Final Course Reflections

In the middle of the semester when Professor Aguas told us to meditate, and think about why we took this class, I could only think of what he taught us about Cultural Hegemony. I thought about myself, and how I was a 2^nd generation immigrant. Although my parents moved to the United States with the intentions of starting a family in the best possible environment, it came at a tradeoff. That tradeoff is the loss of cultural heritage, as well as of who we are. I came to that realization in the beginning of my college career that I had lost much of my own culture.  Whereas my friends were quite fluent in Chinese, my grasp on it consisted of only a few simple phrases.

Part of College therefore became my pursuit of understanding my heritage. I took Chinese Language classes and joined the Chinese Student Organization to learn about my own culture. Attending Classical Asian Theatres proved to be another supplement towards learning about my not only Chinese or Burmese but Asian heritage. I guess the GER4B part was taught pretty effectively, as I realized my grasp on history was too much from a western perspective. Taking the class made me realize that (as silly as it sounds) yes, stuff did happen in Asia during the middle ages. Although Europe was in turmoil, the monks of Christianity were not the only ones that preserved knowledge. There was still the Sriwijaya empire, the Dynasties of China, etc. Even though there was too much material to cover during the semester, it got me thinking, and wanting to know more about the history of Asia.

Taking language classes and Classical Asian Theatres is only the first step to finding about my own heritage. There is still the Burmese half of me that I haven’t explored yet. However, time has caught up to me, and I am graduating.  Learning about my own cultural heritage would have to be a personal endeavor from now on. Nevertheless, taking this class was one of the most worthwhile experiences at William and Mary, it not only taught me about the history of Asian Theatre, but also about myself.