WHY DID WE HAVE TO COME HOME? This winter term has been by far the best experience that I have had at Elon thus far. Coming back home to reality definitely hit me. Going from traveling city to city with new friends, great food, and an eye-opening learning experience to back home, showed me that we were i a "dream world". Can you ask for anything more perfect? I can't thank the professors, peers, and Elon enough for the experience that they have provided me with, something that I will never forget and treasure.
As I reflect back upon my group's research topic and questions, it is evident that going to the sites and witnessing and learning about the Velvet Revolution in person was extremely beneficial. My group's first question focused upon Wenceslas Square, its transformation today and how the locals have commemorated this sacred place. When we ended our tour of Prague, we ended in Wenceslas Square which as first confused me as to where we were, because based on the pictures that we researched of Wenceslas Square at the time, it looked nothing like it. The square had been transformed to a tourist attraction, filled with vibrant restaurants and chain stores. Knowing that only a few years ago, the square was home to peaceful protests demonstrated by thousands of locals fighting for democracy was tough to imagine as the vibrant lights and modernity of the square transformed that feeling. However there was a large picture of Vaclav Havel hanging from the central train station in the middle of Wenceslas Square to commemorate the fight for democracy and peace. It definitely felt out of place though amongst the McDonalds and clothing stores triumphing over it. As my group stepped out of the museum, after watching the emotional video of the Velvet Revolution, we decided to commemorate the event as we held up a peace sign in the middle of the square, just as the protestors did.
Our second question focused upon the changes evident by the people of Prague regarding the switch from communism to democracy. Because the change happened so recently, I think the biggest thing I learned from our tour and time in Prague, was how "scared" the people are of having anything close to communism happening again and how much they value what they fought for. This was evident in my conversation with our tour guide. As I spoke with her about the government today in the Czech Republic, she seemed disappointed in speaking about it, which I was shocked by. I wanted to know more, which she shared that, the president is not highly respected. Because the people are so hesitant of communism or any type of dictatorship occurring again they voted based on someone who acted like a local. She commented on the president's actions of constantly being spotted in bars, drinking with locals to make sure he calms any fear of there being an unequal balance of power between the government and its people. This struck me and made me realize how recent the Velvet Revolution was and how it still strongly impacts the people and their fear of something like this occurring again.
Our third question focused upon Vaclav Havel and his playwright background that was significant in the new wave of media brought by the democratic changes. This question remains more unanswered than the other two, but was still evident throughout the communism museum. Throughout the museum it was mentioned how his playwright background and leadership initiated a change of voices being heard. Whether it was through protests, speaking in local pubs, or just speaking out, democracy brought about a chance for freedom and with that a freedom of speech through new forms of media that was once banned and controlled by the communist government.
Not being a communications major, there is a lot of new information and insight about the communications world that has interested me post #gut2web. I think the reason that Sky News and the BBC struck me as the most interesting sites that we visited was due to the fact that news reporting and the constant wave of information highly effects my generation, as I learned that we play a large part in getting information to the public through social media. The impact that social media, especially twitter, has had on news rooms and media in general was evident during the tours we took of different media sources and news rooms. I find it so fascinating how fast we can receive news today, especially after studying the transformation over time as to how we got to this point over the course of this trip. This is definitely something that I would like to explore more as I play a role in it everyday through my use of social media.
- Tori Ford
As I reflect back upon my group's research topic and questions, it is evident that going to the sites and witnessing and learning about the Velvet Revolution in person was extremely beneficial. My group's first question focused upon Wenceslas Square, its transformation today and how the locals have commemorated this sacred place. When we ended our tour of Prague, we ended in Wenceslas Square which as first confused me as to where we were, because based on the pictures that we researched of Wenceslas Square at the time, it looked nothing like it. The square had been transformed to a tourist attraction, filled with vibrant restaurants and chain stores. Knowing that only a few years ago, the square was home to peaceful protests demonstrated by thousands of locals fighting for democracy was tough to imagine as the vibrant lights and modernity of the square transformed that feeling. However there was a large picture of Vaclav Havel hanging from the central train station in the middle of Wenceslas Square to commemorate the fight for democracy and peace. It definitely felt out of place though amongst the McDonalds and clothing stores triumphing over it. As my group stepped out of the museum, after watching the emotional video of the Velvet Revolution, we decided to commemorate the event as we held up a peace sign in the middle of the square, just as the protestors did.
Our second question focused upon the changes evident by the people of Prague regarding the switch from communism to democracy. Because the change happened so recently, I think the biggest thing I learned from our tour and time in Prague, was how "scared" the people are of having anything close to communism happening again and how much they value what they fought for. This was evident in my conversation with our tour guide. As I spoke with her about the government today in the Czech Republic, she seemed disappointed in speaking about it, which I was shocked by. I wanted to know more, which she shared that, the president is not highly respected. Because the people are so hesitant of communism or any type of dictatorship occurring again they voted based on someone who acted like a local. She commented on the president's actions of constantly being spotted in bars, drinking with locals to make sure he calms any fear of there being an unequal balance of power between the government and its people. This struck me and made me realize how recent the Velvet Revolution was and how it still strongly impacts the people and their fear of something like this occurring again.
Our third question focused upon Vaclav Havel and his playwright background that was significant in the new wave of media brought by the democratic changes. This question remains more unanswered than the other two, but was still evident throughout the communism museum. Throughout the museum it was mentioned how his playwright background and leadership initiated a change of voices being heard. Whether it was through protests, speaking in local pubs, or just speaking out, democracy brought about a chance for freedom and with that a freedom of speech through new forms of media that was once banned and controlled by the communist government.
Not being a communications major, there is a lot of new information and insight about the communications world that has interested me post #gut2web. I think the reason that Sky News and the BBC struck me as the most interesting sites that we visited was due to the fact that news reporting and the constant wave of information highly effects my generation, as I learned that we play a large part in getting information to the public through social media. The impact that social media, especially twitter, has had on news rooms and media in general was evident during the tours we took of different media sources and news rooms. I find it so fascinating how fast we can receive news today, especially after studying the transformation over time as to how we got to this point over the course of this trip. This is definitely something that I would like to explore more as I play a role in it everyday through my use of social media.
- Tori Ford