Presentations

Today's class I felt was really great, not just because of the free food although that helped, but the presentations were really something. The presentations that were given today showed a whole lot of variety and different views and opinions. From serious city walks to casual strolls in parks. I felt there was a large amount of creativity and emotion put in the presentations. I think my favorites were the group of girls who seemed to have a little too much fun in the Chicago Botanic Gardens and Eric's comment on there being a little community up in a hole.

Have fun all I hope to see you around!

500th Blog

Friends - we have just passed the 500 mark! That's a lot of writing. From my perspective you have done a very strong job indeed with this. It has been an important part of my everyday routine - checking into to how you are engaging with this material, and importantly how you are being creative with these ideas. (I am certainly happy to hear from Stephanie F's that it had value from at least one student's perspective).

I will keep reviewing the blogs until the end of finals week - and anything that you contribute up to this period will count towards your grade. Forgive me not being able to give you a very precise tally - there is no device that allows me to count automatically. After an estimate I made (very very laboriously!) a few days ago, I emailed those of you who had a low count. All others were in the moderate to high range. I would ask you to make an estimate of your own tally so that you can make small amendments before the end of the quarter. I will sit down again while grading and count them again. As long as you are in a reasonable ballpark for the total (20 blogs, 3 for field trips) you will not loose any points for this assingment, assuming that the blogs have been of a reasonable calibre.

Tomorrow is our last class - I look forward to having lunch with all (being catered in class!) and to hearing the remainder of the presentations. I also look forward to see you all around campus for the next few years. This has been a very enjoyable class for me - I hope a few of the things that we have spent time on over the weeks will stay with you for a while.

Best
Liam

Dawn of Cities: the genetic component

A few classes back we covered how cities emerged and their purposes. Along with this we tried to define what a city was. A lot of the definitions seemed to emphasize the fact that a city is a densly populated self sustaining place. This view seems to neglect a vital part of the city and that is that a city is also a community and because of the social interactions many aspects of the city come alive.

By inviting people from all over a city is a great place for centralization and the bringing together of ideas. Cities allow for cultural diffusion and the spread of knowledge and ideas. Traditions and customs also spread and meld along with the people themselves. The genetic components of people are allowed to mix and alleles and chromosomes combine with variations that without a city would not be possible.

Because of all this the dense populace and community is given a huge jump on evolutionary mechanisms because of the way people are safer, and allowed to prosper. The genetic recombination that is boosted by city life also allows for filtering of weaker genotypes and helps Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest by allowing genetic mixing on a huge varied scale therby letting nature do its job so to speak. Though these roles of the city are not really viewed in the general scheme they are important to the world and change the species as well of their future.

Presentations

I liked watching the presentations today because they proved that there is so much diversity in the different ecosystems of Chicago. I though it was cool to see how people interpret places in different ways. For instance, I have been to Shedd Aquirium many times, but I have never noticed the fish they did. I also liked the pictures that each group included in their presentations. They were good visuals and gave insight to what they saw on their trip. This chance to venture out into the city on our own seems like it was beneficial for everyone.

Grant Park trip

When I went to Grant Park on Monday the weather was beautiful. The leaves that remained on the tree were beginning to fall, while the ones on the ground were being pushed around by the wind. The sky was a clear blue and the desolate park seemed to be the perfect place to enjoy all of this. My group was a little unsure of where to go, but once someone decided on Grant Park, we all knew it was a good choice. The park has small and large gardens, linear promenades, a variety of trees, and shrubbery, and is home to squirrels and many different insect species. There were so many picture oppurtuinites that we could not even decide where to begin. After roaming the park for a while and discovering many interesting things, including a squirrels nest, we decided to sit on a park bench. While sitting there a squirrel came right up to us. Surprisingly, I think we were more scared than the squirrel. All of us, except for Rob, jumped up and moved away from it. Then the squirrel climbed up onto the benchh and inched toward Rob. At that point, the whole thing was so strange, that were all laughing histarically. I've never seen such a brave squirrel. In all this trip was a good experience because I learned a lot of new things about the park, and had a lot of fun.

Stress management

This was such a good exercise, especially at this time in the quarter. I have been getting more and more anxious as the weeks go by so I think the guided relaxation exercise was very nice. I have a tendency to stress myself out over little things, so the stress tips were also beneficial to not only my mind, but also my body. I came away from this activity feeling so rested and relaxed. I think I am going to try and do something like this more often because I've learned that I function best when I am well rested. Hopefully this strategy will help me to de-stress my life more often.

Dwelling/ Exile

I came away from the presentation on dwelling and exile with many different feelings. I felt enlightened and ignorant all at once. I think it is good though, because it really made me think, " What are some ways I can be reminded of my home while living here in the city?" I do not come from a foreign country, I do not even come from another state. However, my home, the place where I truly feel at ease is so much different from the city. I often think about this home when I look at my pictures, or see familiar images. This presentation focused on humans' ability to hold onto these images for as long as possible. It made me realize that while I am not literally at my home everyday, I can keep apart of my home with me everyday. Yes, it is true. That is because the home is not really a physical building, but rather it is a place where you can retreat to and be at ease with yourself. This presentation pointed out that when you leave home you take a piece of it with you, and for this reason it will never be the same. That is because the piece of the home you take with you is often the part of the home you like the best. Whether it is childhood memories or pictures of landscapes, a certain expectation for home is embedded in our heads. We hang on to that memory or image because yearn for familiarity. Yet, dwelling in the past hinders us from fully appreciating our new home. It is important to always remember the true home, but it is just as important to accept the new home. Living in exile is not ideal, nor is it desired. I am so glad I went to this presentation because it allowed me to see how people from all different parts of the world experience the same fondness for home. It was especially refreshing to hear the stories, music and poetry.

Dwelling / Exile

Last night I was lucky enough to get to attend the Dwelling Exile event being held in the library. I found this event to be particularly touching and insightful to be because of my recent contemplations to leave home. I felt many of the presentations gave me much to think about. Mr. Heneghan's essays and stories really made me think about how leaving home makes it very difficult if not impossible to come back. This thought has often hit me as I debated my own exile. If I leave it would mean I couldn't really go back to the same life.

The night continued with some funny and interesting poetry that really was something to listen to. Never was listening about pidgeon love and dead animals so entertaining. I feel some of the most entertaining and touching parts of the night was the Traditional Irish Folk Music sung. The singing which seemed to resonated perfectly in the small gallery was heartfilled and inspired some deep feelings of leaving home. I personally had a lot of fun and hope there is a third Dwelling Exile planned for the future.

Zoo

I don't think it is necessarily bad to have animals in the zoo, however I do understand why so many people are concerned with the issue. When I visisted Lincoln Park Zoo I thought the animals had enough room to live comfortably. Sure, they would have more space in the wild, but the zoo is doing a good job at naturalizing their environment. In the past they would stick animals in a plain, little cage. Now zoo's all over the world seem to recognize the animals need to be surrounded by their native envionment. Since that is obviously is impossible if they are going to live in captivity, the zookeepers have made a conscience effort to make the atmosphere in the cage resemble the animals native environment. There are still some improvements that need to be made, but I they are making progress.

My Trip to LPZ

As per the assignment I made my way over to the zoo bright and early in the morning on Monday. I admit that I expected something very interesting. There were hopes of observing unique traits and behavioral patterns similar to humans, but much that I observed seemed to be habits of lethargic, unenthused animals that have been couped up in captivity too long.

There were some interesting moments such as a mother gorilla showing off her child and the puzzling agression of a chimp towards a mother and her baby. Overall the animals did not seem to do much. The most interest actually came from humans who ran about, made dumb comments, and gawked at the stagnent creatures behind the glass. Maybe this is the ape's equivalent of tv. Watching and relaxing as humans demonstrate odd behaviors in front of them.