Globalization in Children's Literature

There are dozens of ways that I could write about the relationship between education and globalization. Today, I'm going to focus on the globalization of a unique segment of education: the college student. The value of study abroad has been whirling around my mind lately as I happily plan and prepare to spend a semester abroad in Denmark. 


For United States students, spending a semester or summer in another country is a huge, and extremely hyped, opportunity. American colleges woo prospective students by touting their highly ranked or affordable study abroad programs. Juniors and seniors see a lot of advertisements like this one:

Once we pick our college or university, we see a lot of advertisements like these on our campuses:

If you had the chance to read last week's great blogpost on Nowa Huta, you probably noticed that Nell, one of the members of this research project on globalization, studied abroad last semester. She is one of approximately 260,000 American students who study abroad every year, according to the Institute of International Education. 


Outside of the United States, studying abroad takes on a different flavor; while U.S. students are the most likely to spend a semester studying in a different country and graduate from an American school, students in non-North American countries are most likely to spend four years studying abroad and receive a degree from a completely different state than they grew up in. 


We've come to the conclusion that hundreds of thousands of college students every year choose to globalize their education, and that universities take pride in offering this opportunity. But why?


Traveling to a foreign nation to receive high quality education is an idea  that goes back centuries into human history. Studying abroad for the sake of the cultural experience, however, is something relatively new. The Institute of International Education was created in 1919, and the University of Delaware established the first semester-long study abroad program in 1920. You may notice that these dates line up with the end of the first world war. This is no coincidence. There is a noble hope that by sending their young, bright students to interact with citizens of other places and understand other cultures, these individuals will build up the global community and promote peace. In the words of the IIE, "Peace and prosperity around the world depend on increasing the capacity of people to think and work on a global and intercultural basis." Spending a semester living and learning in a foreign land, by no doubt, facilitates this.


The value of study abroad has been whirling around my mind lately as I happily plan and prepare to spend a semester abroad in Denmark. 

Nutella is Now American

Hi guys, it’s Rachael! So, I just got back from an Ultimate Frisbee tournament at Notre Dame University, where the lovely people who organized the tournament provided our team with food: bananas, bagels, peanut butter, and… Nutella!!! If you don’t know what Nutella is, it is an absolutely delicious chocolatey hazelnut spread that has recently become increasingly popular in the United States. Every girl on the team got ridiculously excited about the presence of Nutella, and it made me think about the first time I ever heard of it. When I was in France for a few weeks about three years ago, I saw this tasty delight everywhere, because it is a staple, household thing over in Europe. The French family I was staying with had Nutella toast every morning for breakfast, and there were little packets of Nutella with the jelly packets at continental breakfasts at hotels: basically, it was everywhere. In the three years since I have come back to the U.S., Nutella has started to make an impression over here too, and may one day be the staple that it is in Europe.

According to http://www.nutellausa.com/history.htm, Nutella originated in Italy during WWII as a cheap alternative to chocolate, which was rationed during the war. The spread of this tasty treat from its origins in Italy, then to the rest of Europe, and now to the U.S. made me think about globalization in terms of the foods we eat. In matters other than food, some people have equated globalization with Americanization because of the huge influence American culture has around the world. This is by no means true, because there is a lot more to globalization than that. The food situation in America is in direct contradiction to this idea. Think about it: when you are deciding where to go out to dinner, the first thing you ask is, are you in the mood for Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Indian, Thai, etc. The variety of food in the U.S. largely comes from different countries and their styles of food. What is American food, anyways, other than hamburgers and hotdogs? We would not enjoy the richness of variety in food that we enjoy in America if we didn’t eat a lot of food from cultures other than out own, and I would argue that American food is really just a combination of all these other types of food. This is the global nature of the world at its finest. Then again, I might be biased because I love Nutella and French bread so much.

On a completely unrelated note…

Speaking of chocolate, here is a nice recipe I found the other day: 5 minute microwavable cake. Great for college students like me because of its simplicity, this cake actually tastes pretty good! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow5n1NvS0f8&feature=related

Enjoy!

A Quick Foodie Thought

My grandmother and I have a lot in common. We're about the same height, and enjoy swapping stories about the people we love. Furthermore, we both love the kitchen, and tend to catch things on fire while cooking. What we're making when the stove top starts flaming, and where its recipe originated, however, are where we become rather different.

My grandmother's stash of recipes is primarily handwritten. Those recipes originate from women in her family line and very dear friends. The recipes are great, and largely American. Cookies, pot pie, casseroles, quickie pancakes, and similar classic American dishes abound. Similarly, there are a few Italian and British recipes, like lasagna and scones, passed down from the countries her parents and in-laws immigrated from. Overall, the recipes are delicious, but focus on American, Italian, and British food heritage.

I, on the other hand, am a very different case. When I was in middle school, my mother's recipe shelf was the grandest recipe library imaginable. A few years later, I discovered the internet. The world of food opened up to me. I'm no longer dependent on the wisdom of my ancestors or neighbors for whether to flip an omelet or not, or how to keep my pie crust from sticking. I don't have to trudge to the library to dig up a cookbook, which may or may not be there, from a different country if I've developed an interest in foreign food.  I can look up an easy sugar cookie recipe on an online recipe website that may have been posted by someone stateside, or in a different country. I can go to a cuban food blog to find an authentic recipe for tamales, something I guarantee has never been made in my grandmother's kitchen. When a friend of mine came home from spending two years in Argentina, she spent a lot of time on From Argentina, With Love, to make the food she missed eating. The popular epicurious.com has a segment dedicated to international food. Allrecipes.com's recipe of the day is Babka, a Polish bread.

Overall, time and technology make food preparation a more global experience. Whether it's making a classic you already love from an online recipe posted by someone in a foreign country, or easily satiating a curiosity about foreign foods via the internet, or even having those foreign dishes brightly advertised on your favorite recipe website, the Internet allows cooks all over the world to come together and share their craft.