IA Research Panel

Academic Event Reflection

21 February 2021, 7:00pm-8:00pm, Zoom Meeting

This event consisted of a panel of Ohio State students who are involved in different research projects within various departments here on campus. Research is something I am very interested in and would like to get involved in during my time at Ohio State. However, I have felt a bit lost on how to get started finding projects related to my field of study and getting in touch with the right faculty. It was helpful to hear the paths each of the girls on the panel took to get involved in their respective projects. Listening to the panel speak about the experiences they’ve encountered through their research also encouraged my eagerness to seek out research opportunities and confirmed that it is something I would be interested in pursuing. They all spoke of ways their perspective of the world, in whatever subject they were researching, had been expanded. They described participating in research as a way to learn about subjects beyond studies in the classroom and as a unique, and often more intimate, way of interacting with the subject material. Several of the girls’ research projects involved interviewing people, which led to some really interesting insights and perspectives. I left with a better understanding of ways I can begin getting involved in research as well as the many benefits of this kind of academic experience.

IA Alumni Spotlight featuring Elena Akers

Professional Development Event Reflection

25 January 2020, 7:00pm-8:00pm, Zoom Meeting

For this meeting, we connected with IA alumna Elena Akers, who graduated this past May and is currently working as a virtual intern with START, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland.  She is involved in a program that compiles and analyzes research on domestic radicalization in the United States. I wanted to attend this spotlight event because Elena was one of the teaching assistants for my IA Scholars Seminar last year, as well as one of my teammates on the triathlon club. She is someone I admire and whose academic and professional achievements I really look up to.  Additionally, one of my favorite professors, Jeffrey Lewis, who taught my “Terror and Terrorism” course last year, has been involved with the START Center since 2007.  Throughout the course, we often discussed various findings of the START center and I always found their research very fascinating.  Since I really enjoy academia and research, and as a Security and Intelligence major, this is exactly the kind of internship I wanted to know more about. Elena gave interesting insight into the work she does for them as well as the process of seeking out and applying to these types of internships.

GoinGlobal Information Session

Professional Development Event Reflection

2 November 2020, 4:00pm-5:00pm, Zoom Meeting

This session was led by a business operations manager for the Center for Career and Professional Success in the College Arts and Science named Alex Lane.  His responsibilities include making sure all different kinds of technological resources available to students through the Center for Career and Professional Success are accessible and functioning properly, and to help students navigate them.  He went through the direct process of accessing GoinGlobal and gave an overview of all of its most useful features.  These included valuable country-specific information on job applications, resumes/cover letters, interview etiquette, visa applications, budgeting for living expenses, and cultural advice.  He also gave us his email in the zoom chat and offered us the initiative to reach out to him for help with any troubleshooting issues we may have accessing or utilizing any of the Center for Career and Professional Success technological resources, which is a handy contact to have.

I was not aware of GoinGlobal as a resource before attending this information session, so I was very happy to learn how easily I have access to all of this information. I would love to participate in an international internship in the future and being shown exactly how to utilize a resource like GoinGlobal makes an intimidating process feel a little more accessible.  I feel like I am in a better position to find and pursue an international internship after attending this information session.

Third Party Education Abroad Programs Information Session

Academic Event Reflection

29 September 2020, 4:30pm-5:30pm, Zoom Meeting

As an International Studies major and Spanish minor, I feel that it is crucial for me to gain as much international experience as possible during my time at Ohio State in order to achieve my future personal, academic, and career goals. I believe that studying abroad will have a great impact on all three, both in terms of gaining cross-cultural competencies and skills, as well as improving my fluency in Spanish. Prior to attending this information session, I had searched the Office of International Affairs website for study abroad programs that best suit my interests and goals and selected three that I want to look into further in Barcelona, Salamanca, and Buenos Aires, all of which are conducted through a third party called International Studies Abroad (ISA).  Since the process looks a little different for this type of program than other programs offered through OSU, I though this would be a valuable session for me to attend.  This information session gave me better insight into what distinguishes third party programs and I feel like it is exactly what I am looking for.  It was also helpful that the presenter, Jenny Kraft, addressed some of my concerns such as accessing scholarships and funding, and getting academic credits approved since many courses through third party provider are not pre-determined.  I also plan to attend the information sessions specific to each of these programs once they are announced in order to get started in the process of studying abroad.

Climate Change: Insights from History

Academic Event Reflection

24 September 2020, Zoom Meeting, 4:00pm-4:30pm

This event was a conversation with Department of History faculty members John Brooke, Jennifer Eaglin, and Samuel White about the historical context of climate change.  I wanted to attend this webinar because the current wildfires raging across the west, along with other extreme weather phenomena, are yet another factor illuminating the urgency of dealing with climate change.  The panelists explained that studying climate in a historical context is important because it tells us how the climate is changing over time and how human understanding and experience of climate change has evolved over time.  Current research shows that climate change is happening at an intensely more rapid rate than we have ever seen before in history.  This extreme rate is driven by anthropogenic climate change, an increase in the average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere as an effect of human agriculture and industry.

Climate history reveals that we are gaining greater scientific knowledge of climate change, yet action has been stalled by an increased politicization of the topic.  The presenters discussed think tanks funded by the fossil fuel industry that have been putting out an incentivized message that there is a debate over climate change’s legitimacy; there is no debate.  One contributing factor is that climate change’s urgency is often not felt by those most able to do something about it, wealthy nations and policymakers, because they are not the first to be affected by it.  This results in a reluctance to incite change, and instead push off urgent action for later.  Often, it is the areas that are not the largest emitters of greenhouse gases that feel its effects most harshly, and this translates into the discrimination of vulnerable peoples.  The study of climate history sounds an alarm that we must act now.

International Perspectives on the Coronavirus Pandemic

Event Reflection

22 April 2020, Zoom Meeting, 9:00am-10:00am

This event consisted of a virtual panel of students from various countries around the world who answered questions about how the Coronavirus pandemic has influenced their everyday lives and the governmental and societal responses to the pandemic in their respective countries.  We got to hear from students from France, Germany, Morocco, and China.  I thought it was really cool how even though we have all been in lockdown, with travel being impossible at the moment, we still had the opportunity to connect with students from other countries, isolated in their own homes thousands of miles away— and doing much of the same things as me to entertain themselves and continue their studies.  It was interesting to see how, despite the vast distances between us, the Coronavirus pandemic has engulfed the lives of everyone around the globe in a way unlike any other event I have experienced in my life.

To me, the most interesting topic discussed was the general reaction by each society to the lockdown orders and restrictions their respective governments put into place.  While here in the United States, some people are protesting over not being able to go back to work, the French students expressed people’s concern over the way this pandemic has shed light on the inequalities faced by minorities and impoverished people.  In Germany, proactivity by the government has prevented the economy from taking too hard of a hit.  As we theorized about the root of reactions to these events, the perspectives of the students from these countries provided a fascinating insight into the way different cultures and political systems play out in a state of crisis.

Department of State Virtual Information Session

Event Reflection

13 April 2020, Zoom Meeting, 2:00pm-3:00pm

This event was a virtual information session with Department of State recruiter and active Foreign Service Officer, Lou Fintor.  He has worked as an embassy spokesman in various countries in the Middle East and South Asia, as well as serving missions to NATO, the UN, and at Department of State Headquarters in Washington D.C.  He discussed the role of the Secretary of State to lead the U.S Department of State team that: serves as the principle advisor to the President on foreign policy issues; coordinates foreign policy issues for the U.S. government; implements the President’s foreign policy decisions and programs; and protects U.S. interests abroad.  This team is made up of generalist foreign service officers, foreign service specialists, civil service employees, eligible family members, and locally employed staff at overseas missions.  Fintor gave an overview of what these jobs entail and explained the application processes.  I found this to be very valuable insight into a career I may be interested in, especially since the interdisciplinary nature of the issues handled by the Department of State means there is a lot of variety in the organization.  One program I learned about is the Virtual Student Foreign Service, which links students with State offices and missions to take on specific projects, such as the human rights report, the counterterrorism report, or public affairs projects.  It seems like a really good opportunity to gain experience in foreign service, network and form valuable connections, learn the inner workings of the Department of State, it can be done from anywhere.

TedxOhioStateU Presents Magnify

Campus Event Reflection

22 February 2020, Mershon Auditorium- Werner Center for the Arts, 12:00pm-4:00pm

I attended the TedX Event “Magnify” with my RAs and several students from my floor. I really enjoyed hearing all of the different ideas the speakers presented in their talks, some very niche, some deep, some humorous, but all nevertheless extremely thought-provoking. I think it is very important to continually expose oneself to new ideas and perspectives, especially those to which one may otherwise have never given much thought. The talk I enjoyed the most was called “The Golden Child,” given by a half-Japanese, half-white aspiring comedian. He had me laughing while he simultaneously shed light on some aspects of his unique perspective and position. The talk that was most meaningful to me was called “My Disability is Not Yours to Cure,” given by a graduate student working on getting his PhD in Disability Studies. He had a disability himself and described the harm that can be done to the way people with disabilities view themselves when the people around them are always trying to “fix” or “cure” them.  He explained that his disability is a part of who he is, and when people treat is as something to be cured at all costs, the implication is that there is something wrong with who he is.  This really touched me because in high school I spent a lot of time with people with disabilities as a “buddy” in a softball league and every year at the Night to Shine Prom.  The goal was always just to celebrate these people for who they are and as I got to know the people I worked with, it was clear what a gift they each are to the world.  They are examples of how true the message from this TedX talk is.

Career Connections: Careers in Cybersecurity

Professional Development Event Reflection

12 February 2020, Pomerene Hall, 6:00pm-8:00pm

This event consisted of a panel of professionals in the field of cybersecurity here in Columbus who discussed many different facets of their careers in cybersecurity, from certifications and hiring to day-to-day life in the different paths within the field.  I attended with Caitlyn.  Going into this event, I was not very interested in a career in cybersecurity specifically, but as a Security and Intelligence major, I thought it could be useful to gain a greater understanding of a field that is intrinsically related to what I think I want to do in the future.  This event confirmed my anticipation that the computer science and coding aspects of cybersecurity are not for me, but I felt it was still a valuable experience in terms of expanding my knowledge of the careers that are out there.  It was interesting to hear the differences between offensive and defensive cybersecurity and to hear just how rapidly the field of cybersecurity is changing and developing as technology evolves. As someone who wants to potentially work in the intelligence community in the future, I know that understanding the limits and capabilities of cybersecurity will be essential to analyzing international affairs and the way warfare is conducted in the current age, but I am willing to leave the coding to the professionals like those in this panel.