I. 11:25- 11:35: coursekeeping

Bryn Mawr’s Legacy of Silencing

My brain is pounding into my ears as I trek to my next meeting, hammering the familiar tune of a stress headache into my head. It is only the second week of classes, but my usual spirited fast-walk has already turned into a trudging gait that betrays my exhaustion. My mind, as is its nature, will not let me rest, promptly running an ongoing script of to-do lists and meetings through my head.

Breaking and Imposing Silence through Forgiveness

Each person, by virtue of existing in a world that disallows for complete autonomy, has experienced transgressions, either directed towards themselves, or others. And so each person, by virtue of having, at one time or another, felt wronged in some way, is imbued with the capacity and agency to forgive. But because forgiveness is so inextricably linked with the abstract and often subjective definition of wrongness, forgiveness then also becomes inextricably linked with the personal and with power.

       According to Kim and Markus, there is a sheer distinction between East Asian and American styles of speech in which East Asian culture emphasizes the “other”, “relations” and “context”, while American culture pays more attention into the “individual”, “self” and “content”. Under these cultural influences, many East Asian students, especially Chinese students, while put into a typical American classroom, exhibit a salient characteristic of being introversive, compared to their American classmates. I want to note that I am using the word “introversive” instead of “silent” this time since recently I have started to question the definition of silence and have not gotten a satisfying answer yet.