TWC - Session 2

During this class we moved on to start discussing the role that technology plays in global dominance. Be it the dominance of a country or even a company like Henry Ford’s for example, which I spoke about.  We had 4 guest speakers, including myself. The topics spoken about were US hegemony during the second half of the 20^th century. I myself spoke about Henry Fords assembly line and how it revolutionized the way that products were manufactured.

Prof spoke about the Rising and Falling Star framework, and how countries, companies and even people could fit into this. The interesting thought that crossed my mind was how India fit into this model. Countries like China and India are the future superpowers which are soon to rule the rest of the world, therefore they come under the category of the ‘Rising Stars’.

We also spoke about MDGs. MDGs are eight international development goals that all 192 United Nations member states  have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. They include reducing extreme poverty, reducing child mortality rates, fighting disease epidemics such asAIDS, and developing a global partnership for development. One thing that I wanted to find out more about was that HOW these goals plan to be achieved; an issue of concern being the execution of the plans.

One of the key takeaway points was that how each individual can help attain these goals by giving back to the society what we have taken from it.

After my presentation in class, I did realize how important it was to be clear while speaking. I will work on it in the future.

I’d rate this class an 8.

TWC - Session 1

In our first TWC class last week, we discussed an array of topics ranging from the Historical Timeline, reasons why some countries were more developed than the rest, definition and explanation of the term ‘technology’, link between technology, creativity, innovation and invention, to  how times are changing exponentially due to technology.

First, a very interesting and thought provoking video called ‘Shift Happens’ was shown to us. This clip predicted how the future was going to be due to rapid technological advancements.  Some of the statistics  included in this video were shocking. The comparison made between present times and the future made me sit back and ponder about where we’re heading; visualize the future. It wasn’t possible. The theme of this video was:  ‘We are living in exponential times’.

Another video based on Jared Diamond’s book ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ was shown. Earlier, when I did make an attempt to read this book, I didn’t find it too gripping. History isn’t one of my favorite subjects. But after attending this particular class, I’m determined to take it up again. The discussions in class compelled me to think about all the unanswered questions of history and motivated me to go back and find out more.

One question we were confronted with during class was why certain countries are more developed compared to the others. There were several answers to this. Most said due to the geographical location of the area, and its accessibility to the rest of the world. However, I personally believe that it depends on a wide range of factors, of which one is geographical location (climate, landscape and natural resources). Political, and Cultural and Social factors are present too. The growth of a particular country depends on factors like political stability, trade laws, population and culture too. The question we were faced with was “Why is that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?" This question was reiterated a couple of times in class. It actually made us think about the fact that the ‘have nots’ deserve all that we have today.

I’d rate this session a 9 on 10. It was a very good introductory class. Great start for the semester.