Thursday, December 6, 2007

Students share global issues

By Jessica Paulsen
Cardinal Staff

Dr. Dorothy Diehl’s Lasallian Core Traditions (LCT) Global Issues class is trying to make a difference by promoting awareness of women’s issues.
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The class is divided into groups, each of which chooses an issue covered in class and promotes awareness through posters, speakers, petitions, protests and fundraisers. The issues include women in war, gender equality, sex trafficking and sweatshops, said Diehl.

The purpose of the assignment is for students to do more than just intellectually understand the issues, but to make a campaign, said Diehl. “The focus of this class is looking at women’s issues through Lasallian social justice...and taking a step to look at where the inequalities are systemically; what is it that I can do for the people that are most affected,” Diehl said.

Maria Sullivan, a junior in the class, thinks it is a good project for the class. “It opened our eyes to different global issues,” said Sullivan, “and I think people want to help more.”

Sullivan is not sure if the efforts make a difference, though. “When we do things like the petition, people would just walk by and give us looks like, ‘This is kind of dumb,’” said Sullivan. “But we’re sending our petition to [Minnesota Governor] Pawlenty, and maybe he’ll think, ‘Wow, people are thinking about this.’”

Diehl said this project does make a difference because money is raised for organizations, and it is a way for students to get involved in the issue. “They choose the topic, then they do the research and decide what it is they want to do,” said Diehl. “So my hope is that at some point, whether now or later, that this will be a starting project, a continuing project, not just for this class.”

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