By: Rajan Philip

Rajan Philip — Sat, 18 Sep 2021 14:04:18 +0000

The language, culture,habits of New Mexico must be protected and students must be encouraged to learn and practice along with other modern education system. The scholar has reaserached well the problem and suggested the possible solution with the experience of Asian countries especially focused on Singapore. I, an Asian-Indian, understand the same issues that are part of our education system. More governmental and administrative support is needed to revolutionize the education system with spreading of awareness among the teaching community to bring a challenging change in the education system New Mexico.
Dr. Rajan Philip

By: Miriam Pujals

Miriam Pujals — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 17:26:10 +0000

Bravo! A long time coming!
About 25 years ago, I devised a course within the general framework of a new series of undergraduate courses called Global Literature at the University I was teaching English in..this course would be concentrating on Post-Colonial literature and the novels read would range from the native literature being produced in Nigeria and Kenya (British colonies), Puerto Rico (a fascinating look at a supposedly post-colonial hybrid called an Free Associated State, where Puerto Rican history and the Spanish language was being and had been since 1898, phased out in favor of all things American, disregarding very conveniently the invasion and occupation at the turn of the century), Martinique, (once a French possession), the Philippines (another interesting look at a semi-colonial country, both Spanish and American), Guam (an interesting island with a pro- American statehood stance), with a glance at Hawaii, India, Tunisia, Sicily, Ireland, to examine some interesting comparisons…Students had to examine closely the processes by which colonization, and post-colonization processes affected the cultures of the countries studied. To see the astonished countenances and expressions of students open to thoughts they had never had before, speeches they had never heard before, military events they had only heard of briefly in their history books was encouraging. The students learned World History and American History in a novel way, and read the literature to bring it home. Erasing a native language, history, culture and religion is tantamount to cultural “genocide.” I composed a series of lectures on The Spanish Contribution to American Culture and Literature, while pointing out that both of these were military takeovers with less than happy results for the many Native Americans then existing. And yes, America was a British colony so we spent a bit of time “relishing” the terrible hypocrisy and irony of our struggle for independence, the Puritans’ struggle for religious freedom in the light of the subsequent sexism, racism, religious intolerance and near genocide of the bronze, brown and black people within and still immigrating , to our shores. Nor did we neglect gender when in the study of the colonized, the other half who suffer perpetual lack of autonomy while we sympathize with the justifiable complaints of the oppressed patriarchal element.

Comments on: How New Mexico is Working to Decolonize Curriculum

By: Rajan Philip

By: Miriam Pujals