Ethnographic Film Proposal: Hmong in America

He Who Knows: Hmong Shamanism and Culture in America

I propose to create an ethnographic film about the Hmong in America, with a focus on religious and medical rituals and practices. It will update Taggart Siegel’s film, Between Two Worlds: The Hmong Shamans in America (1985), whose focus was on both newly arrived refugee shamans and shamans that had been in America for approximately 5 years or less. His film focuses on bringing the Hmong’s traditions from their homeland straight into America and trying to adjust. My film will focus on the current state of affairs in the Hmong people’s religious and medical lives today, after moving and settling in to their new homeland: America. Now that America is where the Hmong second generation’s children call home, I want to see how their traditions have adapted to the new setting and the new surrounding culture, as well as what has remained the same. I will focus on Shamans and the people that visit them, as well as the people that do not. I will focus on how families socialize, and how their traditions have survived and transformed over time.

Introduction

I propose to create an ethnographic film about the Hmong in America, with a focus on religious and medical rituals and practices. It will update Taggart Siegel’s film, Between Two Worlds: The Hmong Shamans in America (1985), whose focus was on both newly arrived refugee shamans and shamans that had been in America for approximately 5 years or less. His film focuses on bringing the Hmong’s traditions from their homeland straight into America and trying to adjust. My film will focus on the current state of affairs in the Hmong people’s religious and medical lives today, after moving and settling in to their new homeland – America. Now that America is where the Hmong second generation’s children call home, I want to see how their traditions have adapted to the new setting and the new surrounding culture, as well as what has remained the same. I will focus on Shamans and the people that visit them, as well as the people that do not. I will focus on how families socialize, and how their traditions have survived and transformed over time.

The people of the growing Hmong community have been in the United State since 1975. The Hmong came to the United States as refugees from Laos, Thailand, China, and Vietnam after suffering from a series of terrible events and political trouble following their support of the United States in the Vietnam War. Sponsored by churches to come to Fresno, California, and St Paul, Minnesota, the Hmong refugees left Laos and Thailand when the U.S. recognized their great sacrifice to us (at the expense of their safety) in the Vietnam War and officially began accepting refugees. The population is densest in those cities mentioned above, with other large populations in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Though a few films have been made chronicling the religious experiences of one or more families and shamans of the Hmong people in America, none have been as reflexive, as accurate, or as all encompassing as mine aspires to be. I want to make a film that explores both the older and especially the newer generations of Hmong in the United States, using ethnography (Poltyk) and literature as a jumping off point. My film will explore the current state of religious ritual, social culture, modern technology and medicine, and immigration in the Hmong community. It will raise (as well as answer) many questions, and serve as an educational piece to be shown for decades in the classroom as well as the home.

Previous Films and Ethnographies

Taggart Siegel, a filmmaker and Columbia College Chicago MFA graduate, made a film called Between Two Worlds: The Hmong Shaman in America, using Jo Ann Poltyk’s ethnography, New Pioneers in the Heartland: Hmong life in Wisconsin as a reference, following a few individual shamans in various towns (often living in tenement buildings) in the Midwest, specifically Illinois. The film focuses on the struggle to keep ancient tradition, stay alive with the threat of SUNDS (sudden unexpected death syndrome), which affects young Hmong men in their sleep due to shamanistic conflict with new medicine and night terrors, and the missionaries at work trying to convert the Hmong from their “old ways.” He also made another film, Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America (2001), about a Hmong shaman coming to America to make a new home from the mountains of Laos, Paja Thao. Paja Thao, a shaman who tries to keep his ancient traditions in tact, comes to America with his family and settles in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he becomes vital to the shamanistic rituals for the Hmong community already in place. Over 17 years, Siegel keeps track of the family’s journey – the new world, the challenges they face with American cultural advances like television, and most of all, the family’s religious struggle to keep together as a unit for the health and wellness of their father, Paja.

While Taggart Siegel’s first film deals with Poltyk’s ethnography, and his second is a wonderful exploration of one family’s journey, I propose something different – something more relevant and updated. The first film does not go into enough detail about each shaman, and the second goes into great detail (five years worth) about only one. One of the problems that will be remedied with my film will be the division of time and effort amongst families. I plan to follow (3 or 4 times a year for a couple of weeks at a time) 4 or 5 Hmong families – one or two with shamans in them – that are connected socially in some way. It will be a challenge to find so many willing parties, but not impossible.

The Hmong people are still persecuted today in Laos after Thailand forced them to go back across the borders into Laotian Government hands once again. The U.N. and the majority of the International community looked down on Thailand for this, but they had not signed the U.N. refugee agreement, and therefore did not have to comply (George and Chiang). The Hmong that made it to America when they did still have ties to their homeland, and care very much about the injustice that is happening as we speak – work camps, Hmong grave desecrations, terrible health conditions, surveillance, among other things (Veng). This split between two worlds that Siegel explored, I will explore more thoroughly. How does this effect the newer generations?

My Film

He Who Knows: Hmong Shamanism and Culture in America will follow around 5 families to find out what their religious practices, social practices, and hopes for the future are today. Unlike the first film, modeled by the anthropologist Dwight Conquergood (Siegel’s partner in the project), I will have no narration to shape or alter the audience’s impression of Hmong culture. This ethnographic film will aim to be as reflexive and true to the Hmong’s impressions and thoughts of themselves as possible. The film will also focus more on the younger generations of Hmong in the families, as they are the future of the Hmong in America

The Hmong culture’s medical and shamanistic traditions have long been a source of conflict with American society and cultures, so my film will also explore how that conflict is changing, and how is has affected people already within the healthcare system. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman, is a book about a young Hmong girl refugee in America, her medical condition, and the complications that arise due to cultural misunderstanding. The book will also play a role in informing my film’s content on this issue. I want to explore the families’ experiences wit medicine vs. shamnism in the United States, and find out how health has changed, or been affected, since their days as refugees on the move.

Itemized Budget

250 Hours of mini DV tape $300

Canon GL 2 Camcorder $1,741

Litepanel: Micro On-Camera Dimmable 5600K LED Video Light $260

Transportation to Wisconsin by hybrid car, gas @ $40 a tank, 10 RTs $1,200

Food (Crew) and Lodging (minimal) $40 a day, 35 days total (3 people) $4,200

Informant Fees, Gifts, Miscellaneous $1,500

Total $9,201

Conclusion

Many educators have reviewed the previous films on the Hmong people and found them to be as incredibly helpful, educational, and invaluable in their classrooms anywhere from grammar school to university level. Anthropologists and academics have studied the importance of ethnographic film for decades, but the effectiveness can change from film to film. This largely depends on the filmmaker’s ethical boundaries in response to the public or audience’s changing expectations (Ruby, 138). My film will not only aim to be the most truthful and consensual portrayal of Hmong life, but the most varied and fair portrayal by way of the number of subjects in the film. By this I refer to an emic perspective, a reflexive shooting process, and indigenous input. I thank you for considering my proposal, and hope you will consider the great benefit, awareness, and general value this film will bring about surrounding the Hmong population in America.

Works Cited

Between Two Worlds: A Hmong Shaman in America. Dir. Taggart Siegel. Prod. Dwight Conquergood. 1996. Online Format.

Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: a Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997. Print.

George, William Lloyd, and Chiang Mai. "Why Thailand Is Sending Hmong Refugees Back to Laos - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Time and CNN, 24 July 2010. Web. 12 May 2011. .

Koltyk, Jo Ann. New Pioneers in the Heartland: Hmong Life in Wisconsin. 1995. Print.

Lee, Txong Pao, and Mark E. Pfeifer. "Building Bridges: Teaching about the Hmong in Our Communities." Hmong Studies. 2006. Web. 11 May 2011. .

Rauhala, Emily. "Vang Pao, Guerrilla Fighter and Hmong Leader, Dead at 81 - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Time and CNN, 7 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 May 2011. .

Ruby, Jay. Picturing Culture: Explorations of Film & Anthropology. Chicago [u.a.: Univ. of Chicago, 2000. Print.

Split Horn: : Life of a Hmong Shaman in America. Dir. Taggart Siegel. PBS, 2001.

Veng, Seng T. "Dear Hmong Times,." Hmong Times. 23 Oct. 2007. Web. 12 May 2011. .

Modern Mexican History: The Underdogs

The Underdogs: Seeing the Forest Through the Trees

Mariano Azuela is credited with revolutionizing Mexican culture and identity after 1916, since the publication of his most famous and popular book, Los de Abajo. An incendiary author, he is credited with being an artist, an independent thinker, and one of the first authors to start addressing the inherent Indianness of the Mexican people involved in the revolution (pg. 107). The identities that the everyday Mexican person had been forced to relinquish in shame, Azuela began to embrace (pg. 119 and Appendix). He is also compared quite frequently to another artist (an iconic photographer), José Clemente Orozco, throughout the Appendix and Related Texts for having contributed so many vivid and evocative compositions of the Mexican Revolution.

In this essay, I will first summarize the English translation, The Underdogs (translated by Gustavo Pellón), then move onto some similarites, and then differences. I will eventually get to one of my main points, a conclusion I’ve come to agree with on my own about Azuela’s own secret presence in his fictional novel inspired by his real history and his country’s. In this great, vividly descriptive novel, Azuela provides some real, broad context on the Mexican Revolution through a relatively small but accurate account of a fictional journey, as well as the injection of his own character into the story’s journey (a character whose end is almost a chance for Azuela to live vicariously on in the story as a different man).

PART ONE

Gustavo Pellón’s prided translation of the moment Demetrio ’s wife’s reaction to the lethal shot fired at her dog brings us into the tone of the story immediately. The Federales had come in search of Macías, an infamous leader of one of Villa’s small troops, when all they found was his wife and her dog. After the Federales were chased aay by Demetrio, emerging shortly after they began to harass his wife, his house was burnt to the ground. This was prompted by a local cacique, Don Mónico, and fueled Demetrio’s goal of seeing the Revolution of Mexico through to the end, under Pancho Villa.

After leaving his wife, Macías travels into battle with the Federales, and upon being wounded, takes refuge in a small village that would hold great importance in regard to the rest of his journey. There an intruder stumbles upon them in the night, in search of Demetrio, the leader. Luis Cervantes, a young medical student and journalist, is at first threatened with death and questioned about wanting to join up Villa and therefore, Demtrio’s cause. Eventually, they not only let him treat Demtrio’s wounds, but he goes from being nearly executed to becoming Demetrio’s closest confidant and aide for the remainder of the Revolution.

After leaving the village some time later, they encounter another, larger town, and fight a large battle against several hundred Federales, supposedly winning by shear talent. They began to travel their geographical circle around Moyahua, Juchipila, Tepic, Durango, Tepatitlán, Cuquío, Lagos de Moreno, and Aguascalientes (page 93) as well as a smaller circle, ending up back where they started. The welcome was not as enthusiastic as the support they had upon starting out. Along their journey, the men (and some women in the troop) become more and more savage, violent, and some greedy. More and more casualties begin to occur for petty reasons, and eventually the “Underdogs” are on top – rich and not at all part of the society they once sought to defend from suffering.

In the end, Demetrio if left in battle while all but Cervantes (of the main characters) are lost, and the Revolution is neither here nor there.

PART TWO

The first similarity between the fictional of Demetrio Macías’ and the true accounts of the Villistas in the appendix was the brutality and ruthlessness that the troops exhibited when traveling from town to town. Although the fictional account, as well as the true accounts, describe loyalty that townspeople feel toward the Villistas and Zapatistas, such as the people of Limón on page 3 of the novel, I feel that as soon as the power shifts into the hands of the rebels and away from the very tyrants they were so determined to eliminate (the Federales under Huerta), the Villistas become just as brutal – taking what they want, from whomever they decide on a moment’s notice, killing any man or woman that upsets them even mildly. It’s not outlined exactly in the appendix how extreme the Villistas actually were – but I concluded that the looting, killing, and infamy they accrued throughout their journey was generally realistic. Azuela mentions animals quite frequently throughout the book in ways that are interpreted by many as metaphor for the bestial brutality of Villa’s men. This is analyzed in detail in the appendix on pages 107-109. I refer to the cockfight, the man with the goat’s foot, and Demetrio’s dead dog – killed by the Federales.

The most interesting similarity I found mentioned on page 106 of the appendix – class speech patterns – is best illustrated in the book on Page 32 when Demetrio and his group arrive on the edge of the town near the jacales where Camila and María Antonia nursed him back to health, they asked a poor barefoot man where the Federales’ barracks were. The man’s response was, “The barracks are a tiny bit beyond the plaza master” followed by – when prompted to divulge the Federales’ numbers –

“Master, I don’t want to lie to your excellency, but truth is, the pure truth is, there’s a whole mess of them.”

And it’s speech like that that carries over from the fictional account to the analysis in the appendix.

The final similarity I would like to mention is that of the somewhat futile efforts of the Aguascalientes convention that was mentioned both in the end of the novel and the true accounts in the back. On Page 92 we learn that in reality, the Aguascalientes convention (which was not described in great detail in the novel) only worsened the divisions between the Constitutionalists (Villa and Zapata against Obrégon and Carranza), suggesting that the bloody revolution had been futile, and in the novel Demetrio was left symbolically defending Villa and his personal cause (even though he was ignorant to the true cause) after all his friends had been lost in battle next to him. That last symbolical bit is the only slight difference, purely because it is after all, fictional.

Though the book quite accurately portrays the good and the bad aspects of Villa’s revolutionary journeymen, but there are many discrepancies between the novel and the true accounts and reviews in the back of the book. One is related again to speech patterns: the obvious omission of profanity. For some reason, Azuela completely omits all profanity (nearly) and even before reading the appendix, it was quite distracting. This is mentioned on page 106 also, and many examples are given.

Another great discrepancy is the legendary battle tactics displayed in the novel time and time again – even in something like a bar fight – that Demetrio and his men were so effortlessly capable of. However, it is explained clearly in the appendix on page 97 that most of Demetrio Macías’ people are only supplied with weapons from the “enemy dead.” They literally have to take turns using weapons in the novel, but somehow they’re still able to win many a battle against formidable numbers of Huerta’s advanced artillery. This was unlikely, and definitely untrue when it came to the battle of Celaya – Villa lost. However, it is comparable to the overly emphasized legend of Pancho Villa himself – and after all, he was only a man.

Most importantly, the book communicated something very poignantly to me about Azuela. When I read about his own background as a doctor in the back of the book, and his short stint with Villa under Julián Medina – even though there is a remark on page 110 about how Cervantes is not a mirror of Azuela’s own personality, I believe there is more to that observation that the author in the appendix claims. I believe that the comments made by Azuela in response to being questioned on his stance in the Revolution about “wishing he could see the forest through the trees,” but instead seeing the trees (meaning he didn’t see any personal benefit in the end of the Revolution). I believe the similarities begin with Luís Cervantes as a doctor, and staying with the revolution, as opposed to leaving it (even though he was just as disturbed by it as Azuela was), signified the diversion of their paths – when Cervantes chose the forest, Azuela felt he was stuck seeing the trees when he retreated up to El Paso, Texas to finish his book. Cervantes also went to El Paso but gained personal benefits – finishing medical school, enjoying the good life so to speak, and even inviting Venancio to start a business venture with him. It’s almost sad to entertain this possibility of his regrets or wishes – but again, this is all speculation in defiance of the Appendix.

In conclusion, Mariano Azuela gave the public a uniquely objective piece of literary historical fiction, which is often hard to find in the recent aftermath of such a controversial national struggle. His writing has never been out of print for obvious reasons – it is almost as legendary as Pancho Villa himself.

European History Research Paper

Portuguese National Identity:

The Role of Racial Miscegenation, Colonialism, and Imperialism

Before, During, and After the Fascist Estado Novo Regime

Relevant terms, names concepts

Antonio de Oliveira Salazar Economist who studied at U Coimbra, Established Estado Novo, Prime Minister until 1968, friendly with Francisco Franco and supported/recognized the Nationalist government in Spain in 1938, but he kept Portugal neutral in World War II and led the country into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. After World War II, Portugal’s railways, road transport, and merchant navy were reequipped, and a national airline was instituted. Electrification was planned for the whole country, and rural schools were developed. However, Salazar’s insistence on maintaining Portugal’s colonies in Africa could only be sustained with difficulty at a time when the other European colonial empires in Africa were being dismantled

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/518989/Antonio-de-Oliveira-Salazar#ref280168

Lusotropicalism - Gilberto Freyre

"Given the unique cultural and racial background of metropolitan Portugal, Portuguese explorers and colonizers demonstrated a special ability - found among no other people in the world - to adapt to tropical lands and peoples. The Portuguese colonizer, basically poor and humble, did not have the exploitive motivations of his counterpart from the more industrialized countries in Europe. Consequently, he immediately entered into cordial relations with non-European populations he met in the tropics. This is clearly demonstrated through Portugal's initial contacts with the Bakongo Kingdom in the latter part of the fifteenth century. The ultimate proof of the absence of racism among the Portuguese, however, is found in Brazil, whose large and socially prominent mestiço population is living testimony to the freedom of social and sexual intercourse between Portuguese and non-Europeans. Portuguese non-racism is also evidenced by the absence in Portuguese law of the racist legislation in South Africa and until recently in the United States baring non-whites from specific occupations, facilities, etc. Finally, any prejudice or discrimination in territories formerly or presently governed by Portugal can be traced to class, but never colour, prejudice."

^ Gerald Bender, "Angola under the Portuguese: The Myth and the Reality", Univ. Calif. Press, 1978, pp. 3-4

Racial miscegenation was a liability and now turned into a positive – used as a tool during the Estado Novo

“We will see the ways in which different disciplinary approaches (historiography, socio-history, sociology, anthropology and social psychology) have been related to the formulation/critique of a

2“Portuguese specificity” – described as a capacity to contact other peoples and to be convivial, an idea which is now commonsensical, enunciated as Lusotropicalism (Freyre, 1952; Castelo, 1998). Moreover, we will relate this (a-)historicity of “Portuguese colonialism” to the construction of racism as a non relevant socio-political debate.”

And

“problematic hegemonic definition of racism as beliefs or attitudes arising from specific (extremist) ideologies. On the contrary, we defend the need to conceive of racism and „race‟ as emerging from political situations, that is, racism should be understood rather as a political technology of (post-)colonial governance (Hesse, 2004; Bauman, 1987); more precisely, as Eric Voegelin‟s pioneer study anticipated, the „race idea‟ has been effective “in the governmental organization of the community” within the historical formation of the European national states (1997: 117).”

and

“It is our view that these historical approaches reproduce, although in a much sophisticated manner11, the narrative of the Portuguese “expansion” as a history of reciprocal cultural impacts, interactions, contacts and exchanges. Although power relations are not neglected, we believe that there is a taken for granted use of notions such as “the Portuguese world”, “the Portuguese empire”, “Portuguese culture” or “the European presence”, giving way to the reification of processes such as “Christianization and Westernization” (Disney, 2007: 296). We consider it crucial to use these categories as part of the configuration of “imperial maps” that “despite the apparent fixity of their geographic referents....have historically possessed remarkable fluidity” (Coronil, 1996: 53); that is, we need to problematise the “very idea of Europe as an ideological construct” (West, 1993: 121) and its consequences for the modern configurations of “race” and racisms.”

and

“within the Enlightenment‟s growing centrality of scientific and empiricist rationality, the idea of „race‟ entered common usage. At the time, it was used to refer to discrete categories, empirically observable, according to phenotypical traits (Mosse, 1978; Solomos and Back, 1996; Hannaford, 1996), and to justify racism on the basis of “scientific” evidence of the fundamental inferiority of specific races and populations. It was also during this period that the renovation of discourses on civilisation epitomised by that ideological construct of the “Enlightened Europe” (with its internal geographies and inequalities), naturalised racism in the name of [Western] culture. This process was evident within the Portuguese colonial configuration and it had important consequences on the imagining of the Portuguese nation: the naturalisation of racism was inextricably bound with the process of naturalising a racial and cultural homogeneous Portuguese nation. In this sense, some key historical approaches to this period have downplayed the relevance of this racist configuration by not considering it as “properly racist” but a consequence of “ethnocentrism” and “exacerbated nationalism”. It is in this terms that the historian Valentim Alexandre understands the link between “populist nationalism” and the production of a “Imperial mystic” from 1875 to 1945; for instance, his analysis of the political elite‟s idea of “national integration” that regarded the African colonies as an extension of the “Portuguese civilisation” and the (black) indigenous population‟s submission to forced labour as a means for their civilisation, considers that:

What we have here it is not a properly racist conceptualisation but rather, a strongly ethnocentric one, deeply marked by the exacerbated nationalism that, since the last quarter of the 1800s, was embraced by almost the totality of the Portuguese political elites (the exceptions could be found among some groups within the working class movement). They all had in common the idea of an “end” or a “mission” to be accomplished in the name of overseas Portugal, as the incarnation of the values of “civilization” before the “primitive peoples” [...].When the 2nd article of the 1930 Colonial Act [Acto Colonial] states that “it was in the organic essence of the Portuguese nation to perform a historical function of possessing and colonising the overseas lands and of civilising the indigenous populations comprised within them”, was merely giving official signature to a typical view and feeling of Portuguese nationalism, in its different versions (from Seara Nova to the integralistas) (Alexandre, 1999: 140)13.”

^http://www.ces.uc.pt/projectos/tolerace/media/Working%20Paper%201/Portuguese%20(post-)colonial%20situations%20national%20identity%20and%20the%20understanding%20of%20racism%20the%20politics%20of%20academic%20narratives%20-%20CES.pdf

Making racism seem like an ontological consequence depoliticizes it, disregarding the fact that it is in truth a political and historical construction that has everything to do with history. Sweeping it under the rug would be the equivalent to calling it simply “prejudice”

Lots of academic narrative (from Freyre to James Duffy) has caused racism to be either justified, critiqued poorly, or critiqued in such a way that makes Portugal out to be so ill-equipped that they can’t help it (as opposed to being the world super power, which they were)

“Cultural Differentiation” between White and Indigenous Populations by law in Moz/Ang : 2 different schooling systems,

Though integration is important, simultaneously, Europe is increasingly becoming a collection of “regions” and each benefits more from having their own specific characteristics and national identities – homogenous ones, (however false that homogeneity may be, as is the case with racial miscegenation).

http://www.ceg.ul.pt/finisterra/numeros/1998-65/65_16.pdf

Academic Goals

Brazilian Rhetoric Studies (Research Proposal)

Religious Rhetoric in Post-Colonial Brazil and the

Politicization of Liberation Theology

Research Proposal

Brazil is one of the largest nations in the Americas and an emerging economic and political player on the global stage. Unfortunately, many people do not have an adequate understanding or historical knowledge of Brazil – let alone of its political and socioeconomic issues. There are only a handful of graduate programs in the world dedicated to the field of Brazilian studies. There is a definite need for a wider range of publications and literature on the subject of Brazil. The problem I choose to explore is one of religious rhetoric concerning the political and religious development of Brazil 0 specifically the period in between 1960 and 1990, when dramatic politics forever changed the face of Brazil and the United States’ attitudes toward Brazil. Specifically, I believe more people can benefit from understanding Brazil’s socioeconomic situation through the lens of religious rhetoric and the relationship between government, religion, and the masses of oppressed citizens living in abject poverty and a post-military dictatorship that did and still involves Liberation Theology and related religious rhetoric movements.

There are some overarching questions I would like to answer through my research, but also many specific questions I will direct special attention to. The main questions are as follows, in order from more general to more specific:

How was religious rhetoric used during the military regime and coup in Brazil 1964 until 1985 when the regime ended?

• What role did Liberation Theology play in the military regime – for or against it?
• How was religious rhetoric used in the United States by the Johnson Administration to support the military regime in Brazil of ‘64-‘85? And the Carter administration?
• How did/does the Vatican, a powerful pseudo-political group, employ religious rhetoric in the Liberation Theology movement?
• How has Liberation Theology affected Brazil’s political and social climate today? Did it have any positive or negative effects on the regime changes in Brazil?
• What role did religious rhetoric play in the uncovering of the atrocities of the Brazilian military dictatorship? And in the United States’ foreign policy on Brazil?

I will be answering these questions in the form of a publishable research essay (appropriate for graduate school admissions, as well as interested readers) with a strong thesis as a result of my findings. Traditional academic research paper in MLA style is my format of choice, with headings for each topic or section (somewhat outlined above).

My primary methods of research will be library texts on the history of pre-military Brazil and the development of Brazil to present day, news articles that focus on current and recent Liberation Theology issues, and websites dedicated to the study of so-called “third world religion” that cover Liberation theology, prominent figures and groups involved in the religious development of Brazil, as well as the beginning, progression, and end of the military regime in Brazil. I may or may not use video sources and/or previously taped videos of interviews with relevant figures (such as James Green, of Brown University).

Fulbright Proposal 2012-2013 Personal Statement

Personal Statement

Hannah Dolbeer, Portugal, English Teaching Assistantship

I am fascinated my language and I am doing everything in my power to learn Portuguese, to study linguistics in any way I can, and to be involved with language exchange. After getting a degree in the arts and cultural studies, I hope to emerge with a broad background in the humanities as well, including history, foreign policy, anthropology, psychology, and language courses. As a student, I have thought hard and struggled throughout my college years about the course of my future, and I am finally ready to start making decisions that set that course into motion. I have come to the conclusion that my life is always going to involve this for certain: the Portuguese language and the culture surrounding it.

My career goals today are to regain a native level fluency in Portuguese, earn a degree at a Portuguese institution or American institution involving the instruction of Portuguese, and one day work for the State Department as a diplomat and possibly, a language instructor. If not the State Department, there are numerous other ways I can be of use to our government in relation to Portuguese language and culture. This Fulbright grant is going to allow me to go to Portugal and really get in revive my latent Portuguese skills, and gain understanding of Portuguese culture in a way that only a small percentage of American nationals will ever understand. I can bring this experience into my work teaching English, Portuguese, and especially serving the United States Government.

I received a TEFL certification in 2010 when I became interested in linguistics and second language acquisition. I have had a summer’s experience tutoring ESL students at three different volunteer-based organizations, and so I firmly feel that one of my strengths lies in teaching other people about language. My TEFL certification will serve me well in an English teaching assistant position. After having so much familial and personal experience with Brazilian travel, I am curious to experience the other side of my mother’s childhood with a fresh slate – Portugal. I am not afraid to learn and practice the language to better my skills, and I will make use of my ability to adapt to new situations with people that may not speak my native English.

Even though English is my mother tongue, my knowledge of Portuguese as a result of growing up speaking it at home has given me the ability to learn and adjust to other romance languages easily, and will continue to do so. Traveling with my mother, watching her employ language skills to connect with people all around the globe – and I mean anyone – has always been a source of awe for me. With both of my parents working for the airline (my father a pilot) it would seem to be an easy enough decision for me to continue my travels by doing the same, but over the years my love for other things like art, film, music, social science, and social change has grown. By the time I was half way through college, I realized I needed to do something that really had a positive effect; more than just making film and entertainment media. I’ve finally turned to the things that have and will always be my greatest source of awe: language and culture. Foreign language learning is not just communicating, it’s learning about an entire way of life and a different way of experiencing the world around us, and that’s what I want to do in Portugal. I am specifically interested in Portugal’s language education climate because my mother spent critical years of schooling in Portugal at a French Lycée that taught in both Portuguese and French, as well as teaching other foreign languages – one example of language education.