*Written in Buenos Aires, March 16th, and posted today, March 17 (Happy St. Patrick's Day!) from here in Resistencia.*
I have officially concluded/survived/conquered Argentina's in-country orientation!  After arriving on Sunday in Buenos Aires, the approximately 30 Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETA's) and research scholars went on a city bus tour together.  Stops included San Telmo, Plaza de Mayo (the main plaza of Argentina's most important government buildings), and La Recoleta (a very exclusive residential area and location of the most renowned cemetery in the city).  Although nearly 4 years since I was last here, I was pleasantly surprised at how much of the city I immediately remembered as we toured on Sunday.  Monday was a full day of administrative, work related, and cultural adjustment sessions at the Fulbright Commission's offices here in BA and Tuesday much of the same at the Argentine Ministry of Education.  Today's final orientation activities consisted of some highly practical teaching strategies to solicit beneficial student involvement and an amiable classroom environment.

I'd like to rewind, though, to a rather interesting session that we had on Monday with Anna-Kazumi Stahl (last bio on the webpage).  Ms. Stahl has lived in Buenos Aires for the last 15 years, teaches Creative Writing at NYU on their BA campus and headed a discussion session with our group entitled "Living Abroad: Mind the (Culture) Gap!"  Among numerous other words of wisdom imparted to the new "Fulbrighters," she discussed connections among university culture, dialogue and discussion, and displays of respect in the classroom (in Argentina).  The key example shared with us was from one of her first observations in a university classroom.  She chose to attend a lecture by a revered professor and looked forward to hearing/seeing how he would conduct a class.  His lecture commenced for this class of approximately 150 students, and she was shocked when, in the middle of the the lesson, a student seated about two-thirds of the way back in the lecture hall stood to yell, "I don't think I agree with your interpretation of that part of the text because..." (or something of the like).  Anna-Kazumi could not believe this student's actions!  Such an act in the United States (in a similar context of a large university, well-respected professor, etc.) would most likely be interpreted both as a sign of disrespect and challenge of the professor's power.  Only later did she come to understand that the student's actions are quite normal in the university's present culture.  Namely, because these Argentine students have grown up in a society that strongly values the preservation of freedoms of expression and learning [within their education system and its curriculum] only recently reclaimed since the dictatorship's end in the 80's.  All this to say that discussion, dialogue and even debate with professors is not a challenge to their classroom authority and due respect but, instead, often a manner of gleaning additional information en route to being a better student and learner.

Obviously, in hearing this story, my mind raced to Denison where my professors included discussion as an essential and irreplaceable force of learning in their courses.  Certainly, these same professors included discussion in their classes not out of an institutional obligation but a personal belief in its value to transform students into autonomous thinkers and discerning moral agents (as the university's mission statement would advocate).  Unlike Anna's story, however, my classes at Denison were never more than 35 individuals, usually no more than 15 students.  I pondered if we could replicate this same model of learning and expression of opinions in the United States without the cultural turmoil of Argentina’s historical/political past? If we could come to appreciate the mountain of information we constantly have at our fingertips without it being ripped away from our realm of “Google search?”  If we can escape the fear of appearing silly or ignorant and simply ask the questions that plague our consciousness when we truly want to learn?  (Clearly I miss being a student and pondering some of the more theoretical facets of our lives). Enough of the theoretical for this evening, I suppose.  Abrazos y besos to you all!