ANT 3241
Myths, Ritual, Mysticism
I completed my first global learning course in 2015 during the fall semester. The course aim was to teach the anthropological approach to the study of myth, ritual, and mysticism, as religious and symbolic systems. When I started the course I thought we would learn about magic and mythology. Instead, we learned about topics such as cultural relativism. Cultural Relativism is when you try to understand a culture's beliefs and values, and how they view the world through their eyes. I feel though the main focus of the course was about being tolerant of other cultures and trying to go outside of your viewpoint and culture which is something I feel is important to practice. Below is a paper that showcases some of what I learned in this course the topic is the festival of Beltane.
SOP 4731
Global Psychology: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Psychological Research and Theories
I took this course in 2017 in the fall semester. The aim of this course was to examine the cultural contexts that inform human behavior. Culture is defined as the mental representation of a knowledge system shared by a group of individuals. In this course, I learned about topics such as cultural influence on visual perspectives, how attention differs between cultures, differences in thinking styles between cultures, different perspectives on pain and time, and how different cultures view gender roles. Below is a paper I worked on with a group. The topic is Education Across Cultures. In the paper, we talk about how education systems differ around the world.
PCB 4467C
Marine Reserves
I also took this course in 2017 during the fall semester. The course aim is to introduce the theory and methods behind the design and management of marine protected areas. Marine protected areas are established to preserve biodiversity. They each have specific management goals and monitoring plans. Marine protected areas are necessary in order to above the tragedy of the commons or to avoid the overexploitation of marine environments. Below is a group project I worked on with three other students. The topic is the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. In this paper, we talked about the management of this marine protected area, the history, factors affecting it, protection plans in place, and recommendations for the continued management of the marine protected area.
CLP 4314
Psychology of Health and Illness
My last global learning course was completed in 2018 during the fall semester. The course aim was to give an overview of the field of health psychology and behavioral medicine with an emphasis on psychological, social, cultural, and global factors affecting health and healthcare/policy. One topic I had to do a discussion on was what categories of people use health services. When it comes to gender women use health services more than men because they need to see more people beyond their general practitioner such as a gynecologist. Also, if a woman gets pregnant she has to see a doctor throughout pregnancy. The rich are also more likely to go to the doctor than the poor because they have the means to pay for it. Above is a video presentation on stress I did during this course.