Learning...

My favorite aspect of exploring social justice across cultures was learning about things in very different ways from how I might have previously thought about a topic. For example, as we discussed sexual and gender roles a very different community was brought to my attention. In Luoshui village, there are no traditional marriages. In the walking marriages present in this community, women are free to choose every night what/if any man sleeps in her bedroom that night. If a woman gets pregnant and has a child, then child is raised by her and her family, but not in any way by the dad. Before taking this class I most likely would just be like “that’s weird”, not attempting to look into the cultural differences between my culture and that culture.  But now I am more interested in learning about what the other culture values and why they may have different traditions such as a walking marriage. After seeing the video on the walking marriages my eyes were opened to a culture that that is drastically different from my own. I realized that I can’t just walk around judging other people, who may be from another culture. I need to learn about the other culture and try to understand, but no matter what I need to allow the other people to practice their culture in peace.

Ethics of Life

The Middle East is a hot bed for many of the issues we have been discussing this week around the Ethics of Live. As an area filled with religious countries there is an abundance of cultural issues. Israel is often the center of these issues and conflicts.

On June 10^th 3 Jewish Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered in the West Bank. Netanyahu blamed Hamas for their murder. On July 2^nd,one day after the burial of these teens, a Muslim Palestinian teen, Muhammad Abu Khdeir, was kidnapped and killed in Jerusalem. Far-right, religious Jews have been named suspects in the murder of the Palestinian teen.

These children have been used as pawns of war for these two very distinct cultures living in tight proximity. This conflict is complex and multifaceted. In some ways this conflict would be seen as a Just War because it is against a certain state and its people, but in other ways this is a Jihad conflict because the Jews do not believe in Islam.

Ethically, Jews and Muslims do not have the same background. The Torah says that each life is a whole world. This means that NO ONE should be killed through war or any other means. On the other hand, the Quran says “oppression is worse than killing” (Hashmi). This shows me that in Islam life is not valued the same way as it is in Judaism. This fundamental difference in importance of life may be one of the major problems behind this conflict and that keeps fueling the conflict.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-muhammad-abu-khdeir.html?ref=world&_r=0

Education for All

In America, everyone no matter gender, race, religion, or financial ability has access to school through high school. This means at least 13 years of education are provided for children to get a start. However, this is not the case all over the world. In Africa a child is lucky if they even make it into a classroom, never the less having books or a teacher that can teach. And if this child is female it is even more of a miracle. Even when children have been in school for three years many are illiterate. Education has been the essential building block in countries like South Korea and China. Education has been proven to increase GDP, decrease infant mortality, and limit spread of infections such as HIV/AIDS. Education equality among genders and to students in other countries that are given 13+ years of education is needed. So the question is left how to increase the number of children receiving education and the quality of the education in Africa.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2013/01/16-africa-learning-watkins

http://www.thisisafricaonline.com/Microsites/Access/Barometer 

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/hiv-and-aids/single-view/news/slowdown_in_access_to_education_in_africa/#.U6cXExYYEds 

Introduction

My name is Lauren Brookner. I was born and raised in Houston, TX. I am pursuing an Accounting major and a minor in Leadership Studies. When deciding on college, I decided to get out of Texas and experience something new, and Denver, CO felt like the right place to go test the cold, enjoy the dryness, and explore the beautiful scenery. 

FSEM was my favorite class at DU so far. I took a class titled “Mathematics of Games”. Although many would stick out their tongue at an unnecessary math class, I loved it. I was challenged to learn and question. Learning what strategies worked and didn’t work first by trial and error through playing the game. Ultimately, confirming or finding faults in theories formed while playing the game was half of the fun. The entire class was competitive always trying to be right and win the games adding to the fun and creating a stronger desire to learn, in order to beat each other and win.

I was very fortunate to be able to travel to Prague, Poland, and Israel to learn about the history of the Jewish people before, during, and after World War II. I think the most rewarding place I visited, although it was the hardest, was Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Seeing the horrors of how humans treated fellow human beings was powerful and gave a reality check to how thankful I should be, while also strengthening the burning question of how this horrible genocide occurred.

After realizing that this class would help fulfill a requirement I needed, I got extremely excited. I took a class last quarter that looked into Israeli society and culture through film. Even though Israel is tiny, within it lies a very diverse cultural and religious climate that works hard to co-exist.  Seeing how this democracy tries to uphold justice in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society where values and ideas of justice may be at odds was fascinating. I began wondering how justice is found in other cultures, religions, and countries. I hope to begin to discover how justice is formed and is upheld in other cultures.