oregon born.

hispanic enthusiast.

Hi everyone,

I’m Susan Millar, I’m a third year student majoring in Latin American Studies with a minor in International Relations.

I took LAST 100 last year, and found the content really interesting. This led me to LAST 301, which to me looks even more intriguing. I have always been very interested in the concept of human rights, especially how it applies in different regions of the world. I hope this class adds to my understanding of human rights and especially to the concept of human rights in Latin America.

I was born and raised mostly in Canada, on northern Vancouver Island. When I was younger I lived on a boat on the coast of Mexico for about a year, which is where my interest in Latin Amercia stems from. During that time I learned to speak Spanish quite well, although I lost most of it over the years I spent back in Canada. I have also studied Spanish for the past 5 years but have still not reached the level of fluency.

My name is Hollman Lozano, I am from Colombia and currently I am doing a double major on political science and philosophy. I am in this class because one of the things that interest me is the political and philosophical discussion about the issue of rights. What are the implications, limits and possibilities of having rights?  How does one enforce them, once one has them? Are they really dependent on the structure of the nation-state, or could they be enforced in a supra-national scenario? Although my concern is more towards the figure of the refugee and how s/he challenges the figure of human rights in particular, it seems that indigenous people also present peculiar challenges to the discourse of rights.

i am american.

i like mexicans. and cowboys.

Hello,

This is literally a test for me. I am not what one calls “tech” savvy, so this whole blog thing is going to take me a while to sort out. What I find interesting about adding a blog aspect to the class is that on the one side I feel a sense of anonymity while at the same time typing things and then deleting them because I realize, well no, I’m not anonymous really because I am going to see these people (my classmates and instructor of Latin American Studies 301, or LAST 301) every Monday evening for 4 hours for 4 months. So I think I’ll save embarrassing myself in class only and not on the blog (which will be interesting to see how long that lasts for as I feel I have outdone myself already).

I’m in my fourth year at UBC and am a Latin American Studies major and will probably pick up a spanish minor once I figure out how to do so. I’m happy to finally be in LAST 301 as it is not only a class required by the department but will I’m sure enhance what I understand (or think I understand) about Latin America so far. I say what I “think I understand” because I am a Canadian who lives in a privilegded society obviously not having too many social injusticies done to me. I’m looking forward to learn about human rights and social justice.

-Katie-

So as part of any class the initial question always arises: who are you, what are you doing here and what do you hope to get out of this?

Such a simple question really, however as the professor of this specific course is down to try new things (a facebook group,imagine! Now aren’t I glad I decided to stay….) I have concluded to try to convey myself differently.

.

I am essentially this, nothing more than a dot on this huge white canvas,like everyone else.Who am I…? My name is Sarah, I am studying food systems in Latin America…I fall under different classifications; female,white,student,educated….

Which brings me to why I am here. A mixture out of coincidence(fate?), German bureaucracy and natural tendencies. Because of these things I ended up taking Spanish at high-school, having amazing Spanish teachers that were able to spark a strong interest in Latin America in me, take me to Nicaragua and Cuba and keep that interest strong enough that I was to later focus on that region when I entered University.

Which (again) brings me here, to this class. Why this class? Actually a really hard question. For me the answer is obvious…why the hell WOULDN’T you take this course? It focuses on basically all areas of interest for me…people,Latin America,justice,environmentalism and food(you might ask where food comes in here but trust me, food WILL be a topic in this course). On top of that, it is a seminar so that means lots of cool discussions and analysis, its at a great time for my schedule and it’s downtown so I am already half way home!

From a more academic and personal-gain point of view: I am in this course because I feel that it is a milestone for my understanding of the history,cultural fabric and feeling of Latin America. This continent is very unique in my eyes in that its people are very political in their actions,both publicly and personally. In that sense I think that grasping how the concept of “rights”,”justice” and “law” fits into this political ecology that has been created will open up new perspectives for me both on Latin America as well as the idea and manifestation of justice.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Meredith and I’m currently a fourth year student in Human Geography. I’m very intrigued by the LAST 301 class on Human Rights in Latin America. Most of this intrigue stems from the time I’ve spent in Latin America. I had the wonderful opportunity to do two summer internships in Central America, one in Pespire, Honduras and the other in Rivas, Nicaragua. Additionally, I spent a year as a Rotary Exchange Student in Lujan, Argentina. While in Lujan, I studied Latin American History at the local university. With each experience I have learned so much about the intricate social situation of each local, and I have left realizing how much still I have left to learn. On that note, I do love learning. Therefore, I am very excited to see what I can learn from this class; both the course content and the perspectives of the other people in it.

To say a little more about me, I am from Carson City, Nevada (although I haven’t lived there for quite a while), and some of my favourite things are: being a student, rock climbing, skiing, politics, and great conversations.

My name is Rebecca Siguenza. I’m a 4th year Political Science student minoring in International Relations. 

I was born in Durango, Dgo. Mexico. Sharing a border with both Sinaloa and Chihuahua, Durango is riddled with drug-related activity and violence. I am hoping that through this course I may broaden my understanding of the relationship between drugs, politics and human and civil rights in Latin America — specifically Mexico. 

In the past two years I have attempted to focus my studies around political theory and Latin America. Taking this into consideration, registering for LAST 301 was a no-brainer. Also, this course will mesh well the rest of the courses I am taking this term. Ever since first year when I registered for the Coordinated Arts Program Global Citizens stream, I have done my best to continue to choose courses that share a common theme each year. This term I will be taking ANTH 470-Topics in Contemporary Theory [a course that draws heavily on political theory and Latin America], POLI 316- Global Indigenous Politics and POLI 461- Peace and Conflict Studies alongside this course. I am looking forward to seeing how these courses play off each other. I have a feeling it is going to be a great term!

Looking forward to meeting you all, 

rebecca. 

I am a Venezuelan woman with an education in the fields of Psychology and Business and I am completing a master degree in Journalism at UBC. My colleagues have described me as intuitive, determined and strong-willed. I want to write compelling stories and educate the world one article at the time!

I was a market research annalist for over 7 years in Venezuela, researching human behavioral patterns and events affecting the population’s overall habits in the region. I have witnessed political and social turmoil for over 10 years in my home country and I am eager to have a more active role in the world now that I understand social inequalities better and I have faced human rights violations. I intend to pursue a career in public service and I believe this course will further prepare me for this goal.

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I am starting off my final year of a B.A. in Latin American Studies at the University of British Colombia.  While I have activated this blog for use in a course at UBC, Human and Civil Rights in Latin America, I hope it will blossom into a useful tool for posting my thoughts, analyses, general writing, published works in local news sources, articles of interest, etc.

In terms of this particular course, I have enrolled not only because it is a new (and important) requirement for the LAS major, but also because it will be an indispensable learning tool on the various institutional and administrative bodies that exist throughout the Americas.  I’ve just looked over some of the documents we will be reading, and many are from the UN, a major global player and financier in diplomacy and macro level development schemes that I have never analyzed in depth.  This is something I look forward to doing, and unpacking the documents together as a group.

Hello everyone!

My name is Kyle Farquharson, and I’m a  journalist who is currently undertaking a Master’s degree in my field at the University of British Columbia. My next few blog posts will pertain to an undergraduate elective course in which I’m enrolled, which deals with Human and Civil Rights in Latin America.

The reason I chose LAST 301 is because I have an interest in civil rights, freedom of the press, international relations, and Latin American issues…all of which areas this course explores to some degree. To all of my classmates, I look forward very much to meeting you.

Considering the time and place in which we find ourselves, and despite the advances we have made in Canada over the last century in terms of respecting each others’ cultures and fundamental needs, the discussion of human rights remains complex and laden with both nuance and obstacles.

In some ways, this troubles me; for instance, if and when I eventually have children, I’d like them to live in a world in which pandering to countries (I won’t name names for now) with a questionable human rights record for the sake of trade agreements will no longer be necessary, because international standards of human rights will be universally upheld, but I acknowledge that this is probably an unrealistic vision.

On a more positive note, the fact that we’re having discussions of human rights in the first place in Canada, and that these discussions are leading us to a measure of controversy (as in the case of the CMHR), is a positive sign in many ways. It means we acknowledge the importance of basic freedoms and fundamental prerogatives for all people, and we realize the importance of learning from the past, even if we understand that fair treatment for all is more attainable in theory than in practice.

I’m looking forward to some excellent (and highly enlightening) conversations. As a journalist, there’s nothing I welcome more than having my eyes opened to other ways of thinking

All the best!

Kyle

Welcome to WordPress.com. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit Add New on the left (of the admin dashboard) to start a fresh post.

Here are some suggestions for your first post.

1. You can find new ideas for what to blog about by reading the Daily Post.
2. Add PressThis to your browser. It creates a new blog post for you about any interesting  page you read on the web.
3. Make some changes to this page, and then hit preview on the right. You can always preview any post or edit it before you share it to the world.

Hi! I’m Jonelle Aspa. I’m a fourth year history major that has been slowly making my way through my degree as I work full time as a dental technician. I decided to take this class after taking a few other Latin American studies courses at UBC. I have been somewhat involved in social justice activities in my community so the rise of left leaning political parties in Latin America is very intriguing for me. Hopefully this class will teach me a bit more about what is happening in the present day in Latin America as most of my studies have focused on the past.

Things that rock my boat: playing music (I try to jam at least once a week), gardening, my cute cat, and watching interesting documentaries, like this one: