Running Head: GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP 1
Reflecting on Personal Identity and Global Citizenship
Christopher Shattah
GEN499: General Education Capstone
Stephen Carter
May 1, 2016
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP 2
Reflecting on Personal Identity and Global Citizenship
The importance of educating others on global citizenship is a very important factor to consider when it comes to human rights for all. This type of subject is an important subject, especially when it comes to educating others on global citizenship. Each and every individual should be educated on global citizenship in a such way to bring about a world of greater justice. Global citizenship is a voluntary association with a concept that signifies ways of thinking and living within multiple cross-cutting communities—cities, regions, states, nations, and international collectives. This is all due to the practice of global citizenship. According to Hans Schattle (Schattle, 2009, p. 3), "perhaps more than any other concept, the idea of global citizenship has emerged since the late 1990s as a key strategic principle in higher education."
According to Marisa Mealy & Walter G. Stephan (Mealy & Stephan, 2010, pp. 476-478), “ingtergroup empathy occurs when members of one social group identify with the emotions or perspectives of members of another social group.” I grew up in a very small town by the name of Concord, TX. A small town that was mostly of farm and ranches with lots of hay
American identity has been continuously changing over the past century. This is due to many factors such as expansion, migration, and immigration. The migration of people has helped create an American identity. During three periods of history, significant changes happened that helped frame who Americans are.
All my life people have always questioned my ethnicity. My mom says it makes me mysterious and intriguing. She says, "You look like you could be born in any part of the world". Any time I 'm in a crowd the question always comes up, "what 's your ethnicity?", "are you mixed with anything?”. I look at them and smile thinking in my head of course you just asked that. I give a big sigh and say "I 'm white and Pakistani". Some look at me with great confusion and ask, "What is that?" I hit them with a huge eye roll and I have to explain where Pakistan is located in Asia. I really think some people did not take World Geography because they 're still so lost. They usually just blurt with "oh, so you 're middle eastern?" It boggles my mind that
Historical events distinguish the change in the behavior and identity of a society. The United States is no exemption from this idea, as the events throughout American history has shaped the behavior and values of the American identity. Since the formal independence from Britain in 1783, to the compromise that ended Reconstruction in 1877, American identity has changed drastically through shifts in the American understanding of politics, ideology, economics, culture, and society.
Global Citizenship & Equity at Centennial College: Global citizenship refers to the social well- being of various communities and its main focus is to minimize inequity which means try to protect our surroundings and don’t harm others. Global citizens support equity at all levels local as well as globally. In equity we have to change different strategy not only changes the version of current strategy to ensure equity.
What is my cultural identity? Personally, I don’t think I am completely assured on what my cultural identity is, but I can do my best on explaining it. However, I won’t get started on that yet, first I’ll explain the occasion of me learning about my identity. At almost the beginning of the year, it was announced in our English class that we would be doing an essay on our cultural identities. When my teacher announced this I thought to myself, “What in the world is a cultural identity, or even my cultural identity?” In these months, we have gotten to learn the definition of culture, and what it means to us, individually., I believe that culture means a group of people that share the same customs, way of life, and beliefs. Also, over these last couple of months we have been reading texts all about people knowing and understanding their cultural identities, meanwhile I still didn’t understand my own. All I know is that I was born on February 11, 2002, I like movies and music, and my mom is from Chile and my Dad is from Virginia. Now that didn’t feel like enough for me to write on, but then I started thinking about all of the cultural differences that my parents have had raising me as a person, and how those have all combined to make me. In my short 15 years of life, the culture clashes have sometimes affected me on my thoughts and opinions, which I’ll talk about later on. As well as how movies and music have affected my perspectives and opinions.
No matter how much a person desires to live according to their personal autonomy, he or she will never escape the influence of societal forces. Explicitly or subtlety, these forces shape our individuality. One intriguing manner that these societal forces manifests itself in is our name. As Ruth Graham writes, “It’s becoming increasingly clear today that names carry a wealth of information about the world around us, the family we arrived in, the moment we were born—and that they mark us as part of cultural currents bigger than we realize.” Names alone provide evidence that individuals are made by interactions with social institutions and groups. Ultimately, the inescapable nature of society’s influence demands individuals to ponder how much personal autonomy is actually autonomous and to what extent does the pursuit of personal autonomy lead to a life of emptiness and vanity.
There are many aspects that are apart of developing a person’s identity and sense of who they are. We are fully responsible for the outcome of our life according to Sarte. There are no excuses in life and we are responsible for our successes and for our failures. Whether we choose to sit back and wait for whatever to happen around us or take action and try to go out and make the changes you want in your life, you are responsible for all the lows and the highs. Our values are formed from the decisions we make, which help us form our identity. The decisions you make in life have an impact on you’re happiness. This can be through making a difference in the world or finding love or having a successful career.
There are many views pertaining to the Canadian identity yet, all the interpretations come unify Canada into a strong and resilient homeland. Canadian identity has been characterized by its diverse and amalgamated society and its heritage in sports. The example chosen to represent Canadian identity is a Canadian commercial “We All Play for Canada” by Canadian Tire (Youtube, 2014). This commercial represents Canadianess through enthusiastic approach towards 2014 Winter Olympics. Through various signs and symbols, this commercial takes on the semiotic approach to convey the message of Canada’s pride in being Canadian.
American identity has been created by many events throughout the course of history. This country was founded on the clashing and mixing of many different cultures and lifestyles. One of the most important periods of time for this country was during the period of conflict between Americans and Native Americans over land rights. Americans had an idea of manifest destiny and that this land was theirs for the taking. The Americans were going to walk through anyone who opposed them in this quest for land. The treatment of the Indians during this time period was harsh, cruel, and violent to say the least. It is in this treatment that Americans came to view the Indians as a ?racialized other? and
Personal identity is essential in the human experience. Identity is complex and can be broken down into two main groups: introspective identity, and bodily identity. Introspective identity is based off of the groups, mentalities, or beliefs that you align yourself with, and bodily identity is based off of the physical side of yourself. Whether physical or introspective, your identity impacts every action you take. Whether choices ranging from what colors you prefer to which college you want to attend are primarily based off of your introspective identity, which is a combination of both memory and consciousness, physical identity impacts how others perceive you. Consciousness is mainly the awareness of bodily identity as well as continuous introspective identify, while memory is awareness of introspective identity. These two different facets of identity are imperative in the distinction between bodily identity and introspective identity. In means of personal identity introspective identity (which is evident in memory), is essential, while bodily identity (based partially in consciousness) has less credit.
So what does citizenship means to me? Is it just a piece of paper that says you are a citizen of a country or does it mean something more in a deeper level. When I was just a little boy my mother always talks about that when we move to the United States we should apply for citizenship immediately. As I was growing up here in the United States I slowly understand what citizenship means to me. Being a citizen for me is fulfilling my obligations toward my country, Living a lifestyle that benefits myself and my community and having good sense of patriotism.
The journey of self-discovery of identity and culture is a very challenging process because it involves discovering and revealing the good and bad experiences that shaped us as human beings. The effects of self-discovery includes: happiness, disappointment, clarity, enlightenment, and even self-fulfillment. However, it also entails fear, doubts, confusions and misunderstandings. Most importantly, it also means finding our ultimate purpose of life. According to Abraham Maslow’s arguments, in “The Need to Know and the Fear of Knowing,” boils down to finding our inner and outer knowledge of oneself. He concludes that “all factors that permit courage, freedom and boldness will thereby also free our need to know.” He argues that when we safely release ourselves from unnecessary fear and pain, it is one way of freeing ourselves from mental and emotional traps. He asserts that by bravely re-visiting all our choices of life, digging deep into our childhood, and even exposing our unpleasant experiences will eventually make us wiser and stronger. He emphasizes that each approach could be culturally diverse and is also based on individual’s needs. For example: In “No Name Woman,” Maxine Hong Kingston argues that a ghost haunts her for publicly revealing the family’s secret about her aunt disgraceful past. She recreates the events of her life, both imaginary and factual stories to help her better understand the Chinese culture as well as to figure out what part from her identity is
Moreover, in what is seen, a global citizen is that of people putting aside religion and political views that cause so much controversy inn the world we live in. What should be recognized are morals and common views that everyone can somewhat seem to agree on. One example is the Gordon Rule- treat others as you would want to be treated. Now the most known example for that is to have respect towards one another. A global citizen indeed should acquire this and understand it fully. In addition, basic morals that seem right also come along in being an ideal global citizen, such as being against dehumanization. Taking away what basically makes you, you is something that is not agreed with the views of a global citizen.
To examine and explore what is global citizenship? This essay will look at the importance of becoming a global citizenship, the role we, as educators play in this development and how the curriculum frameworks and associated learning emphases for global education assist in the development of a global citizen.
How can the development of national identity lead to loyalty and conflict for an individual?