Tag / Think Big

David Klayton is a sophomore in Arts and Sciences, majoring in international studies and minoring in anthropology. It’s ironic that David is writing for WUPR because he is bored, to say the least, by American politics. He thinks understanding what is going on around the whole world is much more relevant than arguing over whether we should raise or lower taxes (for example). In the end, it doesn’t matter who pays what taxes. All that matters is that you are happy, and you can still be happy even if you’re paying taxes you don’t want to be paying. Anyway, he can be reached at dklayton16@gmail.com.

  • Should Turkey be a part of "Europe?"

    Over half a century ago, the issue of Turkey becoming a part of “Europe” first arose. I use quotation marks because the notion of Europe differs depending in what context it is being discussed. In this particular context, I am referring to “Europe” as a supranational form of identity for individuals living on the geographical…

  • Moderately Extreme: Ideological Flexibility in Latin American Politics

    At the turn of the new year, Chile and Brazil seem to be in the best economic shape of all the Latin American nations. That means the two countries are probably run in similar fashion, right? Wrong. Well, sort of wrong. Roughly one year ago, Sebastián Piñera, a conservative businessman who saved his country from…

  • When One Nation Becomes Two

    On January 9th, citizens living in southern Sudan will vote on a referendum to secede from the northern part of the country. A clock in the town of Juba, the political center of southern Sudan, counts down to this referendum, symbolical of the locals’ excitement to part from the hegemonic north. Nearby, the Darfur genocide…

  • The Headscarf in France: Assimilation and Multiculturalism

    Before I begin, allow me to briefly explain why I am writing about this topic. Coming into college and during my first semester, I did not have the same academic interests as I do now. It was not until spring of last year, my freshman year, that I realized what exactly I wanted to study…

  • What to Make of National Borders

    In the age of globalization, ideas, commerce, capital, and information can flow across national borders before you can say “damn, that was fast.” Why can’t people cross borders so easily? Here is how I see national borders: they are arbitrary lines drawn to establish who belongs and who does not. Let’s take a look at…

  • Gender and Identity in a Globalizing World

    Although gender disparities tend to manifest themselves in different manners, they exist from culture to culture across the entire globe. Consider Afghanistan, where society places a much higher value on having a son than having a daughter. Families unable to birth sons commonly choose one daughter to turn into a mock son of sorts—a practice…

  • Knowledge for Knowledge's Sake

    In Orientalism, Edward Said lays the groundwork for his theoretical views of how the West has come to dominate and control the global perception of the East. In his own words, “Orientalism can be discussed and analyzed as the corporate institution for dealing with the Orient—by making statements about it, authorizing views of it, describing…