Reflections of Global Studies Speakers
Freshly Squeezed
October 4, 2017
The first part of this discussion was pretty interesting. Topics ranged from a discussion about term limits, education reform, and voting. I thought it was relatively intriguing, but as Colin stated before, he did not want it to turn into a political debate or argument; somehow that happened and honestly I was lost about 45 minutes into the discussion. But before I talk about how I was completely lost and I do not recall half the conversation, I’m going to dive into what I did understand. Suzanne started the conversation off with the topic of respect and how political parties do not respect each other, and not just that, we make assumptions about the other side. I can fully understand that because, let’s be honest, I tend to think that republicans are my worst enemy even though my whole family is republican. Another topic that I mentioned before was the fact that only the far left and far right voters were voting. Yeah, that is a problem that we totally need to fix because if we do not fix that, we are going to end up with another orange man, or woman in the house, not ideal! The other 45 minutes, I cannot even say what happened.
October 1 2017
Justice Breyer Forum
1). I think the most interesting part about Breyer’s talk was his part on diversity. His short piece that the diversity in the court. He talked about the fact that it is only a positive change and I completely agree that you need a diverse group of people to make laws for the country.
2). In regards to how the passing of laws works, I already understood the process. I liked to hear that the justices get along, that there are no enemies, and they all have a professional opinion- that they make decision not based on their personal opinions.
3). I liked the forum’s format for working. I do wish they focused on other questions than silly questions. I would have liked to have seen a more detailed response about issues such as the NFL or something on the transgender bathroom crisis.
November 4 2017
This past week, Oneika raymond, a traveling extraordinaire took time to come visit us at Watkinson. Being one of the people who introduced her, I was able to spend a little bit more time to know her. Her love of travel has extended over 100 countries on six different continents. She started her first day off with a special presentation which I thought was very interesting. Sh mainly focused on one of her trips, her trip to Mongolia. She immersed herself deep into the culture. She lived in a yurt for five days with people who were not only strangers, but did not know a word of English. After that, she gave a similar presentation at night, which would have been more entertaining if more people showed up, but nevertheless, she was still fantastic. Her the day after, she came to Global Studies Seminar and had us read a story on one of her experiences in Egypt. I thought this was extremely important because she made us think, and may have taught us a little something too. I would be ecstatic if she were to visit again because she was a really cool person to meet.
September 28, 2017
Caitlyn Wolfe talk
Caitlyn wolfe stopped by to talk about her time working as an epidemiologist. She spent extensive time in Senegal and Liberia working in efforts to fight the Ebola virus. She touched on climate change and how the spread of insects, animals and people affect Earth’s regions. In one example, she talked about the spread of mosquitoes and relating to the spread of disease. Another topic that Matteo brought up was the influence of fake news and anti- vaccinations. The government is working with shamans to convince muslims that vaccinations ARE helpful. The last subject she talked on was working on the Affordable Care Act, that the platform was not worked on long enough and the reason it was not able to sign people up, was because it was a rushed process. I would love to talk to her again.
September 25, 2017
Adam Alter skype
Adam Alter, the author of our summer read, “Irresistible”, was very smart and knowledgeable as one should be if you write a book on this topic. I learned a little bit more, from my question about technology and children, but just as our call was ending I wanted to ask him about technology and travel. The reason being that self-driving cars are being invented and are they the safest things, should we be relying on them in the future?
Traveling is such a key role in the Global Studies Program. I have been privileged enough to have traveled to different countries and experience different cultures. Here are just a few photos of my travels in and out of the country...
