final thoughts.....

This course has been great for me. I, like everyone else, still haven’t fully answered the magic question, but I feel that I have looked at human rights in ways that no other course has shown (more to be seen in my paper!!). I think we will all leave (at least) slightly more depressed then when we walked in the first day, yet far more enlightened.
In terms of course layout I wish we had had a little less time with all the theory and gotten to spend more time looking at case studies, which I think we sadly because of a lack of time just skimmed over. The three hour classes were great for having plenty of time to get into group discussions and really have a chance to talk things out. I loved the freedom we had in our case studies. It was really nice for me personally to take the time to read up on Chiapas before I head there in January! I hope that next year there will be a course to follow this up as I think there is so much more to explore.
Jon thanks so much for Monday night it was a really great way to end the term. A highlight for sure! Also please keep in touch about Latin American Studies as I really would like to do something to create more of a community.



tag: last301

Anti-Chavez Protest

CNN proudly boasted on its headlines yesterday that hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans were out on Saturday to rally in support of presidential candidate Manual Rosales. In the last poll Chavez led by 30 points but this rally is said to show that Rosales has the strength to win. It will be interesting to see what the results are!

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/11/25/chavez.protest.ap/index.html


tag: last301

Perera reading

After our class discussion yesterday about "is this just a permanent war" I have a few more comments- I think that this is ongoing yet there are some steps that are being taken to have positive change. For instance in '94 the women’s revolutionary laws were created for women in Chiapas. The intention was to provide women with basic rights such as education and health care. As well, they gave women the ability to make decisions about their bodies (children etc) and to participate in the Zapatista movement. Although women to this day do not have ALL these rights I think that it is valuable to note that initiatives are being taken. The laws were written and action is being taken. I think the key is grass roots initiatives on a small scale- hopefully being more and more effective and successful


tag: last301