Project: Project Evaluations

This is all from memory, I'm sorry for not taking notes. I'll try to be kind.

Ghada/Chris/Lindsay- I loved the video. Even if it was a little over dramatic, I love Sigur Ros so it worked for me. The fact that the CJP did not come into our event was very regrettable and I reject the notion that it was because "we," the Jews, never invited them in. I think it's incumbent on both sides to be curious and seek out the truth. If you come to an Israel event and stand outside of it without checking out what we're doing, then you're not being open to other perspectives, other narratives or anything. OK so I guess since they weren't coming in, we should have invited them. So that's a really great piece of advice, I wish I had done that. That's besides the point because the movie was freakin great, I liked seeing my buddies who helped me organize the Israel fest up there on the screen. Ghada, I love you, I'm sorry your stuff got jacked at our program.

Adam presented his paper topic really well; he made it sound very interesting and now I can't wait to read it. Josh and I were going for a similar idea, finally settling around the "term" Resolution 242. It sounds impressive that Adam was able to mash in three HUGE example of this phenomenon of people assigning different meanings to the same word or different interpretations of the same thing. Occupation/birthright, freedom fighter/terrorist, and outpost/settlement? Were those the three? Was the fence/wall in there?

Speaking of the wall fence! Marissa's presentation was pretty thought provoking and powerful, I had not heard McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" in quite sometime, I liked it. It was a pretty cutting and unabashedly critical take on the whole thing (OK I don't even know what that means, I'm trying to be nice here). I'll be honest, I was pretty pissed off by the whole thing, but that's because Marissa and I disagree about a lot of things. And because I'm a jerk and I overreact and sometimes can't discuss things with an even head. I did not appreciate her characterization of the barrier as "an easy way out." It's in fact a very painful reminder to all Israelis and Palestinians of the stark realities in which they live. Palestinians have petitioned the High Court, the wall has been moved in some places to reunite farmers with their land. I know it's screwed up, but there was too much violence, too much terror in the first part of this decade. I wish Marissa could have included some quotes from terrorist leaders themselves, declaring that bombings and violence prompted Israel to build this thing in the first place.

Christina's paper also sounds really cool I hope she included a lot of primary sources like direct testimonial from suicide bombers. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that I won't agree with all of her conclusions. For me, delving into the mind of such a person is straight up terrifying because I find their actions to be so repugnant. But anyway, Christina, you had a great presentation it sounds like you did a lot of research. Great job.

Aly's presentation took me back to Comp Studies 367, American Religious Traditions where we examined common threads throughout many faiths. The fact that these commonalities exist, the fact that sacred space exists in most if not all religious traditions is a sign that there is in fact a G-d. Kind of like how Jerusalem is so violently contested, it cannot be a mistake that such a place is so important to so many people. It can't be just some sick coincidence, I definitely the Big One set it all up like that. Aly, your presentation was great and I liked how you broadened your scope outside the big three monotheisms.

Heather's presentation gave me the same feeling, the same bubbly optimistic hopeful feeling. She talked us through the three big faiths' outlooks on the afterlife, the day of reckoning and such. Very interesting stuff, I like talking about this but at the same time it's almost futile because I really don't think humans have any idea what goes on after death. Unless your that guy from nightline who died for 20 minutes then came back to life. Either way, great topic, great job.

Josie and Jaime's movie was really sweet. Technically speaking, it was the best video production out there, followed closely by Ghada/Chris/Lindsay's masterpiece epic. The topic of food was really nice, you could definitely take this further. I wish you guys got to videotape the campus Jews baking challah or some other exploration of bread, like how everyone in the Mediterranean eats pita yet Israelis/Arabs are sometimes real arrogant about who really invented the falafel. I thought it was pretty well balanced, giving equal time to the three religions. I liked the idea of creating specialness in your meals by using fresh ingredients, preparing instead of buying, and uniting the family around the table. Great job, made me hungry.

I'm jealous that I did not make Rammy and Ann's movie. It's such a great idea and I'm glad somebody decided to interview the average Buckeye. The only problem is that for such a small project they could only ask a couple of people. It would be sweet to develop a decently-sized questionnaire and get hundreds of people to fill it out. Great movie, I knew some of those kids too so that was awesome.

Hiba's topic is the one I remember the least, but after reading Rammy's post, I remember how freakin interesting her paper sounds. Comparing the different lives of the prophets, right? That's so awesome because everyone likes to make comparisons and you can literally find similarities AND differences between anything, it all depends on how you frame it. So I can't wait to read this, Hiba. YOU ROCK

Theresa interviewed me, I'm glad I could have helped. I don't like watching myself on camera, but I suffered through it so I could hear the wonderful perspectives of my classmates. I liked the way it all came together, the handwritten questions were an excellent touch. It takes a lot of courage to do an evaluation like that, you made a great movie.

Same can be said about Bre. I'm really impressed with the initiative she (and everyone else of course) showed in planning the Jerusalem trip. So it was only natural that she made that movie, it was probably a really great process. I wish you guys could have gotten to go as a class and I wish I could have contributed more to the planning. I'm so sorry it didn't come together, you all have got to get to over there sometime, it's a beautiful place.

Jasmine's presentation was sweet, I can't tell if she wrote a paper or not. It's very hard to present the "narrative" of the peace process of the past couple of decades. It's hard to pick a starting point like, ok back in 1948, or back in 1967, or back in 2000 BCE such and such took place. There were like two backgrounds that made me dizzy but the content was really sweet! I agreed with basically everyone you said, Jas, you laid it out clearly and succinctly.

T-Lee and Lucia presented on topics that were so unique and niche-y I really enjoyed them. The movie Jellyfish has a narrative about a worker from the Phillipines so I was thirsty for more info on this developing aspect of Israeli society. I can't wait to go through it again and read all the text. Lucia's paper on Ethiopian Jewry sounds awesome I'm really excited to read about it. I gotta give these ladies credit for thinking outside the box, awesome job.

Abdul Rahman's presentation on technology was kinda cool, I would like to have seen him take it further. It's definitely not surprising that the computer science major took a dive into the technological aspect of this class, which I thought took a back seat to all the other issues. Which is fine, I'd rather discuss politics/history/religion than the effect blogs have on education. But I'm glad somebody took up this line of research for their projects. Way to go Abdul Rahman, and thanks for volunteering!

DEEP BREATH. Wow I think I got everyone, sorry if I rambled. As far as my own presentation, I can't apologize enough for gobbling up double our time. We didn't practice, we should have, my bad. Originally I had envisioned a Robot Chicken-esque reenactment of the Security Council meeting. It would have been a little less distractiong, but equally as ridiculous. I know we were all over the place a little, Josh and I had a lot to say. I hope I can continue any and all discussions that we started in this class together, I don't know how to close this out. We should all stay in touch because you are all brilliant people with good hearts and great senses of style. Have wonderful graduations/summers/next years/lives, we should all get together in the Old City sometime soon.