Class Reflections

Below are direct quotes from studio participants on their experience with the course, the fieldwork in Cusco and more.

Quotes from Amy McPheeters:

Being in Cusco and being forced to use the language really inspired me to continue learning Spanish now that we’re back. Additionally, because my theme group was working with artists, it was often the non-verbal communication that conveyed the most emotion or feeling. While the language barrier did exist, it did not tremendously hinder our work in Cusco.

I really enjoyed visiting Sacsayhuaman. To be up there, on top of the city, and able to look down on the area was incredible. It made all of the preparation we did before the trip worth it and helped clarify and solidify many of the things we had been talking about. It was also a very peaceful place where I was able to do some of my own personal and academic reflections.

The intense group work was frustrating at times, but most frustrations were purely logistical. It was interesting to see who emerged as leaders in which group and really allowed us to play on all of our various strengths.

Quotes from Caitlin Hanson:

I can't really say that there was any one part of the studio that was my favorite. I really enjoyed working in the small groups and getting to know everyone so personally. I also really appreciated how open everyone was to the whole process and the willingness to share even our most personal thoughts and feelings on the trip was a great experience. And of course, getting to travel and see the city in such a unique way was amazing. Even though it made me uncomfortable at times, it liked being pushed out of my comfort zone when interacting with Cusquenos.

The conference was really interesting to see the people we had been interviewing and meeting with interact and react to the speakers. Having so many people there interacting with one another really filled out the experience and brought sense to events and thoughts which has been disconnected before.

Quote from Jamekaa Flowers:

Overall, the studio class has been rewarding, insightful, eye-opening, and sometimes challenging. All of these emotions have definitely impacted my life in ways that I will never forget and has also prepared me for future endeavors. I think that my favorite part was the pre-analysis stage and the actual fieldwork of the studio process. Before going to Cuzco, we read numerous material that gave us a glance into the history of the city and the people, along with various conceptions about tourism, what tourism means for different people, and how certain landmarks, buildings, etc., become publicized as the "must see-must do" aspect within a particular city. Additionally, when we were placed into groups to identify the current issues/activities within the churches and plazas of the city, in addition to the structure of the local government, etc., I felt as though that really allowed us to go a bit deeper into the core influences of the city, but moreover the historic center.

Once we were in Cuzco, that experience for me was truly lasting because I was finally able to see, feel, hear, and engage with the city, the people, and the atmosphere that I had been learning so much about. During this time, I was able to really get to know the impact of the crafts and souvenirs market on the economic state of Cuzco and the culture within the city. More importantly, I was truly blessed with the opportunity to get to know my group members, Miranda, Amy, and Sharon a lot more and I couldn't have asked to be placed in a better group of people. The only challenging part for me, which was actually rewarding was the communication aspect, as I am not a fluent Spanish speaker. However, I was able to force myself to speak the language which I had not done so in a few years, but after being around my group members and other Spanish speakers within the class, I was able to pick up on survival phrases that would allow me to speak with some residents of Cuzco. Another rewarding aspect of the trip was getting to know other people outside of my theme group, such as my roommates Anna and Liz. It was truly great being able to discuss some of the events of the day and analyze some of the meetings that we had with government officials, leaders of the community, business owners, etc. It was also great to talk with Anna and Liz about everyday things and experiences that we've each had traveling internationally; we found that we have a lot of characteristics and experiences in common and that's always great.

Lastly, I feel very grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to take this course and travel to Cuzco, Peru because it has allowed me to experience and see first-hand the developmental issues, struggles, tensions, and global influences that are impacting this city, which mirror the same issues that cities are facing in the U.S. I think about how there is the global issue of the "haves and the have-nots" which reflect issues of power and control, marginalization and displacement, the unequal distribution of money, and oppression.

Overall, this has been one of the most rewarding and educational experiences I've ever had and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity and the knowledge that was given to me.

Quote from Bernardo Neiuwland:

I didn't love working in groups, but it was necessary, I don't see how could we have researched so much and gathered so much info without having multiple responsibilities. But I got very attached to my Music and Culture group which I miss so much. The experience of translating for the class was too overwhelming: especially the simultaneous translation. But translating the interviews for my small group was very smooth and enjoyable.

Quotes from Liz Hannum:

My absolute favorite part of the fieldwork was my first interview. After all the work that our group did to prepare ourselves for the fieldwork, our first interview was the complete opposite of what we expected! Our expectations were that we would have to prompt everyone to speak about the development of Cusco and all we had to do was say who we are and what we were doing there and the man was so candid and informative that we talked with him for almost two hours. His point of view was not what we had anticipated or something we had even talked about and so it was the first time that I really had to think critically about what our next step was going to be. It was amazing to be able to conduct my own primary research. The process of working with multiple groups simultaneously was daunting, confusing, and frustrating. But it was also incredibly rewarding. Not only did I make friendships that were supportive, but also I learned skills that will be incredibly helpful in my future career. The studio in general forced me to analyze not only global issues affecting Cusco, but also my world view.

Quote from Bekki Jankoviak:

There was one morning when I woke up early, and decided to walk down to the Plaza des Armas. It was still a bit gray that morning, before the sun had come through the clouds, and the streets were filled with local Cusqueños going to school, going to work, starting their daily business. It was a really beautiful moment, to see the Plaza at a time when it’s filled only with locals, before the tourists have come in for the day. I thought it was something beautiful and precious, something worth preserving.

Quote from Miranda Gerzon:

For me, the most pivotal part of the trip came at the very end. While the rest of the class went to Machu Picchu, I visited a very special place. In 2005 I lived in Peru for almost four months. I stayed with a family on a farm outside of Ollantaytambo. At the time, my primary goal for the trip was to improve my Spanish. I ended up teaching English, cooking food in a soup kitchen, working in the fields, and even became a god mother. In short, I had many wonderful and challenging experiences. Returning to this place three years later was a powerful experience for me. What I was not expecting was the way in which returning to Ollantaytambo would change my perspective on the work we had done earlier in the week.

As I walked down the familiar streets I had walked so many times before, I immediately noticed several differences. There were dozens of new restaurants, hotels, even an internet café. Souvenir shops covered an entire block that used to be purely residential. Most disturbing to me was the parking lot where beautiful corn fields used to be. I continued to be shocked as my ‘family’ told me more of the changes that had gone on. They spoke of potential plans to privatize water, activities of women’s associations, and corruption and social hierarchies within NGOs and other organizations. There were criticisms of their local government and news of recent strikes and protests. I realized that so many of the issues voiced by Cusqueños or San Bleños paralleled those of my friends in Ollantaytambo. The trends and challenges we encountered in Cusco were no longer an isolated situation. Witnessing and hearing their stories first hand gave me a deeper and broader understanding and appreciation for our fieldwork in Cusco and of “development” on the global scale. The same people and land that I feel so connected to is being affected by these global trends as well. I no longer interacted with these issues as abstract cases but rather as issues affecting people I know and care about. For me, after this experience I was able to go beyond the “academic” and “professional” aspect of our work in Cusco. I was reminded that ultimately our work was about humans caring for one another and showing a genuine interest and concern for the challenges in their lives.

Quote from Mary Lawhon:

When I first told Miriam I was interesting in taking her studio course, she basically told me I shouldn't.

In our first meeting, I told her I was a PhD student interested in international development with experience working in southern Africa.

We don't do a lot of theory in the course, she told me. PhD students find that frustrating.

Not quite being ready to leave the conversation at that, I pushed Miriam a little more. I told her about my experiences leading field courses in South Africa, and that I was interested in finding ways to work towards applying classroom learning to field projects and more importantly to real development challenges. I think she, and I, were both a little skeptical about how useful the class would be at the end of the conversation, but agreed to keep thinking about it.

I can't speak for Miriam, but six months and a few dozen journal articles and book chapters later, I am sure I made the right decision.

It is true that we haven't spent hours talking about theory in the course. But we don't need to. The greatest challenge for any student at any level, but particularly the higher up we go, is to make connections between what we read in the literature and what we see on the ground. At some point, we don't need to talk about the readings explicitly. We need to use them to understand and analyze a situation on the ground.

Our class is diverse and different students bring different skills to the table- some speak Spanish, some are great at organizing, others keep us gentle and considerate with each other. The ability to theorize and conceptualize is one of the main skills we learn as PhD students. Being able to share this skill with my classmates, to practice communicate with them about what we have seen, hear their ideas, and include different perspectives into a framework has been an incredibly positive experience for me. I have learned so much through this course, not just about connecting theory and practice but connecting with people.

I understood Miriam's initial concerns about my enrollment in this course. But what this tells me most is not that there is a need for more theory in field based courses like this. It is that there is a need for greater openness amongst PhD students, for us to see value in learning to connect our theories to the real world and communicate with future practitioners.