The fancy video cameras and smiling people with clipboards by the door of the PUB’s Quiet Dining Room are there for a reason. On several Thursdays of fall quarter, the PUB will be host to events coordinated by SCC’s Global Affairs Center. Speakers at these events will range from the mayor of Tacoma to SCC’s own professor Brooke Zimmers.
Rita Zawaideh will be speaking at SCC from 12:30-1:20 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 12 in Room 9208.
For most people, news about Syrian refugees creates some specific reactions: guilt, sympathy and powerlessness. It is a great privilege to live a life in America, with a house, with a job, with opportunities for education, and never having to experience the kind of fear and upheaval refugees experience. Many college students get to experience this privilege—but that does not make them rich.
And what good can students do for refugees without donating money? We can’t fly across an ocean to volunteer. We can tweet about the issues that bother us, we can raise awareness, but what action can we take?
One of the GAC event speakers, Rita Zawaideh, is the founder of the Salaam Cultural Museum. The Salaam Cultural Museum provides humanitarian aid to people affected by conflict and natural disaster in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). They also serve to bring cultures and people together to build bridges of understanding.
At the museum, anyone can volunteer—students, teachers, teenagers, everyone is welcome.
Special skills are not required, and volunteers can go in as often as they’d like. Volunteer activities range from sorting medical supplies to putting together hygiene kits to loading shipping containers.
Those interested can reach out to [email protected].
Tacoma’s mayor, Marilyn Strickland, will be speaking at SCC from 7:00-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19 in Room 9208.
Jonathan Peebles, the program coordinator of GAC, is most excited about the mayor of Tacoma’s event—–which may be selfish of him, he said, as he’s fifth generation Tacoman.
The phrase “Think global, act local” is often associated with environmentalism, though Strickland believes it can be extended to trade, immigration, transportation, healthcare, education and other issues.
Simon Walker, GenR Seattle president, will be speaking at SCC from 11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 25 in Room 9208.
GenR, which stands for Generation Rescue, is a group of humanitarians who work with the IRC, or International Rescue Committee. The IRC provides emergency aid and long-term assistance to people displaced by war, persecution and natural disaster.
Vietnam and current era veterans will be coming to SCC at 7-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 2 in Room 9208.
The veterans’ event will focus on challenges faced by women and racial and ethnic minorities in the armed forces, focusing on their service and their return home. The veterans will also speak on the commemoration of their service and how it may have been different for them compared to other members of the military. This event will be put on by both GAC and Veterans Services at SCC.
Justin Collins of the UW Jackson School of International Studies will be coming to SCC at 12:30-1:20 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9 in Room 9208
Collins’ event is on cybersecurity. He was part of a team tasked with completing a cybersecurity project for Microsoft which contributed to the design and use of a Digital Geneva Convention meant to protect civilians on the Internet. Collins will share how he went from the U.S. military to SCC and then finally to the UW Jackson School.
Bradley Murg, professor of political science at Seattle Pacific University and affiliate professor at the UW Jackson School will be coming to SCC at 7-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16 in Room 9208.
Murg’s event title, “US-Russia Relations: A New Cold War?” begs the question of ”Is this the new/old normal?” Between confrontations in Europe and the Middle East and accusations of Russian interference in the U.S. election, relations are tense. With so much misinformation being spread, students want to know what the facts are.
Brooke Zimmers, professor of communication studies at SCC, will be speaking at 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Nov. 30 in Room 9208.
During last year’s winter break, Zimmers traveled alone in Myanmar for three weeks. At her event, she’ll share her photography and stories about being a woman traveling alone and how social media impacts the travel experience.
—Nellie Ferguson
