Stories like this remind me of my devotion to teaching culture and cultural awareness to service men. Now, if only the army recruiter will get back to my email! Should I mention this article and other similar stories? It all depends on whether or not she responds to my request of getting actual cultural documents and information on what is taught to the soldiers.
http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/27/background-u-s-soldiers-charged-with-murder/?hpt=T1
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Let The Research Begin!
After weeks of researching articles and finding information for my advocacy assignment, all in hopes of locating anything that can be useful to this blog and pushing me to begin, I finally feel as if I did something productive!
Don't get me wrong, all of the information I have found thus far has been valuable. However, I feel as if I haven't really started the project. I haven't reached out to anybody, except for google. I was finding articles on soldiers abusing their power, videos proving such stories, and other blogs dedicated to teaching anthropology in high school. I will later use this information to support my idea.
But today, today was different. I woke up and felt the pressure to begin, to finally send out my questions and receive answers!
So, I sent out an email to a recruiting officer. I found the officer through the army's website, and unfortunately, I missed the chance to have a live-chat. I hope that my email will spark interest with the officer, and he or she will offer to host another live-chat so ALL of my questions can be answered.
I visited the army's website (goarmy.com)to find information about the recruiting process in high schools and with high school students. How these students were interviewed, what information they were given about the choice they would be making, what information they were given (if they were given any) about the countries they would be fighting in. I wanted to see if these students were given any literature about the cultures they would encounter, how they should treat these cultural differences, and how they should act (are they told to respect the cultures or are they told to ignore the differences). In general, I wanted to find out whether or not the army (or any of the other armed services) provided cultural training or Anthropology classes to prospective soldiers after enlisting and before or during basic training. I could not locate this information on my own. I still had trouble finding information when I "asked a soldier"- an option on the website that allows me to send in my question and instantly receive an answer or be sent to a page on the website that could answer the question. Weirdly, whenever I asked a question I was sent to an unfound page.
Unable to find my own answers, I sent out an email to one of the recruiting officers (and was promised a reply within 24 hours). This was my email:
Hi,
My name is Molly Berwanger and I am a graduate student at the University of Michigan. I was wondering if there was an available recruiting officer who could take some time to answer my quick questions?
First, I'll explain a little about who I am and what it is I want. As I said before, I am a graduate student at U of M, and I have a bachelor's degree in Social Anthropology. I am currently in the school of education, studying to become an english and sociology secondary teacher.
I am writing to you in hopes of gaining help on an advocacy project I am working on for one of my classes (education reform). I am advocating for a mandatory anthropology class for any High School students who sign up for the armed services (whether it is through their school or not). I think that students sign up for the armed services not really knowing about the cultures of the countries they will be fighting in.
However, I do not have much information about what the army, or any armed services, provides for these prospective soldiers. I was hoping one of your recruiting officers could email me back with information about what they talk about during a recruiting session/interview with a high school student, what knowledge or information they provide about the culture of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc., and whether or not this information comes during their training or before. I was wondering if you could send me the information that you provide on other cultures, if you have any available.
Any information you could give me would be a great help!
Thank you,
Molly Berwanger
But I wasn't finished being productive! No, I wanted answers, and I wanted them now! However, I was clueless who to email, who, in the education world, I could contact and receive actual help! Most importantly, who would email me back?
I sent an email to the first person I could think of, the only person I knew who was somehow involved in the world of education and politics: Elizabeth Bauer. Ms. Bauer had come to our class, had talked to us about educational issues and reform in Michigan, had made me laugh, and had made me feel comfortable! At first I was intimidated by Ms. Bauer, for she was on the State Board of Education, and her decisions effected my future! Yet, as she began to talk, I became intrigued by what she was saying. She had years of experience teaching in schools, as well as playing the game of politics, and after her talk, she had my vote!
What struck me the most about Ms. Bauer was her last comment. She provided the class with her email (a personal email, for it was an AOL account and not some government-issued email that her assistant checked) AND invited us to send her emails! She encouraged us to write to her, to ask her questions, or to simply fill up her inbox with comments!
I took Ms. Bauer's invitation and sent her an email! I was hoping that if I explained the project and my idea, she could either send me any information she had or direct me to a person who could help. Here is my email:
Dear Ms. Bauer,
I am a graduate student at the University of Michigan, School of Education. You recently spoke to my class about the state of education and education reform in Michigan. I very much enjoyed listening to you, and I appreciated you taking the time to visit our class. Before you left, you encouraged us to email you with any questions or comments, and informed us that you are a constant email checker. After you left, my professor, Shari Saunders, asked the class to begin an advocacy project. For this project, students were able to choose their own educational issue to advocate for and then provide documentation on how they advocated the issue. I am writing to you to see if you could assist me in any way! Specifically, I need guidance in finding the correct person(s) to talk to.
At first, my idea was to do the project on incorporating cultural and social anthropology into the classroom. This is because, when I begin teaching, I want to include culture into my classes (I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in social anthropology). However, I knew that creating and trying to implement a nation-wide anthropology class would not be completed on time. Because of this, I started to think about why I wanted to include anthropology into my classes. It is because I think high school teenagers are at a period in their lives, one that includes a major transition from adolescent to young adult. They are about to enter the world, whether they go off to college, work, or the armed services.
When thinking about the different paths students are about to embark on, I focused on the armed services. Now, my idea is this: Young adults are signing up to fight for a country they don't know much about, in a country they know nothing about. I think it would be a great idea if any high school aged person who signs up for the armed services (whether it is through the school or not) must take a mandatory cultural anthropology class. This class would teach them about the other cultures they were about to encounter, as well as the dangers of being ethnocentric while fighting a war overseas.
This is where I hope you can help me! I was wondering if you had any information on who I could talk to about the probability and possibility of creating an anthropology class for prospective soldiers, and whether or not schools already provided some sort of cultural education to prospective soldiers.
I would appreciate any information you could provide!
Thank you very much
Molly Berwanger
Now I sit and wait anxiously for their replies!
Don't get me wrong, all of the information I have found thus far has been valuable. However, I feel as if I haven't really started the project. I haven't reached out to anybody, except for google. I was finding articles on soldiers abusing their power, videos proving such stories, and other blogs dedicated to teaching anthropology in high school. I will later use this information to support my idea.
But today, today was different. I woke up and felt the pressure to begin, to finally send out my questions and receive answers!
So, I sent out an email to a recruiting officer. I found the officer through the army's website, and unfortunately, I missed the chance to have a live-chat. I hope that my email will spark interest with the officer, and he or she will offer to host another live-chat so ALL of my questions can be answered.
I visited the army's website (goarmy.com)to find information about the recruiting process in high schools and with high school students. How these students were interviewed, what information they were given about the choice they would be making, what information they were given (if they were given any) about the countries they would be fighting in. I wanted to see if these students were given any literature about the cultures they would encounter, how they should treat these cultural differences, and how they should act (are they told to respect the cultures or are they told to ignore the differences). In general, I wanted to find out whether or not the army (or any of the other armed services) provided cultural training or Anthropology classes to prospective soldiers after enlisting and before or during basic training. I could not locate this information on my own. I still had trouble finding information when I "asked a soldier"- an option on the website that allows me to send in my question and instantly receive an answer or be sent to a page on the website that could answer the question. Weirdly, whenever I asked a question I was sent to an unfound page.
Unable to find my own answers, I sent out an email to one of the recruiting officers (and was promised a reply within 24 hours). This was my email:
Hi,
My name is Molly Berwanger and I am a graduate student at the University of Michigan. I was wondering if there was an available recruiting officer who could take some time to answer my quick questions?
First, I'll explain a little about who I am and what it is I want. As I said before, I am a graduate student at U of M, and I have a bachelor's degree in Social Anthropology. I am currently in the school of education, studying to become an english and sociology secondary teacher.
I am writing to you in hopes of gaining help on an advocacy project I am working on for one of my classes (education reform). I am advocating for a mandatory anthropology class for any High School students who sign up for the armed services (whether it is through their school or not). I think that students sign up for the armed services not really knowing about the cultures of the countries they will be fighting in.
However, I do not have much information about what the army, or any armed services, provides for these prospective soldiers. I was hoping one of your recruiting officers could email me back with information about what they talk about during a recruiting session/interview with a high school student, what knowledge or information they provide about the culture of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc., and whether or not this information comes during their training or before. I was wondering if you could send me the information that you provide on other cultures, if you have any available.
Any information you could give me would be a great help!
Thank you,
Molly Berwanger
But I wasn't finished being productive! No, I wanted answers, and I wanted them now! However, I was clueless who to email, who, in the education world, I could contact and receive actual help! Most importantly, who would email me back?
I sent an email to the first person I could think of, the only person I knew who was somehow involved in the world of education and politics: Elizabeth Bauer. Ms. Bauer had come to our class, had talked to us about educational issues and reform in Michigan, had made me laugh, and had made me feel comfortable! At first I was intimidated by Ms. Bauer, for she was on the State Board of Education, and her decisions effected my future! Yet, as she began to talk, I became intrigued by what she was saying. She had years of experience teaching in schools, as well as playing the game of politics, and after her talk, she had my vote!
What struck me the most about Ms. Bauer was her last comment. She provided the class with her email (a personal email, for it was an AOL account and not some government-issued email that her assistant checked) AND invited us to send her emails! She encouraged us to write to her, to ask her questions, or to simply fill up her inbox with comments!
I took Ms. Bauer's invitation and sent her an email! I was hoping that if I explained the project and my idea, she could either send me any information she had or direct me to a person who could help. Here is my email:
Dear Ms. Bauer,
I am a graduate student at the University of Michigan, School of Education. You recently spoke to my class about the state of education and education reform in Michigan. I very much enjoyed listening to you, and I appreciated you taking the time to visit our class. Before you left, you encouraged us to email you with any questions or comments, and informed us that you are a constant email checker. After you left, my professor, Shari Saunders, asked the class to begin an advocacy project. For this project, students were able to choose their own educational issue to advocate for and then provide documentation on how they advocated the issue. I am writing to you to see if you could assist me in any way! Specifically, I need guidance in finding the correct person(s) to talk to.
At first, my idea was to do the project on incorporating cultural and social anthropology into the classroom. This is because, when I begin teaching, I want to include culture into my classes (I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in social anthropology). However, I knew that creating and trying to implement a nation-wide anthropology class would not be completed on time. Because of this, I started to think about why I wanted to include anthropology into my classes. It is because I think high school teenagers are at a period in their lives, one that includes a major transition from adolescent to young adult. They are about to enter the world, whether they go off to college, work, or the armed services.
When thinking about the different paths students are about to embark on, I focused on the armed services. Now, my idea is this: Young adults are signing up to fight for a country they don't know much about, in a country they know nothing about. I think it would be a great idea if any high school aged person who signs up for the armed services (whether it is through the school or not) must take a mandatory cultural anthropology class. This class would teach them about the other cultures they were about to encounter, as well as the dangers of being ethnocentric while fighting a war overseas.
This is where I hope you can help me! I was wondering if you had any information on who I could talk to about the probability and possibility of creating an anthropology class for prospective soldiers, and whether or not schools already provided some sort of cultural education to prospective soldiers.
I would appreciate any information you could provide!
Thank you very much
Molly Berwanger
Now I sit and wait anxiously for their replies!
When The Question Is To Blog Or Not To Blog, I Choose Blog!
The idea to begin this blog was simple and two-folded. One, I needed an easy and painless way to keep track of the progress I’ve made for my advocacy project. And two, I had just learned how to create and maintain a blog from my teaching with technology class, and I thought it would be brilliant to incorporate what I learned from one class into another.
So, now that I have provided the reason for why I created this blog, I must give you, my readers, the explanation for what this blog is and what it will entail. First and foremost, this blog is about my advocacy project idea. Therefore, it will involve all of the work I have done for this project, i.e., the letters I have written, the literature I have read, and the research I have studied.
But what is this advocacy project? Here is the assignment description from my class syllabus:
Advocacy Activities
This is an exciting time in education! There are reforms going on all over the place and people from the grassroots level to the federal level are involved. Of course we are not all in agreement when it comes to what we think should be done to improve education in the US. It is likely that some of our actions will be in opposition to the actions of others in the class. This is to be expected. No matter what your position, a couple of question you might ask are: Who might be advantaged by this effort/action? and Who might be harmed by this effort/action? No matter what your views are, you do not have to wait to be a teacher to have a voice in the policies that are likely to have an impact on your professional life as a future educator. The purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to take action to address a reform issue that matters to you. Actions you might take are: a) initiating new policies, b) working on passage of legislation, c) writing in support of or in opposition to legislation, d) working as a volunteer with an advocacy group, e) engaging in a grassroots effort, f) doing a formal presentation to a group involved in some aspect of educational reform, g) creating your own group focused on one or more reform issues, etc. You may want to do something that is not listed here, and I am open to other actions as long as they link up with the assignment expectations. Be sure to let me know what you plan to do as soon as you know. I do not want you to invest time on an activity that will not fulfill the expectations for this assignment.
So, during the month of August, I was expected to come up with an educational idea, get it approved by my teacher, and begin! Thankfully, I already knew the issue I wanted to advocate for, had already thought about it since the syllabus was handed out in June. I graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelors degree in Social Anthropology (a more thorough description of myself provided later), and, therefore, I was interested in finding some way to incorporate anthropology into the classroom.
With my idea formulated, I just had to get it approved by my professor, Shari. Since classes had ended and we were officially on break (and I was on the beach in East Hampton, NY), I sent Shari an email about my project idea. Here is the email:
Hi Shari,
I wanted to run my advocacy project idea by you before I get started on it!
In the beginning, I wanted to do the project on incorporating cultural and social anthropology into the classroom. This is because, when I begin teaching, I want to include culture into my classes. However, when I was thinking about how to go about doing this project, I started to get a little overwhelmed about the idea of making a country-wide curriculum.
But, I started to think about why I wanted to include anthropology into my classes. It is because I think high school teenagers are at a period in their lives, one that includes a major transition from adolescent to young adult. They are about to enter the world, whether they go off to college, military (or any type of service), or work.
When I thought about the different paths students are about to embark on, I focused more on military, etc. services. Young adults are signing up to fight for a country they don't know much about, in a country they know nothing about. I think it would be a great idea if any person who signs up for service through the school (recruiting officers at high schools, etc) they must take a mandatory cultural anthropology class that teaches them about other cultures and about the dangers of being ethnocentric while fighting a war overseas.
What do you think about this idea? I was thinking about beginning a blog that chronicles my idea and keeps a record of all the letters, emails, and documents I send out and receive. It would be a great way to organize my project.
Thank you,
Molly Berwanger
I received Shari's response later that day:
What a really cool idea!!! This would be much more manageable.
You might want to get in contact with some military folks and see the kind of training is currently offered in this area. They may do something like this for specialized service folks but they may have nothing at the basic training level.
The blog sounds like a good way to do this as it is something you want to be widely read. Make an exciting blog name (I'm terrible with titles so I hope you aren't) so that people may be drawn to it.
Keep me posted.
Ss
The first step was completed! My idea had been approved and I was given the green-light to begin researching!
It will be a slow process and one that takes patience. But in the end, I hope I have provided educators, administrators, and anyone who cares, with enough information to begin teaching Anthropology to any high school student who plans to enlist in the armed services!
So, now that I have provided the reason for why I created this blog, I must give you, my readers, the explanation for what this blog is and what it will entail. First and foremost, this blog is about my advocacy project idea. Therefore, it will involve all of the work I have done for this project, i.e., the letters I have written, the literature I have read, and the research I have studied.
But what is this advocacy project? Here is the assignment description from my class syllabus:
Advocacy Activities
This is an exciting time in education! There are reforms going on all over the place and people from the grassroots level to the federal level are involved. Of course we are not all in agreement when it comes to what we think should be done to improve education in the US. It is likely that some of our actions will be in opposition to the actions of others in the class. This is to be expected. No matter what your position, a couple of question you might ask are: Who might be advantaged by this effort/action? and Who might be harmed by this effort/action? No matter what your views are, you do not have to wait to be a teacher to have a voice in the policies that are likely to have an impact on your professional life as a future educator. The purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to take action to address a reform issue that matters to you. Actions you might take are: a) initiating new policies, b) working on passage of legislation, c) writing in support of or in opposition to legislation, d) working as a volunteer with an advocacy group, e) engaging in a grassroots effort, f) doing a formal presentation to a group involved in some aspect of educational reform, g) creating your own group focused on one or more reform issues, etc. You may want to do something that is not listed here, and I am open to other actions as long as they link up with the assignment expectations. Be sure to let me know what you plan to do as soon as you know. I do not want you to invest time on an activity that will not fulfill the expectations for this assignment.
So, during the month of August, I was expected to come up with an educational idea, get it approved by my teacher, and begin! Thankfully, I already knew the issue I wanted to advocate for, had already thought about it since the syllabus was handed out in June. I graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelors degree in Social Anthropology (a more thorough description of myself provided later), and, therefore, I was interested in finding some way to incorporate anthropology into the classroom.
With my idea formulated, I just had to get it approved by my professor, Shari. Since classes had ended and we were officially on break (and I was on the beach in East Hampton, NY), I sent Shari an email about my project idea. Here is the email:
Hi Shari,
I wanted to run my advocacy project idea by you before I get started on it!
In the beginning, I wanted to do the project on incorporating cultural and social anthropology into the classroom. This is because, when I begin teaching, I want to include culture into my classes. However, when I was thinking about how to go about doing this project, I started to get a little overwhelmed about the idea of making a country-wide curriculum.
But, I started to think about why I wanted to include anthropology into my classes. It is because I think high school teenagers are at a period in their lives, one that includes a major transition from adolescent to young adult. They are about to enter the world, whether they go off to college, military (or any type of service), or work.
When I thought about the different paths students are about to embark on, I focused more on military, etc. services. Young adults are signing up to fight for a country they don't know much about, in a country they know nothing about. I think it would be a great idea if any person who signs up for service through the school (recruiting officers at high schools, etc) they must take a mandatory cultural anthropology class that teaches them about other cultures and about the dangers of being ethnocentric while fighting a war overseas.
What do you think about this idea? I was thinking about beginning a blog that chronicles my idea and keeps a record of all the letters, emails, and documents I send out and receive. It would be a great way to organize my project.
Thank you,
Molly Berwanger
I received Shari's response later that day:
What a really cool idea!!! This would be much more manageable.
You might want to get in contact with some military folks and see the kind of training is currently offered in this area. They may do something like this for specialized service folks but they may have nothing at the basic training level.
The blog sounds like a good way to do this as it is something you want to be widely read. Make an exciting blog name (I'm terrible with titles so I hope you aren't) so that people may be drawn to it.
Keep me posted.
Ss
The first step was completed! My idea had been approved and I was given the green-light to begin researching!
It will be a slow process and one that takes patience. But in the end, I hope I have provided educators, administrators, and anyone who cares, with enough information to begin teaching Anthropology to any high school student who plans to enlist in the armed services!
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