While I loved our visit to Ashbridge Park today, I personally did not get the watery experience that I think many were hoping for. I found the portions of the river that I saw to be upsetting- there were water bottles sitting in the grass, an Arizona Iced Tea bottle dipping up and down in the water, and other miscellaneous trash littering the banks. Constant reminders of us, humans, and the mark we insist that we leave everywhere.

The activities we did made me feel like we were very much together. Without wooden, man-made chairs holding us in our places I was able to sense the community that we have become over the course of the semester.

We chanted together, we screamed together, we learned together, we read poetry together, we ate together, we explored together, we wrote together.

I thought when we discussed the plan for this course that the neat schedule of events was too structured for what I had hoped would be a collective Thoreauvian ramble, but once we were there it didn’t seem as structured as I had anticipated. There was still some presence of structure and time constraints, and time seemed to move much more quickly than it normally does when seated.

I’ve really enjoyed reading through everyone’s papers/projects, and while I know that for much of the class, their projects for Jody are leading into their final activism for the class, I wish that there was more of a link. In particular, I think that it would be GREAT if Chandrea and Esty’s tour (if they’re interested in this) could be incorporated into the final presentation, as a way for the larger campus community to be exposed to what we have been talking about in a very visceral, real way. I know that many McBride students have expressed feeling both very conspicuous and invisible at the same time, so I think that somehow sharing Sharaai’s paper would also mean a lot to current McBride scholars. This is also true for HSBurke’s paper on the history (and lack of historical documentation) of maids/servants at Bryn Mawr – this is not a conversation that I hear a lot of people hearing. And Owl’s paper too. I don’t know if any of you are actually interested in publicly sharing your work, but I do think that it might be a powerful way of sharing our exploration of Bryn Mawr’s “walled community” with the rest of campus.

So much has already been written on our joint ramble with the seniors that I don't have much to add. Yes, it was it was interesting to remember more about our geology session: when it came time to share it with others cerain things resurfaced that I hadn't thought about since the day. Like relating the history of Bryn Mawr College not only to the stones it's built from, and where they came from, but also to the exrtaordianry Bryn Mawr woman geologist who named them! My other favorite moment was the vine-swinging. Three seniors in a row became inspired to emulate Tarzan: the first quite cautiously, then when nothing bad happened the second and third more boldly, ending with a real swing that caused the vine to let go and slowly come snaking down! On the way to the graveyard we saw a huge chunk of (I think) tulip tree sticking into the ground, probably blown off in the hurricane? And I loved the overgrownm alive but also a bit otherwordly atmosphere of the graveyard itself. 

I have to rant again just a little bit about all the talk of "invasive" species. Firstly, as I like to say, humans have a lot of damn gall calling other species invasive! And the implication of moral depravity in plants which "take over" and "destroy" other plant species seems weird to me. They're just trying to make a living like anyone else. Do we condemn them for being successful? 

I managed to up the time limit for our YouTube video! Check it out here.

It felt quiet in Ashbridge Park. It wasn’t, not really, because of the omnipresent leaf blowers and speeding motorcycles . But the sounds felt more muted, and somehow farther away than in our usual spot outside English House. I liked that our class was able to lead an entirely self-directed class. I felt like I re-learned a lesson on how to listen, and how to be still. I learned things that I forgot I knew.

I also enjoyed reading poetry while sitting outside on the sunny grass. I was especially pleased with the reactions to the poems that I had chosen. I picked Traveling Through the Dark by William Stafford (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/traveling-through-the-dark/) because of its understated sadness. I think that the last two lines about the speaker’s only swerving were poignant, and got to the root of our relationship to nature. We can’t always relate well to it. Sometimes horrible things happen and we ignore them.

Additionally, I was happy to have found an applicable Robert Frost poem that seemed less pastoral than some of his other works.

http://www.poemtree.com/poems/SoundOfTrees.htm

Forewarning: this is going to be real piecemeal and not that comprehensive.  Here's also Erin's post that talks a lot about two early east Asian students on campus.

As Erin points out, surprisingly enough, there is a deep-rooted history of East Asian, more specifically, Japanese, and then a short time later, Chinese students, on campus.  To speak of the Japanese students first, in 1893, a Quaker woman named Mrs. Wistar Morris founded what was called the Japanese Scholarship program.  I found an opening speech within the special collections archives that describes a little about the beginnings of this program:
"In 1893...Mrs. Wistar Morris...was a friend and believed in foreign missions which at that time the Quakers did not.  So after speak about it in meetings for some time with not results she decided she better go herself which she did.  Her husband accompanying her."

As the historical background for the final project, this broadcast is aim to introduce you about two excellent Asian Students at very early times in Bryn Mawr history. Since this is not the final narrative, the broadcast might vary in some perspectives.

The purpose of our final project is to explore the Asian Identity on campus and possible reasons for the absences for their voices nowadays on campus.

I will introduce two extraordinary early Asian students at very early times in Bryn Mawr campus, one Japanese student Tsuda Umeko and one Chinese student Fung Kei Liu. When digging in the past of Asian students on Bryn Mawr campus, these two especially caught my attention due to the similarities in their stories.

Asian Students has been on this campus since the very beginning. Interaction with some representative of Asian countries, China and Japan, both went back to as early as end of 19th century. Besides the conventional admission of students from these countries and Asian Americans, Bryn Mawr‘s first connection with China, oddly enough, was a results of the anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion of 1899; The formal introduction of programs for students from China, however, didn’t happen until 1917.

I already posted about the botanical tour a couple of weeks ago, but I thought I'd do another post reflecting on how I've been able to use what I've learned through out the semester. Given the fast, and often overwhelming, pace of the first semester of freshman year, I was concerned that I wasn't truly absorbing information. Often times, I felt as if I was robotically taking in information, for the sole purpose of "getting by"--if we want to connect this back to Meerker's comic mode. However, the other day I found myself in a rather refreshing conversation with somebody who didn't necessarily agree with my opinions regarding ecology (in its broad sense that accompanies ecofeminism, environmentalism, and even economics) and was able to not only able to give a strong argument for my case--which was about imputing value to women's unpaid domestic labor--but was able to convince them to somewhat agree with my standpoint. While I'd like to think that it was my skills of persuasion that convinced them to my side, I happily recognize that it's what I learned in this writing seminar that helped me shape, develop, and present a clear argument on this topic. The interaction gave me affirmation that what we've been doing here really has been sinking in, and that my education hasn't been reduced to a simple absorption of information; I've been acquiring knowledge. 

As I started de la Cruz, I was immediately reminded of Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” as both writers were able to address an enemy with supposed kindness and respect, only to subtly rip them apart.  While de la Cruz and Machiavelli were being politically prescriptive in very different ways – and with very different objectives in mind – de la Cruz’s exploit of the power and fear of god mirrors how Machiavelli argued religion is used in the larger societal context (e.g, to convince men to risk their life in war, because they will be going to heaven). 

In the case of de la Cruz, she was being told that she shouldn’t be writing because the Church didn’t think it was appropriate for women (a nun!) to write about the topics that she tried to tackle.  But she then threw the religious excuse right back, explaining that “God graced me with of a gift of an immense love for the truth…. God Almighty knows why and for what purpose. And he knows I've asked him to snuff out the light of my mind and leave only what's necessary to keep his commandments.”  How can anyone argue with God’s creation?  de la Cruz makes her case by drawing from scripture.  “I see a Deborah issuing laws in military matters as well as political affairs while governing a people among whom there were so many learned men…I see so many  significant women: some adorned with the gift of prophecy, like Abigail; others with persuasion, like Esther; others, with piety, like Rahab; others with perseverance, like Hannah.”