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IA March Event: World Languages Panel

Two panelists, Kaitlyn and Ally Goldman discussed how studying languages has bolstered their careers. Kaitlyn speaks Italian and French, and also works in research. She informed us that reading in another language that isn’t one’s “mother tongue” allows people to be more unbiased, which helps her a lot in her research studies. She also informed us of the intricacies of lingo in Italian and that certain work sectors have different forms that cause a person to have to study the sector’s lingo diligently. For Kaitlyn, she is working in intelligence and diplomacy, and it has been very difficult for her to pick up the formalities present within that sector.

Ally works as a translator and studied Hispanic linguistics. She discussed how important it is to have cultural competency and empathy when dealing with people from different cultures. She works as a translator in schools and works hard to bridge the cultural gaps and help teachers understand the various cultural barriers that may be present.

Both speakers advised that people take advantage of opportunities available at Ohio State. Getting involved in clubs, interning, and volunteering helped a lot to get the most out of their college experience academically. They also gave a lot of great advice with establishing connections and networking at career fairs.

This event connected with IA because a lot of people in the scholars program have language majors or minors, so this panel would be extremely helpful as it shows the different career paths one can get with having a sturdy language background. The speakers also discussed the importance of entrenching oneself in different cultures and understanding cultural differences that occur. The panelists also discussed studying abroad, which is something I’ve been thinking of doing to have the chance to travel and immerse myself in a different culture for a few months.

09/10: Violence Management, Recovery after 9/11

I attended the event “Violence Management, Recovery after 9/11”. The event featured a panel of speakers discussing a range of topics, including the dangers of exposure to World Trade dust, the reverberations of 9/11 on Muslim and Arab communities, and the State of Emergency Preparedness on 9/11. The dust from the World Trade Center was extremely harmful to the lungs and could cause depression, cancer, cardiovascular dysfunction, and heart disease. The dust from the WTC was made up of unique components that altered the treatment approach, making it much more difficult to address the medical issues first responders and others present are now facing. Alongside the medical issues caused by 9/11, many social repercussions developed from the attack as well. First, the speaker made the distinction between the Arab and Muslim communities, explaining that a majority of Muslims in the United States aren’t Arab, and a majority of Arabs aren’t Muslim, a distinction that was heavily blurred post-9/11 by American society. After the attack, the US was transformed into a hostile environment for these communities by multiple policies and campaigns, such as the PATRIOT Act, the Muslim ban, the Islamophobia network, and local hostilities. The discrimination also had negative impacts on Arab-Americans, creating many identity issues as they were ostracized by their peers outside the Arab or Muslim community, and villainized nationwide. Arab-Americans also have higher rates of depression and anxiety than other minority groups. But despite all of these obstacles, the community has been determined to stay resilient, organizing many movements and working to mobilize their community, aiming to increase civic engagement and also pushing to be recognized in the US census.

I think this talk was extremely important because it displayed how multifaceted the harms generated from 9/11 are. The attack had social, political, and medical implications, and the effects reverberated through a variety of communities. This event really helped me understand how important it is for us to find unity under this attack rather than division, as many people understood the pain brought by the attack, and suffered in their own way from the aftereffects. This event also worked well with IA as it discussed xenophobia and cultural misunderstandings and demonizations that often occur towards countries existing outside the scope of the West.

April Event: Back to Crisis? Northern Ireland after Brexit

I attended the event, “Back to Crisis? Northern Ireland after Brexit?”, where an Irish professor discussed the current state of Northern Ireland after the Belfast Agreement. Violence has returned, with religion, the economy, and the influence of Britain all driving it and validating those causing the violence as both sides are under the idea that they’re the good guys. After the Belfast Agreement, an era of negative peace settled over Ireland. The differing identities were never able to live in unity with one another, leaving the potential for tension to rise. The Belfast Agreement, though revolutionary, didn’t solve root issues. Peace is a complicated process; there must be time for healing, and the introduction of the possibility of living freely without fear while also flourishing. Peace deals are a new chapter that allows for the hope for new beginnings and it opens doors for solutions, not necessarily producing them. Identities, structures, and behaviors influence how this will result, with it often succumbing to an environment of fear, friend, and foe. The project of unity is one that will last a lifetime, as it is dependent on people unlearning their fears and biases and finding the will to live with unfamiliarity and uncomfortableness.

Policing was also discussed during the event. Similar to the United States in some aspects, the police force in Northern Ireland often serves the interest of the majority at the expense of the minority. The speaker described policing in an interesting manner, stating that policing is defined by their right to enforce and that they grow out of the political system that exists. They are the human face of the law and the current system. The police in Northern Ireland are seen as part of the enforcement mechanism of the state, with many of them being primarily protestant. Many are operating within communities that have disdain for the government, leading to disdain towards officers. In response, new laws were proposed that increased policing and only worsened the divide, similar to what we see here in the United States. In the 90s and 2000s, the police were redesigned, with human rights at the center and collaboration with the community. They also aimed to make police more representative, and put discipline and complaints into the hands of an independent mechanism to ensure there is accountability. I felt that this talk was extremely important as much of the discussion had a very big connection to political issues occurring in the United States. I also really enjoyed learning more about politics in Northern Ireland because I’ve always had an interest in the conflicts there, but felt very intimidated due to the complexity of the issue with Northern Ireland and Britain, especially when Brexit is involved.

April Event: Climate Change Tipping Point

The event I attended was held by WOSU and featured two climate change experts who discussed the future of Earth. The Earth has heated to almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit, with the past six years being the hottest on record. Since then, we have seen sea levels rise, air and water pollution, extreme weather events, and shifting agriculture. Human activity has been the dominant force driving climate change within the past 50 years. Scientists guess that humans hold about 70-80% of the responsibility for the climate disaster, with 90% confidence that the warming we’ve seen in the second half of the 20th century is due to emissions and human activity. Some of the current issues we face are that the earth is at its carrying capacity, meaning there are too many people on the planet, with many of them being in underdeveloped countries. 92 million people are born every year, meaning there are more people driving up the demand for resources that force the exploitation and abuse of our earth. However, it is hard to address global warming because developing countries struggle to adopt sustainable measures as they don’t have the financial stability to devote millions to sustainable growth. But they’re also not the primary contributors to pollution, as many of them have just recently industrialized, whereas much of the climate damage can be drawn back to high-income countries like the United States.

This event is perfect for International Affairs because global warming and the climate crisis plague all of us. It also exposes the global inequalities we see today, as the countries currently suffering are lower-income, exploited countries that don’t have the infrastructure to protect themselves from the damage from natural disasters. Though I found the talk to be very informative, I felt that there wasn’t enough discussion on those that are responsible for global warming. Though developing countries are having population booms, it’s a common component of development and a side effect of their economic state. It’s unfair to place blame on those countries when not only are they struggling from neo-imperialism under MNCs and high-income countries, but they also have delayed development and economic vulnerability from colonialism. In my opinion, I think it’s absolutely vital to include global exploitation into the climate conversation, as it helps provide more insight into what’s driving unsustainable practices.

Water is a Human Right, Right? 3/22/21

I attended the webinar, “Water is a Human Right, Right?” on March 22nd. The discussion surrounded the many difficulties and limitations people face globally when it comes to having a sanitary water supply. The topic focused heavily on the disadvantages the Indigenous population faces in the United States, with failed government treaties and bureaucratic hurdles that prevent quick processing of water rights. One of the speakers, based in Washington, discussed how lack of access to safe water is related to housing, race, and socioeconomic status. She then continued to discuss how the indigenous population in her community is directly affected by limited access, as the Treaty of 1855 to native people wasn’t properly upheld. The treaty promised to grant water rights to tribes in the area but is now being hindered due to over pollution, draining, and dams. Not does it undermine access to water but also access to an important food source. Another speaker discussed the prevalence of water scarcity within the Navajo Nation. The Treaty of 1868 established the reservation and granted tribes senior water rights in the area, thus declaring that they have a right to a sufficient water supply. However, during COVID-19, where the tribe saw a rate of infection 3.5 times higher than the rest of the country, there was no running water for 40% of the population. Though the reservation was established in the late 1800s, there was no major water settlement until 2010. Water settlements ensure that the population is granted access to a sufficient supply of clean water. Oftentimes, it takes decades for it to be granted as it has to go through both the Supreme Court and Congress.

I really enjoyed the webinar as it shed a lot of light on the issues that the Indigenous population faces, and it helped me understand why land recognition is so important for tribes in the United States. It also helped me better understand why so many of these tribes are at a disadvantage, while also showing me the many bureaucratic grievances placed to make the process more difficult. It amazed me to see how reluctant the government is to grant water rights, as it prevents them from being able to capitalize off of it and churn a profit. If water rights were granted and sanitary water was guaranteed, it would increase government responsibility and inhibit the ability of many corporations to privatize it and turn it into a product. The webinar also introduced me to a perspective and voice that is often not heard, as it gave a voice to indigenous speakers and activists.

IA Event Jan/Feb: Current Event Night

I attended Current Event Night, which is hosted by a fellow IA member, Samantha Zimmerman. I always love attending these because it helps me understand what’s going on in the world and what news stories I should keep an eye out for. It’s hard for me to keep up with the news, especially internationally, during school so this event always helps me stay up to date. One of the stories Samantha shared was in relation to the Myanmar coup. To me, I think this coup is hugely important, especially to the United States because our country was in a similar situation as Trump was attempting to undermine the election through misinformation and countless lawsuits to try to overturn election results. We were extremely close to being in the same situation that Myanmar is right now, which I think is very telling about the political stability in our nation. In my opinion, many people have the idea that coups only happen in under-developed countries, and that such events would never happen in the U.S. because of how “great” we are as a world leader, but I think the past month has been very telling on the stability in our country.

On a happier note, in Brazil, nearby communities affected by a dam disaster in Brazil two years ago are now receiving compensation, with the government also working to repair the surrounding environment. Senior staff of Vale, a mining company, are facing murder charges due to the deaths of 270 people from the disaster. Though the disaster itself was a tragedy, it’s somewhat refreshing to see corporations being held accountable and forced to pay reparations. In the past, Brazil has had a lot of issues with environmentalism and still has rampant wealth inequality, so it’s good to see that the people and the environment are being prioritized.

This event relates to IA because it’s the discussion of current events both international and in the United States. Staying up to date with what’s going on in the world is a huge part of IA, and it’s something I’ve been trying to prioritize more this semester so this event always helps me reach that goal.

IA January Event: 01/28- COVID-19, Vaccinations, and Marginalized Communities

The event I attended was academic and was hosted by the Kirwan Institute. There was an abundance of speakers, all with a Public Health background. The event focused on the work done by the Ohio Health Working Equity Group and how various specialists were working to make the vaccination process more equitable and help uplift the marginalized communities that have suffered greatly from the pandemic in all aspects. This event completely changed my perspective on Public Health and the process of making the entire vaccination process equitable. Before attending this event, I was already aware of how BIPOC were disproportionately infected with COVID-19 compared to white people due to their economic situation and also the placement of COVID-19 testing sites as well, but I had yet to learn about the disproportionality with dispersing the vaccination. Two of the speakers, Dr. Julia Nemeth and Dr. Tasleem Padamsee, discussed the work they went through with polling minorities, immigrants, rural Ohioans, and Ohioans with disabilities (all groups at-risk for disparities) in order to get feedback on how to equitably respond to the pandemic and aid these communities effectively. Then, Dr. Deena Chisolm addressed the Ohio Vaccination Program. Very carefully, she broke down how a law that seems perfectly harmless was actually not equitable and was unintentionally harming the Black population by limiting access to the vaccine to upper age groups. An effect of systemic racism is a lower life expectancy for Black people, meaning that more white people were going to have access to the vaccination than Black people. This presentation taught me so much about the importance of making policy more equitable, and how systemic racism can often be perpetuated unintentionally through policy. This event also related a lot to one of the classes I took last semester, which was Intro to Peace Studies. In the class, we discussed structural violence and reaching positive peace, which was a just society. This presentation reinforced a lot of the theories we explored in that class and broadened my understanding of systemic racism in the United States.

Current Events Catch-Up 10/25

This event was academic, and was hosted by the Academic Chair Samantha Zimmerman. I always enjoy tuning in because it helps me stay up to date with news abroad. Because we’re so close to the election and politics in the US has been crazy, it’s been hard for me to keep up with what’s going on globally and this is always a good resource for me to know what’s going on. I really enjoy the event because not only does it share current news stories but it also allows for other people in IA to comment on it and give their own insights. It helps me better understand each event especially with Samantha as she does a lot of research into each topic to provide more context into each news story and also looking into why these events are occurring. Not only am I learning about current events, but also the political climate in certain countries as well as demographics of these areas. It’s also really interesting to see a lot of anti-militarism and revolts against police brutality occurring globally because its also been a very big conversation here in the US as well, like what’s going on in Thailand and in Nigeria. It’s also interesting to see a lot of the movements being led by younger people as that’s also been a common trend here in the United States. There’s also been a lot of international solidarity with these topics and connects to what we had been talking about in seminar about being a global citizen. After the protests against SARS started, I saw a ton of information all over social media informing people about what was going on and who SARS was. This event connects to International Affairs because it helps members be more knowledgeable about the world around them and its a great way to get caught up on the news and share your opinion with others about what’s going on.

Women of Wisdom Panel on Leadership 10/13

I attended the Women of Wisdom Panel on Leadership, which was hosted by the United Nations Association and was an academic meeting. The event featured three different women discussing their leadership roles and how they got there, as well as the many obstacles they faced and what they learned from their past experiences and/or failures. It was really empowering to hear all their stories and how much work they put into their careers, and it was extremely helpful in preparing me for the workforce and how to combat misogyny and sexism in professional atmospheres. The first panelist, Connie Chi, was an entrepreneur. She had three failed businesses before becoming successful, and is a firm believer in trying new things and having the courage to take some risks and do what you want to do with your life. When dealing with male-dominated spaces, she gave participants some really good advice, noting that it’s important to share your opinions and thoughts because we all have something valuable to add to a conversation, and suppressing that will make a person feel worse. One of the other panelists was Maren Roberts, who works in “Girl Up”, an initiative under the UN dedicated to pursue gender equality within communities through events, speakers and education. The initiative works to encourage girls to be leaders in their community and their own life. Maren’s story was very helpful for me because I want to pursue a career in activism abroad pushing for gender equality, so hearing about her career was very interesting as it exposed me to other avenues I could take to achieve my goals. This event relates to International Affairs because one of the panelists was pushing for gender equality globally, and it also discussed the topic of gender relations and overcoming sexism in the workforce, something that many people are trying to amend globally.

IA September Event: Current Events 09/27

Hosted by the IA Academic Chair Sam Zimmerman, we discussed current events around the globe in order to stay up to date on what’s going on in the international community. She talked about five different events happening currently in different areas of the world, including Australia, Mali, Iran, France and Botswana. I learned that the EU has made all members extend paid paternity leave to 28 days as well as require fathers to take at least one week off when their child is born. The law also applies to same-sex couples and was adopted by France. I thought it was really interesting that the EU was making all member states adopt this law and I’m excited to see how it promotes gender equality in that area and whether female employment rates increase. We also discussed the economic recession currently going on in Australia, which happened to be their first in three decades. This year, in their first quarter they saw the GDP shrink 0.3% because of the wildfires, which dampened tourism in the country. Due to the economic strain of the pandemic, their GDP contracted 7% in the 2nd quarter. This felt extremely relevant due to the fact that the United States is in a similar situation as we’re not only combatting the virus but also raging wildfires across California.

I really enjoyed this event because it was easy for me to catch up on global events, which is something that I have been struggling with since this summer due to how important this year has been in the United States with the protests, our response to Covid-19, and the upcoming election. Sam was very informative and it was clear that she did a lot of research for each current event as she was able to answer any questions people had and she encouraged viewers to participate and share their own opinions about each event she introduced. The event tied with IA a lot because it helped inform us about what was currently going on and further encouraged the idea of us being global citizens by not only prioritizing what’s happening in the US but also what’s happening abroad.

The event tied to my major because some of the events, like the introduction of sanctions against arms sales in Iran as well as the coup in Mali related a lot to diplomacy abroad and to some of my courses, like Development Studies and Peace Studies. In Peace Studies we discuss a lot on different methods of force and pressure besides violence, and the use of sanctions is something we’ve discussed many times. The coup in Mali connects a lot to my Development Studies class because we discuss often how colonialism and imperialism affected Africa and created a lot of instability because of the colonial structures, which I felt tied to the coup.