todorov/american indian museum

Ok so this reflection is a little late, but I figured better than none at all. There are few things that I wanted to talk about in regards to this past weeks classes. First of all, let me begin with some thoughts on Todorov's book. At first look, I anticipated a good read. The topics seemed interesting and I have always considered myself interested in history, especially that of early and medieval Europe. However, I was dissapointed with the writing style of Todorov, as it seemed his primary concern was spitting out facts and dissertations from the journals of Colomubs and Cortes, rather than engaging the reading. What could have been an opportunity for great storytelling was lost in the dense nature of the text. While I realize that the primary purpose of the book was academic, I still would have preferred to feel like I was reading something other than a textbook. The content that was covered in the text seemed fairly selft explanatory; the fact that Columbus and Cortes came here for Gold, and to convert the "new world" over to the Big See. Ok, so it felt like everything I learned in middle school kicked up a few notches. It was basically a roundabout way of reiterating conventional knowldge. Although there were many more details and viewpoints presented, I don't feel that my preconcieved notions of the two explorers was altered that much. I didn't find Tuesday's discussion all that interesting and after class, I found that several of our classmates agreed. While I did appreciate the introduction and use of the text in class, I don't think that we can attempt to put the views of Columbus and Cortes into modern times. It was a completely different world and while we can speculate what might have been going through their heads, we will never know for sure. And with that fact, I'm not sure how relevant it is to world politics as we seem them today. As we agreed upon in class, there really aren't any places that are completely unknown. Even space, we decided, can be invisioned hypothetically. I just think it turned into a psychological discussion when we could have been discussing the overall events and consequences.
In regards to Wednesday's visit to the American Indian Museum, I agree wholehartedly with the view of James and Lauren L. It really was an enourmous waste and I don't think I learned anything that I hadn't learned in middle school. I thought that the overall "vibe" was off and it seemed more like collective "we're sorry" to the Native cultures than an attempt to educate people. Sure, there were elaborate costumes and displays about modern native cultures, but I found that it lacked historical facts and failed to give that genuine heritage feel. There is so much more that could have been done to create a feel of the Native life. There could have been facts about Wars and famous native american's and information about how they used to live. Instead, it focused on the modern aspect, leaving much to be desired. As an 18 year old college student surrounded by shrieking 8 year olds, I felt a bit out of place.