Globalization and Popular Culture

Instructor: Alyssa O'Brien

Rahul Agarwal

I have lived many places during my life, including New Hampshire (where I was born) Geneva, Switzerland, and Northern Virginia. My parents are both Indian immigrants who moved to America 25 years ago. We speak a mixture of Hindi and English at home, so I am fluent in both. I lived in the French speaking part of Switzerland, but I dislike French with a burning passion and I chose to pursue Spanish in high school instead. I have a younger brother named Amit who is obsessed with basketball and Bollywood movies. Because most of my relatives are still in India, my family travels to India about every two years. Also, while in Switzerland, I traveled extensively throughout Europe (but unfortunately not to Sweden).

My recreational passions are tennis and video games. My career/life dream is to start my own video game company with my friends and bring joy to the world. In order to pursue my video game development career, I am majoring in computer science and considering a minor in management science. For my PWR 1 paper, I researched the issue of why girls don’t play video games as much as boys do.

One of the topics I am really interested in is the globalization of fast food and how different world cuisines are being exchanged and reinvented all over the world, leading to the rise of many “fusion” cuisines. This summer I taught a course about food around the world to middle school students, and I hope that the research that I did will come in handy. I know that many culinary traditions are being combined and innovated upon nowadays, and I want to use food as lens through which to view global cultural exchange.

Deonne Castaneda

Hello! My name is Deonne. I'm from the Bronx, New York. I study Sociology and Computer Science at Stanford University. I find learning about what motivates people particularly fascinating, which is why I like to read applied and social psychology books whenever I get the chance. I also really enjoy watching foreign films, reading magazines, following fashion, web & graphic design, choral singing, and going to all kinds of live performances.

A couple of activities I'm currently involved in at Stanford are Spotlight on Service (a student-run service awareness organization) and Delta Delta Delta sorority. I hope to pursue a career in marketing or advertising back home in New York City after college, but I would like to travel or live abroad before then just to be exposed to other cultures. My ultimate goal is to settle down and raise a family since I've always been especially invested in personal and familial relationships.

Thanks for reading! I look forward to getting to know you all. :)

Karen Cheng

Hello! My name is Karen Cheng and I am currently a sophomore at Stanford University. I have yet to declare a major, but I have strong interests in the areas of biology and philosophy. I am involved with the Dualist, Stanford's undergraduate philosophy publication. I also work as a research assistant in the Rockson lab, where I perform small experiments with the ultimate goal of trying to find a treatment for lymphedema. Beyond academic activities, I also enjoy music, photography, spending time with friends, eating (especially ice cream!) and volunteering.

I was born in Hong Kong, but my family immigrated to the United States when I was five. I have lived in Portland, Oregon for most of my life. As a result, I have been exposed to an interesting dynamic of cultures. At home, I celebrated mostly Chinese traditions. At school and with friends, I explored American customs. The interaction between these two cultures is something I would like to explore further in my PWR II research. Hong Kong is a particularly interesting case study for globalization given its history as a British colony. I have not yet narrowed my topic to a particular element of cultural influence to study, but I hope to learn more about how Chinese culture has been affected by American culture and vice versa.

Sae Ik Cho

I’m studying mathematics and economics in Stanford University. I was born in Seoul, Korea and lived there for 20 years.(Yes, it was whole my life before I came here.) When I was in youth, I liked to learn about numbers, geometric figures and always dreamed about studying abroad. During middle school and high school, I liked to study mathematics and solve interesting mathematics problems. I participated a lot of mathematics competitions and during that time, my dream was to participate in International Mathematics Olympiad as a representative of Korea. All of my concentration was to learn interesting concepts about mathematics and he really enjoyed that. Therefore, I could be chosen as a member of Korean team for IMO and felt a lot of cultural and intellectual shock when meeting competitors of whole nations.
After participating the competition, I made my resolution to study abroad. I decided to study abroad to compete with geniuses of other countries. After I was chosen as a recipient of presidential scholarship in Korea and accepted from Stanford University, I could accomplish my first goal of life and I’m enjoying the Farm life!
For fun, I like to play basketball with friends and to play a piano. My favorite music to play is a variation of Canon by George Winston. When I play the piano, I feel relaxed, and freed from all the requirements, such as problem sets, taking lectures, etc… Moreover, especially for winter, I really like to snowboard in Lake Tahoe. Even though I have been a lot of ski resorts in Korea and Japan, I think Lake Tahoe is solely the best place to snowboard.

Joanna Evans

Hello! My name is Joanna Evans and I am a student at Stanford University!

Full Name: Joanna Grace Evans
Birthday: August 25, 1988
Home: Northern California
Activities: Stanford Women’s Volleyball
Beach Volleyball
Piano
Major: International Relations and Spanish

I am in my second year at Stanford University and could not be having a better time. I am a setter on the Women’s Volleyball Team here at Stanford, which takes up almost all of my extra time. In the spring and summer I train almost everyday for the beach volleyball season. I also play the piano; however, it has been quite a challenge to practice since coming to college. This past month I went snowboarding for the first time and plan to learn how to surf in the very near future!
In terms of academics, I am planning to double major in International Relations and Spanish. I am hoping to travel abroad to Madrid, Spain in two years as a part of my college education. I am not too sure what I want to do post-college, but I am thinking that I might want to explore a career as a professional beach volleyball player and perhaps eventually join the Peace Corp. for a couple of years.

In my PWR2 Writing and Rhetoric class titled ‘Globalization and Popular Culture’ I am interested in researching the globalization of fashion, the projection of standards for models across the globe, and how these factors have affected the fashion industry and traditional local dress from around the world.

Kyonne Isaac

My name is Kyonne Isaac and I come from a relatively unknown city in southern Florida called Cape Coral. I am a sophomore considering a double major in Psychology and African & African American Studies. I have a deep interest in the role identity politics, especially those of race and gender, play in lives of individuals across different countries/societies. I consider myself somewhat of a crusader for social justice, and am deeply involved in the Black Student Union and our campus chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as Secretary, as well as the Black Psychology Students Association as its Publicity Chair. In my spare time (which doesn’t happen very often nowadays), I love to dance, watch sports, (especially the English Premiere League!), travel and read classic romantic novels, like those by Jane Austin.

My research project will probably focus on the spreading global appeal of Hip Hop culture, especially in Asian countries. I plan to do more research into how different cultures have either changed themselves or the genre to accommodate or resist its spreading influence. In addition, I might call into question claims that the Hip Hop culture that has developed in more racially homogenous societies (like Japan, for example) is some how inauthentic or out of touch with Hip Hop’s roots in the struggle for African-American self-determination.

Vonn Javier

My name is Vonn Javier, and I am a body of contradictions:
I am a Food Network addict, yet I hate to cook.
I am lactose-intolerant, yet I am an ice cream maniac. (Some things are simply too good to give up.)
I am an English major, yet writing is one of my least favorite activities.

I was born and raised in the Philippines until I was six years old. When I am not at Stanford, I live in Fullerton, California with my parents and eleven-year-old brother. I am currently a sophomore at Stanford University, and I plan to double major in English and Communication.

As a little girl in the Philippines, my grandfather always advised me to pinch my nose three times a day. According to him, doing so would ensure that my nose would be pointy. In the past two years, two of my aunts have actually traveled to the Philippines in order to get plastic surgery on their noses. My grandfather’s persistent advice and my aunts’ surgeries are just a few personal examples of the more general definition of beauty in the Filipino culture. Put simply, small, pointy noses are beautiful, while big, flat noses are not. I plan to do research in order to answer one question: why? What are the specific mechanisms that cause one ethnicity to shun their native beauty for that of another ethnicity? How long has the Filipino aesthetic been skewed in this way? What are the psychological repercussions of elevating the “white” nose versus the “brown” nose?

Michelle Nguyen

Michelle Nguyen is a pre-med sophomore at Stanford University who plans to major in… Something. It might be Biology with a marine specialization, it might be Biology with no specialization, it might be English with a Creative Writing emphasis. Stay tuned for updates. Michelle is a member of Project Asian-American Initiative for Youth Motivation and Empowerment (Project AIYME) and of Stanford Taiko, a Japanese drumming ensemble. In her spare time, she is an avid sleeper, a ravenous junk food connoisseur, a remarkable construction-paper crafts expert, and a passionate advocate of sunshine, puppies, weird deep-sea creatures, and pop music that gets stuck in your head.

In keeping with her capriciousness regarding her major, Michelle has also not yet decided the topic of the research she will conduct this quarter. She is quite curious about “reverse Westernization” and would like to answer the question, “When did the East start influencing the West more than vice versa?” by studying phenomena such as the West’s relatively newfound interests in Asian beauty standards, spiritual and health practices, and other aspects of Asian culture. However, Michelle is also fascinated by humor and the way it changes from population to population. To investigate this, she would delve into sitcoms such as the UK’s “The Office” and the ways its rhetoric has changed as it spread to Germany, the US, France, and Canada under the respective names of “Stromberg,” “The Office,” “Le Bureau,” and “La Job.”

Liese Pruitt

I currently live in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and I grew up in the Boston area. I was a competitive Irish step dancer for eight years before coming to college, and I am now the president of the Unitarian Universalist group on campus. I also really enjoy black and white film photography, especially processing my own film and prints. I am pursuing a double major in biology and anthropology at Stanford, and I am considering a focus on either Latin America or medical anthropology for my anthropology major. During the summer I am doing research on ovarian cancer in a mouse model at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. I am planning on attending medical school after finishing my undergraduate degree, and I am contemplating a specialty in surgery. I am greatly interested in international health, and from an anthropological perspective what roles medical NGOs take on in the societies they operate in. For a research topic I would like to look at the rhetoric used by transnational medical NGOs such as Doctors Without Border and Partners in Health. I would particularly like to compare the rhetoric directed at audiences they are hoping will donate to their organization and the rhetoric directed at the people they are offering their medical services to.

Gemma Schrum

My name is Gemma Schrum and I am a sophomore at Stanford University. I plan to major in Product Design, with a potential additional major in either Mechanical Engineering or Computer Systems Engineering. I am one quarter Swedish, one quarter German, and half Filipina. I love to smile, spend time with friends, draw, play the piano, play sports (mostly volleyball), volunteer, and learn/experience new things.
For my research project, I am planning to explore the impact of hip hop culture on Japan, but I am still deciding what aspect to focus on. It could be any combination of the following.

1. How visual art, the style of music, appearance, and/or dance affect the Japanese interpretation of beauty/status/what is appealing.
2. The causes and effects of hip hop’s presence: In what ways are women empowered or objectified? Do people turn to hip hop for rebellion or expression?
3. How much of the original culture is kept, and does the Japanese culture contribute to hip hop in exchange?
   

Ben-Zhen Sung

Hi there! The name is Ben-Zhen (“zh” pronounced like a hard “j”, emphasis on the second syllable) Sung (not “sung” as in “sung” a song, the “u” is more like the “o” in “own”). Nineteen years old and a Stanford sophomore. I will most likely major in English – with an emphasis in fiction creative writing - and minor in East Asian studies or Asian Languages.

I’m Chinese. I’m very proud of my Asian heritage and am a sort of Hong Kong (where my parents came from) fanatic. I have a lot of family back there and go to visit every then and now. I love Hong Kong for the language (Cantonese), culture, food, people, malls, music, geography, transportation system (subway and metro rail…so convenient and fast), and so on and so on.

As you can guess from my areas of intended study, I like writing and learning languages. I love writing fiction and at any given moment am usually walking around with a character or two in my head. Play me a song, and I’ll write you a scene that I feel goes with it. Show me a photograph and I’ll write a synopsis for a story I think the photo could come from. With regards to languages, it is my goal to be fluent in at least five. I have two down (English and Cantonese), two currently on (French and Mandarin), and one to go (Japanese? Russian?)! Cultures and languages outside the US fascinate me, one of the reasons I chose this PWR class on globalization.

The love of my life is however, music! I’m a classical pianist, and it’s my life dream to be a professional concert artist (we’ll see how that one turns out, not as easy as it sounds.) I listen to and enjoy almost all types of music. A lot of classical, but also pop, hip hop, trance, alternative, electronic, and rock. Not a big fan of heavy metal in which the singers are screaming unintelligibly…

I’m hoping to do research on globalization from a musical perspective, to look at the spread of classical music to conservatories in countries all over the world as well as how pop music from different countries influence one another. Why is European music the classical music of today? What does this body for future of traditional music of non-European countries? Where did pop music as we know it now originate? In the West? And if it did, how have eastern countries taken the style and made it their own? How does pop music reflect culture and values of a given country? Such are the questions I hope to answer (if not in full, then at least partially).

Jamie Thai

Hi! My name is Jamie Thai and I am from Northridge, California, home of the great 1994 Northridge Earthquake. In fact, I am actually such a deep sleeper that I slept through that 7.0 magnitude earthquake. My parents were born in Vietnam but we ethnically identify ourselves as Chinese and my last name is Thai but I am not Thai. I love picking up different languages especially through watching dramas from different Asian countries. With my complicated ethnic background and my addiction to dramas (they are not sappy ones), I pick up on many languages including Teo Chew, Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

In 1988, my parents opened a small Chinese takeout restaurant, China King, where I have grown up in and spent all of my years at. In many ways it has become my home. China King is where I grew up with both good and bad unforgettable experiences. Being there day and night watching my parents work has given me the opportunity and drive to set higher goals and to try my best at achieving them. It has let me understand that food is one main part of everyone’s lives which unites people whether it be family gatherings or social events. Family and food are extremely important to me not only because they are necessary but because they are both factors that have shaped who I am and the way I think.

My latest goal I have achieved is being at Stanford University. I hope that with the years I have, I will be able to attain an education and the knowledge which will further my growth and thoughts. One thing is for sure: I am very curious about how corporations market and advertise their products to different targeted groups and still manage to have high success rates. Anyway, I am a goofy random person who likes to make the best of everything. Nice to meet you!

Lilian Thaoxaochay

Hi! My name is Lilian Thaoxaochay. I’m the oldest of five children and have a huge extended family. [That’s a picture of me with my nephew Alex…he’s a twin!] I love to play soccer and have been playing the guitar quite awfully & loudly for two years without much sign of improvement. I’m ethnically Hmong—not from Mongolia—and grew up in Fresno, CA in the Central Valley. I’ve spent less than a month outside of the state of California since I’ve been born and have NEVER traveled outside the US. I’m an Anthropology major and a premed student at Stanford University. If I don’t go to medical school after I graduate, I’d like to work in Fresno on improving the education system. I’m a huge advocate of social justice, especially for minorities and low income areas. I thought I was going to be an English major when I came to Stanford, but that lasted less than 3 weeks…especially after I learned I hadn’t any idea how to write thesis. =) Currently my interests include procrastinating online by searching for TV shows and playing Destruct-o-Match on neopets.com.

Todd Yecies

Laughing Matters: Humor, Race, Class, and Gender

Instructor: Helle Rytkonen

Kiana Amir-Araghi

My name is Kiana Amir-Araghi and I was originally born in Tehran, Iran, but immigrated to California when I was eight years old. I now live at Stanford but go home regularly as my home is only 15 minutes away. I don’t know how to define myself culturally, as I was raised in both Iran and America by parents whom, though originally Iranian, were raised in Belgium and Italy. I have learned, therefore, to adapt to all cultures and all modes of thought and tradition. Because we have had to immigrate to a foreign country, my family (uncles, cousins and grandparents ALWAYS included) is very close and loving and we are the most important part of each other’s lives.

I am currently a sophomore at Stanford and I am studying English and Communication Studies. I hope to study law but am unsure what I will do after law school. I am very much still figuring my life out. I love reading and I love learning new languages and about new cultures.

Brian Bulcke

Getting To Know Brian Bulcke

Nickname: Bulks or The Incredible Bulk
I would describe myself as a person as: Powerful, Intense, Hardworking
The reason I love football is: The passion behind the game and the 
brotherhood between players on a team
I pattern my play after: Jevon Kearse and Jack Youngblood
My favorite pre-game ritual is: Du Hast by Rammstein
My greatest athletic moment is: Winning the Canadian National Championship
The teammate I admire the most is: Chris Horn
My favorite stadium in which to play is: Painsville, California
A friend from another college football team is: Chris Rwabukamba (Duke)
What sets Stanford apart from other college football programs: 
Integrity, prestige and a winning tradition
The sports team I followed when I was younger: Detroit Lions
When I played football as a kid, I pretended to be: Jevon Kearse
The athlete I admire most is: Steve Nash
The person I admire most is: My dad
If I could spend a day with anyone, it would be: My little brother
Favorite Food: Mom's spaghetti carbonara
If I had to cook all of my meals, I'd probably survive on: Met-RX Big 
100 protein bars
Favorite Movie: Last Samurai
If a movie were made of my life, the actor who would play me is: 
Sylvester Stallone
Favorite musical groups or performers: Rammstein, Slipknot, NiN, Jordan Jones
The best advice I ever received was: At the end of the day, can you 
look back and say you gave it everything you had?
The person who had the greatest influence on my life: My dad
The place I'd most like to visit: Italy
The favorite place I've visited: Belgium
Ten years from now, I'd like to be: Playing pro ball
My advice to youngsters: If you have a dream, you are the only thing 
holding yourself back
My most prized possession: Canadian flag that all my family and 
friends signed before I came to Stanford
If I won $1 million, I would: Help set up a greater football community 
back home

For more information, please visit: 
http://gostanford.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/bulcke_brian00.html

Christina Carroll

My name is Christina Carroll, and I am originally from Washington, D.C. Unlike many people, I have grown up in the same house my entire life, in the Northwest section of the city. I had a pretty awesome childhood, doing everything that you can see in the movies: climbing trees, swimming, riding bikes, and running around the neighborhood streets with other children my age.

I am a sophomore at Stanford University. I will be majoring in Film Studies. I have what seems to be a never-ending list of interests, but I love movies. My favorite pastime is watching old American classic musicals from the 1940s and 50s with my father. I also have a passion for the classic style of Disney animation, and will one day bring back the great stories that charmed my childhood. In the future, I hope to manage my own production company and bring back quality to the film industry.

Right now, I am really enjoying my “Laughing Matters” class, which focuses on the issues surrounding ethnic humor. I think that ethnic humor is an interesting and somewhat sensitive subject, and it’s probably something that I will explore in my films one day.

In the picture, I am the one on the left.

Jordan Cox

My name is Jordan Cox and I am from Redwood City, California. I attend Stanford University, which is only about 15 minutes from the place I call home, and I absolutely love it. This is my second year in college and I am majoring in communications. I play golf for Stanford University so that would be my main interest, but I love to go out and have a good time with my friends when I find some spare time. I am a good student who enjoys a challenge in the classroom, especially if the topic is one that interests me. I am half Japanese and half Caucasian and have traveled to Japan over 20 times. I have also traveled all around the world playing in high-level golf competitions. Because I have traveled to so many places around the world I have come to a great appreciation for cross-cultural rhetoric. I speak 3 languages including English and love interacting with people whether they are American or International. I love learning about other cultures and their values, because I believe it is the only way to truly come to a fuller appreciation of ones own culture.

Zavain Dar

Hi, my name is Zavain Dar.  I was born in Pakistan, but since the age of two, have lived in Berkeley, California.  Growing up, it was at times hard to mix my South Asian background with my fellow peers in school and outside of family settings.  I remember questioning what it meant to be different then most of my friends and how it effected who I was and who I would become.  Regardless, I would definitely claim to be a “Berkeley boy” culturally, having a laid back and relaxed attitude. Currently attending Stanford University, I am majoring in Symbolic Systems, a mix of math, philosophy, and computer science, and play lacrosse, although I’m not playing this year because of a knee injury.  This year, in an effort to bridge the gap between my South Asian background and American upbringing, I decided to join an Indian dance team.  Looking back, it has been on of the most fun and fulfilling experiences I’ve had in college.  We are currently getting ready to fly across the country next weekend to go compete against other college dance teams from all over the States!   I look forward to getting a chance to speak to you all!
Sincerely,
Zavain Dar

Jeffrey Garcia

My name is Jeffrey Garcia and I am currently a second year undergraduate student at Stanford University. I am originally from Los Angeles, CA and maintain strong cultural ties to Mexico, as my parents are immigrants from this nation. I am deeply interested in entrepreneurship and negotiations. I am a student in the school of engineering studying economic, engineering, and social principles that are critical to understanding business practices throughout the world.  More specifically, I am working towards a degree in Management Science and Engineering. Understanding how globalization and cross-cultural relations affect entrepreneurship has been the center of my intellectual interests. I am dually curious about the social phenomenon of in-betweeness known formally as cultural schizophrenia. People finding themselves to be a product of two different cultures, such as Mexican immigrants to the United States or North African immigrants to various parts of Europe, undergo unique social experiences. I find them interesting.

Tom Grey  

My name is Tom Grey. I am from Marin, California where I’ve lived virtually all of my life. Marin is a county just north of San Francisco located on northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. I love living near San Francisco because of the wide range of diversity from cities like San Francisco and Oakland to more rural places like the Napa Valley. I am a sophomore at Stanford and live in my fraternity, Theta Delta Chi.
Academically, I am an economics major and a history minor. I really enjoy the way that economics studies the behavior of people and their consuming habits. There is something incredibly interesting about seeing a mathematical equation that accurately describes a person’s preferences. I love history because of the way that we can understand why the world is in its current state. The field of history allows us to understand the past in terms of a sequence of human decisions rather than just factual events. In my personal time I love to play lacrosse, and I enjoy following professional sports. I love almost all sports but especially I love basketball, football and baseball.
            Cross-cultural interaction is very interesting for me because I enjoy understanding the slightly different ways that other cultures view the world. Even different languages cause people to think about the world in different ways and it is only through a mutual understanding that we can fully appreciate these differences. I fully appreciate that the interaction between different governments has very little bearing on the people who live in the countries. It is ignorant to assume things about people from a certain place without actually meeting them and understanding them.
            I am on the left in the picture:

Isaura Guerrero

My name is Isaura Guerrero from Pomona, California, where I have lived my entire life with my parents and two sisters. When I am at home I enjoy spending my time with my parents and sisters, especially when we are at the swapmeet, working as we have done for most of my life. I am currently a sophomore at Stanford University and am undeclared, but I am leaning towards majoring in Urban Studies or Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. I just recently became interested in Urban Studies, which is an interest I will continue to foster. For my research paper I plan on focusing on the other interest of mine, race and ethnicity. Part of my research will be looking at how Latino stand up comedians portray Latinos in the media, and how their humor functions. I have become involved with the Latino community here at Stanford as well, so when I am not there I enjoy relaxing with my friends.

Michael Huggins

Hi, my name is Michael Huggins and I am a sophomore at Stanford University. I am currently a History Major with a minor in Modern Languages, which will be Spanish and Italian. I was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. In terms of my academic interests, I am really fascinated by Modern European and Modern African studies. I am very interested in learning how the two regions have interacted and how both regions have changed each other. After I receive my undergraduate degree, I will study for my Juris Doctoral Degree in International Human Rights law. Although my concentration will focus on Modern Europe, I am generally interested in learning many types of Global History. In terms of my personal interests, I play the violin and I am heavily involved in United States civil rights organizations on-campus. I am very interested in learning about why certain cultures find some things funny and others do not.

Makamae Kahawi

Hi! My name is Makamae Kahawai, and I’m a 20 year old sophomore undergraduate of Stanford University who comes from the island of O‘ahu in Hawai‘i. I just decided this year that I’m going to be majoring in Japanese language and minoring in economics. Why? Because I’m interested in anime (Japanese cartoons), manga (Japanese comics), and all things Japan related, but I’m also interested in cliché things like extra sleep, hanging out with my friends, watching movies, having fun and laughing. When I think about the things that I say I’m interested in, I feel like it portrays me accurately enough: I’m a simple person. With the exception of the Japan related items, I interested in things that most other people seem to like as well, and I feel like it’s the simple things in life that make a person truly happy, no matter who you are or where you come from.

Crystal Kyaw

I’m a sophomore at Stanford University, where I am majoring in Human Biology with either a Neurology or Health Policy focus. My interests include sports, friends, and family. I play basketball and volleyball, surf and snowboard. I also spend a lot of time with friends—at the beach, talking, watching movies, running, everything. I grew up and currently live in Southern California, although I was born in Chicago, Illinois. Ethnically, I am a mix of Chinese, Burmese, and a bit of Indian, but since I’ve been in the States all my life, I don’t particularly relate culturally to any of these. I am interested in exploring the consequences of our increasingly cosmopolitan world—many more people are of mixed backgrounds than ever before. Race and ethnicity in comedy, politics, and society have always been interesting to me—the jokes it provokes, the policies surrounding the unsaid issues of race, and the effects racial tension has on interpersonal relationships. And of course, I enjoy watching Dave Chappelle and South Park, but wouldn’t be doing them justice if I didn’t also look for the material’s deeper meaning. Discussing these topics with students who’ve had a different cultural experience would be very interesting.

John Kyed

My name is John Kyed and I hail from the great Rocky Mountain state 
of Colorado. I am a sophomore here at Stanford University. Since I am 
from a state with such beautiful mountains and outdoors, I really 
enjoy spending my time in nature. I love to hunt, fish and hike. In 
terms of my academic interests, I am studying ancient history and 
spanish. I really enjoy almost any kind of humor, but I truly love 
redneck humor and any work done by George Carlin. Overall, I just 
love life!

Veronica Lane

My name is Veronica Lane and I just turned 20 on the 26th of January. I am a sophomore attending Stanford University where I am a Psychology major and Cultural and Social Anthropology minor. I attended high school in a small town called Page in northern Arizona and have lived on the Navajo reservation my whole life. I come from a rather large family and they mean the world to me. I have four older brothers and one younger brother and we are all very close.

I love to learn about different cultures and try to find how they might relate to aspects of my own Navajo culture and heritage. In my free time I like to read, travel, go to the movies, spend time with friends, play basketball and run.

Jennifer Luther

Hej! My name is Jennifer Luther, and I’m originally from North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. North Vancouver is a city set right on the water, and underneath a ton of mountains… It’s where the Winter Olympics will be in 2010. I’m a sophomore here at Stanford University, and play on the Varsity Women’s Field Hockey Team. I’ve grown up playing a lot of sports, and especially love soccer. I once traveled to Sweden, Norway, and Denmark for soccer, which I really enjoyed since I am of Swedish heritage. I’ve been to Malmö and Göteborg, where I enjoyed eating pear yoghurt. (We don’t have pear yoghurt in North America!) I haven’t fully decided yet, but I think I’m going to be an English major, especially since I really enjoy creative writing. I’m really excited to meet you!

Talk to you soon, Jen

P.S. Jag talar inte svenska!

Chris Meill

My name is Chris Meill.  My whole life I have lived in Marin County, a rather rural suburb of San Francisco.  Marin is a very open-minded community, right up by the sea in a very natural setting.  I grew up going on hikes and camping trips nearly every weekend in the area around my home.  Currently I am a sophomore at Stanford University majoring in Computer Science, where I am specifically interested in graphics and game development.  In my free time I enjoy both creating and watching animations, as well as playing video games and being outdoors.  I am also minoring in German, simply because it interests me.  I love learning about other cultures, especially since my grandma started livin with my family when I was seven.  She grew up in Czechoslovakia and has lived in more countries than I can count on her way to the US.  I am fascinated by her life, and by the fact that she can look back on it all and laugh.

Paulene Meyers

My name is Paulene Meyers and I am a sophomore at Stanford University. I have lived in New York my whole life until coming to school and consider myself to be a “New Yorker.” Both of my parents are also originally from New York. At Stanford I am studying Political Science and Communications. I am also interested in Psychology and work as a research assistant in the Mind, Culture and Society Lab. We study how race and culture impact peoples’ perceptions of others and themselves. I try to read the newspaper everyday because I enjoy keeping up with current events in the US and abroad. I am interested in other cultures and plan to study abroad for some period of time while I am at Stanford. I am considering studying in Madrid or Oxford. In my Writing and Rhetoric class this quarter I plan to research the humor of children and how Americans extract comedic value from children. I enjoy working with kids and tutor elementary school students two to three times a week. I also worked as a camp counselor for eleven year olds at a sports camp this past summer.

Kelly Nigh

My name is Kelly Nigh, and although I go to Stanford University, home for me is still Princeton Junction, New Jersey. While my family has been in America for a long time, all of my ancestors were European and a few actually emigrated from Sweden. Academically, I am a sophomore interested in studying computer science. Personally, I enjoy working with kids and animals, listening to new music, and seeing almost any form of comedy, whether in a movie, TV show, or written work. Although I seem shy in the presence of a lot of people, I really enjoy talking with smaller groups. In terms of cross-cultural rhetoric, I am most interested in seeing how different cultures respond emotionally to a piece, written or visual. Do they laugh and cry at similar moments, or are the reactions between cultures different? Also, where do various groups draw the line between what is funny and inappropriate, and how do these limits differ from one country to another?

Sita Nojopranoto

My name is Sita Nojopranoto, and I am a second year undergraduate student at Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States. By blood I am Indonesian, though I consider myself as American as the next woman. I do not find that being American means the same thing as being "patriotic," though. My parents emigrated to the United States in the late 70's/early 80's and I feel that I both appreciate and criticize my country as a second-generation Asian-American woman. I associate more with the Californian, and specifically northern Californian culture than I do with American culture at large. Academically I am interested and involved with my major, Human Biology, which is an interdisciplinary study combining social sciences with the physical sciences in order to better understand humans. In what little free time I have I like to socialize with friends and family and also do community service. In terms of my international perspective, I prefer to get my news from the BBC rather than through AP or Reuters. I feel I am open-minded about people in general, regardless of ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender, whatever; I love people.

Anna Parlin

My name is Anna Parlin, and I am currently a sophomore at Stanford University.  I have traveled a long way to go to school in California, because I grew up in a New Jersey town just outside of New York City.  My parents have since moved to a lake in Upstate New York, though, so now that is where I stay when I go home.  In high school I played field hockey and lacrosse, but I do not play in college.  Instead, I am involved in our school newspaper, The Stanford Daily.  I also love to cook, and for the past four summers have worked in the kitchen of my mom’s restaurant.  At Stanford, I am going to major in English literature.  I also study psychology, and am currently working in a cognitive development lab.  I love to travel, and am hoping to spend a semester next year studying at Oxford.  My parents think it is important to have an international perspective – I was actually born in Belgium because they lived there for four years – and so I hope to spend a lot of time abroad in the future.

Andrew Phillips

My name is Andrew Phillips, and I am a sophomore from Darnestown, Maryland.  Darnestown is only about an hour away from Washington DC, and it was a great experience growing up somewhere where I was constantly surrounded by the history of my country.  I’m currently studying classical studies and modern languages.  One of the biggest thrills for me personally is the joy of being able to communicate in a language other than English. I hope one day to be fluent in a few others.  
I play football here at Stanford, so it takes up the greater majority of my time away from school.  Aside from football I enjoy fishing, scuba diving, and anything else involving the outdoors.  I have been fishing since before I can remember, and the outdoors are a huge part of how my family and I spend time together.  I am also a huge fan of my hometown team the Washington Redskins in addition to any and all Stanford sports teams.  I have three younger brothers and naturally they are also a big part of my life.  I love learning about other cultures of the world and have been lucky enough to travel many places all around the world.    

Felipe Pimentel

My name is Felipe Pimentel, and I am currently a 2nd-year student at Stanford.  For most of my life, I have lived in Boston, MA. I am a first generation American, and my family is from the Dominican Republic. In my spare time I like to relax, watch TV, and play video games. Academically, I am interested in engineering science and physics. For my research, I plan on looking at how the growth of the internet has allowed any user to upload their own brand of comedy to the world, and how this platform has become a new stage for comedy. I am interested in finding if and how this new medium has changed comedy, and also in trying to identify the qualities of successes versus failures in this new environment.

Nada Ramadan

Hi! My name is Nada Ramadan and I am Egyptian but have lived all of my life in Saudi Arabia. I am a sophomore majoring in History and International Relations in Stanford. I love to read novels, watch shows, run, and play tennis. By living in a diverse society I have come to learn a lot about different cultures and love learning more about them! Especially from coming from a culture that is negatively stereotyped I feel responsible in correcting misconceptions, learning more about my own society in an academic sense, and make sure that I do not misjudge others from different backgrounds.

Nicolas Ruhl

Nickname: Lambchops
I would describe myself as a person as: A hard worker
The reason I love football is: Competition, camaraderie
I pattern my play after: Joe Montana
My favorite pre-game ritual is: Listening to music
Currently on my iPod: A little bit of everything
My greatest athletic moment is: Game-winning touchdown pass in the final seconds of the game my senior year
The biggest thrill in my life to date is:Getting accepted to Stanford
The teammate I admire the most is: T.C. Ostrander (The Beast)
My favorite stadium in which to play is: Stanford
The reasons I chose Stanford University are: Education, athletics and tradition
Since coming to Stanford, I have learned: I will not get the same grades I did in high school and how to manage my time
The best thing about Stanford is: The campus
My favorite class at Stanford is: Ancient Athletics (Dr. Patrick Hunt)
My least favorite class at Stanford is: IHUM!
What sets Stanford apart from other college football programs: Not only are the players and coaches extremely dedicated, but the surrounding family, alumni, and fans are equally dedicated
The sports team I followed when I was younger: San Diego Chargers
When I played football as a kid, I pretended to be: John Elway
The athlete I admire most is: Muhammad Ali
The person I admire most is: My grandfather
If I could spend a day with anyone, it would be: Muhammad Ali
Favorite Website: chargers.com
Best book I have read: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Favorite Food: Bacon
Least Favorite Food: Cauliflower
If I had to cook all of my meals, I'd probably survive on: Top Ramen (you don't have to cook it)
Favorite Movie: Dumb and Dumber
Favorite TV Show: Friends
Favorite Actor: Jim Carrey
Favorite Actress: Jessica Alba
If a movie were made of my life, the actor who would play me is: Jim Carrey
My ultimate SportsCenter highlight would be: Pitching a perfect game
If I were not playing college football, I would be: Playing college baseball
The best advice I ever received was: If you can dream it, you can do it (my grandfather)
The person who had the greatest influence on my life: My grandfather
One moment in history I wish I could have seen: Muhammad Ali versus George Foreman (The Rumble in the Jungle)
The place I'd most like to visit: Greece
The favorite place I've visited: Hawai'i
Hobbies: Golf
Ten years from now, I'd like to be: Successful in whatever profession I choose to pursue
My advice to youngsters: The harder you work, the luckier you get
My most prized possession: My right arm
If I won $1 million, I would: Donate some, spend the rest
The one thing about college football I would change: BCS system

Noelle Spring

My name is Noelle Spring. I am from Laie, Hawaii and am currently a sophomore at Stanford University. I am majoring in International Relations with a functional specialization on Comparative Culture and Society. In my free time I like to spend time outdoors, hiking, swimming, biking, and traveling. I also enjoy seeing films, reading, and creative writing. I am interested in cross-cultural rhetoric because I believe that in order to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for other cultures and people, we need to engage in meaningful dialogue together. I look forward to this opportunity to meet Swedish students and learn from our discussion.

Brian Wang

Brian Wang was born ÍõСΪ in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, and raised (among other places) in the heart of the American South.  Due to his diverse cultural background and upbringing, he truly believes in the adage that ¡°home is where the heart is,¡± and is currently a sophomore attending Stanford University, pursuing a B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Economics.  Among other things, he is a self-described bon-vivant, hapless romantic and resident geek.  In his spare time at Stanford, Brian enjoys good literature, film, music of all sorts, flight simulation, and a rousing round of often pointless intellectual debate with good friends.  Brian is also involved with several student groups on campus, one being Stanford TECC, where he works with a team of social entrepreneurs whose primary objective is to connect technology with education in rural areas of his native China in order to hopefully improve lives through effective teaching methods in some of China’s poorest areas.  Due in part to these experiences and his somewhat cosmopolitan background, Brian realizes that cross-cultural rhetoric plays a prominent part in his life, whether in engaging in conversation with Japanese exchange students or simply discussing culturally different issues with his Chinese parents.  Regardless, he is always intensely interested in other cultures, languages, and perspectives, and hopes to gain a unique perspective on cross-cultural rhetoric from his studies on humor this quarter.¡±

Devon White

My name is Devon White and I was born and raised in Queens, New York. I am a sophomore here at Stanford, majoring in Computer Science. Obviously, I’m interested in computers and science, but my interests spread to several other areas. I enjoy winter, solitude, and I am fond of several Swedish bands including Dissection, Witchcraft, and Lord Belial - I’m not so fond of IKEA however. As far as cross-culture rhetoric, I suppose I am most interested in how cultural tendencies affect the use of rhetoric. In the picture below, I’m the decent gentleman posing on the right.

Max Zelin

My name is Max Zelin, and I am a sophomore undergraduate at Stanford University.  I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.  I’d like to think of myself as an easy-going guy.  I love sports.  I played baseball in high school and like to follow almost every sport (American sports and sports around the world).  I also enjoy movies and television.  Growing up in Hollywood has made films a large portion of my life.  Music has also played an important part in my life.  I have played the piano for fifteen years and I take pleasure in listening to most kinds of music.  In terms of academic interests, I am currently studying economics as my major.  I love traveling.  I have traveled often with my family, and I really enjoy learning about new cultures. I have never been to Sweden but I grew up with a Swedish nanny and because of her my first word was “tack”.  I am looking forward to this experience because I love learning more about new cultures. 

Documenting Tragedy

Instructor: Kristi Wilson

Galen Avery

Year: Stanford Undergraduate Class of 2010, Age 19 years old
I have lived in Northern California for all of my life. I was born at Stanford Hospital, and now I attend Stanford University! I come from a large family with mainly Irish and Swedish heritage. Although I have attended schools near my home for all of my life, I have had many opportunities to study abroad during the summer. In high school, I spent a summer studying Spanish at the University of Seville. Last summer, I studied art at Scuola Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence, Italy. My travels have made me want to learn more about people from other backgrounds different than myself. It is my dream to one day travel all over Europe and live there.
At Stanford, I am planning to major in International Relations. This is based on my interest in human rights and my desire to know how international economies function. I worked at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, based in London, for three years. The non-profit organization looks at how businesses both help and hurt human rights issues. Besides International Relations, I love to study Art History. In my free time I enjoy photography, swimming and playing water polo.

Natasha Chu

Hi, my name is Natasha Chu. I'm a Sophomore at Stanford this year. I've lived in Hong Kong and Jakarta but have spent the last 10 years of my life in the US. I went to high school in Colorado where I developed a love for the great outdoors. I love trail running, snowboarding, hiking, and rock climbing. I really believe that I could just spend the rest of my life travelling and spending time outdoors and be perfectly happy. I'm planning on majoring in Human Biology and minoring in Chinese. I decided to study Chinese because I always found it embarrassing that I couldn't speak it, despite being ethnically Chinese. I identify myself as Chinese although my mom's side of the family is from Indonesia. Honestly, my excuse for never learning to speak Chinese is that I was too busy speaking Indonesian growing up.

I have to say that my favourite place to travel to is Europe because everything there is so close together and accessible. Everywhere I have ever visited is incredibly rich in culture and history. I hope, though, that one day I'll be able to visit Northern and Eastern Europe. Right now, my goal is to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro after I graduate with friends. I figure it's a good segway into the "real world": one last adventure before we all have to be "serious" for the rest of our lives. 

Liliana Gomez

Year: Sophomore, Class of 2010, age 19

Background: I grew up in Brownsville, Texas, a city on the border with Mexico. I am entirely of Hispanic background. My mom was born in Bogota, Colombia and immigrated to the United States when she was nine years old. My dad has lived in the United States all of his life but his parents immigrated here from Spain. Spanish is my first language, since my grandmother raised me and she does not speak English. Colombia is my second home, because we own an apartment there and visit our family every summer. Besides Colombia I have traveled extensively throughout Latin America. I have been to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Italy and Canada.

General Interest: I am a sophomore at Stanford University and am planning on majoring in International Relations. I love traveling and enjoy learning about the cultures of countries. On my free time, I enjoy sleeping, reading, spending time with my friends, watching movies, listening to music and exercising. I like all kinds of music and many different movies as well. My favorite actress is Audrey Hepburn.

Sven Hinrichsen

Year:  Sophomore, Economics Major and a German Minor

Background:  I have a very strong German heritage.  Both of my parents grew up in the very northern parts.  My parents moved to the States shortly after they got married and have lived there ever since. I attended a German international school in Washington D.C. from Kindergarten through 12th grade.  The academics follow the German curriculum, which means that all classes are taught exclusively in German. 
I have visited Europe countless times, including: Germany, France, England, Luxembourg, Italy, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden.  Almost all of my relatives live in Europe so it is very easy to come up with an excuse to travel. 

Interests:  I am on the Varsity Swim Team at Stanford and hope to represent Germany at the coming 2008 Olympics. I have been swimming competitively since the age of 9 and will continue through college.  Due to my swimming career I have also been able to travel to Australia and Europe. Once I graduate, I will, however, move on from swimming and will hopefully go into Investment Banking.

Charles Labanowski

Salutations!  My name is Charles Labanowski, I’m 19, I’m from Houston, Texas, and I speak one language (English).  I love my family and I love going home.  I enjoy reading, watching and playing basketball, eating, and listening to John Frusciante and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  My dream is to see them in concert and I dream about it every day. So far Stanford has been incredible; it has an amazing campus with so many places to hang out at and do whatever. One of my favorite things to do is browse the bookstore and page through some of the new books.  I have reading-ADD so I can never finish anything.  I don’t have much experience with other parts of the world and the only place I’ve been outside of the US was Costa Rica about 10 years ago so that barely counts.  I’ve lived in Houston my whole life, though, so being in a city that is over half Hispanic has given me some experience into another culture.  I love the South and someday want to live there again, maybe retire to a ranch someday in the distant future.  The biggest influence in my life is my faith, Catholicism, and on the whole, I am very grateful for the life God has given me.

Sophie Lambert

Year: Class of 2010, Age 19

Background:
I am currently a sophomore (second year) here at Stanford in the most beautiful state of California where I have lived all my life.  My mom is Greek-American, and on my dad's side, I am an eclectic mixture of English, German, Native American, and Luxembourgian heritage.  Although half of my family is Greek, I only speak a little and am taking classes at Stanford to improve my language.

General Information:
While I don't speak Greek (yet!), I'm passionate about different cultures and languages--especially Spanish and Spanish-speaking countries.  I've studied in Costa Rica and Mexico and outside of Latin America, my family loves to travel.  My younger sister and I have enjoyed traveling with our parents to Greeks, France, Mexico, and Ital and frequently beat our parents in intense games of Pictionary. 

Outside of traveling, I hope to major in Human Biology with a focus on pregnancy, childbirth, and child development with the goal of entering the medical profession.  I love all sports (except curling) and am a HUGE baseball fan.  Here at Stanford, I play soccer on the women's club team.  In my "spare time," I can be found in church, hanging out with friends, running, or lifeguarding at the local pools.  Well...that or eating!  I'm passionate about food and love all types--especially any type of Greek food, Mexican fare, Italian cuisine, or Thai and Indian curries.

Mattias Lanas

Year: I am a sophomore, class of 2010. I am 20 years old.

Background: My Dad is from Santiago, Chile, and my Mom is from the United States. I don't know where my father's background originally lies (he suspects it is Italian, or Arabic, because of my last name), but I do know that on my mother's side, I am Polish, and Irish. I was born in New York City and then when I was 6 months old my family moved to live in Chile. My only other sibling (sister) was born two years later, in Santiago, and we lived there till I was 13. Then we flew back to the US, to the state of New Jersey, and that is what I presently refer to as home.

Interests: My interests include sports (running, Frisbee, etc), learning new languages, arts and crafts, and nature. When I get out of college, I hope to pursue a career in research, or hopefully some sort of naturalist position. Right now at school I am studying the fine arts and Biology. I am involved in many extracurricular activities such as a cappella and fundraising groups. I work at a community garden on campus to provide local organic vegetables to some of the dining halls.

Travel! Since this seems to be a topic of interest, here's my deal: I have traveled to Europe before, once with my school, and once with my family, but only visited Italy, France, Spain, and England. When I was little I got to travel back and forth from the US to Chile, but surprisingly did not do much travel around Latin America. Last summer I took a seminar in which we traveled to Australia and lived with an Aborigine Tribe. It was one of the best experiences I have ever had, and it has changed my life ever since. Mostly I've just traveled in the US. I would like to travel more when I have time, and explore the world.

Dan Marmor

Hello, my name is Dan Marmor, and I’m an English Major specializing in Creative Writing.  I enjoy a wide array of activities, but the perfect day for me would be to wake up around twelve o’clock, have a nice breakfast with a few friends, go play mini-golf for the day, and then throw a pizza party afterwards.  After that, play a huge game of laser tag, and then spend the rest of the night bowling.  Oh, and hopefully I would be able to fit in a game of Scrabble. 
            All the while, however, my favorite music would be playing, and this consists of 311, Incubus, My Morning Jacket, The Low Life, and Minus the Bear, but that list changes every day depending on the weather conditions and forecasts, mood, what time I wake up, food offered to me throughout the day, and the number of cartoons I can squeeze into an afternoon.
            Some of my favorite things include Cap’n Crunch with Crunchberries, except for the fact that they cut the roof of your mouth even after just one bowl, skateboarding, playing guitar, chewing sunflower seeds on my balcony, and painting, bowling, and dry laundry.  I hope to meet some of you real soon

Christina Luu

Hello, my name is Christina Luu, and I’m a sophomore.  I grew up in San Jose, California and went to Evergreen Valley High School, which is in the East Side Union High School district.  For my last two years at high school, I went to something called the Biotech Academy that actually had nothing to do with biotechology and was mainly a way of getting some of the students off campus because our school was over-crowded.  It was nice however, because I only had two or so hours of high school classes a day.  I’m now an economics major at Stanford, and I’m particularly interested in game theory and microeconomic theory.
My family is Chinese, but we come from Vietnam.  I was the first member of my family to be born in America, which explains my very American name.  My two older cousins, who live with us, were the last members to be born in Vietnam and their names are Nguyen and Baochau.  After that, all the names got very American, so we have Christina, James, Ricky, and Jason.  Last year, I went to Vietnam to teach English for around six week s.  While I was there, I learned that Vietnamese food in San Jose is much better than Vietnamese food in Vietnam.
I spend most of my free time reading fanfiction and taking care of my pets (on the weekend).  I have one Pekingese, one Great Dane, one tortoise, one cockatiel, and four bettas.  I spent a lot of my elementary and middle school years begging my parents for pets.
Next year, I am hoping to study abroad, either in Moscow or at Oxford in England, so I am looking forward to meeting students from other countries and seeing how they view the world.   

Daisy Morin

My name is Daisy Morin and I’m 20 years old.  I’m a junior at Stanford, and I’m double majoring in Film Studies and Comparative Literature (Spanish and Russian).  I’m thinking of pursuing a career in independent filmmaking.

I grew up in New England.  My dad’s family is French Canadian and my mom’s family is Southern.  I have 4 younger siblings – 3 brothers and 1 sister.  My family has moved around a lot within the Boston area, and we popped up to Northen Maine for a few years when I was 12.  I’ve spent 2 weeks in England and 3 months in Spain.  In Spain, I lived with a family in Madrid and worked with an educational theater company.  Last year I spent awhile living in Santa Cruz, CA.  I’d love to travel more.
My interests include people, art, and the beach.  I spend a lot of time with friends and family.  I really like watching movies, both fiction and documentary, and I’ve had a lot of fun working on film shoots since I finished high school.  I’m also into drawing (I like drawing people), and I really like learning languages.  I speak English and Spanish pretty well and right now I’m learning Russian and a little bit of French.  I also like playing sports that I’m bad at and being outside.

Edward Schmerling

Year: Sophomore, Class of 2010

Bio: Hej, Hej!  My name is Edward and I’m not too sure what “Hej” means, but it seems to be the thing to say in Sweden.  I’m currently 19 years old (born January 1, 1989) and hail from Austin, Texas, where I’ve lived my entire life.  You may have heard things about Texas being an incredibly conservative state where cowboys and cattle roam free, but I assure you this is false (well, mostly – there are still cows everywhere).  I take great pride in my Austin heritage; some call it the “liberal oasis” of Texas.  I’m also proud of my half-Asian, half-white cultural background.  I still visit Taiwan every other summer to visit my grandmother and my Taiwanese side of the family.

As for my education, I am a self-professed ultra-nerd.  I’m planning on majoring in Math and Physics, two subjects that I’ve been in love with since almost before I can remember.  People always ask me what I’m going to do with my life after majoring in such impractical subjects and my answer has always been the same: go to graduate school!  My academic interests do vary, however (I’m taking this film class, after all), and my research topic, at least for now, looks to be in political science.  Specifically, I’m looking into how modern technology like mass media and the internet has contributed to a decline in the quality of American political discussion.

Dania Shor

Year: Sophomore (class of 2010), age 19

I was born and raised in beautiful San Diego, California but originally all of my family is from Mexico City. I therefore go to Mexico often, about 3 times a year, and consider it my second home. I am trilingual (English, Spanish, Hebrew) and love learning about new cultures and languages. The summer before coming to Stanford, my best friend and I backpacked through Europe which has been the most amazing experience of my life and which taught me to be self reliant and dependent and exposed me to so many alternative lifestyles.  I have one sister, who is my role model, and a dog, who I miss dearly.
At Stanford, I am a Management Science & Engineering major and Spanish Literature minor. I am interested in MS&E because I like the combination of math, modeling, econ, and optimization. I am really keen on the fact that the major is so interdisciplinary and I get to take cool classes like stochastic modeling, risk analysis, and classes on national security. I am hoping that one day I can also attend business school.
I am a huge fan of the San Diego Padres (American baseball team) as well as the Aguilas del America (Mexican soccer team).  I also love Mexican food, the beach, hiking, and camping. My whole life I have played soccer and tennis and also did lacrosse in high school. I am currently hoping to be a part of the club lacrosse team at Stanford, (which is still being organized/planned) and I play intramural volleyball.  One of my other hobbies is tutoring as I love little kids and helping them to succeed.

Aaron Wasserman

Year:  Sophomore, Class of 2010, age 19

Background:  I grew up in San Francisco, and have lived in the Bay Area my entire life.  Fortunately, I have had sevaral opportunities to experience other parts of the world, including time spent in Israel, France, England, Switzerland, Germany, and Australia.  I can honestly say that the most eye opening and enriching experiences of my life thus far have been as result of traveling to different countries, and I very much hope to continue traveling for the rest of my life.

Interests:  Aside from traveling, I have always been interested in the arts.  I began studying photography in middle school, and moved shortly after to film.  Personally I prefer shooting analog film for the experience of working in a darkroom, but have worked extensively with digital film as well.

Studies:  In my second two years of high school I was fortunate enough to be accepted into a small documentary film academy within my high school, that allowed groups of students to produce documentary films regarding contemporary social issues in our surrounding environment.  My focus was mainly in race issues in America, and the battle to eliminate disparities among racial and socio-economic classes today.  At Stanford I plan to major in International Relations, with a focus in Economics.  I hope this degree will provide me with future opportunities to continue studying racial inequality in America and throughout the world.

Tenaya West

Background: I am originally from Davis, California, but spent some of 
my childhood living in Alaska. My mom is a scientific illustrator for 
the University of California, Davis, and my dad works as a biological 
consultant. I have one brother, who graduated from UC Davis with a 
degree in exercise biology.

Academic Interests: I am majoring in Human Biology, and am interested  in pursuing a career in surgery. I am especially interested in sports  medicine and orthopaedics. I have also been doing some work with Lyme disease and am currently working on setting up a summer camp for teenagers with chronic Lyme.

Other Interests: I am on the gymnastics team here at Stanford, and 
spend a lot of my time practicing and traveling to compete with the 
team. I have been doing gymnastics since I was four years old, and 
love the sport. Some of my hobbies include filmmaking, and when I was 
at home, taking care of and training my pets. I have had numerous 
pets throughout the years, including dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, 
frogs and more. We are breeding our golden retriever this spring and 
I am looking forward to the puppies! In my free time I like to hang 
out with friends and family, work on making a movie, or enjoy the 
outdoors.

Cody Wiesen

My name is Cody Wiesen and I am a 20 year-old sophomore at Stanford University. I am from Goleta, California, which is just north of Santa Barbara and is the most wonderful place in the world.  I play Water Polo here at Stanford, which is a great way to stay active, meet friends, and appease my competitive nature.  I love being active and being in nature, which is why I love surfing, snowboarding, hiking, camping, playing beach volleyball and many other activities of the like.  Music is a huge part of my life as I play the guitar, sing, and write songs.  I would love to record an album in the near future so I can tell people about my heart and my thoughts through the gift of song that I’ve been given (I recently put a song up on myspace.com/codywiesen).   I love traveling and Latin America.  I am learning Spanish and hope to be fluent and eventually live there for some time in the future.  My parents have property in Costa Rica, which is not a bad place to spend time.

That is the stuff that I do, but what really defines me is what I do those things for.  I am a Christian and I love Jesus with all of my heart, well at least I try to.  I have more success in being loved by Him because He is always able to do that.  Nothing I do is fulfilling to me unless it is done for the Glory of God.  I am the youngest of four kids and I love my brother and sisters and their new spouses more than anything.   They are my best friends in the world and I would do anything for them.  I love people and want to continue making friends from all different backgrounds and tongues and nations.  I am excited for life and where God wants to take me on His wild ride of love.  I also love dancing.  Yeah, that’s me. 

Dirty, Pretty Things: Objects, Objectification, and Cultural Meanings

Instructor: Sangeeta Mediratta

Jay-Marie Hill

My name is Jay-Marie Hill and I am a sophomore at Stanford University. I am from the Bay Area and have lived here in California from all my life. My major will most likely soon be something related to people and biology, whether that’s Human Biology, Psychology, or Sociology. I play rugby for Stanford but did Varsity Track and Field in the Hammer Throw event during my first year. I enjoy activities that span multiple fields: African drumming, Track and Field, Stage Theater, Queer Identity, Christianity, African Americans, America, and the list goes on. Mostly I’m interested in the way people relate to one another because it really fascinates and confuses me all at the same time. However, since sports are also one of my main interests and the body also fascinates me, I decided to pursue a degree in that field. My interest in cross-cultural rhetoric stems from my aforementioned interest in the way people relate and interact because it only gets more amazing as more and more differences and experiences are brought into the mix.

Fasika Asrat

My name is Fasika Asrat and though I was born and raised in California, I am of Ethiopian descent. I am 19 years old and am currently a second year majoring in Management Science and Engineering and minoring in Computer Science at Stanford University. Three interests of mine that are rather intertwined are family, history and religion. I am extremely interested in learning more about my culture and about my family history, especially through listening to the anecdotes of my older family members. I am also Ethiopian Orthodox, which is a denomination of Christianity, something I take great pride in. Other interests of mine include learning more about different cultures, reading biographies and learning about the experiences of specified individuals, almost exactly like what CCR is devoted to. I would love to travel more due to this interest I have in cultures. Music is another passion of mine. I like most kinds of music but especially Ethiopian, Hip-Hop and R&B.

Keisha Frazier

My name is Keisha Frazier and I am 19 years old.  I am African- American and very proud of my race and culture. I am currently a  sophomore at Stanford University planning to major in Communication and minor in Modern Languages. I spent most of my memorable years in Seattle, Washington although I have also lived in Libertyville, Illinois and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and I now live in Las Vegas, Nevada. My favorite color is pink, I don't really like to wear pink  that much but I love owning pink possessions. I am very carefree and I hate drama. I would consider myself pretty non-confrontational unless something is really bothering me. I have been told that I do not care about anything and this is a virtue as well as a vice. It helps me not dwell on things too long but it also renders me a bit insensitive. On a lighter note, I love to laugh and have fun. My laugh is very distinct and can be heard from very far away I have been told. I have a big smile and I use it a lot, in fact I am rarely caught not smiling.

Adrienne Hopkins

My name is Adrienne Hopkins and I am a 20- year old sophomore Science, Technology, and Society major with a focus in Management, Science, and Engineering. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas where I was living with my father and my brother until my departure to Stanford, California. My father is of Jamaican heritage and my mother is African-American decent. I am an extremely passionate, energetic person who loves spending quality time with my close friends and family, which does not happen as often as I would like while I am here at Stanford. I love sports, basketball and football in particular, writing poetry, singing, dancing, listening to Rhythm and Blues music, reading my bible, deep thoughts, shopping, watching documentaries, going out to eat, surfing the internet, and talking on the telephone. My professional interests include finance (sales and trading) and marketing. My dream internship this summer would be working at a firm like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, L’Oreal, or Nike. I am intrigued by the amount of risk, constant client to customer face-to-face interaction, creative project ideas, and the exposure that these industries offer and I can not wait to be on Wall Street or just walking the streets of New York City in a nice black suit as a summer intern! I am very excited to be creating this profile right now for students in Sweden to read. To have the opportunity to interact with my peers across the county and be exposed to another future in a close academic setting is something I do not take for granted and an opportunity that I can not wait to explore.

Emmauel Igbinosa

My name is Emmanuel Igbinosa and I am from Houston, Texas where I was born as the middle child out of five.  I am currently a sophomore at Stanford University studying Management Science & Engineering.  I am an avid basketball player and I always end up spending most of my free time on a basketball court somewhere.  I have been playing basketball (along with other sports including football and track) since I was in middle school.  Through sports I have evolved into a competitive person who loves to win and hates to lose.  Aside from athletics I am a creative guy who likes to draw, take pictures, and make videos.  I enjoy traveling to different parts of the world and videotaping my trips.  During the winter break I went to visit my eldest sister in London, where I was able to take numerous photos that I have added to my collection.

Shannon Jiang

Hello, my name is Shannon Jiang and I’m currently attending Stanford University. I am culturally from Toisan City in the Guangdong Province of China, where I was born and raised as a child. My family preserves many of the cultural lifestyles we had in China, including choices of television shows, movies, food, and clothes. I have lived in San Francisco for the past 12 years, so I have also assimilated into American culture as well. I‘m currently in my sophomore year, and I’m interested in studying Sociology. I am primarily concerned with the relationship between citizens and the values of society, issues of race and ethnic relations in modern society, and the corruption present in modern capitalistic practices. I am interested in the cross-cultural rhetoric project because I am eager to explore how diverse cultural backgrounds can influence how people interpret and communicate ideas. I look forward to meeting and working with everyone!

Kassandra Mangosing

As a sophomore here at Stanford, every day I come to a greater understanding of the complex diversity that defines the student population at this incredible university. I am a Filipina-American who came to live in the USA for the first time in nine years when I started my freshman year in 2006. Since my father works for the US Air Force, I have spent my life all over the world, from America to Asia to Europe, and every place that I have called home has impacted my fascination with cross-cultural relations and dynamics in a unique way. Now I live at an institution where the population is small but the demographic breakdown covers all kinds of ethnic, economic, and social backgrounds. As a result, my personal identity within the context of the larger Stanford community has grown more complicated, and one of the many activities I participate in is dedicated to grappling with how Stanford students interact in such a multi-cultural society. Students Promoting Ethnic And Cultural Kinship (SPEACK), however, only takes up a portion of my extracurricular schedule; I am also a campus tour guide, a member of the women’s club basketball team, a singer in an R&B/Soul a cappella group, as well as a cadet in the Air Force ROTC detachment at San Jose State University. Ultimately though, when I’m not running around campus doing all of these things or studying hard for my Chinese major, I am still a young woman who is always looking for more reasons to enjoy life and have a good time.

Cristina Munoz

My name is Cristina and I am currently a sophomore at Stanford University. I am a first generation Cuban-Italian-American from South Florida. My Italian grandmother largely raised me, and Italian was my first language. I have a younger brother and many cousins. During my youth, my parents were still struggling to establish their business, which is why I stayed with my grandmother and other family members until my parents moved about 200 miles from my grandparents and the rest of my family. This was the first of a series of moves that I experienced in my pre-adolescent and young adult life. Since then, I have lived in 8 houses, and have also switched schools a total of 5 times before I graduated from highschool. As a Flori