<p>Oh, it won’t be a grudge. It’s just that I am a firm believer that people should not live beyond the age of 65 unless 1) they’re very healthy and capable of taking care of themselves, and 2) they’re miniumum moderately-to-really, really cool. I count myself as part of “people”, yes. But I count as 4 people.</p>
<p>And Porna prefers the environminty seminar. University of Michigan, I believe. Where does Hudson person prefer?</p>
<p>Yes. Environmint. It’s a cross-species of foxglove and peppermint manufactured by genetic scientists in Germany. It’s delicious because its mama is pepperminty and its daddy is poisonous!</p>
<p>“Environmint”-Would not be at all surprised if this became a new flavor of gum for winterfresh in the near future.
I like your “old people” theory. (:
I chose Cornell I, the seminar on Caribbean culture.</p>
<p>You’re a freak, dude. Do you have any pre-TASP Caribbean experience, or it is just an interest? Or did you just purposely pick the strangest topic?</p>
<p>No, I’m about as far as six-degrees of separation can get you from the Caribbean isles. (:
I just love culture! Doesn’t the idea of eating foreign food, listening to new styles of music, and becoming immersed in a different culture’s way of life intrigue you?
What’s weird about it? There must be something I don’t see, because a lot of people listed it as their least favorite.</p>
<p>The point isn’t to go on VACATION in the Caribbean. The point is to have an honest interest in both the good and bad of it. Liking French cuisine doesn’t make you understand France’s historical, social, economic, and political strengths and weaknesses. I don’t think that you have any right to say you love a country or a region if you only love the trivial and the flawless; you have to accept all the horror stories and the dirty laundry and the baggage attached to it. Culture isn’t just art and food and music; culture is disease and disaster. Culture is blood and hatred and prejudice and greed and silence. Culture is everything good and bad that’s ever happened there and how it shapes the present. </p>
<p>I love America, but I know that she places business well over the needs of her people and that she wages wars on other countries for sheer economic profit. I also understand that this same overwhelming capitalism allows even her poorest to live in relative comfort in comparison to the poor of other countries, but I know that her empirism will ruin her just like it did every other empire. I know that; that’s why I think that I can honestly say I love America.</p>
<p>However, I think that the Caribbean seminar doesn’t appeal to many others because they don’t know anything about the Caribbean. That applies to me as well, but frankly, my dear Hudson, I don’t give a spam about the Caribbean. :)</p>
<p>You actually sound angry! To address some of your points…</p>
<p>“Culture is everything good and bad that’s ever happened there and how it shapes the present.”
No, that’s called “History.” There two very different things. Culture, if you want to get technical, is, “…the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group,” as quoted from a dictionary.</p>
<p>“I don’t think that you have any right to say you love a country or a region if you only love the trivial and the flawless.”
Don’t put words in my mouth. Never did I say that I loved the Caribbean isles. In fact, I said I was, “about as far as six-degrees of separation can get you from the Caribbean isles.” You misinterpreted my interest in new experiences as something presumptuous and disgusting, which I have no idea how you extrapolated from my post.</p>
<p>“Liking French cuisine doesn’t make you understand France’s historical, social, economic, and political strengths and weaknesses.”
I understand the analogy, but what it implies is that I claim to understand Caribbean culture because I’ve eaten a Jamaican Beef Patty before, but my post makes no such claim as this. Claiming such is both unbelievably arrogant and extremely ignorant, a deadly duo, but I like to hope that I am neither of these things, but you have made it very clear that you see me as such.</p>
<p>My post had one very simple point: I like foreign experiences. Anything else you gathered from it was assumption on your part.</p>
<p>I AM angry because you’re treating it like it’s a vacation, when the point of the seminar is to understand ALL of the Caribbean. I don’t think that liking Caribbean food and music are good reasons to have that seminar be your first choice, especially 2 of the other 4 were much more relevant globally. Let’s face it, the Caribbean is hardly a political or economic hotspot.</p>
<p>“I don’t think that liking Caribbean food and music are good reasons to have that seminar be your first choice.”
I’ve never heard Caribbean music or eaten Caribbean food. I’ve already said twice I’m as unconnected to that region as any other American.</p>
<p>“you’re treating it like it’s a vacation, when the point of the seminar is to understand ALL of the Caribbean.”
I’m sorry if you misinterpreted my tone in my post, it’s a very big problem with email, texting, and other forms of instant messaging, but I far from consider TASP to be a vacation. I chose the Cornell I Seminar because it was the most appealing to my main interest, which, like I’ve said ad nausem, is experiencing foreign situations.</p>
<p>“the Caribbean is hardly a political or economic hotspot.”
I don’t care about that. All I care about is gaining a new perception of the world and to gain a little perspective on my own life. What are hoping to achieve by attending your seminar?</p>
<p>Just so that there is no more misunderstanding, I’ll say it again. I do not see this as a vacation, but if you see experiencing a foreign culture as a vacation, then I can’t help you, that’s just the way you see the world. I, on the other hand, can’t think of anything more valuable in the world than gaining perspective of that very world. You seem to disagree.</p>
<p>I like talking to you one-on-one! It’s so debatey, but to the tenth degree. I wish I could have done this before writing my essays: it would have better prepared me for defending my stances.
I’m off to dinner, but I’ll try to get back soon!</p>
<p>I also picked Cornell I as my first pick. I’m not claiming an expansive knowledge of all the caribbean, but that is why i chose it. I want to know about the cultures there. What influenced their music, art, history, prose, the way the talk?
I find that alot of people picked the seminar they did as their first pick because they wanted to hone in on something they knew already. I just have an interest in the region and TASP is offering that opportunity.</p>
<p>whoa, i haven’t looked at this since… maybe 300 pages ago. actually, at this rate you will probably outdo the thread from last year. heh, nice work guys. =]</p>
<p>also, i have no idea what is strange about the cornell I topic… i talked to my TASPers about the seminars they have for this year and we all love the caribbean dialogues one. well, i guess we’re biased since our topic was also about cultural/racial/identity theory. but wolfbane2, i don’t understand what’s strange about being interested in other cultures. and remember that a big part of TASP (or the bulk of it, really) is being immersed in a very diverse environment, learning about subjects you may know little about and being in constant contact with people from various backgrounds. hell, i had no idea what spatial theory was, but that did not stop me from wanting to learn about it. as long as you’re willing to go out of your comfort zone to gain insight and perspective, it doesn’t really matter what seminar you go to. at my TASP anyways, the majority of our learning was outside of seminar. </p>
<p>also, panicpower, did you go to TASS at michigan? </p>
<p>good luck with the interview notifications coming up! pm or email me if you need help with your interviews. they’re not that bad, i promise.</p>
<p>I don’t have much prior knowledge about the Caribbean but I don’t think it’s a big deal. TASP doesn’t expect you to walk in knowing <em>everything</em> about the subject of the seminar.</p>
<p>I picked Cornell I as my first choice because culture is a fun subject and this seminar is going to use art for case studies and such. I kind of like the idea of utilizing art. I’d like to think I’m an artsy-creative-free thinker kind of person so this part of the seminar description really got me going.</p>
<p>“We will examine the creative spirit of the region’s artists to show how they are imaginatively reconfiguring their day-to-day experiences to meet the needs of a changing worldat once apprehensive and charmed by black culture.”</p>
<p>You’re a former TASPer, Roamorse?
No need to answer, I already know the answer. I’ve practically read every word of the past TASP threads, and your name seems really familiar.
So, is it as amazing as my imagination makes it out to be? (:</p>
<p>Howdy! I fell asleep again after school today… ): I hope I’m just attempting to hibernate through the worst of the cold (5 degrees this morning! Unacceptable.) and not getting mono or anything dumb. </p>
<p>I picked Cornell II as my top choice because I thought it would be like a really interesting social studies course… The forces of globalization are ridiculously important in today’s world and in the world we’ll live in in twenty years, so I thought it would continue to be relevant because of that.</p>
<p>Hey fellow TASPer hopefuls. I’ve been reading your posts for days and days and days (I’m not a stalker, I swear) and I finally decided to register so I could join the fun.</p>