Sociology 4310: REFLECTIVE ESSAY

We all have blind folds over our eyes until you take a class such as Terrorism and Globalization in Sociology. It helps you understand the core as to why terrorism exists and amazing to see which countries who cry for help to “fight the war against terrorism” are actually the countries which used to fund for terrorism. It makes us explore the real world and hidden meanings behind how our society works. You tend to look at the world from a whole new perspective and start applying the theories which you learn in class.
The lectures in class were very interesting and of course once again it was such a pleasure to be taught by Dr. Charles Quist-Adade. He takes such pride in his teachings and helps all of his students understand the core concept of terrorism. Before this class, I had no idea about the basis of terrorism. All I knew was that innocent people were dying and almost every day you hear about a new terrorist attack or suicide bomber. What was the concept of these attacks? Every Monday, was very interesting and Dr. Charles Quist-Adade always showed us videos to help us realize how real the attacks are. He makes you think critically and see how globally we are all a part of the war on terrorism. We also were able to teach the class on chapters which we studied, which was great because I am terrified of public speaking but because of his seminar classes, I feel more confident in speaking in front of the class and teaching the class a concept. This class also allowed all the students to interact with each other, which is the greatest part, because this way we are all comfortable with each other and therefore we tend to become more engaged with debates and not shy away.

Aside from the terrorism and globalization class, a tremendous part that opened up my eyes was the fundraiser which we had gone to for Dr. Charles Quist-Adade’s daughter. What a wonderful experience that was! She demonstrated what an amazing individual she is and only at 10 years old, she wants’ to help people, especially her friend who has cancer. This made me realize that in this world we live in, be kind and help everyone out to the best of your ability. She inspired me to help everyone. Such a great individual she is, and I only wish her the best!!!!!!

Overall, this was a great course and I have learned not only about the core of terrorism and globalization. We must live life and work hard against terrorism.

Great class Dr. Charles Quist-Adade!!!!! See you again in future sociology classes

Sociology 4310: Video #3- Loretta Napoleoni: The intricate economics of terrorism (Paraphrased Method)

Loretta talks about the Red Brigades and talks about the interview which Loretta had with one of the women from the Red Brigades which happened to be her childhood friend. She wanted to know why her best friend turned into a terrorist and funny enough she wanted to know why her best friend didn’t recruit her. To Loretta’s surprise, her psychological behaviour is the reason as to why they didn’t recruit her. She also discovered that the RB’s lives were ruled by economics, meaning that they never had any money and therefore the RB’s seeked money at all times. Another thing which Loretta discovered is that the terrorist groups do not know anything else except economic issues. When she interviewed Mario Maretti that is when Loretta realized that terrorism is actually a business. This is what led Loretta to look at the economic side of terrorism. There are three systems to terrorism:

1) State sponsor of terrorism
2) Privatization of terrorism
3) Globalization of terrorism

This brought in Rogue economics. Politics loses control over the economic system and it starts to work against them. The USA has a lot to do with money laundering and funding terrorism. Loretta goes on to talk about the Patriot Act in which it’s a legislation which protects the people of America, but there is a small part of this legislation which is that the USA is not allowed to do any business with offshore industries. This was when Bush was President. The Patriot Act was introduced because of money laundering and the US dollar. Overall, this video shows how the USA has relations to terrorism.

Sociology 4310: Video #2- Malala Yousafzai: first interview since getting shot by Taliban (Affective Method)

Just watching this short clip in class was so up lifting. Malala has gone through so much and yet she seems to show love and no hatred. Her goal is help women to become educated and therefore she has organized the Malala Fund. She states that God has given her a second life and she is ready to serve her people. She was shot just because she wanted an education, which I find very disturbing. Women must become educated in order to become successful in their lives. I feel as we take education for granted in the Western countries. We should be thankful for what we have and also for where we live. Malala is such a great girl and she has got such wisdom and strength.

Sociology 4310: Video #1-Jason McCue: Terrorism is a failed brand (Paraphrase Method)

The starting of the video, Jason claims that terrorists have adapted to the modern world, and we must too. What he means by this is that terrorism is not what it seems to be. People must realize that terrorism is like a brand. People must compete and show that they are a “better product”. By this Jason means that the western world must go into the homelands of where the terrorists harbor and get their recruitment. Educating people in such areas will help reduce terrorism. Interaction is key to stopping or more so minimizing terrorism and reaching out to the victims and showing them that people out in the “real” world are not bad. Terrorism must be approached in a more peaceful way using the judicial system in a cleaver way. By just attacking the country, it creates hatred in people’s hearts and that’s the reason as to why Middle Eastern countries tend to attack the western world.

Sociology 4310: In Class Assignment (Affective Method)

A very powerful presentation we attended was called “Islamophobia and Terrorism” by Dr. Deepa Kumar. This presentation was conducted not by a Muslim lady although we all thought for a while that she was a Muslim lady. Her presentation was very inspiring and very informative about the way the world views Muslims. When it came to the questioning period, she listened and I saw her recording people’s questions and then in the end she answered all of them. She made sure she did not offend anyone (from my thoughts) and she was very straight to the point when answering the questions, whether it was from a man or a woman. In my thoughts, she is a very strong minded individual who has studied Islam and Terrorism overall. She was right on one thing though, and that is that racism is still very much alive till this very present day. No matter where minorities go in the world, they still face discrimination and racism. Another interesting fact is that any attacks which happen, the first thing which people think is that the terrorist must be a “Muslim”. The world “terrorist” has stigmatized the Muslim population overall. This all needs to stop! A very inspirational speaker.

Sociology 4310: In Class Assignment (Paraphrased Method)

It is amazing to see how a girl only at the age of ten, cares for the well being of others. Dr. Charles Quist-Adade’s ten year old daughter hosted an event at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University, to raise money for her friend who was diagnosed with cancer. It was hosted beautifully by Dr. Quist-Adade’s family and her friends. There were performances, food and of course give-aways. You rarely see a ten year old hosting an event for a worthy cause and trying to help a classmate. Her determination to help her friend is very inspirational and it clearly shows that she is a very humble individual who wants to help everyone. She is an inspiration to everyone who came out to the event but most importantly she is such an admirable person.

Sociology 4310: In Class Assignment (Affective Method)

This semester we were all assigned groups and asked to teach the class on a chapter we were all assigned. This was a great way for us as students to build not only our confidence, but also be able to understand a concept and teach it to the rest of the class. We were also given a terrorist group in which we studied and presented in class. This part of the presentations were very interesting as we all learned something new and learned the formation of the different terrorist groups from the past and present. It is amazing to see how all the terrorist groups build from the foundations of Al Queda and how all terrorists in turn are “freedom fighters”. Freedom fighters or not, too many innocent people are dying due to terrorist attacks and it needs to stop. These seminar classes really helped all of us learn about the terrorist organizations but most importantly, it helped all the students engage in conversations and becomes a close knit group.