Meggie Gerfen

Professor Conteh-Morgan

French 152

7 June 2008

To Become One

        It has been a long ten weeks.  I really had no idea what French 152 would entail, but the email I received was very convincing in the fact it would be a great class to fulfill a GEC requirement.  I was a little curious of how the professor would incorporate French into the African and Caribbean worlds…keeping in mind the only information I knew of either came from the latest Blockbusters.  After the first few classes, however, I knew that this wasn’t going to be an ordinary “GEC class.”  This course started introducing me to big concepts like global awareness and the necessity and value of learning about other cultures.  I became genuinely interested in my studies and actually read the texts that were assigned and didn’t regret doing my work on a Friday night.  That’s when I realized that before this class I had never really exposed myself to the acquisition of knowledge based on other cultures and beliefs, especially in the Francophone world.  Our world is not diminishing but those of us living here are becoming closer and without the proper education of different countries and ideas, there isn’t much hope for the future.  Come with me as I explore the thoughts of scholars and real ideas throughout the world and focus especially on why this cause is so important.  I will finish by illustrating just how broad of a subject a culture can be and discuss the changing preoccupations of the Francophone world from anti-colonial protest to post-colonial social critique.  Hopefully, others will follow me in the search of new knowledge and understanding.  

        Many Americans have been sheltered their entire lives when it comes to learning about different cultures, especially those of the eastern part of the world.  Sure, the average American has heard of different religions and cultural values, but is that enough?  Martha Nussbaum, author of the highly accredited Cultivating Humanity, believes that the problem of ignorance throughout the world of other cultures is hindering our ability to function as a nation as well as “citizens” of the world.  She briefly discussed how Americans feel threatened when conferring the idea of a broader knowledge of culture because they believe if students take initiative to learn of other cultures, they will easily forget the values and beliefs that the American society is based upon.  Even though this thought is easy to succumb to, Nussbaum seizes this theory by stating, “This is a legitimate worry, and we should be sure that new knowledge does not lead to ignorance….We cannot afford to be ignorant of the traditions of one half of the world, if we are to grapple well with the economic, political, and human problems that beset us,” (pg. 114).  The question that should be swimming through the minds of many Americans is, “Is this truly an important issue that we need to discuss and attempt to fix?”  The answer is a simple yes and there are many reasons why this is the case.

        The question is not necessarily how those who learn of other cultures can benefit from their knowledge, but what those who don’t must sacrifice in their everyday lives and their ultimate potential output towards the world.  The fact that our world is globalizing is very obvious and if we continue to ignore that fact that we need to globalize ourselves in order to find our place within this interdependent world, then we will find ourselves in a very disadvantaged situation.  The first disadvantage to this mindset would be that those who were not willing to learn and experience the world will have the inability to function economically in an efficient manner.  I’ve developed a very good understanding of the economic concept of interdependency and trading within countries through my various economic classes this year.  The main concept of economic gain is pretty easy to understand and it’s even easier to understand that specialization within different countries and the trading of other goods and services will benefit all parties involved.  Without understanding those cultures and ideas that inhabit a certain country we cannot expect to be cooperative and efficient when it comes to economics and the delicate trade balance between the United States and other countries.  Another barrier that arises would be the barrier of the vast world of politics.  Politics today does not only consist of local or even national issues.  Take the occupancy of Iraq, for example.  If people were only concerned for the well-being of the United States then we would technically not have any issue with countries overseas and their exasperating fight for democracy and freedom.  Politics is becoming evermore dependent on international relations and how countries can connect and assist each other in both good and bad times.  Along the lines of what I mentioned earlier with the economy crisis, the business sector would also not reach its potential with the absence of cultural understanding and the proper education of other societies.   This is especially obvious when it comes to the growing successes of China, who in the near future, will most likely top the United States and become the superior power of the world.  Even if the United States is the superior power of the world right now, it is evident that this fact is not always ensured and that in the near future there might be a significant change in our attitude towards the relationships with these countries.  Without their assistance, business ventures would become disabled, unequipped to grow and prosper like its present state.  Perhaps now would be a good time to look more at these cultural interdependencies that surround us.

         As I have said multiple times already, the world is globalizing at a significant rate and it’s our duty to make sure we stay up to speed.  When those few proud and conceited Americans stand up and claim that students of this generation do not need cultural understanding and only need those few values and ideals that the American society has deemed worthy to learn about, we lose so many chances to start towards the goal of the global conception.  What these proud, everyday Americans do not realize is that few aspects that we hold so dearly initially came from this country.  Most would agree that mathematics has evolved overtime into a complicated and logical understanding of numbers and equations, but most would not agree that without the efforts of many Arabic and other middle-eastern societies, our understanding of mathematics would solely be based upon Greek and Roman mathematics, which were not very finite in themselves.  We underestimate other countries because we wish to not associate ourselves with what we think is inferior when in fact it was these countries that discovered the concepts and ideals that we hold ourselves so highly upon.  There is nothing wrong for being nationalistic towards your country but the point when you reach those qualities known of a normative chauvinist, or someone who thinks that their culture is superior to all others without the proper education, it has gone too far.  We as a country should hold high the goal of acceptance and comprehension of other cultures and learn that even toleration is a greater power than complete ignorance.  

Join now!

        There are some certain key aspects when it comes to learning about different cultures that even the most esteemed scholars must keep in mind.  The first of these aspects would be that real cultures are plural, or more easily that cultures are diverse in whole and have developed different classes, ethnicities, and religious groups throughout their geographical span.  The United States is the prime example of this “melting pot” theory.  It would be ignorant to describe the ultimate American values because there is no such thing as a monolithic portrayal of what our country stands for and it should be ...

This is a preview of the whole essay