Women's History Month: A Time to Reflect

Unequal pay. Domestic violence. Job discrimination. Unequal opportunity to education. Genital mutilation. These are just samples of the ongoing list of issues women have to face today.

 I thought it would be appropriate to have my post for the month of March to be one dedicated to the Women’s Rights Movement, as it is Women's History Month. Even though I started this post from a negative angle, I must also shed light to recent achievements of women and the Women’s Movements. In the United States, Congress has achieved its largest number of women within the Senate. Women in Saudi Arabia were finally granted the right to drive. Women, all over the world, are becoming stronger, more prominent members of society. These achievements are not only a testament to the resilience of the Women’s Movement, but also reflect a shift towards a more equal future.

 The Women’s Rights Movement is more relevant than ever. A plethora (and I mean a plethora) of sexual harassment cases have surfaced the media. The accused sexual violators range from prominent movie producers to Hollywood actors to former politicians to journalists. It is not ironic that the violators in the sexual abuse cases tend to be powerful individuals. Many of the victims of these cases may have felt like their accusation of the violators would simply be muted by a set of prominent lawyers. Considering the violators powerful roles, it has required every ounce of courage for the victims to speak up.

 For example, over 150 women accused Larry Nassar, a former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor, of sexual harassment. He has since been sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. Like many Americans, I watched the testimonies of the victims with a heavy heart. Many of the girls admitted to a life of mental health complications due to Nasser's actions. Others mourned the loss of their childhood innocence. It was difficult to watch, but necessary to watch. The testimonies surfaced the emotional trauma caused by sexual abuse.

 Again, courage was necessary for these women to testify before the man that violated them. This courage will hopefully empower victims, all over the world, to speak up when they encounter abuse. Let’s put an end to gender-based harassment, violence, and discrimination in order to promise a more equal future.

Mohamad Jaafar
CASL student majoring in Communication and Political Science 

UM-Dearborn and Beyond!

Freshman. Sophomore. Junior. Senior. Seems as though four years at UMD flew by just as fast as the amount of time it took for me to write those four words. At UMD, I majored in Political Science and International Studies with concentration in International Affairs and Spanish language. I was fortunate to have some incredible experiences because of UMD.

During my four years at UMD, I spent two semesters outside of Dearborn. During the Fall of 2014 I was a part of the UM Ann Arbor Michigan in Washington Program (MIW). Through this program, I was able to get a semester long internship in Washington, DC. I interned on the National Security and International Policy team at the Center for American Progress (CAP). During my time at CAP I did research assignments, wrote op-ed pieces with my supervisors and attended many events around Washington DC that related to my supervisors’ or my work and research. This was an immense learning experience.

As part of the MIW program I also had to do a research project of my choice. My project was about Ukraine as a buffer state in the middle of Europe. Furthermore, I had to attend a series of speaker events. I was fortunate enough to attend events with Undersecretary of State Catherine Novelli and former Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal. To make all of this better, most of the time free food is available at these events. While working at my internship and doing these extra tasks that were required from students by the program I grew professionally and learned how to network. DC provided me with lessons that one would never encounter in a classroom setting.

After my internship, my next adventure was in Mexico on a study abroad program. I participated in a Sol Education program in Oaxaca during the Winter 2016 semester. I took classes at a local university and lived with a host family. When I arrived in Mexico, I was pleasantly surprised at how much Spanish I understood after 3 years of Spanish classes at UMD. My university provided me with the skills I needed to be successful. I built on my Spanish language skills to the point where I could talk my way out of many situations while traveling throughout Mexico.

Mexico was a learning experience and again, I grew in ways that are not always possible in the classroom: how to build bridges with different people. Some people in Mexico, for instance, think that Soviet Union is still intact. As someone who is a news junkie, this was strange for me. However, I had to adapt and find common ground with people where it seemed as though common ground does not exist. Since I was living in a foreign country – I had no choice.

UMD has provided me with incredible opportunities and I am glad I took advantage. It is indeed true that some of the best classrooms do not have four walls and I encourage everyone to study abroad and intern at different organizations.

Taras Garapiak is a senior in CASL.
 

You know you are an English major when...

Although I am a CASL English concentrator who has analyzed thousands of words throughout these college years, my experience here has been about numbers. This will be comical to my friends and family because I have a hard time counting without using my fingers. I have been in college for five years, at UM-Dearborn for four years, changed my major three times, became a student at two UM-Dearborn colleges, and one goal: to graduate. These numbers surround my life; however, I have always immersed myself into words. My mother is an avid reader, and since I was young, I have mimicked many of her habits, including reading. I am sure this story is familiar to other English concentrators who were reading before they were talking. Since English concentrators love telling and reading stories, I have created a list of a story many of us can agree on: You know you are a CASL English concentrator when…

Microsoft Word is automatically set up to type in Times New Roman and 12 point font.

Your non-English concentrator friends ask you for help with their essays.

You can find a grammatical mistake in almost any scenario you are in. (Billboards on the

freeway, brochures in the doctor’s office, other professors’ syllabi)

Non-English concentrator friend complains, “I have a five page paper to write!”

English concentrator rolls eyes and says, “I have to read a novel I just opened today and write a

ten page paper about it. Want to trade?”

You skip class in order to write an essay for another class.

You have never admitted that you read Fifty Shades of Grey.

The Purdue Owl is the Bible.

Stranger: “What is your major?”

English student: “English.”

Stranger: “What are you going to do with that?”

Your professor asks the class, “Who liked the story?” Everyone raises their hands.

Your superpower is finding incorrect uses of their, there, and they’re.

You have had a least one family member tell you that you are not going to find a job after graduation.

You know every trick on Microsoft Word to make your essay the exact minimum length requirement.

You wish you could have partied with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

You have the best imagination because through literature you have imagined hundreds of places.

Your other superpower is speed-reading an assigned text 30 minutes before class.

You bring your laptop to class and actually use it to take notes instead of Facebook.

You roll your eyes at people who say they don’t like Shakespeare because “they don’t understand it.”

You own one (or more) book cases and fill them completely.

You spend the whole year creating your “Summer Reading List.”

You roll your eyes at people who say, “I don’t like to read.” (Because none of us have to read anything on a daily basis.)

You realize books will always be better than their movies no matter which story it is.

You probably own one piece of clothing that references your favorite novel. (I have a Pride &

Prejudice scarf)

You are a writer in your spare time or dream of having time to write in your spare time.

You use correct grammar in your text messages and emails.

You have mastered the art of reading multiple pieces of literature at once.

You realize being an English major is the best major because you get to do your favorite hobbies

of reading and writing on a daily basis. (And you get graded on them!)

I know not every CASL English concentrator will agree with all of these items, but if someone can relate to at least one, then I will be happy. All CASL students have their own unique stories to tell and I am glad I was given the opportunity to tell mine. No matter what your CASL major is, go out into the world and make your story heard.

Samantha Belcher is a UM-Dearborn alumna, class of 2016. 

My Time as a Social Justice Warrior

The social sciences at UM-Dearborn have honestly changed my outlook on the world, the way I view my surroundings, and my entire plan for the future. Since I was young, I’ve been really passionate about people and have felt really strongly about the issues we have as a collective society. Going into college and meeting other students who have this passion allowed us to explore these things together and start to get involved in the world of activism.

During my sophomore year, I heard about a new club starting on campus called the Social Justice League. It was started by 3 women who were majoring in Women and Gender Studies and I remember how incredibly informed and passionate they were about issues that were going on at the time. From here, I started getting more involved with professors on campus who were also working toward social justice as well as groups in the Detroit area that were putting so much work in to combat the many ways in which forces were working to oppress and exploit people.

I ended up getting happily caught up in this web of networks that brought me to so many incredible people, programs, classes, and projects that sharpened my understanding of the world as well as created many more questions. In essence, that has been my journey thus far: I’ve been able to be inspired by so many incredibly passionate and powerful people and groups, and as I learn from them, I realize how much left I have to learn.

This constant realization has led me to take advantage of the many amazing opportunities we have on campus: academic service learning courses, leadership programs, impactful centers, transformative departments, energetic professors, engaging research, and a wealth of chances to be engaged in the community around us. From all of these things, I’ve learned about how the world around us was built and how it primarily serves specific identities. I’ve learned about what the news won’t show us, what textbooks don’t teach us, what people refuse to acknowledge, and how all of this is creating patterns in our world.

Majoring in Urban and Regional Studies has exposed me to some of the most motivated professors and honest courses. In all of my years of education, I’ve never been exposed to so much truth. I’m so blessed to be surrounded by people who have a stake in this movement to fix all that we have broken in our past. I have also been blessed to cross paths with so many people who are majoring in Women and Gender Studies, Sociology, International Studies, and all sorts of other incredible things. It is even greater to know that there is a deep understanding that our position at a university is strategic and a privilege that we need to use to rid our world of systems that do nothing to alleviate the many issues we have impressed upon people.

The social sciences here have absolutely provided me with so much in such a short amount of time. Above all, they taught me the importance of learning by experience: It is not nearly enough to read a textbook. There are so many things going on in the world and to assume that reading will allow us to understand it all is dangerous. While it may be impossible for a person to truly understand every issue that is going on in the world, I understand that the education I am receiving is a tool that can and should be used. It is something I can offer to community groups and projects in an effort to build solidarity and collective consciousness among those who have not been exposed to these things. Without these resources at school, I would probably not be doing any of these things, and I can’t imagine how dangerous that would be. 

Teia McGahey is third year student at the University of Michigan- Dearborn majoring in Urban and Regional Studies. She is a member of a number of student organizations including the Social Justice League, Circle K International, Food Recovery Network, She's The First, and Student Government. She is also a part of a statewide coalition of students, the Michigan Student Power Network, that work to fight oppressive structures that further oppress marginalized groups.

Confessions of a "Professional Student"

I'm Allison. And after over 5 years of indecision, you can call me a "professional student."

You'd think that by now I'd have it all figured out. You'd think that after 5 years of cramming developing efficient study plans, reading almost every academic article in existence, and writing essays until my knuckles went numb, I could have come to even the most basic conclusion of what I want to do after I graduate. But the more work I do, the more I discover that my "life plan" is far from complete. The question of, "What are you doing after graduation, Allison?" plagues virtually every family function and causes me to want to rip my hair out strand-by-strand. What AM I doing after graduation?

College is the stepping stone into the rest of your life, and if you don’t have it figured out by graduation, all the signs point to a lifetime of mundane tasks and insufficient self worth. Spatulas and greasy hamburgers haunt my dreams. 

And this is something that we’ve been inadvertently told our entire lives. Virtually every adult from the age of four onwards has asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up, Allison?” At four, my answer would have been, “a Ballerina!” But at the age of eight, I stormed out of my dance class, defeated upon discovering I have two left feet.

 
At the age of twelve, I would have told you that I was going to be a singer; that was until I found out that I would be rejected from the lead part in Oklahoma! for being too “pitchy.” At the age of 15, I was going to be a psychologist, but that was mostly because I was ready to figure out my own inevitable teenage angst. At the age of 17, I was going to be a radio broadcaster, and half-way through my first year of college at 18, I no longer had an answer. 

This turned into a joke for awhile. “What are you majoring in, Allison?” resulted in a light-hearted response of, “it’s a surprise.” I spent the next couple of years of college in this similar sort of "let's-fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants" mentality, but by 21, these responses were no longer funny.

Enter panic mode.

Here I am: 21 years old. In my third year of college. And am still grappling with that age-old question of "what do I want to be when I grow up?" And just as I was four, and eight, and twelve, and fifteen... I hadn't the faintest idea.

So I began a process of trial and error. I tried out a couple classes and student organizations until I found something that did more than just vaguely interest me. I wanted to find something that I was so passionate about that I couldn't sit still while talking about it. And then I found Blueprints.
Blueprints is a metro-scholars program offered on campus that allows students to develop leadership skills. And it did this. But it also gave me the opportunity to hone in on the issues I cared about, the leadership I was hoping to take on, and the skills that I possessed and wished to make better, all while forcing me to believe that the goal after college was not to just "find a job" but to make myself into a leader; someone that could make a real change and difference. 

And this program forced me to do a little bit of reading. I read about issues of social injustice. I read about power dynamics. I read about inequality. And poverty. And opportunity. I became aware of the state of the society we lived in; and I felt it. I couldn't sit still. 

I declared my major and minor shortly thereafter: Communications with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. And with this declaration I found myself growing more and more confident in my decision. My classes, while providing me with the most useful information related to my future endeavors, also provided me with the ability to come to information, events, and places with a critical eye. My professors have taught me to question everything, and to never stop asking questions. They have taught me that my will to learn shouldn't stop once I've turned over my tassel. 

I still don't know where I'm going. The question has changed from, "What are you going to be when you grow up" to "What are you going to do post-graduation." I still can't answer these questions specifically. But I'm a bit calmer now. I thankfully have a pocket full of perspectives and skills that I am so lucky to have received. And while I don't know what lies ahead in the next year, I now know which road to take. And frankly, that's all I need to know. That's what makes this whole thing exciting.


Allison Wilke is a CASL Senior majoring in Communications and minoring in Women and Gender Studies. She is an Avid cat lover, human rights activist, and writer. You can check out some of her other random musings at adailyepiphany.wordpress.com

A View from the CASL: Psychology Reflection

I’m Najat Nahshal, and I am honored to be voted by UM-D faculty as one of the top 10 psychology students of 2014-2015. I just want to say that throughout my undergraduate career at UM-D, the CASL building really was my second home. I basically lived there on a daily basis. From the hangouts with friends in the CASL atrium between classes, to running participants in psych labs on the fourth floor, to the last minute study session in the Language lab before exams, CASL really was my favorite building on campus.

I was a psychology major, with a minor in Arabic studies, and I have to say that I had the best professors in the whole wide world. I was (and still am) a research assistant for Dr. Clark-Foos for over a year now. I must say that Dr. Arlo pushed me, and the rest of the lab, outside our comfort zone because he really believed in our potential. I will never forget my oral presentation at the CASL undergraduate research showcase. I would have never imagined having the guts to speak in front of an audience about my findings, if it wasn’t for Dr. Clark-Foos’ belief in me as a researcher to do both an oral presentation for one project, and a poster presentation for the other. Dr. Clark-Foos continued his mentoring as I went on to present at the MPA conference in Chicago, as well as the Meeting of Minds conference.

Additionally, I was a research assistant for Dr. Siefert, who also believed in me so much that he allowed me to present my research at both the CASL showcase and the Meeting of Minds conference, even though I had just started working in his lab a few short months ago. Dr. Siefert was also my advisor for psych club, and as President of Psych club, I collaborated with Dr. Siefert and with hard work and dedication from him and the rest of the psych club members, we were able to put together a memorable Mental Health Week: Suicide Awareness campaign on campus this year!

I also want to shout out my Arabic Studies Professor, Dr. Dika, who believed in me a great deal throughout my Arabic courses, and made me feel accomplished even when I was struggling to understand the foreign material. His constructive criticism and feedback made me push myself to study that much harder and prove to him that I was taking his advice and doing everything I can to improve!

Also, the feedback I received from my other Professors, such as Dr. Sethuraman, who taught me Psychology of the life-span course, and Dr. McAuslan who taught me Social Psychology, really helped me reach my maximum potential as a student. I remember randomly stopping by Dr. Sethuraman’s office and just talking to her about my grad school goals and dreams. Her advice to me was to never throw out my psychology textbooks, but instead, save them and use them as a personal library that I could reference throughout my career. I also remember Dr. McAuslan stopping me after the final exam in her course, and telling me that she recommended me to become an SI Leader, not knowing that I had been an SI leader for about a year (Professor Roundtree, I hope I made you proud!!)

Lastly, shout out to Dr. Swift, who taught me Experimental Psychology. That was by far the hardest course of my undergraduate career. At times, I felt like Dr. Swift had mistaken us for upper-level graduate students because of the complexity of the material he was teaching (sorry to put you on blast Dr. Swift). However, I used this adversity as motivation to study even harder for his course. Going into his class, I had a perfect psychology GPA of a 4.0 (and a cumulative GPA of a 3.9), and I wanted to do everything I could to maintain my straight A’s. I remember being so nervous about my grade towards the end of the semester, that I asked him “Dr. Swift, do you EVEN give out A’s? Or is there no such thing?” and I remember him laughing at me and assuring me that he does in fact give out A’s to those who earn them. Thankfully with (extremely) hard work and dedication, I survived his class with an A, and my perfect psychology GPA survived as well.

I honestly cannot express in words how my undergraduate career as a CASL student shaped the person I am today. I only shared a fraction of my experience at CASL, but let it be known that there were so many more memorable moments that I will never forget. Although the bulk of my piece focused on my relationship with the best faculty in the world, I just want to shout out all of the students, my classmates, my friends, who made my undergraduate career worthwhile. I met students from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds; I heard their stories, and although on the surface we seemed so different, in reality we were so much alike. I met some of my best friends in CASL, and I know that our friendship will remain even after we part ways and continue on in our respective career paths.

Going back in Time at le Château de Versailles

It was not too long ago when I was able to see the fireworks exploding. Fireworks have always had their own beauty with a vast range of colors from red, blue, green, purple, and orange. On top of the fireworks, there was a fire show happening at the same time as the fireworks with French music playing in the background to match the mood. Being here, you felt warm and there was a sense of you going back in time around the early 1700’s. I was able to see the fountains running at night, which were also illuminated with deep violets, red, and a dull orange color.

I saw a statue surrounded by smoke and lasers. They had smoke covering the ground making it more magical. It was stunning to see not only le château de Versailles lit up at night but also to see the fountains and fireworks. This is something you do not get to see everyday, even in France. I made a French friend who used to be a tour guide at le château de Versailles. He explained, to our small group, the story behind all of the fountains and the process of building le château de Versailles. After that night, I never understood why we do not appreciate history as much as the French do. Historically, everything that we are and everything that we have is because of our history. It is a shame that we do not value those who take the time out to learn about the history of not only our country but the history of others. History seems to be ingrained in every class that I have at the University. Although I may be learning about French literature in the 20th century, grammar, and speech there is always a history lesson for the way things used to be and how the are today. In my opinion, I feel like this has helped me remember all of the information better because it is like a small glimpse back in time.