Category Archives: Panel Discussion

Lowcountry Citizens’ Summit

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A couple of weekends ago, on March 30th, I was lucky enough to participate in the Lowcountry Citizens’ Summit! The event was from 10:45am-3:45pm and was hosted by CofC’s very own Honors College. The day welcomed all those who were dedicated to learning more about the pressing issues facing both our society in general, as well as our Charleston community. Students, faculty, and community leaders joined in the Stern Center for a panel discussion, followed by boxed lunches provided by City Bistro! The remaining hour and a half, we spent time participating in breakout sessions.

Dr. Folds-Bennett introduced the panelist that would be speaking on the topic of “Redefining Leadership.” There were five individuals, all different ages and having different backgrounds and professions. Their leadership ranged from being involved in the Charleston School District, the Shared Future Project, the College’s Farmer’s Market, the League of Women Voters, a local education-rights activist, and a very own CofC faculty member! These individuals were all asked several questions from an Honors College student that was in charge of leading the discussion. Questions were all surrounding the topic of leadership (i.e. “What kind of leader are you?” or “Can a leader be made or are you born a leader?”). Each member offered a unique perspective to each question and was able to pull from their own experiences to provide the audience with a wide range of answers.

After several aspects of leadership had been touched on, the discussion dove into more about the issues our Charleston community faces. Most of the panelists answered with something similar to the following; racism, classism, education, climate change/sustainability, and many more that most people do not even realize. This lead into the audience being given the opportunity to then ask the panelists any questions they wish. The panelists, again, answered the questions thoughtfully and offered several solutions and perspectives.

After a quick break for lunch, we were each given the choice as to which small-group “breakout session” we wished to participate in. The choices ranged from justice, to southern hospitality, to hunger and homelessness, to leadership. I chose the topic of southern hospitality, because underneath the description it touched on environmental aspects, which are of interest to me.

Thus, in my small group, we first talked about the “myth” that surrounds our city and about how when you tell people you go to the College of Charleston they are in awe because “Charleston is so beautiful!” However, in reality, those that have not spent a lot of time in this city, do not really know or understand that Charleston faces many societal problems, ranging from racism, classism, gentrification, sustainability issues, food waste, and large amounts of homelessness. We like to put bandaids on these issues and make the tourist areas (i.e. King Street) all pretty, for economic reasons, when the majority of the rest of the peninsula is suffering in other ways. This was one of the most influential parts of the day, in my opinion, because it made me think of our class, and how everything is truly connected. It made me use more systems thinking and more interdisciplinary.

At the end of the small discussion, each of the groups came together and told the larger, entire room about their findings and conclusions. Overall, I thought the day was productive; I learned about several problems that exist around me all the time that I had no idea about. However, at the same time, I still feel overwhelmed, because there are so many! All I can do is continue to talk about these problems with other people and educate others and do my part to ease their effects.

 

 

Social Justice Coffee Hour: TOURISM

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On Tuesday April 9th, I attended an event that was part of the Sustainability Week 2019 called Social Justice Coffee Hour. At this final coffee hour, a panel consisting of two CofC professors, Dr. Jen Wright and Dr. Blake Scott, and a local air b&b host named Tia Clark talked about the complexity of traveling abroad—including the interactions between travelers and locals that shape the cultures from both sides of the interactions—and the effects of tourism on the Charleston community.

Each panelist spoke of a particular issue of importance from what I gathered. Dr. Jen Wright, a professor of psychology, conducts study abroad trips to Cambodia and Vietnam every summer and highlighted the importance of having raw connections with the local people and living like a local as much as possible in order to get the real experience of that culture. She also indicated to stay away from voluntourism, which means that the volunteer program that tourists take part in may not be genuine and impactful but rather was made for tourists as a way for the business to make money. As a traveler, this is something that we should all be aware of when we want to give to a community and make sure that our engagement is meaningful and beneficial for the local people in the long run. It is important to ask many questions and not to manifest the position of privilege that we have on locals because it is detrimental to both individuals.

Moreover, Dr. Blake Scott, a professor of International Studies, highlighted intersectionality thinking meaning how a native community (like Charleston) was formed by other cultures from around the globe (Barbados, Creole) and being aware of historical amnesia, such as when the US invaded Cuba through tourism in 1898 and Cubans revolted as a result. Therefore, when visiting countries that the US has taken over in the past, tourists must be conscious of the historical trauma that may exist from individuals in these countries.

Lastly, Tia Clark is a Charleston native who is an air b&b host that features crabbing as part of the air b&b experience. She emphasized how tourists in Charleston now value cultural/local experiences like crabbing more than souvenirs and that Southern Hospitality has been a big part of the tourist experience in Charleston. She was disheartened at the fact that tourism has taken over downtown Charleston and is no longer the friendly community that she once was a part of. What struck me was her question on why people (investors) choose to change the places that are already beautiful, in which I knew the answer was because of money.

The Social Justice Coffee Hour was very informative and eye-opening. During the panel, I thought about how I should use “conscious tourism” for my trips abroad this summer in other countries. Most importantly, I will use it in the Philippines because I just realized that even as and Filipino-American, I previously manifested my privilege on fellow Filipinos by dressing and acting like I was better than them. Thus, I now know better and will become more aware of the direct and indirect consequences of my actions as a tourist abroad.

“Faith, Justice, and Global Warming: Discussing the Climate of Our Times”

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Last Tuesday, February 12th, I went to an event on campus called “Faith, Justice, and Global Warming: Discussing the Climate of Our Times.”

 

The event was in the Education Center (Lecture Hall 118) from 4pm-6:30pm and was hosted by Professor Todd LeVasseur and the Sustainability Literacy Institute. The discussion featured Peterson Toscano and Corina Newsome.

 

Toscano described himself as a “queer and quirky” individual from rural Pennsylvania, where evidences of wildlife were abundant. He grew up as a Quaker and explained how it was considered “against the grain” to be gay and come out as a young adult, in his church community. Due to his love and support for the LGBTQ community, he began to view the issues of climate change as one directly associated with civil rights. Therefore, Toscano took a year off and began to educate himself on climate science and got involved with citizens climate policies. He explained that he is now a Bible Scholar who has his own podcast, inviting different perspectives, ranging from everyday people with a story to tell to pastors and preachers from neighboring states. Toscano is interested in hearing what people have to say regarding what the Bible has to say about climate change.

 

Newsome explained that she grew up in the city of Philadelphia and experienced a very different childhood from Toscano, when it comes to nature. She discussed how she was never really exposed to animals until she went to visit them in zoos when she was older. This experience combined with learning about how so many species are endangered and threatened, instantly spiked Newsome’s interest in wildlife preservation and ultimately, climate change as well.

 

She explained that once she brought up this concern of climate change to her church community, she was immediately shauned. She was frustrated, but soon joined the Young Evangelicals for Climate Action in college.

 

Newsome explained that one big change she made in her life was beginning to participate more in her civil engagement duties. In other words, she encouraged us in the audience to become educated on what local and national individuals were running for office (i.e what policies they support) and vote! She said that this was a small, but great way to make your voice heard.

 

Newsome also explained that she has tried to “build bridges” where she can, when it comes to discussing climate change to others. We had a mini discussion during the event about how a large portion of the older generation simply dismisses the topic of climate change. Newsome gave advice of trying to build bridges that lead into the topic. She explained that by not beginning with the topic, but instead relating with the other person on another level, could eventually lead into them trusting your views and opinions moreso.

 

Similarly, Toscano discussed how he typically uses the strategy of letting his audiences come to him. He explained that he tries to come up with things that others are curious about and interested in. Once that connection is formed, he is able to able to form the bridge to how that important thing is affected by climate change. For example, he discussed how many people care about their pets and this is a great conversation starter. He explained that once you ask someone, “Have you ever wondered how climate change affects your pet?,” this makes them curious and ask you to tell them the answer.

 

Another main point that was discussed, was the fact that our world and those individuals within in, will see an increase in suffering due to this wicked problem of climate change. Toscano tied faith into this discussion by bringing up the fact that he feels churches will miss out on an integral way to gain more followers with this situation. He explained that with this suffering, individuals will need more guidance, empathy, and something to believe in; thus wanting to turn to religion. He believes that if churches do not choose to admit climate change is happening, they are missing an opportunity to help those in need.

 

Ultimately, many different points were touched on and brought up during the event regarding how faith, class, and race are all connected back to climate change in different ways. It was interesting to hear these perspectives, because I had never really applied this form of systems thinking prior to learning what it means in class and then attending the event to actually see it in action.