Current Event Night
14 March, 2021
IA Academic Chair, Samantha Zimmerman, hosted another current events catch up night. She created a Kahoot, testing for general knowledge of 5 news stories from around the world that she chose, but chose other news stories to provide deeper detail about in a PowerPoint after the Kahoot. In the PowerPoint, Samantha discussed Switzerland’s new ban on face coverings and what that means for Muslim women living in Switzerland. She also discussed the settlement that the city of Minneapolis had reached with George Floyd’s family. The George Floyd case has been in the media and in my head over the past year. Other events included the arrest of Bolivia’s former President, the EU’s struggle with vaccine distribution, and Amazon’s banning of a book that deals with transgender individuals. This event was related to the International Affairs scholars program because it involved looking at news stories from around the world and getting a sense of what is happening worldwide. This was a great way for me to be caught up on what is happening around the world as I have not been paying much attention to the news lately and I feel even more informed due to the change in the amount of stories covered. There was not a lot of intersection with my course work this semester, but it was interesting to learn a little about the different head coverings worn by Muslim women and how legislation can apply to those garments. As always, this was a good way to get sped up on what is happening on a national stage.