Hello class, my name is Tova Raab. I am a first semester senior majoring in Sociocultural Anthropology and minoring in Hebrew language. I was born in Dallas, Texas but unfortunately grew up in South Jersey. I come from a large family including three older brothers and a younger sister. My father works in apartment management and my mother is a preschool teacher at the local Jewish day school. I have two living grandparents on my father's side, originally from Poland. During WWII, my grandfather fled to Russia with the communists while my grandmother was shipped away to Sobibor death camp. They are my survivors. Therefore, I probably identify most with my Polish heritage although I am also German, Dutch, Swedish, and Irish.
My interests include art, music, reading, museums and traveling. I have been to Poland, Holland, England, Israel, Mexico, and the Bahamas. Freshman year, I studied abroad at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Currently, I am living on the west side of Binghamton with two roommates and a cat named Emperor Marmoset.
I decided to enroll in this course for a number of reasons. First, being a sociocultural anthropology major, I believe media narratives have become a popular method of globally disseminating perspectives on modern culture. Additionally, last semester I took a course on the economics of the underworld and globalization. For my final research paper, I studied the illicit flows of kidney trafficking to Israel. I quickly became fascinated with the different agents in transport tourism especially the middlemen, brokers. After reviewing personal reports, I discovered the brokers communicated primarily through the internet so as to limit contact with unsatisfied customers or undercover cops. Without the use of email or online advertisements, kidney trafficking could not have become such a profitable business. The internet is a powerful tool that is often underestimated by our generation. Hopefully, this course will add further insight into the topic.
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