Medallion
Courses

In academia, we rarely discuss the ongoing issues occurring in our present world; we usually focus on history since it affects our present and we believe that history repeats itself. This course focused on issues ongoing today, like the refugee crisis and the climate crisis. The focus on modern times gave us a better understanding of the calamities that the future holds due to the neglect given to current problems.

When we look at the world and everything ongoing within it, man is always at the forefront. This is not only the case for the present, but for the past as well. Everything we learn and know is from the point of view of men—mostly white men, but still men. This course gave us the point of view of women and LGBTQ+ individuals. The stories are neglected but crucial to our world. When taking this course, you come to realize that men weren't the target but rather women and LGBTQ+ individuals, because when they fall, the whole house burns with it.

Most of us don't know our basic human rights, or that we even have rights to begin with. Unfortunately, billions of people around the world are abused and have their rights revoked. This course sheds light on those people and the ways in which the international community has failed them. It also conveyed ways in which human rights can be protected and implemented in those communities that abuse them. As a class, we analyzed ongoing catastrophes that abuse people's human rights, like genocides and the refugee crises. What was most useful was brainstorming ways in which action can be taken to protect our rights. Making change in our system is challenging, but one can hope.

Politics affects our everyday lives; when adverse leaders or laws are put into place, a whole nation crumbles. Politics has caused revolutions since the beginning of time, with the French Revolution and the Arab Spring being two of the most notable examples. This course examined the causes of these revolutions and how politics can turn into violence in the blink of an eye, destroying whole nations at once.