Capstone Updates - May 2019



This past month has been particularly productive on my part in terms of working towards my Global Scholars capstone project, which, if all goes according to plan, will relate to aiding independent olive farmers in the region of Catalonia, Spain. Focusing my efforts on the small village of Isona, I plan to support these individuals by spending time both helping out with the manual aspects of their work as well as generally promoting their businesses (hopefully internationally, as I am aiming to import their olive oil into the U.S.). Last summer marked a significant step towards this goal, with me fulfilling my service hour requirement helping out on the farms of these struggling farmers.

In terms of plans for future progress, I have been looking to create a website in which I detail my future goals for this project, as well as report my past endeavors in the area. A preliminary draft of the finalized website can be found at www.myolivegrove.org. In mid-June, I will be attending a course at UC Davis to learn how to analyze and label olive oil, which should prepare me for the promotion aspect of the project. I will also be returning to the region in July to continue this work.

The website and this project as a whole should fit in well thematically with the goals of the Global Scholars program, and I look forward to a great year of developing this idea.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Joe Wong: Understanding Culture through Comedy

Image
Last week, Polytechnic School was visited by celebrated Chinese American comedian Joe Wong. It was a true pleasure being able, alongside fellow Poly student and Global Scholar Phillip (phillipzgip.blogspot.com), to introduce Mr. Wong to the wider Poly community. Born in China and going on to study at the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as at Rice University, Mr. Wong has found great success as a comedian, appearing on various well-known shows both in China and here in the U.S. While performing at Poly, Mr. Wong skillfully incorporated his unique comedic style into a deeper discussion of international relations, immigration, and race, all framed in terms of the vast cultural differences that he has experienced as a Chinese immigrant living in the States. For instance, he detailed various ways in which he felt he had to tweak certain jokes depending on the nationality and cultural identity of the audience to which he was presenting. Ultimately, while Mr. Wong's perfor
Read more

Freedom of Speech on a Global Scale

Image
"People have a need to know. Journalists have a right to tell. Finding the facts can be difficult. Reporting the story can be dangerous. Freedom includes the right to be outrageous. Responsibility includes the duty to be fair. News is history in the making. Journalists provide the first draft of history." One highlight of my recent trek up the East Coast was stopping in Washington, D.C., home of many of the nation's great museums. One such museum is the Newseum, which, as the name implies, hosts a large number of news-related exhibitions, which include a Pulitzer Prize photographs hall, a First Amendment gallery and a 9/11 memorial. One exhibition that I found to be of particular relevance to global affairs was the Time Warner World News Gallery, dedicated to shedding light on how free speech (or the lack thereof) dictates the struggles of journalists around the world. The gallery features an interactive map (similar to this one  by Reporters Without Borders) that d
Read more

Capstone Updates - Summer 2019

Image
Above: a brunch was held for the 16 olive farmers with whom I worked As mentioned in my last Global Scholars capstone project update, I spent a few weeks this summer hard at work in Catalonia, Spain to continue my goal of supporting the independent olive farmers of the region. While I spent time working in the field, the main focus of my visit was both to collect footage of the area and to conduct various interviews with either the farmers themselves or with others closely linked with the olive oil production process (such as the manager of an olive mill).  These interviews were recorded, and I intend to post them on the project website (www.myolivegrove.org) as soon as they have been translated from Catalan. The image above of the mayor of the town in which I was based provides an example of how these interviews were held. My finalized capstone project will likely involve educating the community on the struggles faced by these farmers (hopefully in a way that directly benefi
Read more