Assignment 3a

Pre-Columbian is a term that encompasses the history of the Americas, both before and after the recording of events, up to the time of European contact that changed the cultures and people. Many cultures lived in the Americas for thousands of years before they were affected by European contact. Since the contact changed and ended so many cultures and peoples, it is considered a different period of history. Therefore, the term refers to the periods in the Americas before European contact, most notably before the influence of Chrisopher Columbus from Spain.
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I chose the P'urhépecha, also known as Tarascan or Purepeche, indigenous group of Mesoamerica. I chose this group because I have heard a little bit about them in other classes, but never actually studied them any closer.

They occupied the present-day state of Michoacán, which is where my husband grew up and where I’ll be moving in less than a year. I want to know as much history about the area as possible before I move, and this seems like a good opportunity. My first source is a YouTube video called “Purepeche: A History,” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRz_Qmr94wI&feature=related). It tells about the structure of the civilization, their military strength, calendar, and other basic historical information. My second source is an article from El Instituto Lingüístico de Verano in Mexico, which provides a more detailed history and understanding of the people (http://www.sil.org/mexico/tarasca/00i-tarasca.htm). It has information ranging from their possible origins, to their language, to their infamously strong military.

The Purepeche had one of the strongest army’s in Pre-Columbian Latino America. Although the Aztecs tried in a full scale war, they were never able to defeat the Purepeche army, at one time loosing half their warriors in one battle. Arguable the strongest army in Mesoamerica, the Purepeche were the first match to the Aztec army. The Purepeche army was vast, as was the empire, which is strongly protected.

The Purepeche language, called Purepeche, is unique because it is not related or connected to any other language in the world. While most languages are linked to other languages by grammar, structure, or vocabulary, Purepeche is not. It is spoken in Michoacán today with regional dialectal differences. Purepeche has been studied by linguists all over the world, but continues to have many mysteries because of the little known about the Purepeche before Spanish influence.

The hummingbird was a sacred animal that the Purepeche believed represented life, freedom, and courage. Their capital at Lake Patzcuaro, Tzintzuntzan, means “the place of the hummingbird.” It was so important to the people that the king had an intricate headdress made with hummingbird feathers. The hummingbird was a symbol of pride for the Purepeche, who used it in their art frequently.

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Sources

My first source is the “Purepeche: A History” video, which was created by Indigenous TV. Indigenous TV is a Native American production company that produces videos on many different topics. The video is credible because the poster is the director of Indigenous TV, and he gives a lot of information about Indigenous TV and even some of the sources for the video. It is a thorough, professional, and seemingly accurate video. My second source is an article called “Tarascan Family” from El Istituto Lingüístico de Verano, which is a non-profit organization that studies the indigenous languages of Mexico, with a focus on the languages that have few speakers who can read and write. It was founded by a “distinguished indigenist” in 1936 with the support of the government. It does important research and recording of indigenous Mexican languages, as publishes dictionaries, grammars, literacy materials, traditional stories, and translated Biblical texts.

Assignment 2c Art Answers

1) Question from Nicole Godinez:
(http://nicolegodinez.blogspot.com/2008/09/assignment-2b.html)
What was the museum in the 1920's?
The MoLAA building was the Hippodrome, a roller skating rink, in the 1920's.

2) Question from Emily Little:
(http://emilyelysia.blogspot.com/2008/09/assignment-2b.html)
What is MoLAA Travelers?
MoLAA Travelers is a travel program through the museum that provides trips for museum members to see and experience more Latin American art and culture by visiting museums, landmarks, galleries, art fairs, and more in the United States and Latin America.

3) Question from Isaac Vargas Gonzalez:
(http://ivargas-2bart.blogspot.com/2008/09/2b-art.html)
Mention year and founder of the MoLAA?
The MoLAA was founded in 1996 by Robert Gumbiner, who is the chairman and founding director of the museum.

4)Question from Matt McPherson:
(http://mattintdis4.blogspot.com/2008/09/assignment-2b-molaa.html)
How often does the MoLAA change its displays?
The MoLAA changes its displays every six months. Some of the permanent collection is rotated every six months, so there is always something different.

5) Question from Katherine Duarte:
(http://katyintdis.blogspot.com/2008/09/assignment-2b-art.html)
What are some of the upcoming exhibits?
Some of the upcoming exhibits at the MoLAA include ARNALDO ROCHE: BROTHERHOOD/HERMANDAD, “PHOTOSHOPPING” AND MORE: MOLAA COLLECTS PHOTO-BASED ART, A BRIDGE TO THE AMERICAS:
Spiritual & Religious Practices, Political & Cultural Interventions, Urban & Rural Landscapes, and OF RAGE AND REDEMPTION: THE ART OF OSWALDO GUAYASAMIN.

Assignment 2b Art

1. What does MoLAA stand for? Museum of Latin American Art
   
2. What are the video clips about (be specific)? MoLAA Part one is an introduction to the museum. It tells about how the museum works, what its goals are, what it provides, and some of the great things that it does. The second video is a collection of pictures from the museum that shows the work of many artists and other information, such as pictures of the building. I read an article about the MoLAA Awards, which is a competition that introduces the United States to Latin American artists and supports their work and the museum at the same time.
   
3. What did you learn from the video clips (3 facts per clip; total 9 facts)? It is not a typical museum, because it has many classes and activities for people to get involved. It has a large permanent collection, as well as often changing temporary exhibits. I learned that MoLAA is trying to support the understanding and appreciation of Latin American art in the public, especially in children, by striving to be the best and offer better and more exciting information for guests. From the second video I learned that the new building was almost complete on March 2, 2007 and looked very contemporary and impressive. Rufino Tamayo, Oscar Suarez, and Gelix Novoa are three of the artists who have had their work at the museum. The huge number of pictures showed me what a great variety of art there is in the museum--from sculpture to sketches that range from formal and traditional to modern and abstract. From the article I read, I learned how much MoLAA really supports Latin American Artists. Their MoLAA Awards brings Latin American Artists and their work to the United States so that Americans can see their work and discover much earlier than they would otherwise. Besides that support of Latin American work, the museum actually buys the five winning pieces and adds them to the permanent collection. All other pieces are auctioned off. MoLAA has done this every year for the last three years as a way to increase interest in Latin American art and their museum. This year the winners will be announced on October 18th, and all the work is displayed until October 17th.
   
4. Create 3 questions for your classmates based on the clips or websites (tell them which specific link to visit to find the answer) 1) MoLAA exhibits artists from what time period on? (http://www.molaa.com/n_about_mission_history.html) 2) What are the five awards to be given at MOLAA Awards 08: An Invitational Juried Art Competition & Exhibition? (http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Museum_of_Latin_American_Art-MOLAA.html) 3) Who founded MoLAA in 1996? (http://www.molaa.com/n_about_mission_history.html)
   
5. List any 3 things you learned from the MoLAA website (be specific; give concrete answers for which your classmates can follow-up in upcoming assignments) MoLAA has one artists chosen from each country that represents their homeland. There are twenty countries represented from Mexico, Central and South Americas, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Fieldtrips, called School Tours and Workshops, are provided for grades K-12.
   

Assignment 2a Latin America Intro

A. Definition of Interdisciplinary Studies:
-explore how the natural, artificial, and cultural dimensions of our world fit together. They take perspectives of many disciplines, in order to define new objects of study, and thus search for new ways to surmount obstacles and acheive our goals. (http://www.idst.vt.edu/)
- a process of answering a question, solving a problem, or addressing a topic that is too broad or complex to be dealt with adequately by a single discipline or profession. (https://secure.aacu.org/PubExcerpts/Mapint.html)

B. Definition of "Latin America":
-Countries of South America and North America (including Central America and the islands of the Caribbean Sea) south of the U.S.; the term is often restricted to countries where either Spanish or Portuguese is spoken. (http://www.answers.com/topic/latin-america)
-Parts of North America (Mexico), Central America (except Belize), and South America (except French Guyana, Guyana, and Suriname) where mainly Spanish or Portuguese is spoken. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/Latin-America.html)

C. Countries in "Latin America":
-Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Cuba, Uruguay, El Salvador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Panama, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, Nicaragua, Haiti, Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, Netherlands Antilles, Belize, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_countries_of_Latin_America)
-Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The term Latin America is also used to include Puerto Rico, the French West Indies, and other islands of the West Indies where a Romance tongue is spoken. Occasionally the term is used to include Belize, Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname. (http://www.answers.com/topic/latin-america)

D. Countries that make up the "Caribbean":
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• Antigua & Barbuda
• Aruba
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Cayman Islands
• Cuba
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Grenada
• Guadeloupe
• Haiti
• Jamaica
• Martinique
• Puerto Rico
• St. Kitts & Nevis
• St. Lucia
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Turks & Caicos Islands
• Virgin Islands

(http://lanic.utexas.edu/subject/countries)

-- Antigua and Barbuda

The Bahamas

Barbados

Cuba

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Grenada

Haiti

Jamaica

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

(http://geography.about.com/library/maps/blrcaribbean.htm)

E. The Caribbean has more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays (a small, low-elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs). That's a lot more than I thought! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean)

F. http://www.idst.vt.edu/ and https://secure.aacu.org/PubExcerpts/Mapint.html are reputable because they are on education websites and have been published by sources that research their work and only give reliable information. http://www.answers.com/topic/latin-america is reputable because the information on the pages is from some of the best, most credible resources-Encyclopedia Britannica and Columbia Encyclopedia, which edit information and research information well. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/Latin-America.html is not as academic as my other sources, because it is intended to inform people quickly and easily, not most thoroughly and reliably, but it still has good information. I would not use it for something where extremely credible sources are required. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_countries_of_Latin_America is not reputable. The information it gave for Latin America does not seem very reliable or accurate, and the website does not list where the information came from. http://lanic.utexas.edu/subject/countries is a list made by Latin American Network Information Center, which is associated with University of Texas at Austin. Again, because it is from a University, the information is reputable due to the association and the work that goes into a university program. http://geography.about.com/library/maps/blrcaribbean.htm does not have its references available, and is not itself a reputable source because it provides information about thousands of topics, not just topics that the company works with, research well, or has any experts for. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean is not reputable because it is Wikipedia, which allows anyone to post information and therefore has no credibility.

G. Connections:
Linda Beavers has never created a blog or webpage in the past, just like me. It seems like almost everyone else has, so it's nice to know I'm not alone.

Shawn Tutt is majoring in Spanish, and so am I. He has done a lot of traveling in Spanish speaking countries, which I am going to start doing next year.

Assignment 1c

I read Tara O'Brien's blog. She has just graduated from Sonoma State with a B.S. in biochemistry (which seems very difficult) and will be starting her master's at San Francisco State in January. Instead of just taking time off and enjoying a vacation, which she probabaly deserves after graduating, she is taking classes so she stays in school mode. She seems very smart and hard working.

From Tara I learned that Paulo Friere believed that poor people need educations so that they can succeed and not be dominated by people with political power. Also, in 1988 be became the Minister of Education for San Paulo, which put him in charge of school reform for two-thirds of Brazil.

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I also visited Dave Laurice's blog. He is a teacher, which is what got me interested in reading his blog because I am about to start a tutoring job and feel that I need a better understanding what teach REALLY involves before I start. His experiences and little stories in his blog about his job are really cool.

What interested me the most about Dave's Paulo Friere blog is that he has learned about Friere's work before. When I was researching Paulo Friere for my own posting, I saw that his work is heavily quoted in some parts of the world, but not here. His work seemed beneficial to teachers of today also, so I was wondering if teachers learn about him, and Dave answered my question. I also learned about Friere's belief that teachers need to understand their students. He really stressed how important it is for a teacher to understand who the students are, what they want and experience, and how they live. It doesn't seem fair for someone to teach anyone when they don't understand them.

Assignment 1b

Paulo Freire's father taught him that it is important to respect other people's beliefs. His mother was Catholic, but his father had no religion. His father always respected his mother's religion, and then Paulo Freire's when he chose to be Catholic. His father's lessons taught him to always respect people with differences, which helped him to want everyone to have opportunities. He did not work just for people like himself, because he respected everyone.

He also thought that teachers need teach their students to question what they learn, go deep into the subject, and explore. He thought that the idea of students as empty vessels needing to be filled with information by their teachers was not a good way to educate. He saw the importance of teaching students to think critically and be able to question what they learn. Good teachers teach their students to think critically and teach their students much more than facts. Paulo Freire's ideas lead, in part, to modern teaching, which is similar to his ideas.

He worked hard to teach adults to read and give them an education. He taught 300 sugarcane sharecroppers to read quickly, and he was so successful, he was put in charge of a program to teach 5 million more adults how to read. The first program with 300 sharecroppers was called "Bare feet can also learn to read," which shows his attitude about everyone's right to an education. He worked to teach everyone to read so that everyone had the right to vote and have an education. That is important because even today many adults do not know how to read and there are not enough places that can help them learn to read. He did not think that adults were too old to read or not smart enough, he had respect for them and fought to give them more opportunities.

Assignment 1a

1. What is your first name only (NOT last name)
Emma
2. Why are you taking this class and what do you hope to learn?
I'm taking this class to complete my Latin American Studies AA, and because I've wanted to take this class since I was in high school but never had the time until now. I hope to learn about the Caribbean, which I know almost nothing about now, but mostly about the culture and values of Latin America. I'll be moving to Mexico next August, so understanding the culture and values will be very important and it will be easier for me to adjust to living there if I already have some understanding of the culture.
3. How far do you live from SRJC main campus (go to google,maps to get the SPECIFIC answer; for this you type in your address and 1501 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa, CA to find the exact mileage. EXAMPLE: 2.6 miles from campus. The goal here is to use new tools available to us. You can always come back to edit this)
284.10 miles
4. What do you think of when you think "Latin America and the Caribbean"?
When I think of Latin America, I think of a mix of ancient cultures and present times. Mostly I think of Mexico, Spanish, and rich culture. When I think of the Caribbean, however, I think of beautiful beaches and tropical islands, because I know so little about it.
5. Have you created a blog or webpage in the past?
Never.