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This event was a recap of several major events that related to international affaires or were worthy of international attention. The event was hosted by academic chair, Samantha Zimmerman, on November 15, 2020. I have been to one other past event in this series and my overall opinion is that I really like them because I find them entertaining and useful for keeping up on current events.

This program relates to I.A. because all the events described throughout the meeting were current events that related to international affairs. While none of the material directly related to my coursework, it is closely related to my academic interests. Being an International Studies major, I should be aware of all of these events as I keep up to date with current affairs. However, it is difficult when you’re a busy college student, so having a meeting where I can learn about the Diwali Celebration, Hurricane Iota, the Armenian agreement, and Turkmenistan’s golden dog statue is very helpful. I really enjoyed going and simply learning a brief overview of all of these topics.

Overall, one of my key takeaways was learning about the Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan agreement. I was very engaged in the subject when the conflict first started, so to hear that a ceasefire was called, and that Armenia was unpleased with the treaty is interesting to know. The other main takeaway that I got from this event was that I should keep myself updated on current events. I simply don’t do enough of it for an International Studies major.

This event was a discussion of what the 2020 election results could mean for the United States and the international community in the coming years. It was hosted on November 12 by Gretchen Ritter and contained input from College of Arts and Science faculty members such as Paul Beck, Korie Edwards, Ian Howat, and Elisabeth Root. I actually really liked this event and my only critique was that it was a little longer because essentially the presentation was done within thirty minutes and the rest felt like a stretch to reach the one-hour time slot.

This program relates to I.A. because the 2020 election will have major effects on the future of the United States and the international community overall. The United States, having such a huge global presence, is a major player in international affaires so this election has a huge impact of how the United States will likely go about that. This event related strongly to other coursework because one of the main topics discussed was about climate change and how the United States will deal with this. This has been a big topic in my Intro to Peace class and my Atmospheric Geography class. The event mentioned rejoining the Paris Agreement and an increasing prioritization on climate change which have been talked about in both of those classes of mine.

I learned a lot of new information because of this event and one of the main takeaways that caught my attention was the promotion and use of science in policymaking. The discussants talked about how hopefully the election will result in an increase in the use of science when making decisions and how hopefully more people will believe in science. This could be crucial, especially during the pandemic, because it could hopefully end the mask debate and promote the use of potentially new COVID-19 vaccine.

This event was a Zoom call that involved watching a previously recorded meeting between Department of State employees Julie Jolles, Alan Piracha, and Michelle Lee. The event was hosted by Rebecca McMunn on October 22, 2020.

This event was all about learning what it is like to work in the Department of State domestically or abroad and the paths that each employee took in order to get where they are today. They also included a lot of tips on how students can get more involved in this career choice. This event was strongly related to IA because this is one of the many kinds of jobs that a student like me can get after college. I attended this event because, as someone who doesn’t know exactly what career I want to have after college, this gave me good insight into one of the possible paths I can take. It was especially helpful for giving me tips on working abroad; something that many students in IA like me are really interested in. One of the employees even discussed their work they did in Romania along with what it was like to live there. This was particularly engaging for me because, as someone with Romanian ancestry, it’s a culture I am particularly drawn to, so this example was personally very interesting.

However, the biggest critique I have of the event is the fact that attendees were merely watching a previously recorded video. I would have much rather seen these people live because, with the meeting just being a video, there was no audience participation and the ability to ask questions was nonexistent.

Overall, my major takeaways from this event include a stronger interest in working for the Department of State, especially abroad, and better understanding of how someone like me would go about getting a similar career. Plus, their message about if I get the chance to take any kind of trip or work abroad to just do it really stuck with me.

This meeting was held over Zoom on October 21, 2020. The meeting was hosted by Paul Beck and Gregory Caldeira, and Thomas Wood, all established figures in the Department of Political Science.

While the event provided a lot of quality information about the 2020 election, the recent poll results, and the challenges in determining who has the advantage, my biggest critique of the event is that it got a little boring towards the end. I learned about the fifteen “battlegrounds” or states/areas that can swing the election (such as Ohio and North Carolina), the polarization of the nation, and the specifics of the polls. However, the last half of the meeting just did not feel needed or entertaining, especially after all of those major topics were covered. One of the biggest takeaways from this meeting for me was to pay attention to specific states and their results because polling can be ineffective in areas that are so close and competitive.

This event related heavily to my major in International Studies heavily because the results of this election are extremely important for the international community. One of the topics discussed in the meeting was the future of American policies and attitudes depending on which candidate wins. These policies and attitudes can have strongly affect other countries and global politics so, as an International Studies major, this is a topic I need to be deeply engaged in.

This event was a recap of a few international news stories and it was hosted on September 27 by Academic Chair Samantha Zimmerman. This event went over some interesting topics from around the globe and it asked thought-provoking questions about or reactions or prior knowledge of these stories. My only critique of the event was that I wish there were more stories that were covered because I knew there were some major events in the world that I guess didn’t make it into the presentation.

While the program did not necessarily relate to my other classes, it did relate heavily towards my International Studies Seminar class and just the major as a whole. As an International Studies major, these were the kinds of stories that I need to be paying attention to. Anything that happens on the international scale or just major events in other countries in general is something that I should be educated on so to have an event like this where I could learn about the stories that I hadn’t hear of yet was really beneficial.

Throughout the event, I learned of five major news stories in the world. These included Australia’s economic recession, France’s increased paternity leave, the toxins in water holes that led to the deaths of over three-hundred elephants, Bah Ndaw becoming the new civil leader of Mali after a coup, and the United States’ sanctions against arms sales in Iran. With the inclusion of this new information, I’d say my other big takeaway from this is the fact that I should really watch for international headlines and news stories more often.

This event was hosted on Thursday September 24 and was a discussion with faculty of the Department of History about the historical context of climate change. Specifically, it was presented specifically by John Brooke, Jennifer Eaglin, and Samuel White. After attending the program, I would say that my only critique would be to include more face-to-face discussion and interaction as the audience was muted with no video the entire time.

This event relates to IA because climate change is a crucial problem that is plaguing the entire international community. It actually intersects with a few of my classes because, for example, recent discussions about global citizenship from my IA Seminar class can be applied to climate change. Climate change is a global issue and it is actually one of the most obvious problems for global citizens to recognize and fight against.  In my Atmospheric Geography Science class, we discussed the positive effects of the Montreal Protocol on climate change. This related to the event because they touched on the Montreal Protocol and they agreed that, as an international agreement, it had incredible effects on reducing carbon emissions.

In the end, my key takeaways from this event is simply a better understanding on the historical and political background of climate change. Discussing when it was introduced as an idea, the problem of fossil fuel companies attempting to get the public to deny its existence, and what the best course of action for the future should be were all the major points that stuck with me. Specifically, the success of international organizations and agreements such as the Montreal Protocol is a huge lesson that I learned when it comes to reducing carbon emissions.

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