Packing Slip 
item |
Research in Belize |
contact |
Darien Ripple (Chandler-Gilbert Community College) darien.ripple@cgcmail.maricopa.edu |
college(s) |
Chandler-Gilbert Community College |
discipline(s) |
globalization,cultural diversity, social inequality and environment |
summary |
This summer project researched and actively observed the effects of globalization on cultural diversity, social inequality and environmental conditions in Belize. The project involved three stages: research gathering, three weeks travel through Belize, and analysis. |
details |
I spent the month of July 2005 researching and actively observing the effects of globalization on cultural diversity, social inequality and environmental conditions in Belize. My project involved three stages: research gathering, three weeks travel through Belize, and analysis which is an on-going process that began during the travel. I have focused on globalization for the past decade, observing its effects on social inequality and environmental conditions. Thus, I chose to study Belize, which is geographically a small country, because of its diverse population with distinct languages, and varieties of eco-systems. Belize has a standard of living that is better than many Central American countries, although it suffers from some of the same problems such as a poor infrastructure, corruption that allows a dominate informal economy and population explosion. To understand any country, it is important that one research historical-economic realities but also, one must meet people and hear their stories. I informally interviewed individuals and realized that there are a multitude of realities regarding how globalization has influenced Belize, and that the romantic notion of an eco-friendly country that professes cultural pluralism tends to be a part of its adaptation to an economic niche which conforms to the world economy. ------------------------------------------------------------ Outcomes: In a paragraph or two describe what worked well. Did you accomplish your objective(s)? Were you able to complete your summer project as written? If not, what did you modify and why? What did not go as well as expected, if anything? Were there any surprises? Note: Use the questions as guides for your outcomes. Do not include detailed list of workshops attended, speakers who presented, or a list of items you have seen, heard, or read. ------------------------------------------------------------ In putting together my summer project, I set the following goals to be accomplished: 1. Research articles on Belize 2. Research articles on globalization in North and Central America 3. Travel to various towns in Belize to note unique culturally diverse populations. In particular visiting Creoles, Garifunas, Mestizos, Mayans and Europeans (British Citizens and Ex-Patriots). 4. An analysis of the effects of Globalization on Belize 5. Share my experiences with colleagues regarding cultural diversity 6. Share my analysis with students by creating a more culturally aware educational experience. At this point in time I have accomplished outcomes 1 through 3 and currently working on 4 through 6 which tends to be an on going process that will continue throughout the upcoming school year. I did make a few logistical changes to my summer project. In all reality, I actually started doing my active research the day that my project was accepted, and in fact, I spent a great number of hours on my own time researching articles and lining up interviews during the month of June. In addition, I actually spent 3 weeks in Belize doing research rather than the two that I planned for, which means that I actually stayed for a couple extra days in places like Placencia. Also, while I was in San Pedro, I got evacuated out due to Hurricane Emily, which meant that I spent two more days in San Ignacio waiting out the storm. While on the road, I made the decision not to go to Punta Gorda due to the fact while in Placencia, I met a number of Garifuna and Mayans (which was the purpose of being in the region), and that travel to Southern Belize was a bit more difficult and might not allowed me to visit a number of other sites on my schedule. ------------------------------------------------------------ Professional Growth: Your own professional growth is a large part of your project. Your professional growth is important to you, your students, your college, and possibly other colleagues. How did project affect you professionally? What skills did you learn? What environments were you working in and how might your summer project influence your teaching or other responsibilities? Did you gain a different perspective? Was it professionally valuable for you? ------------------------------------------------------------ My Project affected me in so many different ways that I feel that it is an injustice to try to summarize in only a few paragraphs. I guess the best place to start is with my project proposal. The task that I took on covered an incredible amount of information that I could only generally review and it opened up the door for a number of different follow-up summer projects for at least the next 10 years. Now that I have a better general understanding of the various cultures living in Belize, I think that if I were to write a future proposal, I would focus on one particular region and the social-economic, cultural and environmental problems that it faces. For example, even though Placencia and Caye Caulker are both tourist villages that cater to reef exploration, the two places are radically different in how they are approaching tourism. As a social-political philosopher, I found it very disheartening that although Belize markets itself on Eco-Tourism, it tends not to be very eco-friendly. For example, there is no central planning or building codes in the villages therein, many of the hotels dig wells next to septic tanks and the electricity on the cayes comes from diesel generators. As a researcher, I think that I might consider developing a better tool for interviewing people. This is something that philosophically puzzles me regarding the concept of reality. What is the best way to find out a story, by talking to someone as just another person or as an academic? I do not truly know which way will give a more authentic response. Ultimately, my research and experience in Belize will profoundly influence my classroom teaching due to the fact that I will have a number of examples to guide lecture material, and it helped me better understand perspective. While interviewing individuals, I found it very interesting how they viewed themselves as Belizeans while at the same time some were critical of me as one of the many researchers that came to study them. And, some individuals just viewed me as an American lumping me in with a stereotype with which I did not identify. ------------------------------------------------------------ Dissemination: How will you share this information with your colleagues, department, students, or college? ------------------------------------------------------------ My research in Belize will be directly applied to both my World Philosophy and Introduction to Ethics classes. I will be using some of the ideas and experiences to explain the concepts of ethnocentrism, cultural relativism and diversity. My experiences have given me more examples to better explain globalization in all of my classes. In addition, I want to present my findings to students and colleagues at a brown bag luncheon. And if possible, I would like to create a travel course for students district-wide to explore Belize and learn World Philosophy. Note! As a professional courtesy to the owner of this package, if you use some aspect of this package or have some thoughts about it, please share your feedback via the comments form below. |
web links |
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/fpg/ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bh.html http://www.travelbelize.org/trans.html http://eport2.cgc.maricopa.edu/published/r/ip/ripple/home/1/ |
supplements |
Globalization in Belize (document) sunset (image) sharks (image) Altun Ha (image) St I (image) Note! As a professional courtesy to the owner of this package, if you use some aspect of this package or have some thoughts about it, please share your feedback below. |
shareback |
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extra |
Last modified: Sep-27-2005 Date created: Aug-15-2005 Visitor count: 4679 Dublin Core Metadata record  This package is included in the Faculty Professional Growth Summer Project Reports special collection. |
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