Introduction to Marketing 

     I was surprised to learn that my introductory class in Marketing counted as a global learning course. But as the class progressed I saw it's relevancy. In the course I learned not only how to market to an audience but how to be mindful that not all audiences are the same. There are many approaches in selling and advertising because the interpretation of a message is depends on the audience's culture. This course taught me to be mindful of the audience beyond age, gender, and interest, but also to keep in mind the culture behind my target audience. 

 

Environmental Ethics

     This philosophy course was unlike any I had taken throughout my time at FIU. It focused on ethical dilemmas in regards to the nature and the environment. This course gave me an understanding of the different values people place on to the environment and why they might come to those conclusions. This course made me examine th way I valued and treated the environment and all sentient beings; I changed my diet to vegetarian and started making changes towards a lifestyle that minimizes the amount of harm I project on to others, both human and non0human beings. Additionally this course helped me realized that before I can improve the well being of the planet, I must first improve my well being by incorporating a plant based diet and also improve the way my lifestyle affects the earth by reducing waste and pollution. 

 

World Religions 

     In this course I learned about the six main religions practiced throughout the world: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. I learned the beliefs of each religion, which include how they believe the world was created, their connection to the world and deities, what happens after death, and their moral code. It was amazing to discover that all these religions, at their center are all the same, they all preach universal love for the self, the spiritual, and our universal community. The messages from each religion may sound different, but they all aim to create a harmonious and loving environment for all beings. Additionally, this course required me to conduct a site visit to interview and research the culture held within a religion. I chose to research Buddhism and had the pleasure of visiting a temple on the Thai New Year and depend my understandings of their rituals and beliefs.

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Survey of Buddhism 

     After conducting my site visit at the Wat Buddharangsi Buddhist Temple of Miami I became further intrigued by the belief within Buddhism. Buddhism is often thought to be a nihilistic religion as they do not believe in a creator god, encourages complete detachment, and has the ultimate goal of nirvana which is ultimate enlightenment inducing cessation of existence. However, Buddhism is actually a positive religion as it aims to end suffering by detaching one's self from false realities and he disappointments tied to it. In this course, I wrote a small research paper discussing how the Buddhist philosophy implies a vegan diet. As I wrote this paper, I found that many of their beliefs that implied a vegan diet, such as love and compassion for all being and wanting to minimize all harm, are things that I preached about within all religions.