1. My major is International Studies in the Third World with a focus on Latin America. Relevant coursework includes all of my Spanish classes, Cultural Anthropology, History of Latin America, Women in 3rd World Politics, Comparative Revolutions, Comparative Politics, Marx Seminar, Geography of Latin America, Latin America through Ethnography and Development and Underdevelopment. Debal Deb, Amartya Sen, and Gustavo Esteva have influenced me greatly. On the literature side of things is Gabriel Garcia Marquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of my favorite books). In 2003 I traveled to Guatemala. I met family I never knew I had and traveled across the country, from Quetzaltenango to Livingston. It was an eye-opening experience and set the course for my college education.
2. I would like to delve deeper into my family history for the final project. My dad's side of the family is from Guatemala. My great-grandmother and grandfather immigrated to the US sometime in the late 1940s. I'd like to speak with my grandpa about their reasons for leaving, what Guatemala was like in those days, and how they made it to California. My relatives still in Guatemala can give me a perspective on what the country is like now and hopefully fill in the gaps in my grandfather's story. Along with these narratives I could delve into the history of the country a bit.
I'm pretty much set on the above idea, but if I had to research another topic I suppose I'd look into US involvement in Latin America, specifically CIA-led coups. Pretty broad, I know, but a back-up plan if my abuelito won't tell me anything...
My e-mail, by the way: deleonml@email.appstate.edu
ReplyDeleteThe family history project sounds very interesting. Perhaps you could start gathering some resources and examples of doing this sort of ethnography/oral history/auto-biographical project.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of your topic, especially because the academic elitist inside of me dislikes it so much. What I mean to say is: so often it is expected of academics to write about a subject while keeping the "self" out of the study. Not only is this point of view impossible, it sterilizes the work and removes its power in relating to the humanity in all of us. It turns it into just a paper. Your project has the potential to break that barrier. Self-knowledge is the most important knowledge, as I understand it.
ReplyDeleteIf I could make a recommendation: don't stop at just history. Explore what your ethnic background means to you as a person. How does it affect you that you've been kept from understanding it for so long? How has it formed you as a person, and how has it created your worldview? As you get into the work of it, how is your worldview changing?