First Day of Class

Today I had my first class at UWI: Globalization and Global Governance.  It is technically an International Trade Policy course, but Integration Studies students are required to take it.  It is taught by a very nice, passionate, and engaging professor named Don Marshall, who got his PhD at Newcastle University in the U.K.  We spent the first class listening to Dr. Marshall talk about different theories of capitalism and capitalist world systems, with frequent digressions for pointed critiques of everything ranging from cultural colonization to certain worldviews.  My favorite moment of the lecture was when Dr. Marshall used the example of how he "grew up stupid under the Union Jack" as a symbol of cultural colonization and the dominance of certain worldviews.  He recounted to the class how as a young boy he learned many songs, poems, and ditties that had been taught to Barbadians by the British (Jack & Jill run up the hill, Rub a dub dub, etc) during the colonial era.  These types of experiences comprised a large portion of his upbringing, which he now believes was unfortunate because none of his daily life was contained in those songs.  There was nothing about green monkeys, roaming chickens, or chattel houses.  Nothing about the historical injustices of slavery or the quasi-free experience of the post-slavery colonial era.  His mind was programmed to the British world view, which assigned no value to, and thus completely disregarded, the life in Barbados that he and all other Barbadians experienced.  His worldview had been glossed over by the witty epigrams and ditties of exported British culture.  Ultimately his point was that, due to the strength of some countries, many worldviews are shut out from global discussion and repressed in their native homes.  Thus, during the Cold War it was simply Western Capitalism vs. Soviet Socialism.  Lost in that epic struggle were countless worldviews from dominated, marginalized, or ignored states, which were forced to choose between the West and the USSR.  This is a tragedy because not only do countries frequently develop better when allowed to do so in their own unique way, but there is also typically a better outcome when a global issue is looked at from many different angles.  "Beware of the single story," said Dr. Marshall.

Unfortunately the day did not start out as great as Dr. Marshall's lecture turned out to be.  The online course schedule said that the class would be held in the new Post-Graduate Building, which is about halfway down the hill.  Yet when I got to the Post-Graduate building at 9 (class starts at 9:10) I was told there were no classes meeting there due to ongoing construction.  So, where to go?!  I took a gamble and followed the security guard's advice to check the CARICOM Research Building even though he thought I was looking for the International Trade Theory and Policy class.  Luckily the security guard was correct and I got to class just before it was scheduled to start.  Of course class didn't actually start until 9:30, but I didn't know the Professor was going to take his time this morning (to be accommodating for all the confusion over the unannounced move of class), so I had run up the hill in a hurry and consequently was covered in a nice sheen of sweat by the time I reached the CARICOM building.  What a great first impression to make on all my new classmates! 

This unpleasant start to my day was quickly compensated by the announcement by Dr. Marshall that the class would run from 9:10am-1pm every day for the next two weeks.  Now most of you are probably wondering why that would make me happy.  Four hours of class a day doesn't exactly sound invigorating.  But, it is the most amazing news EVER when you falsely believe that class is going to run from 9:10-4pm every day!  This is a huge relief for me because on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays I also have class from 5:10-8pm, so I was worried about eating, keeping my sanity, and getting my work done on days where I was basically in class from 9am-8pm.

So imagine my joy when I walked out of class today at 1pm and realized I didn't need to run around like a maniac trying to get my books from the bookstore and pick up some things at the store before everything closes at 5!  Instead, I was able to casually peruse the bookstore, seeing what kinds of texts the University's professors have selected for a wide-range of topics (many familiar, many more unfamiliar), and then head up to Holetown to get snorkeling equipment (!!!!) and some things I forgot on my grocery store trip on Sunday.

So overall the day was much more pleasant than I thought it was going to be and I am no longer dreading tomorrow because I know I will have a break between classes from 1-5pm.  My long-term outlook for the semester, in terms of major assignments, appears to be short on quantity and long on quality.  Globalization and Global Governance has two 3,500 word essays due in late October, and the other three classes that start this week each have an essay of roughly 3,000 words, a 30-40 minute presentation, and a final exam.  I do not know what the workload in my final two classes will be like, but I hope they are forgiving!  I'm pretty sure that once I get all my books and the reading starts piling up that my posts will become rarer and sparser.  And with that warning I'm off to go read some West Indies history!