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Sean Caselli

Sean Caselli graduated from Georgetown in 2010 with a major in Government, minor in History, and a certificate in African Studies. He participated in the Berkley Center's Junior Year Abroad Network from Cape Town, South Africa in the fall of 2009.

Sean Caselli on the Three Identities of Cape Town

November 20, 2009

The spring semester at the University of Cape Town is over and, with classes and exams done, I figured it was time to do a little more exploring. A couple weeks ago, with the weather finally cooperating, I went to the Cape Town suburb of Somerset West for hiking, kloofing, and abseiling. The experience itself was unreal. I’ve spent plenty of time outdoors but the sheer untamed beauty of the waterfalls, rivers, caves, and rock faces I saw was awe-inspiring. The most striking of all of it was that these trails were only 45 minutes or so outside of Cape Town.

Sean Caselli on the Strong Influence of Religion in Cape Town

October 15, 2009 | 1 COMMENT

I often see statistics or listen to commentators and talk show personalities claiming that the United States is a nation of exceptionally religious character. Perhaps my general skepticism of these claims is indicative of the community, or even region, in which I was raised, but this had never been my experience. My nuclear family’s general aversion to the Church setting – exceptions are made for weddings and funerals – occasionally caused a stir among the more devout relatives but I had never been questioned or approached about matters of faith. While a line in the popular television show Boston Legal comes to mind, where actor James Spader says “Let’s face it, God is big here," I rarely see its manifestation outside of the discussion of some political issues. Despite its popularity, faith in America seems an undercurrent at best in many parts of the country, conspicuously hidden from view.

COMMENT BY PROF. BRUCE DOUGLASS - January 11, 2010

Sean is absolutely right: religion is much "bigger" in some places than others, and among some categories of people more than others. The obvious question is why this is the case, and I find myself responding to the set of experiences he recounts by wanting almost instinctively to enter into a discussion of that topic. But on reflection, the thing I find even more interesting-and noteworthy-about his comments is the attitude toward "difference" it reflects. For even though the religiosity he finds all around him in South Africa is alien to him, he does not seem to be put off by it. Nor is he inclined to stand in judgment on it. I agree with him that it is good to have a broader experience of life than is possible if one sticks to the environment to which one is accustomed, but it takes more than just exposure to the wider world to expand one's horizons. It takes a willingness to learn from the "other" of just the sort Sean seems to have.