Author: jsemanduyev

John Semanduyev                   

5/5

Believe it or not, this was actually my first time ever visiting the Museum of Natural History. My family isn’t very cultured. I arrived with the intent to immediately seek out patterns that relate what I saw at the museum to culture and immigration. Although I still expected to spend a lot of time gasping at the site of big dinosaur bones and feeling belittled by the dark universe show, it was to my surprise that I enjoyed the more “Human” exhibits far more.

Continue reading “Museum of Natural History”

John Semanduyev

Response 4 of 5:

George Chauncey, Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940, (New York: Basic Books, 1995), Intro and chapter 9.

Chauncey delves into the history of gay New York before World War 2. He restores gay history by falsifying three significant myths about gay culture and how gay people lived in general. One of the myths focused on the isolationism gay men supposedly endured. According to Chauncey, gay men were often vocal about who they were and built a healthy community within themselves. This leads to Chauncey’s discussion of gay enclaves that formed during the 1920s such as Greenwich Village. These enclaves served as a safety net for the gay community.

This opens up to the discussion about enclaves as a whole. Through our many talks in class, immigrant enclaves seemed to come up each time repeatedly. I found it fascinating that the gay community formed enclaves of their own. Perhaps it isn’t too farfetched to connect the gay experience with the immigrant experience in the early 1900s. The formation of enclaves is the result of a marginalized group of people coming together to build a place where they are surrounded by people similar to them. One difference between a gay enclave and an immigrant enclave is the motives for forming one. Immigrant enclaves were the result of fear in a chaotic new world. There is no doubt in my mind, which if I were to put myself in an immigrant’s shoes I would be attracted to live in areas where people are similar to me. I would be terrified to move to an entirely new place where no one knew my language. I believe gay enclaves were motivated by the presence of real immediate danger. Homophobia was rampant during the times and crimes against gays were very common. The gay community needed an escape from the constant day-by-day hatred they undoubtedly experienced.

Even the motives for forming enclaves by the two groups themselves are very similar. We can connect the history of what happened to the psychology of how marginalized groups behave when placed in a dangerous situation. The psychology can then be linked to the biology of natural selection that codes the instincts we depend on in our everyday lives. All in all, there is little distinction between types of marginalized groups and how they attempt to escape oppression; this implies a more significant “likeness” present in humanity.

Questions:

1. Have other marginalized groups in other countries acted similarly?
2. Is the formation of an enclave counterproductive?

    Bishop analyzes the popularity of the internet as a means of communication for undocumented immigrants. It seems that although the internet improves communication, it doesn’t seem to physically connect undocumented immigrants. The study revealed undocumented immigrants as activists who shape the view of immigration policy for the future.

    Stemming from the basis of this essay, I wondered how the internet has affected the rate of immigration as a whole. Hundreds of years in the past, information was simply spread by word of mouth. A brother would move to America, and then pay to bring in his wife and children while telling his brothers and sisters to move here as well. Immigration was a domino effect. Overall, the information spread about America were likely more exaggerated than they actually were. I’ve heard countless personal anecdotes about immigrants falsifying the idea of the “American dream,” and how it is still difficult to gain any success in this country. As we factor in social prejudice, it is even harder for immigrants to thrive in America.

    The greater connectivity associated with the internet may be directly decreasing the rate of contemporary immigration. Along with current politics, it seems as though experiences for undocumented immigrants are getting worse and worse. Writings about unfair treatment, health-related issues, sexual assault, all the while living in fear and having no one to turn to, spread throughout the internet. I’m sure the conditions experienced by immigrants before the internet was likely equal if not worse, but with this powerful new podium, their voices are louder. And, their voices seem to be saying “stay back!” Of course, it is vital that their voices be heard, and the internet has held a positive impact in that regard. The strengthening of conservative politics and (in my opinion) negative impacts on immigration have become more known throughout the world. It seems that the enticing factors that America once held are diminishing.

    I couldn’t find much information about the direct impact of social media/internet vs immigration, but according to the information provided from (http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/09/28/chapter-5-u-s-foreign-born-population-trends/) immigration is still increasing, but its rate of change is decreasing. Based on the ongoing pattern we can predict the possibility of a decline in the percentage of foreign-born populations vs the whole population in the future. Another notable piece of information I found, was that the overall approval rating for America by other countries is steadily declining. 

 

 

City Museum of New York

Post 2 of 5
REWRITE

The tour portrayed New York’s timeline, as well as a focus on four integral parts of New York. The journey began with an analysis of Diversity, Money, Creativity, and Density. Diversity and density, in particular, are very applicable to the theme of our class as a whole. The timeline consisted of descriptions along with visuals portrayed each significant decade/period in New York’s history. Overall, a lot of the information we received could have been easily expressed in class; so the question must be asked: what is the point of going to a museum anyway?

Museums offer visual and physical aids to go along with information studied. The basic idea of a museum reminds me of a famous philosophical issue known as Mary’s room. Mary is a brilliant neuroscientist and knows everything there is to know about color vision. However, she spent her entire life living in a black and white world. One day, Mary escapes her monochrome room and sees color for the first time. Does she learn anything new? The point I am trying to make is that no matter the vastness of our conceptual knowledge of a topic or ability to formulate thought experiments, the real-world physical observation is critical to gain a better understanding. A museum is our gateway from the conception to reality.

The physical reality can then be connected to gain a further understanding of theory. While viewing the items on display, I could easily understand diversity just by the variety of the objects presented. From the Jewish readings, Asian art, European trinkets, and many more, all symbolize the range of cultures since the beginning of New York. Another example would be a model of the Empire State Building, which served as an excellent depiction of density. Once area became an issue, it became clear how expanding to another dimension could maximize the number of people in a given area.

All-in-all Museums connect theory to experiment. Sure, we could’ve directly read the information from a textbook, or watched a video clip about the topics, but nothing beats experiencing the real thing; just like the moment, Mary must have seen color for the first time.

Questions:

Why is creativity so synonymous with city life?

How does money and business relate to density?