# data[].attributes.body
This portfolio was designed to highlight some of the issues discussed in FOUN 1101 with respect to Caribbean culture and identity. It is also a representative of the application of the knowledge that I was able to grasp during the semester and includes selected issues in which a short analysis was given for each and an artifact associated to each issue being discussed. The issues chosen and developed are: Caribbean Culture and the Quest for Identity, Geography of the Caribbean, The Immigraton Situation between Haiti and The Dominican Republic, and lastly an overall self evaluation of learning for the semester.

# data[].attributes.body
OBJECTIVE #1:
Cr itical thinking on an issue of Importance to Caribbean Civilisation

CARIBBEAN CULTURE AND THE QUEST FOR IDENTITY
Culture is defined in the following, "It is the values, symbols, interpretations and perspectives that distinguish one people from another in modernized societies.(Banks, J.A., Banks, & McGee 1989). Culture is socially transmitted and constructed, shared by its members and both objective and subjective. Benedict Anderson titled his renowned book on ethnicity Imagined Communities. He stated: "It ( ethnic or communal identity) is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow members, meet them or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion." Culture can be used to depict the world and therefore give us our own perception of it. However, as much as culture can be a unifying element it also gives rise to the formation of differences. The end of West African enslavement starting in 1834 in the British Caribbean marked the start of a new social, political and economic order that propelled the region into a new phase of development. It also allowed the Caribbean to have an identity through some the following influential factors which includes education, religion, gender, history and geography. Identity bestows a sense of belonging and security to individuals.
Below is a video which showcases Chimamanda Adichie speaking about the dangers of a single story. In which it creates stereotypes through their judgment of an individual and their homeland thereby making our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar to each other. It all begins from our early childhood where we are most impressionable and vulnerable and assumes everything around us would always be in a certain manner. As we mature, we are able to distinguish the changes that occur but many of times the beliefs of individuals are maintained and it is quite challenging for their thoughts to transition and accept something which is unfamiliar. Chimamanda mentioned that, "The consequence of the single story is that it robs people of dignity." People's judgment from time to time would be based on an incomplete truth of an individual's culture and Caribbean identity and the recognition of their advancement would thus be compromised due to their race, religion, socioeconomic strata, and geographical location.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Please [contact us](https://www.ted.com/contact) and let us know what happened.

# data[].attributes.body
OBJECTIVE #2:
Application of learning in Caribbean Civilisation to students' understanding of their social or geographical environment

GEOGRAPHY OF THE CARIBBEAN
In Unit 1 of the FOUN 1101 course, Karl Watson mentioned that early man entered the Caribbean in a series of migratory waves which took place over a period of thousands of years. These immigrants exhibited demographic diversity and various cultural differences which allow us to differentiate among them, and so establish distinct ethnic groups. As a result, globalisation occurred which has been viewed as a positive manifestation of the modernized world and not entirely compromising the culture of the Caribbean.
The Caribbean is a large body of water, 1,500 miles long and at least 350 miles wide. The geographical identity of the Caribbean is defined by being encompassed by the Caribbean Sea also referred to as the Caribbean Basin. The Caribbean is made up of three main groups; the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles.The Bahamas includes over 3000 islands and reef on the north and east side of the Caribbean. The Greater Antilles are the four largest islands in the northwestern portion of the Caribbean Sea. It makes up almost 90% of the islands in the West Indies. The islands of the West Indies are bordered on the east and the northeast by the Atlantic Ocean and on the northwest by the Gulf of Mexico. The Lesser Antilles runs from off the coast of Puerto Rico with the U.S. Virgin Islands south to Grenada. Trinidad and Tobago is just off the Venezuelan coast, are also included, as is the east-west chain of islands (ABC islands) that stretches to Aruba. Therefore, Trinidad and Tobago is known to be a Caribbean island with respect to geography.

SITUATING THE CARIBBEAN

# data[].attributes.body
OBJECTIVE #3:
Application of learning in Caribbean Civilisation to students' understanding of a problem of regional importance as reflected in news and current affairs literature/programmes

THE IMMIGRATION SITUATION BETWEEN HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Dominican Republic is a considerable great tourist destination. Tourism along with their free trade region is the country's key source of revenue. However, it is described to be the "the gateway drug island" since it is mainly a transit country and temporary storage region for particular drugs such as cocaine. Other challenges faced by the Dominican Republic includes corruption and unemployment. The Dominican Republic is particularly populated by citizens of mixed European and African provenance. The generally mountainous country comprises of Lake Enriquillo which is the minimum point of origin, a range of deserts, the lush Cibao Valley and Pico Duarte which is the maximum point in the West Indies.
George Soros's Open Society Foundation noted that, due to systemic inequalities and discrimination, many Haitian-Dominicans lack the documentation to prove their native-born status. Those individuals have to register as foreigners, obtain a visa and reside in the country for two years before becoming citizens. All those individuals who went through the program were promised reestablished naturalized status. This incident caused thousands of people to leave their county and relocate to Haiti and other regions. Many of those individuals were born in the Dominican Republic or lived for most of their lives there.

# data[].attributes.body
OBJECTIVE #4:
Self-evaluation of learning for the semester
FOUN 1101 profoundly explained Caribbean history and how it has molded the Caribbean as it is today. This course became quite understandable in which I was introduced to a new outlook on familiar topics which built on my previous knowledge of Caribbean Studies from CAPE. It educated students on the importance of having a Caribbean identity which is essential for all citizens in order to have a better understanding of the different geographical locations within the Caribbean region. The knowledge that I acquired during the semester relating to particular concepts of the Caribbean was enlightening and informative.
Each week, we gained access to Blackboard Collaborate in which we were given the opportunity of listening to our online lectures as well as tutorial sessions at home.
The downfall of this convenience was that it was troublesome and confusing the first couple times of logging into Blackboard Collaborate in efforts to figure out the means of operating it and beginning at 6pm with no delay.Additionally, not all students had the availability of having face to face tutorials in which they could of freely asked questions and get an immediate response during or after class and there was some technical difficulties with the audio during the semester which made it difficult to comprehend what the lecturers were saying at certain occasions. The highlights of this course were the discussions made during the lectures in which students participated in conversations in the relevant chat box and were able to voice their concerns and opinions and I witnessed brilliantly made slides which made learning even more enjoyable. Moreover, the topics covered were incredibly intriguing, which gave me a better understanding and appreciation for Caribbean Civilisation since defining a Caribbean is still a challenge and even though individuals may live in different geographical locations, after interactions with them, it would be clear that much more similarities exist between us than differences.

# data[].attributes.body
Banks,J.A.,Banks, & McGee 1989
Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson
https://theglobalamericans.org/2017/07/dominican-republic-security-challenges-government-responses-recommendations-u-s/
http://observer.com/2017/05/adriano-espaillat-dominican-republic-haitians-immigration-deportation-undocumented-donald-trump/
FOUN 1101 UNIT Notes
FOUN 1101 Lecture Slides