December 19, 2014 - 10:06
When I first saw the topic “changing our story: shifting identities, altering environments”, I was confused. “Identity” and “environment” are two familiar topics that we talk about in everyday life. But I have never thought deeply into the two topics, especially the relationship between identity and environment. At first, the readings are more focused on identity and social environment, about how the person’s identity is shaped by the environment and the inner motivation. Later, the notion of environment was expanded to the nature environment, and the more focused on the interdependent relationship between human and nature. The topic was something that everyone was familiarized with but seldom digs deep into it. After this semester, I found that my comprehension of identity and environment was largely expanded and complexified.
The in class discussions were very interesting and helpful. I usually speak out my ideas when I think it could contribute to the discussion, mostly, in the discussions, I am being a listener, taking in all the rich ideas of others and thinking about them. The questions I have got when reading could be all settled in class discussion and the discussion could expand my thoughts much further than the previous simple question. It is a great experience to listen to different people from different culture with different thoughts. The discussions, especially the 3-preson group discussions for the Friday paper could really inspire me. Telling other my thoughts could make the logic of the paper clearer and others brilliant suggestions could enrich the context.
The reading for the course are well selected, which all are highly relevant to the class and could complexify each other. Ozeki’s book, though long, is a pleasure to read. The stories are appealing and the characters are complicated. The last reading was a great challenge. I learned to bring my own questions into the reading. Not only reading to writers words, but also try to understand the logic and writers thoughts behind the words and related them to the past readings and my own thoughts. Some interesting points may come out after the comparing and conflicts.
For the Monday post, I usually finish the weekend reading assignment on weekend to have time to think about the reading. After writing down my thoughts on Monday post and reading others post, I could be more inspired and be more prepared for Tuesday class. After 13 pieces of papers, my writing has improved a lot. At the beginning, I was totally lost for the first paper, having difficulty to express my thoughts, relate to the readings. But now I’m clearer about the paper’s structure, how to develop the whole paper according to a broad and open topic, how to relate to the readings and expand or challenge the concepts of the reading, and how to convey my thoughts clearly. And I have been forcing myself to think deeper and wider in the papers.
About the 10-week project, the first plan of it was too broad and unfeasible, after research, we focused on a few points of the original plan. I looked up about the history of Nike Company’s labor abuse and analyzed the list of locations of factories, which Nike disclosed. First, I was confused about relating the project to contact zone, but after more classes and more research, I found out that the conclusion we got is similar and closely related to the topic we discussed in class and closer to our daily life.
In my opinion, the things I learned in this class could benefit my whole life. It not only taught me the way to develop a good academic paper, but also taught me to think deeper into questions. The deeper comprehension about nature and identity has totally changed my previous thoughts and encouraged me to reflect a lot on the relationship between nature and human. I understood the interdependent relationship between environment and us, learned to empathize, and be more ecological intelligent.