but I am familiar with his theory and the psychology behind it. The reading looks to be quite short, but I have a feeling that it will be packed with symbolism that will make for strong grounds of conversational pulls. I have only gotten through a few pages of it so far, but will have more to report during next week's reflection. We do not have class today, due to Labor Day. Even so, we continue our conversation of the book. At the very end of the novel, Awiti comments:
"No matter the destruction that ensues, I have learned no amount of vengeance can replace what I lost. There is no reparation great enough to substitute for what was stolen. Is there truly a cost for an altered destiny? There is nothing that can overturn the curse of a nation that was once blessed." I find myself with mixed feelings about her statement. There is a very interesting idea of multi-generational trauma. I do agree that this is a real thing because I've seen it within my community. Can one truly at peace if they find themselves constantly or even occasionally in anguish because of the past? Awiti was constantly in a state of blinding hatred. Even the color of her skin was a representation of this hatred. While she was not always aware of it, Awiti was the byproduct of violence and pain. In this way, she in turn could only bring more chaos, violence and pain to this world and inflict it upon others. During my gap year, I had to pleasure (if you can even call it that) of vising Goree Island in Senegal. The island was beautiful and full of tourists, but the energy of the place reminded me of Auschwitz. It was painful to be there. I would not consider myself an overly superstitious person, but if I had been forced to stay at Goree for any extended period of time, I imagine that I would start believing in ghosts. I have not previously felt that type of connection to any type of museum or location. It was also in this way that the book resonated with me...It all felt raw and REAL, as if I was there experiencing it for myself. Call it getting captured in the moment or generational PTSD, but its powerful stuff. You can read more about Goree Island here: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/26 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gor%C3%A9e Perhaps I would feel differently if we had completely rid our society of its racist tendencies. Yet even after several hundred years, this is still something that continues to be a struggle. I would say that perhaps multi-generational trauma/emotions works both ways, both for the oppressed and for the oppressor. In conclusion, I agree with Awiti's final sentiments. If there is a day when I am forced to retract this though, it will be a good one. I do not find myself optimistic about this, however. If the conditions were right, I would very much believe that this burn on history could be soothed....never erased, but healed to the point where it was no longer a fresh open wound. Can she ever find peace? Can we? Do not hold your breath. I have officially finished my second week of classes here at American University! I cannot believe that around this time last year, I had just arrived in West Africa, ready to spend the next 8 months of my life in Senegal. I am very proud of what I accomplished during my gap year, and am looking forward to seeing the ways that I learn and grow during my next phase in life.
This week we only had one class for World Politics, as Monday was Labor Day (Monday is my busiest day for classes, woohoo!). It also happened to be our first day in our new classroom. We were demoted from the coveted room in SIS, and now will be spending the rest of our year in the Hurst building. While I did prefer the room in SIS, the Hurst building has what real estate agents would call "character", and gorgeous wood accents. Besides that, a classroom is a classroom is a classroom. I'm here to learn, not to fuss over the color of carpets and crown molding. My first memory in the new classroom was also a great one. As mentioned in my previous blog, we got to play Diplomatic Risk. We were all divided up into teams. My team consisted of Vicky, Hannah, Corwin and myself. I had only played the original board-game Risk once or twice, but I remembered how long the games could be...to the point where it all became arduous. The rules for PTJ's version (a la Diplomatic Risk) were slightly complicated at first, but soon enough we all found ourselves very invested in every step of the process. For my team, Vicky was the head of State. Hannah was our Treasurer, I was the Diplomat, and Corwin was the Press. We are scheduled to continue our game on Monday, so I'm afraid that I cannot give away too many details about strategy at this time. However, it is interesting how this game is set up to mirror Diplomacy and the inter-workings of international governments...a lot more goes on behind the scenes that I had ever given thought to. It also amuses me how my initial thoughts go to how I can manipulate the board and the other teams, so that mine is able to carry out our agenda. This of course, is just a stimulation, but is there something about power that easily corrupts people? Or are most of us already corrupted, we just need to be put in the right conditions for this to be brought out of us? Would my actions still be driven in the same way if this was in real life? Perhaps not, but I am definitely a competitive sucker for games. Friday officially marked the end of my first week of classes. With my weekend now drawing to a close, I've had some time to reflect on how everything went. Mondays are my busiest days of the week. My first World Politics class this last Monday was spent going over the syllabi, and discussion based on these 5 words:
World Politics International Service Relations It was very interesting to see how some of our definitions of these terms differed based on our respective backgrounds, mindsets and cultures. In preparation for our second class, everyone had to read the book "The truth about Awiti". I read the entire book in one sitting, and experienced a wide range of emotions. I do recall tearing up during certain points. The book is broken up into many different short stories, all revolving around the themes of slavery and its cultural repercussions throughout history. Several of the stories took part in Florida and Goree, Senegal, two places that I have connection to. During this class we talked about the book in a "round robin" format. The final verdict was pretty mixed. We all did agree that "The truth about Awiti" was intense and powerful. Wyatt mentioned that in school she learned about the slave trade from a more factual standpoint, while this book focused on the emotional, mental and spiritual. As a group we all thoroughly dissected the book and the points that the author had tried to convey. For our next class we are going to be playing a game that PTJ refers to as "Diplomatic Risk". I'm still a little confused about the details, but I am definitely looking forward to it. Edit: I do have plans to meet up with the author later next week, so I will include a summary of our discussion here when the time comes. |
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December 2018
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