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Event: Global Engagement Night

Date and Time: Tuesdays at 6PM

Location: Enarson Classroom

This month I attended three global engagement night meetings to meet new people and learn about different cultures and ideas through discussion. In the three meetings I attended, we talked about global street art, social media, and India. I felt the most interesting topic we discussed was global street art because I learned about the different political and social messages street art can carry. We talked about Banksy and his role in making controversial and thought-provoking art to get a message across. I think this type of art is inspiring because it gets people’s attention and forces them to think about issues greater than themselves. Although street art can carry a deeper message, other forms of street art are done for aesthetic and recreational purposes. I learned there are a lot of fun street murals around Columbus so I am looking forward to finding these and exploring the artistic ideas that are expressed in the city. I appreciate how street art is a public and free way of viewing art. Art museums can be expensive and not everyone has the luxury of being able to go, so street art provides an easier method of viewing art. 

At the next meeting, we talked about the rise of social media and its prevalence in society today. The discussion was based on how we use social media on a daily basis and the different types of social media that are popular around the world. We were shown a video that was basically a timeline of which social media platforms were most popular every year since the 90’s. Facebook is currently the most popular and has held this position for a long time, but one thing that I thought was interesting was the rise of the Chinese blog app Weibo. It is currently ranked near Facebook and has been popular since MySpace was around. This surprised me because I, along with most people at the meeting, had never even heard of it. I never really thought about how different countries use different forms of social media that are not as popular in the United States, but considering each country has different cultures and lifestyles, this makes sense. After talking about how we used social media, we ended the meeting by watching Vine and TikTok compilations.

At the most recent meeting I attended, we learned about India and Indian culture. We learned about the history behind the name of India, its geography, its population dynamics, and we learned a little bit about the culture. We kicked off the meeting with an activity that was based off of an Indian artform of Henna. We traced our hands and drew things that were important to us in the open space. Next, we watched videos explaining India’s geography and population in comparison to the rest of the world. The following presentation continued to talk about Indian culture such as popular foods and dances. At the end of the meeting we watched a tutorial on a popular Indian dance and attempted to recreate it. I had never thought to learn more about India, but I am glad I was given the opportunity to hear more about Indian culture.

Global Engagement meetings are a way for me to learn about topics that have adaptations all over the world. Street art and social media are topics that I already know a little bit about because I have experienced them here in the U.S and in my daily life. I knew they existed outside of the U.S. but I never took the time to learn about how these concepts differ around the world. I think these meetings relate to international affairs in this way as these general topics are being applied on an international scale. I appreciate these meetings because I am able to learn a little more about a topic I never thought to learn more about. Not only are the discussions we have educational, but it is a great way to meet people. Everyone there is really welcoming and I feel comfortable sharing with them because they share as well. Overall, I enjoy attending global engagement meetings and I plan on attending more.

Event: STEP Expo

Location: Ohio Union

Time: 4:30-5:30 session

At the STEP expo I tried to find posters that related to my interests and were similar to what I want to do with my STEP money.

The first poster I saw was about a semester abroad a girl took in Guyana to study Spanish. Her major was international studies and she had already spent time learning Spanish so she wanted to use her STEP money in a way to further her language learning while experiencing a new space. An interesting part of her trip was that it was through an outside OSU-approved program and she stayed with a host family. She felt this was the most rewarding part of the semester because she could experience how people in Guyana lived on a day to day basis. She also was able to meet new people, both OSU students and non-OSU students, on this trip. From the perspective of an IA scholar I would say this trip relates to international affairs because she put herself in a country she was genuinely interested in to learn the language, culture, and customs. If given the opportunity I would definitely consider going on this trip. I am no longer studying Spanish at OSU but I do miss it at times. I think it would be an amazing experience the day to day life in a Spanish speaking country since I’m only used to what I see in Spanish television.

Another poster I saw was one about a trip that a girl took to the rain forests in Thailand to rehabilitate elephants that were once used for tourism, analyze their behavior in the wild, and teach English. When I first saw her poster I thought it was a voluntourism trip and was slightly put off, but once she went into detail about the type of research she did with it seemed like something I could support. I’m sure the work she did with the elephants was beneficial and it seems like a great opportunity to see firsthand how the commodification of wildlife impacts the animals, but I am always skeptical of English teaching excursions. There’s nothing wrong with teaching English abroad, especially since knowing the language is a valuable communication skill, but I feel it’s important to acknowledge the relevance of neocolonialism. In this sense it relates to international studies because it touches on the globalization of the English language. English has become a language that is taught in most countries since knowing the language enhances the social and economic capacity of an individual. Having the privilege of knowing English allows us to teach others how to make their voices heard globally. I think the rehabilitation/research goal of this trip is interesting and would consider going on it, but I would want to do more investigation in the setting in which English is taught and who I would be teaching. 

The third poster I looked at was one that I actively sought out. This presentation was about the Ohio State led study abroad program in Australia called Human Impacts on the Natural Environment. The girl presenting spent 3.5 weeks in various places in Australia and learn about the diversity of ecosystems in the continent. From going to the Great Barrier Reef and studying marine life to exploring the rainforests, she was able to learn all about the wildlife in Australia as well as the ways in which human behavior have negatively impacted their habitats. I plan on using my STEP money towards this study abroad program if I am accepted since it is related to my personal and professional interests. This relates to international affairs because it tackles issues of human encroachment on wildlife habitats and lack of policy protecting certain ecosystems. These problems are not unique to Australia and it’s important to see how these issues impact ecosystems across the world.

Another poster I looked at was one about an internship at the Ohio EPA. The girl presenting to me was a chemistry major and was interested in working in a lab setting. At her time at the EPA she focused on preparing fish samples to be analyzed and supporting the head researcher in whatever they needed done. She said it was a valuable experience and it solidified her interests in lab-work, but she may not continue with a lab at the EPA. I thought this was applicable to me because I had considered applying to intern at the EPA in a water/air quality lab or to explore the policy side of environmental issues. I think hearing her experience made me feel less enthusiastic towards lab work because she said her lab work was very similar to what was done here at OSU. While it seems like that means OSU prepares students well for lab work in real life settings, it also means the work is at a similar high intensity. I would still consider applying to be an intern at the EPA but I would have to explore all of the positions that are available to see which best suits me. Working at the EPA relates to international studies as it is a governmental agency that creates policy not only on local levels, but also nationally through the federal EPA. These policies influence how the United States acts on the international environmental stage and therefore impacts the condition of the world.

The last poster that I looked at was about a sea turtle conservation trip to Costa Rica. On this trip, the presenter patrolled the beachfront for hours at a time to look for sea turtles coming on to shore and laying their eggs. Unfortunately she did not see any as she did not go during turtle season, but she said she also explored the jungles and learned how to identify birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles based on morphology and behavior. In addition to this she learned how to collect various types of data. I think the most interesting part of her trip was that she was the only Ohio State student and the rest of the people with her were from all over the world. She talked about how this aspect of the trip allowed her to meet people from a bunch of different countries and hear their different lifestyles and experiences. This relates to international affairs because conservation of endangered species is a global concern that is necessary to maintain stable ecosystems. Like the issues mentioned in the Australia study abroad, endangered species are not unique to one specific area and the loss of species disrupts the connectivity between ecosystems across the world.

Event: Syrian Trajectories from Damascus to Euroland

Date and Time: April 12th 4:00-5:30 PM

Location: Pomerene Hall

For my non-IA event this semester I attended the talk “Syrian Trajectories from Damascus to Euroland: Trans Mediterranean Assemblages” by Dr. Leila Hudson. In this talk, Dr. Hudson discussed her project in which she assisted a family that was trying to relocate from Damascus to Germany. Her talk was broken up into three discussion points of ethnography, family, and information assemblages.

When talking about ethnography, she talked about how the people she was helping were five middle aged, working class sisters and their families. Ultimately she ended up helping the youngest sister cross the Aegean with her children. Dr. Hudson pointed out how helping the women allowed her to see the perspective of women and  how their experiences as refugees are different compared to men. Women experience completely different obstacles and have to make different decisions especially in regards to family.

Dr. Hudson also talked about how she learned the importance of family in making the decision to relocate and how the journey can cause the family unit to deteriorate. She referred to the family as a tree that when uprooted shows the “fluid network of relationships”, but this tree-like structure falls apart to the point where these connections break down as the refugees get farther from home.

While traveling, it is necessary for refugees to have a cell phone that allows them to stay in contact with people they need along the way. Dr. Hudson showed a picture of one of the sons on the phone with the person that was smuggling the family to ensure the meeting time and place was correct. Information assemblages are very important for refugees to be in a state of awareness so nothing goes terribly wrong. She even mentioned how Facebook groups were important sources of information that allowed people to share things like locations of police checkpoints. It was interesting to hear about the importance of technology because I had never even thought about how refugees utilized this tool.

In the Q&A session, someone asked how Dr. Hudson dealt with the privileged position that she had when interacting with the refugees. She responded by saying she needed to control her impulse of wanting to “save” them by just buying a boat for them to get to Germany on her own. The family had to educate her by rejecting her offer and explaining that if she did that every other refugee family would want to get on the boat as well and soon she would be forced into the smuggling business just by sheer demand. So, instead of offering to help with big things, she participated in small acts of reciprocity. They provided her with food and information so she gave back with small actions like offering to mail heavy documents to them so they wouldn’t have to carry them the whole trip.

This lecture was interesting to listen to because it not only shared the story and obstacles of the refugee family, but it also provided Dr. Hudson’s perspective of a privileged outsider and the things she learned. As an International Affairs Scholar I think hearing both perspectives is important because as a privileged outsider myself, I do not have a true understanding of what these women and their families went through. There is a huge refugee crisis going on right now and when I hear about it on the news it feels as if the human aspect of it is diminished. When I heard about it through this lecture and learned about the obstacles of a specific family of refugees it made the issue seem less distant. I enjoyed this lecture because I’m used to hearing only the political side of the refugee crisis and Dr. Hudson’s story allowed me to hear about some of the barriers refugees actually face on a smaller scale.

Event: Non-IA, “Reassessing Ike: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Korean War”

Date: December 3, 2018 at 12:30 PM-2:00 PM

Location: Mershon Center

       For this month’s non-IA event, I went to a lecture about Eisenhower’s actions leading up to and during the Korean War and how this affected not only his eventual presidency, but the entirety of the Cold War era. The lecturer, Zachary Matusheski, is the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency Post-Doctoral Historian in Residence in the Department of History here at Ohio State. His work has contributed to the recovery of many missing American soldiers that disappeared during the Korean War, specifically The Battle of Pork Chop Hill. The lecture consisted of six main facts that allowed him to come a couple of conclusions: that Eisenhower’s life fits into a grander scheme of U.S. intervention in East Asia, throughout the war there was growing tension in military affairs (specifically between Eisenhower and MacArthur) impacted Eisenhower’s future, and that Eisenhower’s willingness to discuss nuclear weapons as an active option underscore how dangerous the last moments of the Korean War were. Eisenhower’s main beliefs that nuclear weapons should have been used during the Korean War and that Asia was vital to U.S. national security explained the basis of the growing arms race in the ‘50s and the subsequent Cuban Missile Crisis. The point of his presentation was to emphasize how important the Korean War was as a Cold War crisis which could have turned out very differently had nuclear weapons gotten involved.

       Before attending this lecture, I knew very little about the Korean War and only could remember bits and pieces from what I had learned from my U.S. history classes from high school. I feel like in school it is not something that my teachers placed much importance on so it was only glossed over when it was taught to me. Listening to this lecture made me reconsider the actual implications that the Korean War had on major future events like the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, and just the Cold War in general. I thought it was interesting to hear about how this war played such an important part in greater world events. This relates to international affairs because the war itself and the events that emerged from the war are still relevant in international relations today. At the time it constrained the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, which laid the foundation for the Cold War and the present day suspicions each country has for each other. Also, the Korean War was settled with an armistice, so it is still technically happening, and tensions between North Korea and the Western world (mainly the U.S.) continue to grow. In recent years, this has become especially apparent as North Korea experimented with nuclear missiles. Nuclear weapons have continued to be a cause of many unfriendly relations in the world and the Korean War could be argued to explain this. Overall, I thought this lecture was an educational experience that has helped me learn more about the Korean War and the global consequences that came with it.