Jenna is back, discussing recent lunchtime discussion sessions in honor of International Women’s Day.
It’s a busy time of year in the PIM suite, where Rebecca, Maria, Sedia and I are all deeply engaged in reading applications that arrived close to the Financial Aid priority date of March 1st. My head is swirling with amazing essays from prospective students with incredibly diverse and varied experiences and backgrounds. It is exciting to imagine the knowledge that next year’s students will bring with them, and what we all can learn from each others’ experience. I find myself thinking about the possible composition of next year’s PIM 68s, and imaginary conversations two potential students might have about the environment, the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina or human trafficking based on what I am reading in their essays and on their experience.
A couple of days ago, I decided to take a break from reading applications to attend an installment in a Lunch Series in honor of International Women’s Day. The session on ‘Rape as a Weapon of War’ was held during lunch, between classes for students who are currently absorbed in their classes and analyzing similarly important issues on a regular basis. My expectations for participation in the session were not so high, and when I arrived I saw, as expected, only a handful of people attending the session…and all females. “Why,” I thought, “is this topic so often marginalized as a ‘woman’s issue’, and not equally embraced by all people as a human rights issue?”
Learning from Each Other’s Experiences, continued
My pessimism was unwarranted, however. Slowly, throughout the session, the large room began to fill, while students, staff and faculty became drawn into a discussion facilitated by PIM students on rape in the DRC, and the historical basis of using rape to affect entire communities suffering through ongoing conflict. Men and women of all ages poured into the event, eventually sitting on the floor for a lack of chairs. Even at lunch, SIT comes out to inform themselves and analyze current international events and potential solutions.
Managing to leave the applications again today, I attended a lunch session entitled ‘Women of Color in the United States’, which brought together a diverse group of people, reaching across degree areas, countries of origin, ethnic groups and gender to discuss difficulties and rewards of layered identities. The exercise began with a brainstorm of heroines of color within a US context; despite the deep reaching contemplation the number of women we were able to list was sparse, leading to a discussion of media and education shaping who we see as ‘heroes’. Continuing with a personal poem about identity of women displaced into the United States, and a speech by Maya Angelou, conversation developed to analyze a lack of unity in the struggle for equal rights, be that within the women’s movement or within individual ethnic subcultures in the United States.
These moments of intellectual stimulation are some of the great benefits of being part of a very international and diverse campus. However, from my memory of being a ‘PIM-partner’ a decade ago, these discussions and stimulations often spill from the classroom to the local bar, to the weekend party, to the shared car ride on the way to go skiing… When you have such an amazing mix of students – who have personally led HIV awareness campaigns in Africa, worked against human trafficking in Central America, or trained Peace Corps volunteers in Asia – how can you pass up on such a resource? In a ‘learning organization’, it is satisfying to see that learning happens not only in the classroom, but during free time, too. These moments are pivotal to allowing me to counsel persons considering SIT; the value of every minute, of every interaction, is an every day satisfaction in this wonderful community.
Tags: - World Learning, Jenna Shearer Demir, Prog in Intercultural Serv Lead and Mgt, SIT
