IA Reflection #2: Academic

On Thursday, October 25, I attended the International Affairs scholars’ mini-involvement fair in between Smith Steeb and Park Stradley! The involvement fair featured a variety of different student organizations at Ohio State that all center around the theme of international affairs in some shape or form, so it was a great way for first and second year International Affairs scholars to get involved with groups they hadn’t previously been involved with before. Some of the organizations I spoke with includes Advocates for Women of the World (AWOW), Collegiate Council on World Affairs (CCWA), Global Health Initiative (GHI), and Doctors without Borders.

As a current member of Advocates for Women of the World, I was excited to see the club speaking to other students! The group’s primary mission is to advocate for the rights of women on a global spectrum, and it does so through four break-out committees: women’s health, economic empowerment, sexual assault awareness, and girls’ education. Each committee is action-oriented and strives to create fundraisers or other events to raise awareness and funds for different organizations that may impact women throughout the world.

The Collegiate Council on World Affairs was another great student group represented at the fair. CCWA consists of Ohio State’s Model U.N. team who are currently ranked number 1 for public schools in the nation, and the team travels throughout the country to delegate their proposals regarding foreign affairs. The group also has its own publication to raise awareness about foreign policy and international issues in its Alger Magazine.

Global Health Initiative and Doctors without Borders were also represented at the mini-involvement fair. It was really interesting to hear from both organizations about a different aspect to international affairs that’s not always discussed: health. GHI does a lot of work to raise awareness regarding health inequities in the U.S. and abroad and often brings in speakers to discuss these issues. Doctors without Borders, an international nonprofit organization, also holds many events to raise awareness about health issues across the globe. The doctors who contribute provide health services to primarily war-torn areas where access to health care is limited. The group at Ohio State strives to further the mission of the agency by raising awareness for the individuals in these parts of the world by volunteering in Columbus and hosting fundraisers to donate to the cause.

Although I am fairly involved at Ohio State and probably won’t have time to join other clubs, it was incredibly enlightening to learn more about the passions of other Ohio State students to get involved with world affairs and be more globally engaged. Most of the student organizations I spoke with host events, so I will definitely be interested in attending them once I hear more about it! In relation to my coursework, I took a Black Women Writers course in spring of 2017, which focused on a lot of the themes presented by AWOW and GHI. Many of the authors we read incorporated elements of womens’ health issues like sexual assault and inadequate access to health care, which reflects highly in the work that AWOW and GHI do to combat those issues. I think if I had to ask each presenter what in their life caused them to be passionate about the issues the group works to address, I would have been very intrigued by their responses. Overall, I am glad I had the opportunity to see all the work Ohio State students are doing to be globally engaged!

 

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