De Leon’s Humanizing Tactics: A Spectrum of Success

Introduction:

Real people, real stories, real deaths – The horrors of the migrant trail are not just urban legends, but are the realities faced by those attempting to cross the border between Mexico and the United States. As real as they are, these realities are (at best) often forgotten or (at worst) often pushed aside and made into fantasy – stories that are so horrific they simply cannot be true. Anthropologist Jason De Leon has challenged these practices of fantasizing and forgetting. He has devoted himself and his work to “humanizing” the stories of the migrant trail in an attempt to change the perspectives and imageries of migrants crossing the border. Using descriptive narratives and graphic photographs with varying degrees of success, De Leon brings to life the deaths of migrants by humanizing their stories.

The Clash of Concepts: Hospitality and Home

Introduction:

Migration and displacement are large parts of today’s society. Numbers of people are moving from place to place – leaving one home in the hopes of starting a new one. Shahram Khosravi, an anthropologist and professor in Stockholm, Sweden, has himself made the journey of changing homes in 1987. In his book ‘Illegal’ Traveler: An Auto-Ethnography of Borders, he recounts his migration across borders from Iran to Sweden. He discusses the logistics of his travels, the obstacles along the way, the people he encountered and the hospitality he was shown. From these recollections, we begin to form an understanding of how all of these fit into the concept of home, yet more specifically, we begin to form an understanding of how hospitality interacts with the idea of being home. From Khosravi’s account, it is clear that hospitality does not work alongside the notion of home, but rather it works counter to it.

Building Backpacks and Breaking Barriers: Supporting Latino migrant students as they go back to school

(A grant written for Casa San Jose to be submitted to the Heinz Endowments)

Executive Summary:

Casa San José is dedicated to serving our Latino migrant neighbors in Pittsburgh. While we focus on all ages, child to adult, we believe it is important to have a large focus on our school-aged beneficiaries. We strive to support them as they pursue their education – one of the most important factors of a young person’s life.

Through our focus on our youth, we know that Latino migrant students in Pittsburgh are at a disadvantage. They do not have the financial capacity to buy their needed school supplies for the academic year, leading to some students not completing their homework to others pretending not to care about their education at all. They cannot fully participate in their academics, nor can they connect with and befriend their peers. This lack of participation in school and in their community isolates the student, affecting their social and emotional health. Ultimately, our Latino migrant students are set up to fail, even before their first day of school. But this isn’t a problem reserved just for these students. Nearly 77% of all students in Beechview feel the weight of similar situations every day.

That is why Casa San José is asking for $27,980.50 to fund our “Building Backpacks and Breaking Barriers” back-to-school carnival event being held August 22^nd, 2020. This carnival will provide 500 backpack kits to migrant and non-migrant students in need, on the basis of good faith. Furthermore, our carnival will connect nearly 300 Beechview families to social services. Providing school supplies and access to social services will allow families to provide basic necessities to their students, allowing them to focus fully on their education.

Our carnival will also provide an opportunity for migrant and non-migrant families to connect with one another, creating a sense of community. Students need to feel connected to their community and their peers in order to be mentally well, and good mental health is needed to succeed in school and reach a student’s full potential. Our carnival will provide the pathway for our students to reach and surpass their highest aspirations, allowing them to live and thrive in today’s world.

Arabic in Morocco and Persia: An Exploration into Lexical Borrowing

Introduction:

Language contact occurs when speakers from two or more languages exist side-by-side over a large period of time. Such contact allows both languages to change, affecting all aspects of linguistics such as phonetics, syntax, and semantics. One of the more frequent aspects that is changed is the lexicon of languages. This is known as lexical borrowing, the process that languages undergo when individual words or phrases are borrowed and incorporated into the lexicon of the recipient language.

This paper serves as a brief introduction to lexical borrowing. I explore main reasons as to why lexical borrowing occurs, and I discuss some of the phonological and morphological changes loanwords may undertake in order to complete the process of borrowing. Lastly, I consider Winford’s hierarchy of borrowability and apply my own criticism to it. Winford’s theory serves as the base for my exploration, and I supplement his work with examples of language contact between French and Arabic in Morocco and Arabic and Farsi in Persia.

Etiquette and Cultural Relativism

Introduction:

In this paper, I discuss the argument that etiquette is culturally relative. I argue that it is not a good argument because it is not valid. I will do this by first presenting the argument then showing how you cannot logically come to its conclusion because the premise is descriptive and the conclusion is normative. After my discussion of etiquette, I will discuss James Rachels’ similar argument relating to ethics. I will outline his work and then relate it to the argument of etiquette and cultural relativism. It is here that I will draw the conclusion that while etiquette is not culturally relative, like ethics, we cannot accept this in the same way Rachels argues ethics is not culturally relative because ethics is more significant to a society than etiquette.

The US Government and Fulfilling its Moral Obligation

Introduction:

In this paper, I am going to discuss how the United States should respond to its moral obligation to rectify the wrongs it committed against black Americans through the practice of slavery and its aftermath. I argue that the United States should implement strong college and career preparation programs in predominantly black high schools. By doing so, the US can begin to close the gap in well-being between white and black Americans. This gap is measured by employment, education and wealth, and it indicates that on average whites live more comfortably than blacks. After presenting my proposal and its defense, I will present an objection one might hold against it. I will then respond to the objection, further defending my proposal.

The Impact of Neoliberal Capitalism on Women in the Global South

Introduction:

Since the late 1970s, neoliberal capitalism has been more prevalent in policies. There has been more of a focus on the liberalization of cross-border trade and the deregulation of business, as opposed to the raising of tariffs and state intervention in the private sector. There has also been a push for a decrease in social services and an increase in Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), as opposed to social support and a focus on the interests of workers[i]. Some would argue that this shift in focus has been beneficial to the people of the world, with policy implementations leading to the increase of democracy and human rights in poorer countries (Griswold 2007: 2-6). I argue, however, that subscribing to neoliberal capitalist policies has in fact been harmful, widening the gap between the lower and upper classes and deepening the conditions of destitution in which the lower classes live. Furthermore, I argue that when making legislation and other policies in response to neoliberal capitalist demands, it is necessary to keep in mind the impact such decisions will have on the lives of workers in the global South, particularly the women who migrate from the countryside to urban areas to assemble our clothes.

[i] From slide presented by Roger Rouse in Introduction to Global Studies on September 25^th, 2017.

Islam : Protective, not Oppressive

Introduction:

In modern Western culture, Islam is commonly viewed as an oppressive religion. It has gained critique and criticism on its views towards the treatment of its followers, in particular its treatment of women. Wesahl Agherdien Domingo, in his essay on Muslim marriage and divorce, cites Khalid and Tucker, writing how Islam’s image is viewed as a “fount of unmitigated oppression of women, [and a] foundation of a gender system that categorically denies women equal rights and subjugates them to men” (69). This viewpoint, though believed to be rooted in truth by the everyday Westerner, is in fact rooted in misinterpretation and ignorance. Contrary to Western belief, Islam is a religion that provides for its followers, especially Muslim women. Through Islam, women are provided with the promise of legal and Quranic rights, protection in marriage and divorce, and a similar yet separate status from men.