Final

Humanities in my perspective consist of stories and ideas that help understand our lives and the world around us. Humanities introduced me to people I never heard of and places I never visited, and it helped me think outside of the box by introducing me to ideas I never heard of or crossed my mind. It did this by showing me how others lived, ventured through life, and their thoughts. Humanities helped me take their point of view and combine it with mine to try to see what I can do to make things better, it especially helped address the challenges we face as a family, in our community, and as a nation. Humanities are important because it consist of the branches of knowledge that investigate human beings, their culture, and their self-expression. I was able to understand this through the class assignments.

The two assignments that were my favorite are the Paulo Freire assignment in week 4 and the book that I read called, “Train Go Sorry” in week 14. I enjoyed researching Freire because I never heard of him or knew the things he did to help out the people in poverty. It was interesting to find out how he became the icon of social changes throughout education and how he was familiar with the Great Depression which helped him shape his concerns for the poor and construct his particular educational viewpoint. I was impressed that he actually took into account to work with the illiterate poor to improve their learning , training and education because most researchers tend to leave out the poor and focus on middle class or the rich from what I have seen and heard. I think it is important for people to read and understand the books he wrote, especially the book,” pedagogy of the oppressed”, so they can better approach life challenges and emphasize education as a culture and freedom like he explains in this book. I feel that young people learn through the world they live in and life’s every day issues and being able to approach it in a positive way will encourage kids to continue and enjoy learning. Freire’s system of learning provides this by teaching and encouraging one to pursue there passion, explore issues with friends, and to experience satisfaction by being able to navigate through complex ideas and problem solving by creating a joyful environment. I learned that Freire made a difference in a lot of people’s life by giving them the opportunity to learn and pull forward in life and with this knowledge I can pass it on to others so they can apply it to there advantage.

The second assignment that I liked was reading the book, “Train Go Sorry”. I enjoyed reading this book a lot because even though I knew that deaf people exists I never knew how hard it is for them or how talented they can be if they applied themselves. It is amazing how they can accomplish anything that a hearing person can do but hear. I really enjoyed watching those introduction videos that you assigned to watch in week 13. I never seen deaf people sing or dance, I thought it would be difficult since one needs to follow the rhythm of the song to keep on track with it. I liked how the book tells the story from a personal view instead of research which made the book more interesting to read. By reading this book I now can understand a little bit more about the deaf culture and deaf people. I learned that they too have sub-groups and like any other hearing person they learn at different speeds and in different ways. Now I will be able to understand and approach deaf people without judging or criticizing them.

By taking this class I have learned to appreciate my cultural heritage and communicate my ideas a little more. I also learned about art, music, dance, theatre, history, and other cultures. Humanities have opened up my perception by exploring human creativity and communication. Being able to review classmates work also helped because it is another point of view that may not have been mentioned or otherwise thought of about life’s aspects.