i finished the semester today!!!! ya! it was a terrific class followed by the most terrific day:)
this one is short because my eyes are stinging...because i am a bit tired:)
over and out.
ps...tomorrow i am delivering my application packet to ucla!
december is here!
christmas is in the air...really, i have been trying to avoid it at all costs due to the fact that i have a huge paper to submit...by the end of today. the closer christmas seems to be, the less time i seem to have before the semester is over.
i have been working on a paper for my darwin class...it is perhaps one of the greatest classes i have taken thus far. my paper is dealing with the influences of darwin on twentieth century germany, more specifically the holocaust. i have found that there is a belief that darwin himself was responsible for the horrendous events of the holocaust. that he is responsible for the murder of over six million jews. darwin is most known for his theory of evolution which is possible throught the process of natural selection. natural selection is the idea that the strong will survive while the weak perish. when darwin addressed this idea, he used many different examples, and yes, man kind was one of his examples. we need to remember that 19th century western civilization was all about conquering the unconquered. it was a time of discovery and one thing that many travelers came across where unrecognized tribes. these people were unable to communicate in a way europeans saw fit, so naturally, they were labeled "inferior". to many like darwin, according to the law of nature, it was just natural that the tribes would not win in the battle of savage vs. civilization.
by the time Hitler came to power, he had already been exposed to evolution and considered himself one of its most loyal supporters. hitler believed greatly in the extinction of the weaker races in order to preserve the ultimate superior race, and that race being the german people. he was able to take darwin's theory of evolution and fit it perfectly into what he was going to accomplish in germany. eugenics in germany was the result of the darwinian influence on hitler. a eugenics program was already under way even before the nazis took over. upon their arrival, a new set of laws to push jews out of everything and anything was set into motion. jews were released from their work places, forbidden to marry within the aryan race, stripped of the right to acquire knowledge through education, along with a number of other things. these laws are notoriously known as the nuremberg laws. this was the most successful way to weed jews out of anything german and yes indeed, they were successful. jews were compared to the lowest of life forms, the sewer rat, and in propaganda films, germans were told that extermination was absolutely necessary for superiority's sake.
genocide on yes, it is true that darwin dealt greatly with issues on superiority and inferiority but no one man is responsible for the acts of another, especially in this case. to try to put the blame of hitler on darwin's shoulders seems ludicrous. i know, call me crazy but that just seems crazy.
back to paper writing...
so, as i said in an earlier blog, i had the wonderful privilege of seeing feist earlier this week and boy, was it incredible...absolutely. and these are photos...
so, i just realized i never posted any other photos from my time in romania...lame...and i guess liar thus far. i will get around to it when i find time to sit down for half an hour to upload photos. i was thinking today...the past few days, about how things sometimes do not go a certain way. well, the way we would expect things to go. at times, we formulate these "perfect" life plans without thinking twice about what it is we are doing. i know this is true because i do it and if i am the only one, i suppose that means...well, i do not know what it means. sooner or later, we all face the fact that things sometimes are not truly meant to be the way we expect them to be. if we are living in accordance with the will of our beautiful Creator, He holds the reigns to our lives which ultimately means, He decides....and in His timing. one thing i am certain we all struggle with in patience. well, that is pretty key in this whole thing because our timing is always way off:) on top of things just going differently, sometimes, something unexpected will come along leaving us completely "huh?" well, i don't have any answers...i suppose it is one of those "be still" situations...
so, i realize it has been quite some time since my last blog. well, i almost destroyed this thing the last time i tried to change a few things so maybe i have been avoiding it for fear of destruction. this however is most def. blog worthy. last night i witnessed the most beautiful show. a dear friend took me to see feist, who happens to be one of my favorites...she is just amazing. the music was just almost too beautiful. it is wonderful when we are able to witness musicians in their truest essence, none of that pish posh some "performers" attempt...so last night was fantastic! i did not take any photos but my friend did so as soon as i receive them, i will post.
so, i did something weird to my blog today...i do not know what i am doing sometimes. i just wanted to change some of the information and somehow it restarted the whole thing...so according to the blog history, i am a new member as of today:) i lost some of my blogs in the process of whatever i did, everything before july, i think, sigh....sad day, but i brought it upon myself. anywho, i will be posting a few more photos from my time in romania:)
i went to ucla on thursday and it was amazing! they were hosting an informational session for their informational studies program. initially, i thought the program was not for me. they were talking about computer programs and other computer related things and that is def what i am NOT interested in:) after they speakers filled us in on the basic information, they asked about our interests and this is where things improved. i told them where my focus is...the holocaust and archives and they said it is absolutely doable in their phd program....and inside i went "woo hoo!!" i am going to apply for the phd program at ucla...in information studies...i do not know if i have any chances of getting in but i figure i should at least give it a go:) i will also be applying for programs at:
university of illinois
university of michigan
university of chicago
i know, it is interesting that the other three are further east but what is one to do when all the good archival programs are east?
apply and move east:)