Gudrun Salt Friday 9:00-11:50am Intro to Humanities Dru Hazelton My Journey Through Humanity 1100 Exploring what Humanity

is and what it means to me. Humanity is anything and everything that surrounds us in society. We get to choose what we want to believe, whom we belong to, have an understanding of other cultures, have an open mind, look deep into art and lectures, and be involved in a movement to make the world a better place. I have been exposed to many interesting facts, beliefs, and history that has happened to our world. Here are a few things I have learned through the course of this semester. Ive been introduced to foreign films, going to a Natural History of Museum, and also attending a cultural event. All three events took me out of my comfort zone. I have learned to ask questions to know more and to dig deeper. First, I watched "The Stoning of Soraya M.(1) this movie is about how Soraya (an Iranian woman) who is falsely accused by her husband for adultery which caused her to brake the Sharia Law. Her husband wants to get rid of her so he can marry a 14 year old girl. For this, her punishment is execution by being stoned by the village men. Zahra is Soraya aunt who tells a French reporter the story of how cruel and injustice it is for females in her country. This film is telling the audiences that, this practice still exist in her country and others. I see how Islam women and girls are mistreated and there is no law against it. Second, I had gone to the museum and observed unique antiques from the past that are preserved and changes to our civilization such as: Dinosaurs remains, fossil, pottery, climate
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changes, names of different layers of soil, genetics, plants, people, Native American Indians, and there is a special exhibit called the Natural Unleased Inside Disasters. Its about Natural Disasters such as Wildfire, Hurricane, Flood, Volcano, and Earthquakes. They showcased the disasters and events from all around the world. I have seen examples of how people cope with disasters by writing their story and attach it to a community tree. Third, I attended a cultural event called the Oktoberfest, an annual event that was started in Bavaria, Germany in the 1800s and this event unites everyone from different communities and cultures to help celebrate the pride for their country. The females wore peasants dresses called a Dirndl and the men wore Lederhosen with suspender and off white socks. The females have a certain way of how they tie their apron to show their status if they are single, a virgin, widow, or married. I tried their food and beer, it was great. I sat down and listen to their music and watched the children dance and play games. At the end I did compare my culture with theirs. We dress different, eat different things, and we celebrate festivities different. Next I learned about freedom, respect, war, nature/environment, religion, and spirituality. The 1st question that was asked in class is Freedom What is it; What it isnt.(2) To me, freedom is a choice of what I want to do and what I dont want to do, as long I comply with the laws. What isnt free to me is being forced to do something or have my rights taken away. I realized that through history there has been struggles of freedom. This happened through the Civil Right movement, fighting for the right of freedom and be respected as an equal. In World War II. Men did not have a choice, they got drafted to war and the men who were against it (The Conscientious Objectors) got sent to prison, no matter what race you are. Your freedom
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was taken away. Currently in our society, not everyone is free. We have the gay and lesbians who are trying to fight for their right to be considered as equals. Such as: gay marriage, having gay clubs in high school and colleges, getting fired by employers or trying to getting hired for employment and finding a place to live. Just because they have a guy/lesbian status. I also see there is a lot of stereotyping due to the color of your skin and how you are dressed. Makes you feel degraded. Will there ever be an end to discrimination? Maybe never. In my opinion, its something that is taught from our parents and grandparents. I am glad to know that Rachel Carson an Environmentalist who discovered what nature is to humans and what would be harmful according to her studies. She had to argue with males and had many discussions about her findings of how we need to preserve mother earth. She had open millions of eyes by the book she wrote Silent Spring (3) and even got John F Kennedys attention. From there DDT and other pesticides was banned. Also, I like Walden(4) by Henry Thoreau. His way of thinking of how life should be simple and not be greedy of wanting more. Having less and just surviving on what we need, using our hands to build a home and maintain a garden. So we can avoid being in debt and live a peaceful life. I understand his points of view of how he compares and it make sense. The location where he resides at and his desire of how to live simple was okay back in the 1800s. I would like to see if his point of view would change in this century. Would it be different and how would it remain a simple life? Religion is huge in society, I think majority of people want to believe in god to feel accepted and comforted. There are spiritual people like the Native Americans and Asians who are tuned in with nature. The Native American Indians who practice their own religion dont worship a god. They believe in Great Spirits, the super-natural and superstitions. There are
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other religions that are tune in with nature such as: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Hinduism believe in reincarnation and Karma. Your next life is based on good and bad deeds. They also worship many gods. Buddhism is finding your enlightenment within yourself and not be materialized by desires. You learn to cope and understand the suffering of sickness, death, old age, and hardship. There is no god and not considered as a religion. Taoism goes by analogy, mythology, metaphor, and philosophy of life or the way of nature. I like the idea of what Buddhism teaches. Its so positive and its a way you look at life. I wouldnt mind trying out their masses to see what its all about. Taking this class have changed my views of my surrounding and its not about living. Its about what you can get out of life by making choices and increase your knowledge. I am curious to know more and explore outside my bubble. I have open thoughts about different religions. I understand more about the environment and how important it is to conserve the natural resources, before I didnt think much of it until I watched a movie and read more about it. I can relate to the theme of Nature due to my culture. We have superstitions of certain animals and our surrounding of Mother Earth. If we touch or harm what Mother Nature provides us. It will affect us in a bad way which will cause us to be sick, disfigured or something bad will happen. Its like Karma, good or bad. I also see the Toa religion is kind of similar due to the myths and magic. I wish we could have covered more about myths in class, I love to hear more stories of other cultures myths

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and their superstitions and their version of how earth is created. It is fun to compare because it is slightly similar to what I believe in.

Footnotes
(1) The Stoning of Soraya M. Dir. Cyrus Nowrasteh. Perf. Mozhan Marno, Navid Negahban, David Diaan Shohreh Agdashloo. June 26, 2009. (2) Hazelton, Dru. ""Freedom" What it is; What it isn't." 2013. (3) Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin, 1962. (4) Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Boston, 1854.

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