Learning Global Perspectives

This is a snapshot of my global learning experience--from some of my favorite events I had the opportunity to attend, my GL capstone project,

and a reflection of what I've learned.

Global Learning Activities

Restorative Justice in Action: Framing Our Mindsets Towards Healing Webinar

This presentation was from the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF). The speakers are Anooj Bhandari, Jane Shim, and Terrance Winston. What I learned most about was the variety of definitions of restorative justice. Some define it as principles that stem from indigeneity that are rooted in deepening relationships and strengthening community by challenging existing paradigms and systems. 3 words to describe it include: consent, story-telling, and accountability.

Another definition would be responding to those who have experienced racial harm or violence and giving people the opportunity to have resources and support to create solutions in these situations by building community and supporting people where they’re at. A third is restoring balance, within a community or relationship, that has been lost and has led to harm. It’s not “fixing”—people are not broken, it’s healing. It is creating space for cultural assertion; engaging multiple communities and cultures in a balanced discussion to create positive or new solutions. The moderators asked, “What does it look like more concretely?” It seems there are two main paths or work: You can engage to support one another and foster positivity or you can deal with the impacts of hate. This can be impactful because it can make people feel less vulnerable. One of the major challenges for people working in the field of restorative justice, that I found impactful, was that it is a field that is in high demand but discourse and resources within it takes some time to develop.

Systems Thinking for a Better World

The speaker Marcela Villan is a teacher that works in environmental education and global citizenship programs, educating us on systems thinking and how that framework can be taken to the classroom. A global citizen is someone who is aware of the world and recognizes and values rights and injustices. The goal SDG #4, Target 4.7, is what we need to focus on. I learned about thinking routines which are different routine paths of developing thinking skills for students. What is systems thinking? Systems that can help us grasp the interconnectedness of our world, and there are systems all around us. The speaker showed us the compass tool

(compasseducation.org), where students have to connect the dots to see the systems and relationships that underpin our world. The iceberg model tells us that the “tip” of what we see is maybe what we see, but we must think deeply to see what’s going on underneath to unveil patterns, structures, and mental models that can help us find the solutions. The solutionary framework is when you identify the problem, investigate the problem, innovate solutions, and implement solutions. Being a solutionary is just like an ongoing process. It involves continuous learning, adaptation, and a commitment to making a positive impact. Becoming a solutionary involves adopting a mindset and approach that actively seeks to identify and implement solutions to complex problems.

Korean Language & Culture Festival at FIU

The festival event was such a cool experience! I unfortunately missed the results to the singing and dance competitions, but I did get the opportunity to try some delicious food. I tried Bulgogi, Tteokbokki, and some beef dumplings. Walking around the tabling events, I got to try to play a common game called Gonggi, where you throw “dice” and then try to pick it up while you throw one up in the air. It was beautiful to see the FIU community coming together to celebrate a culture that I did not know much about before.

Global Learning Capstone:
International Research Experience for Students

Over the Summer of 2023, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a National Science Foundation funded research experience. FIU Tropical Conservation Institute's International Research Experience for Students (IRES) Wildlife Conservation Training Program in the Caribbean. I got to work with fellow students in the island nation St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Globally, biodiversity is rapidly declining. This research strives to protect one species in the Caribbean because every species counts. Along the way, I learned about a new culture, tried delicious local cuisine, and forged meaningful connections.

Abstract

secret text hehe

Biodiversity conservation work assumes that biodiversity is essential to a nation’s prosperity, and prioritizes areas with high endemism for conservation targets. The main island of the Caribbean archipelagic nation St. Vincent and the Grenadines houses an endemic parrot, Amazon guildingii. Habitat losses, poaching, and lack of robust knowledge on the species has led to its Vulnerable IUCN Red List status. Emergent bioacoustic techniques, coupled with machine learning, have been used to generate and process robust data more rapidly and cost-effectively, for the ecological study of elusive species. We deployed acoustic loggers during the Summer of 2022, compared A. guildingii’s relative site presence, and assessed whether passive acoustic monitoring data were strong predictors of visual surveying techniques. We use detections as our study metric, which only represents parrot activity. The use of machine learning models through BirdNET GUI reduced processing time by 200-fold. Passive acoustic data was able to generate significant site differences. While the regression coefficient (R²) is not traditionally high, it indicates a positive relationship between acoustic and visual detentions, and there is a potential for using acoustics to estimate parrots in the future. Acoustic monitoring appears to be a promising tool to survey Amazona guildingii and bridge knowledge gaps in conservation to safe-guard its existence.

Global Learning Courses

COM 3417 Communication in Film

In this course, I had the opportunity to connect a technical understanding of cinematographic techniques to visual media. Throughout the semester, we would view films from different periods of time and from across the globe. From Wes Andersen's Grand Budapest Hotel, to Sergei Einstein's Battleship Potemkin, to Jacques Tati's PlayTime our class was dedicated to discussing the what, the why, and the how each film communicates its core ideas.

REL 3492
Earth Ethics

This course explored resources from history, philosophy, and religion. These came together to explain their roles in extant paradigms of viewing the environment and solutions to environmental crises. We asked questions such as "what makes something natural vs. unnatural?" We explored, for example, Ecofeminism, which links feminism and pro-environmentalism under themes of domination and autonomy, class, and sexuality.

EVR 1017
Global Environment & Society

Throughout this course, we received an introduction to the history of environmentalism, and the global impacts of climate change on social and economic processes. Reading The Madhouse Effect by Michael E. Mann and Tom Toles taught me to recognize and argue against the rhetoric behind climate-denialism. We were introduced to global trends, such as the prevalence of factory farms and their role in agriculture and pressing environmental crises.

Personal Reflection

My time with Global Learning

I signed up for the global learning medallion in the early summer of 2023. While my time being a Global learning student has been brief, it was truly a wonderful experience. At the beginning of this semester, when things began to get very busy, I questioned whether or not I would continue to do this Global Learning work. For myself (and I’m sure for other students as well) attending 20 extra sessions, activities, and events is not easy with the pressures of being a student. That said, I’d do it over again, and would recommend it to any of my fellow students.

I have two big takeaways from this GLM experience. First, I’ve learned that it begins with listening, and continues with action. At most of the sessions I attended, speakers always addressed some sort of “problem statement.” That is, they would address the scope of an issue within the global and/or local community, and follow their presentation on what they were doing to solve that issue. For example, I learned that more than 2 billion people across the globe live without water security, and how organizations tackle this issue. When it comes to these problem and solutions, someone had to first communicate that there was an issue, various groups shared their perspectives on the solutions to that issue, and finally an actor took action to engender change. During the Tuesday Times Roundtable, FIU students from all different backgrounds would share their responses and their knowledge on certain issues.

Second, I’ve learned that thinking globally means acting locally. Many of the sessions I had the opportunity to attend this semester talked at large about local issues, from some of Florida’s history, sustainability issues, and local immigration policies. However, whatever themes make up these different issues can be traced back to global issues. If we wish to solve global issues, we can start by taking action locally to achieve whatever outcome we need. For me personally, this experience was crucial to contextualize my own life’s work. As an aspiring biological conservation scientist, I always focus on local South Florida’s environmental issues. While the Everglades is my home, I never remind myself that in the world there is no other Everglades. Whatever work I do now and in the future is a global issue! I strive to continue to always consider various perspectives in any work to protect our biodiversity and ecosystems.

I'd like to conclude with one of the biggest strengths of the GL Medallion as a program. The flexibility of attending events that interest me and broaden my perspectives, and the dedication of the GLM team show the true commitment to prioritizing education over deadlines and rigid structure. It allows us as students to engage on our own while creating a network of likeminded students.