Summer Institute musings

On June 22, 2017 Dorothy Ngutter, a Diplomat in Residence for the Northwest Region of the United States, and Evan G. Reade, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer came to World Affairs to discuss with the Summer Institute students their experiences working in the Foreign Service. Through several articles as well as discussions with the speakers, students were able to get a grasp on American diplomacy and the various career paths the Foreign Service can provide. Below is a student’s reflection on meeting with the Foreign Service professionals and their class discussions.           Living in China was a novel, challenging, and above all, fascinating experience. When Mr. Reade said, “living in a foreign country will not only teach you a lot about that country, but also a lot about America,” I instantly knew what he meant. While experiencing China’s idiosyncrasies, I became aware of their American counterparts--while the Chinese have very complex ideas aroun...

On June 22, 2017 Dorothy Ngutter, a Diplomat in Residence for the Northwest Region of the United States, and Evan G. Reade, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer came to World Affairs to discuss with the Summer Institute students their experiences working in the Foreign Service. Through several articles as well as discussions with the speakers, students were able to get a grasp on American diplomacy and the various career paths the Foreign Service can provide. Below is a student’s reflection on meeting with the Foreign Service professionals and their class discussions. I think the discussion our group had before we met Evan Reade and Dorothy Ngutter was extremely interesting, particularly the portion where we discussed whether America’s diplomatic presence overseas has had a more positive or negative influence, and whether it would be disadvantageous or advantageous for our presence to decrease and allow other countries to create their own path and make their own decisions. What ...

On June 22, 2017 Dorothy Ngutter, a Diplomat in Residence for the Northwest Region of the United States, and Evan G. Reade, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer came to World Affairs to discuss with the Summer Institute students their experiences working in the Foreign Service. Through several articles as well as discussions with the speakers, students were able to get a grasp on American diplomacy and the various career paths the Foreign Service can provide. Below is a student’s reflection on meeting with the Foreign Service professionals and their class discussions.  Our discussion centered around several interesting questions, created by Group C. But there were two in particular that captured my interest: Has the United States’ significant diplomatic and military presence abroad since World War II had a net positive or negative effect? And, would it be a disadvantage to lose this presence or are there advantages to allowing other countries to forge the path forwar...

On June 15, 2017 Fran Meckler, a documentary photographer, showcased her photo collection “Fading Traditions: Papua New Guinea in Color”. Students in the Summer Institute were able to meet with her and discuss how her photos were a method to bring injustices to light. Below is a student’s reflection on meeting with Fran Meckler and her thoughts on photography as a way for advocacy. During the weeks I was working on my application for this program, I would peruse the listings of events at World Affairs, the speakers and the topics for the week. I was intrigued by everything I saw: It was all so relevant and polemical and presented by the “top of their field” elite. All this to say, I was underwhelmed when I found out that the first speaker was a photographer. However, I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I learned and how much I loved the exhibition. I was thoroughly delighted to find that mudmen existed and that for some people, full body paint was just a way of life. ...

On June 15, 2017 Fran Meckler, a documentary photographer, showcased her photo collection “Fading Traditions: Papua New Guinea in Color”. Students in the Summer Institute were able to meet with her and discuss how her photos were a method to bring injustices to light. Below is a student’s reflection on meeting with Fran Meckler and her thoughts on photography as a way for advocacy. Our evening with Fran Meckler was extremely interesting. Her descriptions of the different tribal customs and cultures stood out to me. And especially the title of the exhibition, Fading Traditions . It made me wonder about the impact of globalization and technology on our culture and especially on those that were so long sheltered from the general world. And then arose the question of whether Mrs. Meckler’s photographs were helpful, hurtful or merely informational. I lean towards informational- a wakeup call to the existence of isolated pockets on the earth where time seems to have had no effect, w...

On June 15, 2017 Fran Meckler, a documentary photographer, showcased her photo collection “Fading Traditions: Papua New Guinea in Color”. Students in the Summer Institute were able to meet with her and discuss how her photos were a method to bring injustices to light. Below is a student’s reflection on meeting with Fran Meckler and her thoughts on photography as a way for advocacy. A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to interview Malak Shahin, the founder and editor-in-chief of Ascend Magazine , for an article I was writing on literary activism. Shahin is a Palestinian-American who cares deeply about effecting social change, especially in securing justice for Palestine. The goal of Ascend was to provide a creative space where art and protest could intersect. When I asked her whether she believed that art was inherently connected to activism, she responded with: “Art is a form of self-determination...giving people the resources to make art can, in some ways, be libera...