Katie Eppley
Non Walmart fish shopping in Mumbai
Photo: Katie Eppley
Observations of contrasts leading at the end of the course to reflection on learning
On learning: It's one thing to know and memorize facts, but to apply them and relate them to each other and other concepts is mind-blowing. The world is like this too. Like Humboldt found out, there's so much knowledge out there, and I wish I could understand it all. Plus, with science being ever-changing, it's hard sometimes to study it. I hope to devote my time to studying science and not be discouraged. It's actually cool to know that this field will never get moldy, because new things are constantly being discovered or realized.
On Dubai and culture: There were tall buildings to accommodate people in the concentrated city based around the water in an otherwise vast, empty desert. There was evidence of the Muslim culture, but less than the Maldives. Women had to sit on the bus, and the streets were dominated by men.
On perspective: The world and everything in it is interrelated, so there should be comparisons and contrasts between locations. Information of most kinds is relative, and if we only view through one lens (like my Ohio lens) we'll never understand what it really means to have a toilet that you sit on instead of squat over. So it's important not to filter what we see, but at the same time remember what we know from home and other places.
Katie Eppley
eppleyka at my.hiram.edu
last updated 27 October 2008
Banner Photo by Mathew J. Wilson