对于许多太阳城网赌平台的本科生来说, the COVID-19 pandemic not only affected their academic year but also their summer plans, resulting in the cancellation of internships and other professional or academic programs.
When Associate Professor of Political Science 詹妮弗•埃里克森 saw the impact on some of her students, 她决定填补这个空缺.
国际太阳城官网学院联合聘任的教员, 或者是, 程序, Erickson ran an informal workshop via Zoom this summer for 14 IS majors—all of whom who had been in her Introduction to International Studies class this past spring or in previous years—on the theme “order and disorder in international politics.” The sessions covered controversies such as the World Health Organization and its handling of the coronavirus, 以及与世界贸易组织有关的主题, 国际刑事法院, 难民, 军备控制, 等.
非信用工作坊, 不隶属于或赞助任何部门或项目, 是埃里克森的“即时”创作吗, who saw it as a means to keep her students engaged in intellectual formation and help enrich their understanding of international issues. 但她说，讲习班还有另一个更深刻的方面.
詹妮弗•埃里克森
"Once we began remote learning, I thought a lot about the value of a BC education,” she explained. “除了学术因素, the value is being part of a community built on interaction between faculty and students, 无论是在教室里还是在外面. 教入门课是我了解专业的好方法, so that I can stay connected with them through the rest of their time at BC; I like to be a person they feel they can keep in touch with.
“当我和我的学生报到时, they expressed concern about whether they would be able to do internships in the summer. But they also talked about the difficulty of being away from BC and its sense of community. 所以我试着想办法保持联系, and where they felt they were building on what they had learned—not the same thing as an internship, 当然, 但希望有一些价值.”
达妮埃拉·巴斯克斯·洛里加22岁，佛罗里达州海厄利亚人., had hoped to participate in the Boston 法律yer Group Summer Internship 程序 or the U.但这两个机会都落空了. 当埃里克森提出开工作坊的想法时，她非常兴奋.
“She has great expertise and a knack for explaining difficult topics in an understanding and digestible manner, and focuses on challenging questions that link our class material with current events,巴斯克斯·洛里加说, whose International Studies major is complemented by a concentration in Ethics and Social Justice and a minor in history.
“这真的提高了我们的批判性思维和理解能力. I was discouraged at not having the opportunity to further develop these skills in an internship as I’d hoped. But I trusted Professor Erickson to deliver a challenging and fascinating workshop that would expand my understanding of international relations.”
虽然研讨会是非正式的, 埃里克森希望在参与者中促进一种共同的责任感. She asked interested students to apply and include a cover letter stating their reason for wanting to join the workshop, which consisted of six Zoom sessions that took place every other week; in between, 学生们必须完成指定的阅读材料.
“我试图找到一个平衡点，”她说. “我不想让工作室成为负担, 因为我知道有些学生有工作或其他责任. 同时, 我想让他们认真对待这件事, and understand that they had to commit to attend the sessions and do the readings. Above all, I wanted the experience to be fun as well as intellectually stimulating.”
斯蒂芬妮·布伦塞尔，21岁, whose IS major includes a concentration in political economy and development and a minor in economics, 正在等待她的安全许可，以便在美国大学暑期实习.S. 由于旅行限制，她的项目被取消. Although she had found a new internship when Erickson contacted her about the workshop, 布伦塞尔决定参加.
“I was interested in having a built-in summer commitment where I could read and discuss policy topics within a group of BC International Studies students,布伦塞尔说, 她是弗吉尼亚州人，高中在伦敦度过. “在我之前的IS课程中，这是在这些亲密的小组讨论中, 包括国际太阳城官网概论, 我觉得我对专业课题的理解是最深的.”
大四学生克里斯托弗·桑达拉姆, who decided to take some online courses and offer tutoring for children when his internship ideas didn’t pan out, 讲习班在许多层面上都令人满意.
“时间似乎总是飞逝而过，”来自新罕布什尔州汉诺威的Sundaram说. “埃里克森教授问了我们一些问题, moved the discussion along smoothly—it never felt forced—and I learned a great deal from everyone. I think it shows that if the professor and students are interested and committed to the topic, 在线课程确实有效.”
在其他活动中, Erickson and the workshop participants compared the WHO guidelines for COVID-19 with those of the 2014 Ebola outbreak and examined the Trump administration’s response to the investigation of U.美国在阿富汗的战争罪行. They also discussed how much protection the International Humanitarian 法律 provides to hospitals in conflict zones, how states skirt their responsibilities toward 难民 through bureaucratic measures or by excluding certain groups, and the degree to which the “taboo” against use of nuclear weapons persists today.
Vazquez Loriga对这些话题的及时提出表示赞赏, 有关, 挑战在于“我们谈论的是仍在展开的事情. We had to really think about everything we’ve learned from our courses and theories that we’ve studied to draw our opinions and conclusions.”
“这些话题还没有得到足够的讨论, 尤其是考虑到它们的巨大重要性,桑达拉姆说. “The most valuable thing about the workshop was being able to discuss them in a critical way in an accepting setting, 因为这是达成解决方案和解决这些问题的最佳方式.”
Brendsel同意. “我喜欢听到我们小组成员对阅读材料的不同解读. 埃里克森教授或学生会提出一个问题:例如, did we believe that the WHO serves as a stabilizer or as a police force for member states? 我们的阅读, 这些问题, and students’ diverse opinions were all useful for me as I formulated my own educated opinion on an important international relations topic.”
The three students greatly appreciated Erickson’s willingness to volunteer her time and effort, 但我们对此并不感到惊讶.
“她一直是提供帮助和指导的可靠资源, 无论是在重要的期中考试前主持多次复习会议, 组织一个电影之夜，让同学们团结起来, 或者只是回复询问学术建议的邮件,巴斯克斯·洛里加说. “I was very grateful that she decided to dedicate her free time to her students who just wanted to make their summer worthwhile despite the many setbacks of COVID-19.”
There is a possibility the workshop may continue on in some form during the academic year, 也许是每月一次的讨论. “我希望所有的学生都能重新适应学校的日常生活, 然后看看大家怎么样,埃里克森说. “我很高兴这次经历对他们意义重大.”
肖恩·史密斯|大学传播| 2020年9月