In general, I have not felt that the contemplative practices we have done throughout class have been overtly helpful in enhancing my relationship with the course material. I think the main reason I feel this way is due to the fact that I have been exposed to much of the material throughout my time here at UW; so I have already had time to foster connections between the various dimensions of topics we’ve covered and think about what these topics mean to me. Also, I feel that the results of these contemplative practices are ephemeral in nature, as we make the connections and reflect upon the topic while engaging in contemplation; however, to me at least, it doesn’t extend past that, rather the connections I made or thought about get pushed to the back of my mind until the next time the topic comes up.
That being said, there are two aspects of the contemplative practices I have appreciated. The first is that they enforce the “realness” of the issue we are discussing. The second is that they reinforce/remind me of how interconnected the factors that may cause an issue are. For example, when we were watching the documentary on cacao harvesting on the Ivory Coast and ate dark chocolate and cacao, it reminded me that the cacao/dark chocolate we were eating was harvested through the labors of underpaid and potentially under-aged laborers. Basically, to me, this activity gave context to the economic output, cacao, and reminded me that this issue of underpaid/under-aged labor was/is caused through the intersection of globalization, global trade, the WTO, local politics, and various other factors.