Addressing Assault in a Complex Matter for University Administrations

Posted on April 11, 2016 by TBS

Kate Harding, a prominent writer on the topic of sexual assault, has come to Cornell for sexual assault awareness week. During our Rose dinner conversation we discussed rape culture and the factors that contribute to rape culture.

Given that Ms. Harding has visited college campuses across the country, one student asked whether she finds that certain type of campuses “breed” rape culture more than others. Ms. Harding responded that she finds the same amount and culture across all the campuses she has visited. I wonder if this is supported by data.

I was also curious but did not get the opportunity to ask whether Ms. Harding observes major differences in the way that college administrations address the issue. Until recently, everything was kept quiet as acknowledging the problem would damage the schools’ reputation. However, now that the matter is so prominent in popular media, and that many more cases are being brought to light, colleges have been forced to at least acknowledge the problem. Most prominent colleges have taken the step of requiring freshman to participate in consent training. However, it is still not in their interest to make a big deal of the issue or to publicly admit to the magnitude of the problem with statistics for their own campuses because reputation and application statistics play such a key role in higher education. To fully address sexual assault, colleges would have to be transparent about the ways they have mishandled cases to protect themselves and they would have to crack down on student offenders who they have protected (including varsity athletes). As a result, while schools are taking small steps toward addressing sexual assault, they are far from introducing absolute transparency.

While university administration action is important in responding to assault that has already occurred, I do not think it can prevent assault or change the culture that enables assault to happen so frequently. For example, as we discussed with Ms. Harding, American culture surrounds young people with the idea that men should always be macho and dominant. To lessen the amount of sexual assault requires changing an entire culture, and that requires educating and influencing children much younger than college-age students.

Food Shapes Us – From Medieval Religious Laws to the Modern Day Politicization of Food

Posted on March 26, 2016 by TBS

Professor David Freidenreich’s fascinating talk explored the they way that religious food laws have shaped personal identity in Judaism, Christianity, and Shiite and Sunni Islam from the Medieval period until modern day. He framed the rather pedantic issue through an analogy with the recent French vs. Freedom fry debate during the 2003 Iraq war. Proponents of the war denounced France’s opposition to the invasion by declaring that potato fries should be renamed “Freedom Fries.” This single food “law” created a feeling of patriotism for supporters of the war and enabled them to identify others who disagreed with their beliefs.

Professor Freidenreich explained the purposes of Kashrut in Judaism and halal food in Islam, and in the process debunked many misconceptions. For example, some have assumed that the Jewish dietary laws were originally meant to keep Jews separate from gentiles. In fact, the purpose was more likely described as keeping Jews closer to God by ensuring they only consume the foods “fit for God” – those that could be sacrificed. In the Medieval era, the Canaanite gentiles who lived near the Jews did not eat pork anyway so this rule did not serve to separate them. It was not until the Greeks came, with their pork-heavy cuisine, that the law forbidding pork began hindering Jews from sharing meals with non-Jews. Interestingly, the Hellenic period also shifted the way Jews explained their food laws as they began to borrow from the developing Greek rhetoric on morality and hygiene.

Overall, it is not surprising how powerfully food laws shape personal identity. Eating the same food is a way to bond with people of one’s own culture and sharing a meal with others symbolically and practically facilitates cultural exchange. However, the history and evolution of food laws in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is nuanced and offers an intriguing anthropological perspective on these people’s sense of self.

The series Other People’s Food in the Sporkful Podcast provides a completely different, modern day take on food and cultural identity.

Advocacy through Storytelling

Posted on March 17, 2016 by TBS

At the end of her talk on the portrayal and imagery of the DREAM act, GRF Esmerelda thoughtfully left time for attendees to ask questions. I chose to ask why she decided to move from her advocacy role in Los Angeles to studying the subject from the academic angle at Cornell. Her insightful response was that she views the research she does at Cornell as her own form of advocacy. Instead of acting in the stereotypical role of speaking into a megaphone at rallies, she utilizes her personal talents regarding storytelling and examines the written stories of undocumented youth in America. This, she pointed out, is also a valuable act of advocacy because these stories and the individual voices behind them embody the movement and can be used to represent it.

The DREAM act is one of many examples of movements where personal narratives play an essential role in the advocacy agenda. Individuals’ testimony before the government influences the deliberation on legislation. And news outlets and popular media frequently chose a few individuals’ narratives to symbolize an entire movement. Emotional personal stories can influence people’s viewpoints more than facts and figures.

In her response to my question, Esmerelda also imparted the universal theme that everyone can contribute to the causes they care about. She stressed that each person has unique skills and talents and can learn to apply them for greater purposes.

Behavioral Economics Meets Design Thinking Meets Technology Adoption

Posted on March 11, 2016 by TBS

Professor Blalock’s talk on barriers to technology adoption in the context of cooking stoves in Africa got me thinking about product adoption more generally. I was able to draw connections to two interesting fields: behavioral economics and design thinking. Having read several books on behavioral economics such as Freakonomics and Thinking Fast and Slow, I was not at all surprised by the observations Professor Blalock reported. He enumerated all the strong, evidence-based reasons that the people in Africa should prefer the new cook stove technology he was trying to get them to adopt. From a rational and objective perspective, there is no doubt that the technology is superior for health and wellbeing than the traditional fire pit method of cooking. However, Professor Blalock and his colleagues observed that even using education and economic incentives, they were not able to change the people’s way of life and get them to make a permanent switch to the technological method.

Since Professor Blalock’s team already tried the economic approach to changing these people’s behavior, I think it would be interesting if they repeated the study using a design thinking methodology where the design of the cook stove is based on empathy for the user right from the beginning. Before deciding what the solution is, or even what the true problem is, design thinking stresses the importance of observing the user and understanding their perspective. Only then can the problem even be framed and can the steps of brainstorming a solution, prototyping, testing, and iterating be completed.

Two Thoughts on Professor Sach’s Seminar on Environmental Humor

Posted on February 25, 2016 by TBS

During Professor Aaron Sachs’ seminar on environmental humor, he gave a wide introduction to his unique field of research. During that introduction, he touched on Jewish humor, a distinctive style of humor that Jews have used to cope with constantly being repressed, and he compared and contrasted that with the lack of humor portrayed by global warming advocates.

His references reminded me of a fantastic documentary that really captures the essence of American Jewish humor in the 20^th century: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCNw8gNCtng

The film explores the famous comedy in the Catskill Mountains, Jewish culture in America, and asks whether Jewish humor is dyeing out as Judaism is becoming mainstream, or at least accepted, in American culture.

One of my main take-aways from Professor Sachs’ talk was one that he probably didn’t intend. I know that there has been a large discussion about trigger warnings going on at college campuses across the nation. But Professor Sachs’ talk was the first time I actively witnessed its effects. Professor Sachs spent quite a while warning us from the outset that the content of the video clips he was presenting may be offensive and he came back to this topic several times during the talk. Personally, I felt that this detracted from the humor itself as it is difficult to find things funny after being informed how offensive they might be to some people. I’m not sure about my position on the trigger warnings debate overall but this experience certainly got me to start thinking about it.

Insight into Melancholy

Posted on February 19, 2016 by TBS

GRF Sara led a very nice seminar this Wednesday on her graduate English research on melancholy. Whenever someone is presenting on a topic they have explored in depth, there is the potential to be overly technical or to over-simplify the subject. Sara did not fall into either of these traps and instead did a fantastic job of effectively explaining her work to the wide range of undergraduate majors in attendance. She went into sufficient detail to bring out the interesting and intriguing aspects of her research but was also conscientious to make sure that those of us who haven’t studied English in the classroom setting for a while (myself included) were given the proper background to follow her discussion.

My favorite aspect of Sara’s talk was how her exploration of melancholy has led her to explore a large variety of sources such as literature (Shakespeare’s Hamlet), film (Hitchcock’s Vertigo), history, phycology, and even anatomy! She explained to us that melancholy is associated with back bile, the autumn season, the concept of the tortured, prolific artist, and literary characters and it was interesting to draw connections between all these disparate concepts and to see how they all combine to define the mood or condition of melancholia. Sara’s point that melancholy is also linked with positive things such as artistic creation and love was also particularly insightful.

Melancholy, 1894 by Edvard Munch

Questions about Love

Posted on February 12, 2016 by TBS

Our dinner discussion with Dr. Alvarez raised a lot of interesting and profound questions about love. Dr. Alvarez started the conversation by asking what love means to each of us and whether it is personal, social, and/or political. He also encouraged us to think about situations when love is pleasant and times when it is difficult or even painful.

I was not taught a formal definition of love growing up so it was interesting and surprising to hear that so many other students were. Some were told to equate love with God or had adults in their lives define love as a particular phrase regarding how to treat other people.

As a group, we touched on the idea that love is learned in the family setting and begins with feelings for family members or even hometowns. However, as we grow up, our experiences change and shape our notion of love.

One student brought up a question that really interested me and the others in attendance. She asked, “If you fall for someone from a very different background as yourself (socioeconomically, ethnically, etc.), what does that mean for your relationship?” It was interesting to hear other people’s perspective on this modern topic because although we agreed it is difficult to get to a deep level of mutual understanding, this situation is becoming more and more common for couples.

Dr. Alvarez facilitated a thought-provoking discussion and I really appreciated how he combined his sharing of poems and speaking about his own research with an open dialogue and participation by the attendees. This event truly accomplished its purpose of being a seminar for discussion on a topic that we don’t often get to think or talk about.

Pragmatism vs. Morality in International Relations

Posted on February 4, 2016 by TBS

During this week’s Rose Café on development in Africa, Professor Nicolas van de Walle made an interesting statement. He said that he “wouldn’t force Ethiopia to democratize because that could counter its economic advancement.” What really struck me about this declaration is how clearly it illustrates the tension in international relations between acting for economic or pragmatic purposes and acting to uphold moral standards. Professor van de Walle suggested that there are many types of governments he does not believe merit aid from the US or other developed countries. For example, if a government has been in place for over ten years, if a government was instated via military coup, or if a government is not sharing the cost of the development and promoting local ownership, then he does not believe western countries should support it.

Saying that Ethiopia should be exempted from these standards suggests that sometimes, the international community finds it easier to accept “good enough,” especially when economics come into play. Still, I think it is important to truly question any tradeoffs that favor pragmatics over morality since upholding moral values is in general extremely difficult. I also wonder whether the people of Ethiopia would prefer that the international community prioritizes the economy (which may have more benefits in the short-term) or instituting ethical institutions and practices (which may be more beneficial for the nation in the long-run).

Logistics at Lynah

Posted on January 30, 2016 by TBS

I had a fantastic time at the Rose Ice Skating event. I think that organizing this event was a great idea for a fun activity that allows people to be active during the winter. Caitlin, the SA leading the event, was extremely enthusiastic during the mini-lesson and did a really good job emphasizing the importance of ice hockey to Cornell’s history.

However, this is the second time I have attended a pre-planned event at Lynah Rink and noted that the logistics of getting skates needs to be improved. At both the event I attended last semester and today’s Rose event, as soon as the event began, the line for skates was extremely long and people had to wait as much as 30 minutes to get skates from the single booth. My suggestion is that when Lynah knows in advance that a big group will be arriving, they should lay out the skates on the bleachers, with the biggest sizes at the top and the smallest sizes on the lowest bleachers. Then people can distribute themselves and easily pick out the skates that fit them. A Lynah employee can stand at the entrance to the rink and collect the money (or student ID as in today’s event) as each person steps onto the ice.

I think that because Cornell is such a large school with so many students, it is really important to put forethought into processes such as these. Ice skating is really fun and I believe that by streamlining the method of getting skates, the process of going to the rink could be made even more enjoyable!

Rose Scholars Spring 2016

Explore, challenge, connect

Author Archives: TBS