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Education Interest and Focus I am currently interested in the effects of international development policies on the peoples of developing and lesser-developed countries. Under current development policies, developing countries are not able to break away from colonial style relations to the developed nations. Wealth continues to flow from the previous colonial states to the developed countries leaving huge populations of poverty stricken people. This results in communities that lack basic services such as safe, reliable potable water and effective wastewater collection and disposal. Such services are taken for granted in developed countries but are critical for meaningful development. Without safe potable water and effective wastewater collection and disposal a community is in danger of devastating outbreaks of disease. As globalization expands, Africa is being further marginalized due in part to internal problems and due to perceptions among global investors. African nations are struggling to establish identities and viable economies while sorting out post-colonial problems. Urbanization and introduction of western technologies have aggravated these problems. Africa has shed the nickname "The Dark Continent" but it is in danger of becoming "The Lost Continent." I am interested in studying African socioeconomic development problems to further the discourse on international human development and future international development policies. International development policies currently focus on economic development that benefit the west at the expense of people living in developing nations. Policies that focus on human development need to be introduced. By developing opportunities for people in developing nations, their economies will grow and create markets for the west. This approach currently is not favored because it would raise labor costs which is not advantageous to the west, however, I believe that if we continue with current policies the system will eventually collapse anyway. We routinely see evidence of this happening around the world in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, Indonesia, Korea, China and Russia. My concern is growing poverty in a world that is producing vast sums of wealth at the same time. I am concerned that opportunities for people are not keeping pace with population growth nor with economic growth not only in developing nations but in our own country as well. My focus on the issue is at a regional level, that is, how international development policies affect the rural peoples that in turn dramatically affect the urban experience. I am interested in exploring ways to create opportunities rather than limit them. In Africa I am interested in the lingering effects of colonialism on indigenous peoples. Colonialism divided peoples of similar ethnic connections and imposed a western style division of the continent into arbitrary nations. The result has been bitter ethnic rivalries that may not have existed prior to the colonial experience. Can African nations look at indigenous histories and groups for strengths to enter the global community? I am also interested in the current Native American experience. The focus of research on Native Americans has focused on historical explanations of how their current conditon developed. I am interested in their modern experience and progress overcoming the effects of the European expansion into North America, displacement, failed federal programs and failed assimilation policies. |
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