On Mormon Environmentalism

I enjoyed thoroughly reading some of the article about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and its stand on environmental issues. I am a member of this or the Mormon/LDS church as most people know it, and I have never noticed until now that the church hasn't come out with an official statement about Protecting the environment. I believe just as the writer of the blog did that maybe the Church has not come out with a statement yet because of it's commitment to stay politically neutral. However the church does teach and believe that the body is of great importance and should be taken care of. For this reason the LDS church teaches that we should not use drugs or alcohol, coffee and to eat healthy. I believe too such as the author said that just as the LDS church teaches us to watch over our bodies it indirectly teaches us to watch over the earth which is also a sacred creation of God. What do you guys think, should the LDS church and other churches play a larger role in environmental activism?

Evernden

La semana pasada hablamos como seria si los seres humanos no vivieran en la tierra. En el libro The Natural Alien by Evernden, Galileo se cita esta pregunta. Me puse a pensar mucho sobre esta pregunta y cuan rapido inhabitarian los animales nuestra ciudad? Por su puesto los animales vivian aqui primero, y los echamos afuera de los limites de la ciudad. Les invito a pensar en la pregunta por Galileo y tambien la pregunta cuan rapido inhabitarian los animales aqui en nuestra propia sociedad?

Vegetarian Experiment

Okay so as I posted before, today I will be starting my vegetarian experiment. I will not be eating any type of meat (including fish) for the next two weeks. I am a little apprehensive as I realize that I will have to plan my meals better and I will have to be aware of making sure that I supplement protein in different forms into my diet. I am looking forward to seeing how this will go and what I will learn in the process. Hopefully I will be able to better connect with the environment around me and appreciate the beauty that is this world we live in.

Cumanda chap 5

I am starting this mostly for those of us who will be presenting chap 5 but anyone who would like to share an insight it more than welcome to. Just post a comment on this and we will see how much we can get.

State of the Union

Well I wasn't able to hear as much of the state of the union address as I wanted to, but it really made me think about the economy. As I have been taking this spanish class, it has really made me think about the present state we are in. I set a new goal to be more aware of things that are happening in our own economy as well through out the world. I think that it is important for us to be aware of the worlds conditions, and what we do to either effect it for the better of for the worse. As we talked a little in class, President Obama stated that he wants to pass a comprehensive energy and climate bill, making the clean energy the profitable energy here in the United States. I believe that it is really important to take care of the earth. One way I believe that we can change the way we live is by listening to what our President is doing, and not only him, but even our own governor,and state representatives, and if we feel strongly enough about something, than we stand up for what we believe, and take initiative in our own community. I guess what I have learned over the last few months is that we need to be constantly aware of what is happening, and I just think we should all remember that, and really pay attention to things like the state of the union address. I know I will do a better job.

Ecopsychology

In addition to being a fan of _Avatar_, I think Evernden would be supportive of the new field of ecopsychology.  Here's an article on it from today's NYT Magazine:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/magazine/31ecopsych-t.html?pagewanted=1&emc=eta1

Avatar and Everden

I was just thinking today that if Neil Everden were alive and kicking that He would most likely enjoy the movie Avatar. I like millions of others saw and liked it but was not overly impressed, perhaps because I had heard so much about it that I made it something that had to blow me away or it was a failure. Anyways, in discussing the work by Everden The Natural Alien and hearing about how Everden thought that medical professionals in earlier times were cutting the vocal chords of animal subjects and that today we are cutting the vocal chords of nature, I thought He would be thrilled to see a movie that said that every organism was connected and that there was a race or species that were self-appointed guardians of maintaining the delicate balance within.

I do not agree with much that President Obama is doing but in his State of the Union address given he said that global may or may not be true but that one thing is for certain, we are all responsible for matters that are plaguing the earth.

LDS Sustainability

Great class discussion today on Evernden!  I'm looking forward to an equally vibrant conversation about _Cumanda_ for Tuesday...

Here is the link to the blog on LDS environmentalism that I told you about:  http://ldsustainability.blogspot.com/
I will also put it on the blog's links below.

If you google "Mormon environmentalism," quite a few sites come up besides this one.

Interesting thought

As i have been reading the article "The Natural Alien," by Niel Evernden a lot of interesting thoughts have come into my mind. In the reading it talks a lot about Resourcism, and sadly i think we have this kind of society where we look at nature and resources as objects, and what can it be used for. Evernden also pointed out how many times we have a set opinion in our mind what kind of nature is beautiful. I loved, absolutely loved how he said we should not ask ourselves this question but better yet, How is this part of nature beautiful? I feel if we all did this we would have a better gratitude for nature and all it's worth.

Ironies

While reading in The Salt Lake Tribune yesterday, I came across this news of the weird article that I thought demonstrates the steps the global governments are taking to curb global warming, but also the ironies and contradictions that their actions are causing toward the issue. I quote from The Salt Lake Tribune News of the weird, Tuesday January 26, 2010 "Copenhagen, one of the greenest cities in the world, endured an added 41,000 extra tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent in December during the 11-day climate summit. The 15,000 delegates required 2,000 limousines (only five of which were electric or hybrid) to get around town, and the world leaders arrived and departed in 140 private jets, some of which had to be parked overnight in Sweden because of airport congestion." I personally thought this article was hilarious, everyone in the world agrees that global warming is a problem, but most of us don't want to give up our rights to personal transportation. I think if all of us in the world including the world leaders thought a little more consciously and efficiently about our transportation habits, we could seriously reduce the amount of carbon-dioxide let into our atmosphere, but we all need to work together and make sacrifices.

Nature and Virtuality Talk: For Credit!

If you attend this talk, I will let it count for one of you weekly blog requirements (i.e., extra credit).  I will be there and will take roll!  Also, this would be a great opportunity for you to see an example of how to work with literature and culture from an eco-critical perspective (i.e., example of how to approach your final projects/papers).

The Tanner Humanities Center is proud to present its

Spring 2010 Work in Progress Talk Series

Please join us for a talk by
Alf Seegert
Tanner Graduate Fellow - Dept. of English

Cybercultural Ecologies: Interfacing Nature and Virtuality

Cybercultural Ecologies examines the interpenetrating relationships between people, environment, and technovirtuality. Operating at the interface between ecocriticism and cyberculture, it focuses on texts (literary, cinematic, and new media) which depict varying conceptions of technology, virtuality, and their effects. Understanding these effects is ecologically crucial, because technovirtual interfaces profoundly alter one’s experience of nature, corporeality, relationships, and sense of place.

In this presentation I lay out some of the main arguments of my dissertation and then conclude by discussing the intriguing ways in which nature and virtuality come together in James Cameron’s new film Avatar.

  Tuesday, February 2, 2010
3:30-5pm
*** Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building ***
  Conference Room (Room 143)

Please join us! Delicious refreshments will be served.

Experiment Idea

Attention ALL University of Utah students, faculty and staff:

Every student currently pays $2.50 into the Sustainable Campus Initiative
Fund (SCIF) which is designated to provide funding for energy-saving and
environmentally beneficial projects on campus.

Any current student, faculty, or staff member with a sustainable project
idea has the opportunity to apply to SCIF.

70% of the fund serves as a revolving loan fund to be paid back via
energy-saving projects.

30% of the fund serves as a grant allocated to projects with an
environmental, educational and community benefit.

Examples of projects include:


 *   Hosting a environmentally focused writing competition
 *   Expanding and enhancing productivity of campus gardens
 *   Launching campus-wide composting project
 *   Initiating an energy-use competition between residence halls
 *   Creating art installations using recycle and salvaged materials
 *   Making an educational video about sustainable behaviors to be shown
on campus

 *   Internships and research related to sustainability

How to get started:


 *   Talk to your friends and classmates
 *   Discuss project ideas with your professors
 *   Contact Whitney Williams
(w.williams@utah.edu@utah.edu>), the program
coordinator for project ideas
 *   Apply by February 12, 2010 OR April 9, 2010

For additional information please visit
http://www.sustainability.utah.edu/scif, stop by our office in Annex 1024,
or call 801-585-9352.

Propose a SCIF project today and start making a difference on campus!

Stephen Tatum
Professor of English and Director of Environmental Humanities
University of Utah
255 S. Central Campus Drive, Rm. #3500
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
office: 801-581-4035
fax: 801-585-5167

Ralph Waldo Emerson's take on Nature

I was reading for my other class when I came across an interesting definition for what is nature and decided it would be a useful thing for our discussions. It is from Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature, Addresses, and Lectures

"Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul. Strictly speaking, therefore, all that is separate from us, all which Philosophy distinguishes as the NOT ME, that is, both nature and art, all other men and my own body, must be ranked under this name, Nature. In enumerating the values of nature and casting up their sum, I shall use the word in both senses;- in its common and in its philosophical import.[...] Nature, in the common sense, refers to essences unchanged by man; space, the air, the river, the leaf. Art is applied to the mixture of his will with the same things, as in a house, a canal, a statue, a picture."

So Nature and Art are two new terms we could use.

Cumanda chapter equivalents

For those of you who have the library book editions that don't correspond with Catedra's, here are the chapter equivalencies of the pages assigned:

28 Jan.  pp. 81-134 = Cap. 1-6
2 Feb. pp. 135-184 = Cap. 7-11
4 Feb. pp. 185-241 = Cap. 12 - 16
9 Feb. pp. 242-fin = Cap. 17-end

De Lo Que Podia Ser...

Si no fuera por desafíos históricos de Argentina se seria como Los Estados Unidos en cuando las ricas y poder. Antes el cayo del peso en 2001 Argentina estaba subiendo la escalera de sustantivo. Argentina tiene mucha tierra y espacio para crecer comida y trabajar los campos. Tan bien, Argentina tiene tierra con mucha posibilidad para el resto el mundo para tener mas relaciones afuera con otros países. Argentina tiene el coste y ríos que se pueden crecer cambo entre países con exportación. ¿Entonces que es lo problema con el crecimiento de Argentina? Pienso que es el gobierno y de que la gente se perdió confianza en el gobierno y no están usando la tierra eficiente, por eso Argentina esta en un ruto. Argentina tiene mucho espacio para ser algo grande y poderoso y tiene que impensar con los de que tiene poder para ayudar y empezar cosas. Argentina tiene usar mejor la tierra que tiene y empezar nuevo trabajo por los que quieran trabajar. El foque mío no es que mostrar la falta del gobierno pero es que los de Argentina no usaban electamente la tierra de ellos país. Dígame lo que ustedes piensan.

Ecocritical Experiment

Juepa, he estado pensando mucho en nuestro experimento que tenemos que hacer para la clase. Antes de este clase no pensaba mucho en como podría ser un mejor ambientalista, sí amo la tierra pero nunca había pensado mucho en como podría hacer mi parte. Pero ahora quiero hacer algo chévere que va a ayudar a la tierra y también a mi. Lo que quiero hacer yo es una de los ejemplos que ella nos dio. Quiero durar algunas semanas como un vegetariano. Esto sí seria muy difícil para mi porque a mi me encanta comer la carne. También tengo un buen amiga que es vegetariano y siempre me he burlado de ella por esto, y creo que no voy a burlarme mas de ella porque la voy a entender mejor. Ojala que mi experimento chiquito salvará las vidas de algunos animales. Que piensan ustedes, es difícil ser un vegetariano? Y hay alguien en la clase quien quiere hacerlo conmigo?

The Cove

Hi. The following is a little about me. I have degrees in English and Film Studies from the U. Since I was a little kid, I have always loved the movies and I have always wanted to do something with that. I tell you this to tell you that every year I make it a point to see a few films at Sundance. (I have three tickets for this year.) Last year there was a documentary that got rave reviews and ended up winning the Audience Award for Best Documentary. It's called The Cove. It's all about the journey of the man who captured the 'Flipper' dolphins in the 50's/60's and now is working hard to make up for that by campaigning for the liberty and protection of all dolphins around the world. Specifically, he does a lot of work against the Japanese for their harsh policies against dolphins. The Japanese are one of the only groups left in the world that still go whaling and kill marine animals indiscriminately. This movie blows the lid off of their actions and explains the huge dangers that they are creating. I want you all to see it because it's really well done so I won't give the whole thing away. I just wanted to mention it here in the blog and say that it opened my eyes to the horrific actions of some of our fellow seres humanos. We should learn from them and be better to our Earth because she's the only one we have.

Lo absoluto y lo relativo

Tras discutir los temas en clase, parece que no hay ninguna cosa en este mundo que es absoluto, sino que todo es relativo a otra cosa. ?Como se decide o quien decide lo que es la verdad? (de nuevo, no me deja poner los acentos.) ?Importa esta distincion? Pregunto porque no tengo la respuesta.

Prosperity without Growth

Have you ever thought about the links between ECOlogy and ECOnomy?  They both have to do with keeping house, with managing nature around us by naming it and studying it...  Can the two be divorced in the future, or are we going to have to start thinking of them as actually sharing the same root?

Here's a book review on prosperity without growth:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/23/properity-without-growth-tim-jackson

Experimento

Hola a todos alumnos quiero empezar el experimento eco-critical y querria saber si algunos de uds. tenian ideas? Yo tengo unas no mas querria saber.


Discutimos en la clase sobre el libro de mann en las ultimas paginas de nomos vs. physis. Un poco luego discutimos de los lobos que vinieron a Utah. Esta pregunta si debemos matar los lobos o dejarlos vivir me puse a pensar mucho. En mi propio opinion creo que debemos quitar los lobos de Utah, o debemos administrarlos porque se que los lobos son predadores hacia el alce y venados. Se que los lobos no tienen muchos predadores. Yo lei en un estudio en yellowstone, antes de volver a entrar en los lobos alla habia unos 17,000-19,000 alces y tres anos despues de tenerlos en yellowstone los numeros disminuieron a alrededor 7,000. solamente despues 3 anos. Si dejan vivir los lobos aqui pueden matar a todos los alces y venados y despues van a matar las vacas y eso nos causaran dano. Por eso creo mucho en las organizaciones como DWR aqui en Utah porque protejan y mantienen los rebanos.

Experiment Possibilities

Here's a video contest from vimeo:  http://vimeo.com/channels/climatematters

And there's a contest on designing the space in front of Marriott Library.  You can design your own "built environment"!  http://www.alumni.utah.edu/reimaginetheplaza/

Norte Chico and our generation...

After reading and presenting chapter 6 of Charles Mann, the 25 little cities of Norte Chico that have been more or less recently discovered made me think of how interesting it would have been to uncover some of those artifacts of the mummies and remnents of the ancient buildings. To be able to discover somewhat of how the people lived and even ideas of what they ate is a privledged look into a window of the past. It makes me wonder if a big global event happened to wipe out most of the human race, what would future generations find in the rements of our civilization? Would they know of our technological advances or lack thereof? Would they be able to tell if we had harmed our envoirnment or was careless with our resources? How much of a footprint do we leave everyday and is it benefical or it is detrimental to us or to those who would "discover" us in the future?

Now ultimatley I don't believe necessarily in any occurance of such an event, however I think that these questions are ones that need to be asked in order for us to do a self-evaluation about how we are living. Are we are doing or at least trying to do something good for all of us and our future generations or are we just living and not caring about it till wer're already gone?

vacaciones

Como todos sabemos la semana pasada habia tanto inversion en el valle, entonces fuimos a cedar city. El aire fue tan bonito alla. No habia la inversion como tuvimos aqui, y fue un buen descanso de la inversion. Estoy agradecido por las tormentas esta semana porque el aire ya esta claro.

Las cosas Antiguas

El otro día estaba buscando cosas de la naturaleza que puedo escribir. Encontré algo por medio del Internet (youtube) que dice que hay ciudades perdidas abajo el océano entre florida y cuba. Ellos dicen que había un desastre y muchas ciudades se cayeron en el mar. Están encontrando pirámides, calles, y piedras hecho por la mano de hombres. Yo quiero hablar de esto por que toda vía no hemos encontrado todo que hay de los pueblos antiguos. Esto me hace pensar que si no cuidamos de lo que hacemos con la tierra, la tierra nos da la historia de nuestros antepasados. Pienso que tenemos que respectar la tierra e intender lo que es como anda. A veces creo que nos olvidamos de que la naturaleza no da, nuestra historia.

Socially Creating Nature

While I was reading the required reading for Tuesday I contemplated the meaning of some of the things that Neil Evernden had written about humans and how we have created the concept and idea of nature. I agree with this statement about our own creation of nature but who is to say that we are right in our assumptions.

Science is an imperfect study trying to describe relationships that we know nothing about. I have heard it said by a number of professors here at the University of Utah that science does not know everything but with time and more research they can come to a knowledge about anything. I struggle with this at times. I have a skeptical mind and think we shouldn't make assumptions until we know the whole truth. Anyways, back to Evernden.

Evernden used the argument that there are two sides to the argument (there may in fact be more but for our sake there are two). The one side is based in the ideas of the environmentalists that want humanity to slow down and think about the consequences of their actions. We must think about the future and what the use of natural resources is going to do to hinder future progress by future generations, according to environmentalists. The other side of the issue deals with the industrialists that think that nature is here to help humanity progress and move forward. Both sides scream that if we do not hearken to the other all progress will be lost and impeded.
The question that is blaring in my mind is how do we know? How can we be so sure that by us using energy to power our lives is going to create a mile high tidal wave that will wipe out the coastal regions and alter America like nothing ever has before? How do we know that we have enough resources to last for even another year? This life is tricky and all we can do is move forward trying out one concept after another until our maker says we have had enough.

On earthquakes, nature, and voodoo

Listen to this NPR story about how voodoo, an animistic religion that acknowledges spirits in all things natural, provides a way of grieving and understanding for Haiti's earthquake victims:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122770590

Rosenbaum is Rosendale

I made an error on the syllabus. The editor of _The Greening of Literary Scholarship_ is Rosendale (not Rosenbaum, as I had listed on the syllabus). Thus, the Rosenbaum reading is under "Rosendale" both on the email I sent with the PDFs of the readings and on eReserve. Sorry about the mistake.

Also, _Cumanda_ is up on WebCT under Course Documents. It is labeled (because it was saved as) "Erin Finzer's Scanning." Come to class tomorrow for a raffle of a free _Cumanda_!

Mi Experimento

Hola! He decidido que voy a hacer mi "experimento" en esta clase empezando el 31 de enero hasta el dia 14 de febrero. Pues, por dos semanas, voy a llegar a ser una vegetariana. Este quiere decir que no puedo comer ningun tipo de carne durante estas dos semanas. Pero, los huevos y los productos lacteos seran permitidas. Va a ser un experimento interesante para mi porque he crecido en un hogar danes. Los daneses creen en la comida de mucha carne y muchas papas. Nunca en mi vida ha tenido mas de unos dias sin comer la carne. Es una idea rara pero se que este experimento sera divertido y voy a aprender mucho sobre la naturaleza, el ambiente y, quizas, algo nuevo sobre mi misma. Voy a grabar mis experiencias con este experimento en este blog. Les digo lo que pasa!

¿Somos aparte de la naturaleza?

En el primer día, decimos que "naturaleza" significa el estado puro del medioambiente sin humanos. Pero ¿son los humanos aparte del mundo natural? ¿Somos, como dijo Evernden, un 'budworm' mundial?

En mi opinion, ser medioambientalista es ser humanista. No es contra los intereses humanos conservar nuestra medioambiente ni los animales que viven en ella. Para mi, conservar es servirme y a mis desendientes. Conservar es vivir en una manera en que podemos avanzar y progresar como raza humana. Será en esa manera que podríamos vivir en la planeta por lo más tiempo posible. La biodiversidad es crítico en nuestra capacidad de sobrevivir.

No es una cuestión de salvar a la planeta. La planeta era aquí antes de los humanos, y sobrevivirá después de somos cenizas en la tierra. Las plantas reclamarán a la tierra, y nuevas especies de animales evolverán, y la biodiversidad continuará después de nosotros... pero el punto es que será después de nosotros: posiblemente millones de años después. Estamos moviendo por el mundo como el budworm, pero usando todos nuestros recursos naturales y algún día no podremos vivir más. Nos estamos matandose. Decimos que somos inteligentes, pero pienso que es el tiempo de probarlo y empezar de vivir con la más posible harmonía que podemos. Energía sostenible y la tecnología, y también salir de costumbres gastables, nos deliverán de la crisis que viene.

Readings

_Cumanda_ should be up on WebCT under Course Documents by tomorrow (Wednesday, 01/20) at 5:00 PM.

FYI:  There are *multiple* copies of Mera's _Cumanda_ and Arguedas' _Los rios profundos_ in Marriott Library, just waiting to be checked out!!!

Also, all the books from this course should be available at the Reserve Desk (second floor, Marriott) by the end of the week.

I have contacted the Bookstore about Asturias' _Leyendas de Guatemala_ and will update you all as soon as I hear back from them.

Stewardship

Hoy dia en clase la profesora nos dijo que su hija siempre dice, "Mommy, look at my mountains!" La exclamacion me hizo pensar en la idea de propiedad y de "stewardship" con respeto a los usos sociales de la naturaleza. Hasta que punto somos "stewards" o camareros de la tierra? (No se si "camarero" traduzca bien!) Creo que "stewardship" es muy relacionado con el cristianismo, en lo que somos los duenos, en manera de decir, de nuestros hechos y pecados. Por eso, podria ser facil o dificil, en la mente de "stewardship," de aceptar la idea de Evernden que la naturaleza es un hecho humana. Facilmente aceptado, porque los cristianos se enfatizan las culpas y la responsibilidad, pero por otro lado dificilmente--porque ellos mantienen un sentido de superioridad y propiedad de la tierra; y a veces con eso viene el supuesto derecho de utilizar y violar a la tierra. PERO con la idea de propiedad de la tierra podria venir tambien el profundo sentido de cuidar nuestra madre.

Los acentos--imaginenlos! No se como hacerlos en el "blog."

2 E-Reserve Readings

Two readings are listed as eReserve, but as they are also available on article databases, the library simply provides you the link.

The first is available on JSTOR (go to Article Databases, then click on "J" for JSTOR):

• Ecology and the Poor: A Neglected Dimension of Latin American History

• Joan Martinez-Alier
• Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Oct., 1991), pp. 621-639
• Published by: Cambridge University Press

We read the Martinez-Alier article within the next few weeks, and the Carey article comes later in the semester.  Carey's article is available on History Cooperative (go to "H" under "Article Databases").  We read that at the end of the semester.

Funding Opp thru Sustainability Grant at the U

Visit this site for information about an exciting new grant that allows students to receive funding for contributing creatively and practically to helping the U be more sustainable:  http://www.facilities.utah.edu/portal/site/facilities/menuitem.f3f7b0b1f50f8fe6d0f3d010c1e916b9/?vgnextoid=4b27e19e2a031210VgnVCM1000001c9e619bRCRD&vgnextchannel=94317a74ba121210VgnVCM1000001c9e619bRCRD

El libro 1491

Quisiera hablar sobre el libro 1491 porque me intriga mucho. Me gusto todos los capítulos que los alumnos leyeron y el capitulo que yo leí, (el capitulo 6). El capitulo 6 lo que yo leí se habla de los textiles que los indígenas usaron y las maneras que trabajaron. Los indígenas fueron personas muy inteligentes. Conocían la tierra y como cultivarla. En el capitulo 6, Mann describe que muchas de las invenciónes que nosotros tenemos hoy en día son invenciónes que los indígenas inventaron. No mas se que son inteligentes y me gusta ese libro.

Y hay alguien que sabe como poner los acentos con Microsoft Word?

La inversión

También esta es la primera vez que he participado en un blog. La única cosa que me acude a la mente en cuanto al medio ambiente de SLC es la inversión. tengo unos amigos que les gusta correr, no sé por que, y me dicen que con la inversión se les hace más difícil correr. Lo sienten en los pulmones. No sé qual es el problema, o la suerte, que tengo, pero a mi no siento nada diferente cuando estoy corriendo. Dicen que la inversión es terrible, y no lo dudo, pero creo que no me afecta. ?Qué tal ustedes?

Nuestra relación con la naturaleza

Nuestra relación con el medioambiente es algo muy importante. No me di cuenta hasta hoy que el medioambiente si tiene un afecto grande en nuestras vidas. Un ejemplo es el terremoto que ocurrió en Haití. Millones de personas están sufriendo por este terremoto, el ambiente si tenia un gran efecto sobre ellos. En nuestra vidas también podemos ver que el nieve está teniendo un gran efecto sobre nosotros. El nieve efectúa como nos vestimos, como nos manejamos, que hacemos en nuestro tiempo libre, etc.

Syllabus Changes

I am in the process of altering the syllabus.  I have decided that we will not read _Cimarron_ by Miguel Barnet as a class.  You can return that book to the bookstore if you have already bought it.  If you bought it from Amazon or somewhere that you cannot easily return it, it would make a great final project!

Other texts that I am cutting that would make good final projects:  Maria Candelaria (film), Caribe (film), Gabriela Mistral (poetry posted on eReserve), Contrapunteo cubano de Ortiz (eReserve), Insularismo de Pedreira (eReserve), Sarmiento (eReserve) and Bello (hyperlink).

I will have a new print syllabus for you on Tuesday, and you might expect a quiz on Tuesday, too...

intento numero dos

Bueno, nunca he hecho un blog, entonces voy a tratar ahora y hablar sobre la inversión. Hace unos días una colega y yo hablamos sobre la inversión y la nieve. Yo me encanta la nieve y a esquiar, (pues snowboarding) entonces me gusta las montanas entonces, esta bien bonita en las montanas. Mi colega, el no le gusta la nieve, porque para el es un desafío para espalar. Entonces el cree que los dos son unos círculos viciosos. Yo no más quiero que se nieve. Adiós

So i have tried this a few times. We will see if it works.

La Inversion

Poor Haiti!

I have been keeping an eye on the news lately and the conditions that make up life in Haiti after the earthquake and I am saddened by what I see. However, I know that these forces majeurs (natural disasters) happen and it is just one in a great line of occurrences in the world. I am enfuriated, though, by the comments of some of our own citizens, namely Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh among others, who claim that this earthquake was a punishment meted down by God for the wickedness of the Haitian society. I don't believe that they can say that Haiti or any other country is more wicked that another. There are terrible things in the world that happen every day. Bad things happen to good people. Soccer moms get cancer. Young children are kidnapped and abused. Innocent people are raped and/or murdered. But, personally, I know that we are all God's children and He loves us. He's not happy with wickedness but I cannot believe that He is vengeful or malicious. Shame on those that think that anyone deserves such tragedy and sadness! Shame on those that make such salacious statements for their own gain! These natural disasters can and will happen anywhere including here in our own promised land. But, God loves us and He will never turn His back on us. (Sorry for the religious torrent. It's not usually my style. However, I feel strongly about this.) May the Lord bless Haiti and help her people to come out of this ordeal.

Changes

After getting to know the class a little, I have decided to cut back on some readings.  This decision will result in a new schedule of assignments on the syllabus.  I hope to have posted this new schedule by Monday sometime and will bring a hard copy to class on Tuesday.  More than likely, I will cut at least one of the books you've been asked to purchase, as many of you have complained of the cost.

Also, I saw the Greenpeace table outside the Union today.  I promised these eager activists that I would post their website here so that you can participate in their online petitions.  Significantly, when I asked for a brochure, they could not give me one:  since they are an environmentalist organization, they have gone completely paperless!

The link to Greenpeace USA (which has links to Greenpeace International) is http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/.

Tengan un buen finde.

La primera discucion...

Con respeto al libro "1491" y nuestra primera lectura, me parece interesante ver los diferentes puntos de vista hacia la gente indigena antes de la llegada de los conquistadores. Me doy cuenta que muchos suponen que los indegenas fueron todos my respetables a la tierra y la naturaleza, pero en realidad, hay evidencia que ellos utilizaron muchos de los recursos naturales para construir grandes civilizaciones. Claro que ellos no gastan los recursos como nosotros lo hacemos hoy en dia, pero yo creo que nosotros no podemos adivinar que todos los indigenas adoraron a la tierra tampoco. Tal vez es importante saber tambien que todos los tribus tenian creencias e ideales diferentes.

Bottleneck

atasco (traffic jam), cuello de botella (where a road suddenly narrows); embotellamiento (hold-up)

Good job today with the presentations.  For building fluency, just plow through with the Spanish and use English when you come to an unknown word.  We'll provide you with the vocabulary.

Algunos Pensamientos Míos

Al comenzar el nuevo tarea yo querría comentar algunos ideas y opiniones que tengo acerca del estado del mundo ahora. Primeramente les doy mis más sinceras pésames a las personas de Haití que han perdido familiares y posesiones. Es una tragedia que han sufrido tanto. A la vez me doy cuenta de nuevo que poderosa es la naturaleza. Somos incapaces de impedir su asombroso poder pero somos capaces de utilizarlo para tener un mejor mundo para todos. Lo más importante para nosotros es utilizar los recursos naturales sabiamente para que nuestros hijos y nietos y los nietos de nuestros nietos tengan una lugar donde puedan disfrutar de este maravillosa tierra.

¿Y cómo es que podemos asegurar que las nuevas generaciones tengan este oportunidad? Es por medio de los decisiones que tomamos ahora. Sabemos que hay muchas personas que dicen que la tierra no puede mantener el estilo de vida de que estamos acostumbrado a tener. Pero a la vez hay muchas personas, incluyendo a mí mismo, que no quiere sacrificar los lujos que nos da el estilo de vida de que nos hemos acostumbrado a tener. Entonces lo que sugiero es que comenzamos con las cosas pequeñas como reciclar, también podemos reducir la cantidad objetos fabricados de materias que no son biodegradable. Lo sé que muchas personas lo dicen pero lo voy a decir de nuevo es por medio de los hechos pequeños que los cambios más grandes sean efectuados.

No Puedo Respirar...

Ay ay ay... No puedo respirar hoy debido a toda la contaminación del aire... Por eso, me pregunto "por qué vivo en Salt Lake City?"... Salt Lake City es un tazón muy grande, y soy un pececito viviendo en el tazón, pero no puedo respiriar en mi "agua"....... Quiero vivir en las montañas.

Wetlands and Wilderness

Mi diccionario preferido, www.wordreference.com, confirma que "wetlands" es "pantano".  Yo estaba buscando la palabra "ciénaga", que parece más a un "bog".  Otra palabra es "megano" (y hay un filme cubano pre-revolucionario, _El megano_, acerca de los campesinos en el megano buscando leña... ¿proyecto final?).  Tanto los pantanos como las ciénagas y meganos tienen fango, que es un tipo de lodo remojado que sirve como buen abono natural.

El mismo diccionario indica que "wilderness" es "páramos".  Es una traducción interesante y no poco relacionada con "desierto", como a mi entender connota mesas sin mucha vegetación (como el paisaje en el sur de Utah).

Final Project Possibilities...

You are not limited to this list.  If you have questions or want to talk about any one item, let me know.  -EF

Suite Habana

Maria

Managua Salsa City

La charca

Martin Fierro

Sab

Coronicas

Textos indigenas

La vida es silbar

Enriquillo

Cecilia Valdes

Textos peninsulares

Eduardo Galeano

Suenhos digitales (with Haraway)

Books by authors on syllabus

Banana novels

El crimen del Padre Amarro

Amores perros

Y tu mama tambien

Musica

Ranchero movies

Dirty Havana Trilogy

Un dia en la vida

Rigoberta Menchu

Mariategui, 7 ensayos

Salome, Cuentos de Barro

Musica de Maria de Baratta

El matadero

Anti-sonetos de Storni

Naturaleza en Gutierrez Najera

Leopoldo Lugones

Jardin, Dulce Maria Loynaz

Cuento sobre la DF de Kirsten (340)

Short novel about leprosy

La araucana

Poesia andina

Poesia maya

Aves sin nido

100 anhos de soledad

Borges y la biblioteca, el laberinto (falta de naturaleza)

Pedro Paramo

Omar Cabezas, Fire from the Mountain

Popol vuh

Chilam Balam

Manuscrito Huarochiri

Comentarios reales, Inca Garcilaso

Barranca abajo

Lily Flores Palomino

Rossi, La loca de Gandoca

Mexico profundo

Quiroga

Echeverria (El matadero—animal studies)

WOMEN

Insularismo

War and environment

Belli

Women’s testimonio (Guatemala)

Rosario Castellanos

Omar Cabezas

Bracho

Rosario Ferre

Luis Alberto Urrea

Julia Alvarez

Sab

Cecilia Valdes

Gaspar de Alba, Desert Blood

Carpentier

Cabrera Infante

Diego Rivera

Gabo

The Americas Biodiversity Report

Visit the monthly Biodiversity Report brought to you by The Americas Program for the most up-to-date news on environmental justice in Latin America:  http://americas.irc-online.org/amindex/sust/