Hotel California

It's a strange feeling, being a leader in a group of other leaders. That feeling is multiplied existentially, temporally, and cross-sectionally as we come together for more events, study groups, and cohort wide projects. One thing has risen to the top, however, and that is the fact that we all need to work together - we live and die as a team, and we leave noone behind. Tonight's study group was an exercise in precisely that, with those of us stronger in the statistical analysis of data doing everything we could to maximize the two hours we had scheduled in order to bring those with less understanding up to our level. We ended the night making a priority list of items about how the next study sessions need to be run, and delegating responsibilities for the warehousing of resources online, orchestrating the bringing of snacks, etc, to several key members. I so should have done this earlier.

NUF love!

This first week of NUF experience has been quite the affair. Meeting and interacting with the 42 other fellows in this cohort gives me a renewed sense of purpose, almost as if all the crazy ideas about how to forcibly evolve the system I've been having during the rather long trajectory of my professional career suddenly have a springboard from which to leap. Before going much further in this journal, knowing that a few people will likely be reading it, I have to recognize that previously I used this blog as a teaching tool, and so the posts below this initial NUF 2011 spot will be webquests that I designed for my Spanish classes.

On to the details:

Graduation date is 28 July 2011, provided all goes exceedingly well. I predict that, now having read the stats book assignment (partially) that everything else will be, though rigorous, manageable. The welcome week/orientation was also quite pleasant. Many of our questions were answered in terms of how to navigate the very murky waters of financial aid in the university, and Baruch's peculiarities as a business school. The dean of the school wherein our Public Administration program is housed gave a speech which not only left me with insight into where our lives will be guided during the next 14 months, but also his own character, and the fact that I may actually need to spend more time listening to his words, or perhaps at the very least tracking down some of his publications.

Breakthrough leadership is one of those things that as a concept I noticed a while ago, but was entirely unable to completely articulate. As David Mensah kept saying, 'you all already know all of this, you just never strung it all together." In effect he's right; we inherently have all of these fantastic communications tools already bread into us as we acquire language, utilize language, create language, re-imagine language, watch/hear/read/speak about other people using language, we have intake and uptake (Mim is laughing about this right now, I'm sure) regarding the principles inherent in this Breakthrough system, but we just never put them into practice until someone or something creates the necessary stimulus, takes us past the tipping point, or produces an evolutionary event in our internal linguistically programmed productive schemata.

Other than that, I'm of the opinion that alternative revenue streams are in dire need of prospecting with the purpose of creating a separate endowment fund so that the fabulous breakfast and lunch spreads we had during the initiation/orientation week can be continued throughout the 10 weeks of course intensives, and again once we are all back in town for the capstone experience. I'm not entirely certain how many people are going to agree with me on this, but I'm just sayin.

During the holiday weekend, we've met up and shared a few rounds at local venues, and I'm thoroughly impressed by the level of immediate camaraderie in our group. It reminded me of one of the other professional organizations - that of Judicial Interpreters and Translators, - which was so instantaneously filial once we were all introduced. I'm fairly happy about it, and I'm looking forward with great anticipation at the year + alpha that is to come.

Trotsky, Frida, Rivera

Diego Rivera was a Mexican muralist who produced work at the same time as José Clemente Orozco, and David Álfaro Siqueiros. His own pieces had decidedly Socialist themes, since he was a known leader of the Trotskyist Socialist movement in Mexico. Rivera was also married to renowned surrealist painter Frida Kahlo.

Read the following biography (en Español) of Diego Rivera.
1) What time period did he live in that overlaps with the time period of the novel/movie?


2) Click the ‘Trostkyist’ link above and answer the following question: Why do you suppose the Socialist movement so important in Mexico?


3.) Click on the pictures of “Detroit Industry” in the Wikipedia article, and view the larger high resolution pictures of the murals. What do the pictures communicate about the artist’s ideas about work?


4.) Follow this link to the photo of his mural entitled “Man: Controller of the Universe”. What is he communicating by his decision on the image of the man in the center of the painting?


5.) What was the controversy surrounding this particular painting when Rivera attempted to paint it at Rockefeller Center?


6.) Where does the painting sit now?


7.) View the series of pictures here of Rivera’s work entitled ‘Pan-American Unity’. What issues do they represent that we might address in this class? Use the keys to probe deeper into the mural’s significance.


8.) How do Rivera’s works compare to Orozco and Siquieros works?


9.) How could we represent similar themes in our mural that are related to your experiences?

El Jaguar, y sus mitos mesoamericanos

I hope everyone is ready for Turkey Day!!! I read an intersting
article yesterday that has to do with the reappearance of the
jaguar in the American Southwest. The Southwest at one point
in history was still the territory of the native Mexicans related
to the Aztecs, Maya, and other tribes. All of whom had import-
ant myths and stories to tell about their elusive fantastical
creature, the jaguar.

Once you've clicked on the picture link above and seen both
pictures, be sure to go to the link here, and read the article in
Smithsonian magazine. As you are reading, answer the questions:

1. Why is it strange to see the jaguar in the American Southwest?


2. What size is the cat?


3. How long has it been since the last one was seen in the US?


4. How is Mexican president Vicente Fox involved?


5. What is meant by the phrase: "This site alone shows these animals
are not transients?


Go to this article on Aztec mythology in Wikipedia, and read the
sections entitled: "Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl" and "Mythical
Stories"

6. Who was Tezcatlipoca?


7. Who was his enemy?


8. What was one of the animal forms which Tezcatlipoca assumed to
protect himself?


9. What did he do once he had taken this form?


Read the entry for 'Jaguars' in this article on the Olmecs and answer:

1. What are the functions of the jaguar in their mythology?


2. Since the jaguar in their mythology is actually a god in the form of a
beast, what do you suppose is actually happening in this picture?


Read the following story called 'El Origen de los Felinos' and answer:

1. Where is this story from?


2. How are the Yanomani's ideas about the jaguar similar to the Maya
or Olmec?


3. What happens to jaguar at the end of the story?


4. What is the similarity between Tezcatlipoca, and the Yanomani's
jaguar in the story?

Have fun over the weekend! Come back safe and in one piece!

Día de los Muertos

Halloween is around the corner and soon everyone in America
will be 'taking their masks off'. But in other countries, the traditions
are somewhat different. One of the most famous is Día de los Muertos
en México.

Pronto va a ser el festival de Halloween, y todo americano

va a 'quitarse su máscara'. Pero, en otros países, las tradiciones

son un poquito diferentes. Uno de los más famosos es

Día de los Muertos en México.

Use the information at this link to answer the following questions:

1) What does the word 'panteones' mean, and what purpose do they serve?

1) Clickea en 'panteones' y explica para qué sirven.

2)Describe what sorts of things you

might find in the 'mercado' from the pictures

2)Usando las fotos, describe que tipo de cosas

uno encontraría en los mercados

3)Click on 'casas'. What do people set up in their houses?

3)¿Qué cosas construyen en sus casas?

4) Who do they expect to follow them on the 'calles y caminos'?

4) ¿A quién esperan los chinelos que les siguen

por los caminos y las calles?

Watch the video in the 'practicas' section under 'pedir calaveras'.

Then answer the following:

Mira el video en la sección de prácticas en el

link 'pedir calaveras'. Contesta:

1) How has the tradition changed over time?

1) ¿Cómo ha cambiado la tradición recientemente?

2)What sorts of important clues into the tradition

can be found in the child's chant for candy?

¿¿Qué pistas acerca de la tradición

podemos ver en el canto de los niños?

Get together with one of the native speakers and

read the section marked 'ofrendas'. Why do you suppose

that the translation to English is so different from the

original in Spanish? What did you learn from the Spanish

version? Click the link marked 'album de fotos' at the

bottom of the page. Describe two of the 'ofrendas' that

you see in the album

Clickea en el link marcado 'album de fotos' al final de

la página y describe dos de las ofrendas que ves.

What is the purpose of the use of copal incense?

¿Para qué se usa el incienso de copal?

Blogolgia

¡Gracias a todos por un buen comienzo a la estación de blogología!

Thanks everyone for a great start to the blogging season!

I hope everyone enjoyed the experience and learned something new. I'm looking forward to more responses next time:)

El 25 de Noviembre

View the monument "El Obelisco Macho" at the following site.
Click the `Image Info' button to read the caption.
Here is another picture of the base of the monument
1.) What would "Pintado en honor a las Hermanas Mirabal" mean?

Hold down the "Control" button and click on this link:
2.) What are the Mirabal Sister's names?
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3.) Why is November 25 a particularly important date?

4.) Why were the sisters such an important influence in the Dominican Republic?

Hold down the control button and click this.
5.) Who is the author of the book mentioned in the article?


6.) Why would the Dominican people see this book as problematic?


7.) What is the subject of the book?

Read these sections from the following article. `Rise to Power', `Family Life', the `Parsley Massacre' and `His Death'.

9.) With whom did Trujillo train in a military capacity?

10.) What sorts of tactics did he use in order to maintain his control over the people?

11.) Why was `The Parsley Massacre' hypocritical for Trujillo?

12.) Who supplied the weapons for Trujillo's assassination?

View this picture. Be sure to click the `Image Info' button.
13.) Why is this car in a museum?

More links:
Historia de Trujillo
Photos and more history of Las Hermanas Mirabal
Extended history of Trujillo with extensive photo galleries
Homenaje a las Hermanas Mirabal: