Ranging from international students to students from the U.S., a student-led panel was held in upper WAC where they imposed the importance of protecting globalization in today’s world. We need it now more than ever.
The event began with political science professor William Muck introducing the concept of globalization. He pointed out that globalization is being trumped, and what we are able to learn from the outcome of President Trump’s election. We have learned that democracy needs to improve, globalization needs to evolve, and we as humans need to get better. Then he made the audience think about the importance of globalization. With the use of our smart phones, we are able to connect with people from all across the globe.
Muck also pointed out that the exact date the Berlin Wall came down was the exact day that President Trump gave his acceptance speech. The only difference is the 27-year gap after the tearing down of the Berlin Wall brought joy, while Trump’s election only caused another wall come up.
Following the introduction, students were able to choose from three panels. Global Challenges: Trafficking, Environment and TV News was led by Ana Maria Stuart Gentil from Brazil, and she stressed the importance of helping to preserve the Amazon rainforest that spans across nine different countries. One way in which one can help is to buy products that do not use resources from the Amazon. Mirina Uchida from Japan spoke about the problem of human trafficking in Japan that stems from globalization. Juan Jara from Canada compared our news channels to those he watched back home in Canada. He spoke briefly that the use of fear the news evokes into us is bad for globalization because it makes people not want to leave their country.
After the first student-run panel, there were three more panels to chose from. Globalization and Filmmaking was led by three students. The students spoke of what exactly makes a film global. For instance, Anthony Ashner ’17 spoke of Indonesian films. These films tend to show a focus on the political and social structure of their country. British international student Laura Savage then took the reigns to focus on French extremist cinema. French extremist cinema broke boundaries with shock, violence and the breaking of taboos. Student Deana Becker’s topic was on the exuberance of Bollywood film. She mentions that India once was the world’s largest producer of feature films. However, it no longer holds that title.
The night concluded with a panel about globalization and its effects on the MENA region and an international jazz jam session featuring graduating jazz studies majors. The event overall stressed the importance of globalization and why we need to protect it and make sure it improves.
