On November 20, I attended ODI’s screening of Emanuel in Performance Hall at the Ohio Union. The event consisted of a showing of the film Emanuel, followed by a panelist discussion from various people who felt particularly impacted during the planning and production of the movie. The film was about the Charleston church shooting that occurred at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015. It delved into what happened before, during, and after the shooting and how it impacted the family of the victims and people all over the United States. Following the film, there was a brief discussion with three panelist who work at various universities around the nation who wanted to share their take on the shooting and the racial inequalities surrounding our society.

This event relates to international affairs because the US isn’t the only country that has problems such as church shootings, but it is the one closest to us. The film presents a representation of what goes on around the world and the issues that many countries also suffer from. The event impacted me because I got to learn more about the shooting and was able to understand how deeply a tragedy like this affects not only the family but communities as a whole.

On October 26, I attended the service event with a several other IA scholars at an elementary school. At the school, we had the opportunity to paint a mural for the kids at the school with a couple of kids that attending the school and a neighboring school. Some of the kids assisted with painting the mural while the other kids made leaves that would have positive messages on them. The goal of the mural was to have trees and a hand on the wall that the students put the leaves on, and when the kids need a little motivation or are feeling down they can pick a leaf off of one of the walls and carry that positive message around with them.

This community service event relates to international affairs because all over the world many people of all ages and backgrounds come together to create murals and paintings to add to their community. Participating in this event impacted me because I got the chance to work with young kids (which I don’t do often) and my fellow peers to come together and create a beautiful piece of artwork. This allowed me to feel a sense of unity and see how important it is to work with others to create a final product that will benefit everyone.

On October 20, I attended the showing of the Netflix documentary “American Factory” in Smith Steeb. The documentary was about a Chinese company coming to Dayton, Ohio to open a factory in a former General Motors plant and showed the clashes and differences between the Chinese and the American working lifestyle. The documentary showed the raw and real emotions and issues that the company and the employers faced while working.

The documentary gives people a glimpse of the relationships between foreign countries when it comes to jobs and business. Two countries sometimes don’t see eye to eye which causes a variety of problems that may or may not get resolved. After watching the documentary, I realized that either China has a harsh work environment or America has a too laid back work environment. To some people both statements are true and to others neither are true, but it all depends on the individual person’s beliefs and values. Watching this documentary intersected with a personal goal of mine, which was to find a way to better understand the labor relations between foreign countries. This gave me a better insight on how labor relations work around the world and how it affects the work environment and values of a company.

On October 7, the Wexner Center for the Arts kicked off their project “On the Front Lines: Performing Afghanistan.” The project consists of various plays and other events that are meant to portray and spark discussion about the lifestyle of Afgahan women, men, and children. The event I attended was “Kuja Meri?”(Where are you going?): Afghan Refugees Across the Globe, led by Joël van Houdt. van Houdt held a discussion about the work he had done while living in Afghanistan. He took photos of everyday Afghan people (with their consent) and their journey to escape the Obama surge going on in the country. He traveled the same ways the natives did and asked them questions along the trek to get insight of the struggles and troubles they have to endure while trying to escape their homeland. He then went back to Afghanistan to show the locals his project and catch their reactions. The main goal of his project was to show the life of Afghans to Afghans, but he also wanted to show others around the world too.

This event relates to International Affairs because the crisis that (at the time) was happening in Afghanistan was caused by American forces. Oftentimes Americans are oblivious to what to happening around the world, so the effort van Houdt is making to show what is happening in Afghanistan is eye opening for people. The event affected me afterwards because it woke me up to what Afghans and potentially other middle eastern residents have to go through to escape the nightmare they are living in in their homeland. It made me more globally aware of what was going on in the other side of the world and the troubles they are suffering through just to make a living.

On September 14, I as well as a couple of other IA scholars went to volunteer at the Van Buren Shelter. At the shelter, we assisted with food prep for dinner and handed out food to the residents. We were able to see first hand how meals were made and disbursed among the people at the shelter. We prepared zucchini, squash, fruit, and main entrees to give out. We also assisted the main chefs with cleaning the kitchen and dining areas and washing the dishes. The best part was handing out the food to the residents. Many of them were happy to see us help out and lend a helping hand to keep their dining quarters clean. They were very welcoming of us and were really appreciative of our service.

Volunteering here relates to international affairs because homeless shelters isn’t only a problem in America. Homelessness is a very prominent issue throughout the world and although it is being addressed in most countries, it isn’t being dealt with fast enough. Many people suffer through homelessness and while the circumstances vary, overall it does a lot more harm than good. Helping these people out impacted me because it opened my eyes to the life that I knew very little about. The residents at the shelter were very big on having that community feel among themselves and sticking together to be there for each other no matter what happens. This made me very happy to know that the shelter isn’t a cold and hostile place but one where someone can come in and have a family stick with them and support them when in need.

The Undergraduate Bioethics Society held a meeting on September 3 in Enarson Classroom Building that consisted of information about the ethical problems of human-animal hybrids and chimeras as well as an open discussion for everyone to contribute to. Currently, scientists in China are trying to develop the first human-chimpanzee hybrid for the purpose of being able to create organs for life saving transplants and treatments for humans. This raises several concerns for people around the world and gets people thinking about the issues at hand. Is this ethical? Is this reasonable? Is it possible?

This event relates to international affairs because during the discussion, someone brought up the ideologies of other countries and how they perceive the move that China is making. Many countries could agree that China is making a cost effective move but in regards to ethics and morals, it may not be the best move. Different countries are questioning China’s laws and wondering how can they allow this to happen. A question I had during the meeting was where do we draw the line? What is deemed too far? After attending the meeting, the discussion had affected me because based on my morals, this is too far and unnecessary. There are plenty of ways scientists can do research to develop ways to advance the medical field and this way is one that shouldn’t have been brought to life. On one hand this may be acceptable due to China’s ethics and morals but on the other hand, China should consider other countries ethical laws and try to implement them in their laws to keep the peace between themselves and other countries.