I had the discussion with my brother last week about how fascinating we now find the issues of world development. We both commented that taking a class like this when were 19 or 20ish would not have evoked the same reactions. At that young age, you are just trying to get through the class. Generally speaking, it is not until much later that culture, language, religion, ethnicity, etc become important.
Right from the start, this course has been interesting. It immediately took me back to my survey and mapping days – townships, sections, etc. One of the best parts of the text book was all of the maps – they put the world’s similarities and differences into a picture.
Because I am a business major, I was particularly interested in the industry and services portions of the course. While major course work touched on some of the factors involving the global market, this course allowed me to look at little deeper at location and situation factors and how services originated.
It is amazing to reflect back on everything we’ve learned this semester. Most of us have a tendency to become compartmentalized in our world, so it was eye opening to learn and research different cultures and religions. Christianity has been the mainstay of my life, so to venture into other religions and learn their beliefs and customs was exciting. Religion has such a deep and powerful history in our world.
It was significant to study the religion of Islam. So many people have strong feeling against this religion since 9/11. This was my first opportunity to take a look inside and realize how misunderstood this religion has been.
Once I have completed my degree, I would like to go back and learn more about the different folk and popular cultures of our world. For now, I will miss my weekly peek through the world’s window. This course definitely re-ignited my interest in world travel.
A special thanks to Professor Artz for going the extra mile to include a piece of art from different cultures each week and a Thought for the Week. These provided an opportunity for additional insight to our world.
