Frank Tremain

For the first week of BCM111, we were asked to reintroduce ourselves with the question in mind of: How Global Are You? Though initially I considered myself as Australian as the next bloke, the more I thought about it and researched what it means to be global, the more I was wrong. Sure, I love an Indian curry and enjoy watching the occasional Studio Ghibli film but the idea of being global is much bigger than that, and can seem daunting at first.

In Ron Israel’s ‘What does it mean to be a global citizen?’, he believes a global citizen refers to someone who is a part of an “emerging world community and whose actions contribute to building this community’s values and practices.” Furthermore, he states that this growing global identity is made possible through modern information, communication and transportation technologies. With this in mind, I think we can all attest to being somewhat of a global citizen. Through transportation technologies, I’ve had the opportunities to travel to Fiji, England, Germany, France, Portugal and my mother’s home country, Holland. These travels have opened my eyes in appreciation as I’ve been exposed to a variety of amazing cultures, some of which like the Dutch have played an important role in my upbringing. While I don’t believe travelling is an essential part of being a global citizen, I think it enriches your empathy and understanding of the world around you.

With modern information and communication technologies, a large portion of my identity has been formed through my tastes in entertainment. In music, for example, my favourite genre being Hip-Hop originally started in New York during the 1960’s, and historically has been used for African-Americans to voice their struggles of oppression. So how could someone so far removed from these events be so shaped by the product that it’s created? In a video from Duke Students, students claimed that being global means being educated on global affairs and listening to others. Through forms of entertainment such as Hip-Hop, I’m actively listening and being educated on global affairs. The globalisation of such a genre has allowed other artists to actively listen and use this medium to voice their own stories, creating a back and forth conversation of global issues for an international community to hear.

Frank Tremain.

References:

Duke Global 2017, Being Global Means…, Duke Global, viewed on 8 August 2019, <https://global.duke.edu/being-global-means&gt;.

Ron Israel 2013, What does it mean to be a global citizen?, openDemocracy, viewed on 8 August 2019, <https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/what-does-it-mean-to-be-global-citizen/&gt;.

Shaw, M. 2000, Global Society and International Relations: Sociological Concepts and Political Perspectives, e-book, accessed 8 August 2019, <http://users.sussex.ac.uk/~hafa3/global7.htm&gt;.