Revelling Round the World

This is a realization that has lasted since my grade school days, but it's gotten even stronger now. Although I am of European descent, I've always had a fascination with the non-Western parts of the world and have enjoyed learning about them. And I've often felt that they've been not given nearly enough time or study in grade school/high school/some college courses. At least not in proportion to their stores. My interest isn't in a stylized, exoticized, "Other" sort of way but rather an appreciation for all of their complexities.

I'm in two non-Western courses right now, one about the Middle East and one about East Asia. I took a predominantly-Japanese themed class last year and absolutely loved it (it's given me my one and only departmental nomination). Then, last semester, we learned about the Indonesian revolutions in another class through the lyrically lovely novel This Earth of Mankind. I loved that book so much I scooped up the other three in the series this past break! I didn't know that much about Indonesia before, but I had a great time looking up more books/information about it after I read that book.

The courses I have right now are really cool. Lots of reading but still cool. I think the Middle East class (or its SAMES equivalent) should be a lot more accessible to more people, not just be a 400-level one with tons of prerequisites. Far too often, people tend to generalize about that area and lump all of its countries into the same old "other/foreign" category (especially now with the US being so mired in conflict there!). But if you take the time to learn about the different countries and their history, you will see that there are some long-standing issues that cannot be simplified or resolved with one action or "troop surge" to "bring democracy." It's just about as complex and diverse as the US is! Then we have the East Asian one. That's just as interesting because of the long and rich histories many of the countries have. My teacher is really great at explaining, and she's had to clear up many people's misconceptions about the different countries. I think my next history class will have something to do with Africa so I can round it all out. It's just so fascinating to break up what appears to be one area with its own set of preconceived notions and really sink my teeth into the history and complexities.