Megan Damini is a second-year communications student in the School of Journalism and Communication. She attended the Bachelor of Global and International Studies Launch Conference on March 16.
Chris Brown, the program director of the Bachelor of Global and International Studies program at Carleton University, gave a warm introduction to the crowd. He spoke about the new degree and the accomplishments that it has already achieved. He revealed that the program’s mission is to educate students to become engaged global citizens of the future. Starting a dialogue about the world and understanding its dilemmas is the program’s focus.
The first session of the conference focused on borders and humanitarian interventions, and making sense of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine. The session featured a debate among students from Professor Kamari Clarke’s GINS 1010, International Law and Politics Class. These students showcased the work and research they had been conducting for the last month to set the ground for the debate. The debate featured key dilemmas associated with the Responsibility to Protect doctrine in military intervention. Each group of students were provided a position, which they may or may not have agreed with. Therefore, they had to consider the logic around the position. Students looked at the legal, political, cultural, ethical, historical and economic standpoints regarding the issue at hand. After the groups debated, the audience and the judges had the opportunity to ask questions and start a discussion regarding the arguments.
The conference also included a keynote lecture by Dr. James Orbinski. Dr. Orbinski is a humanitarian, practitioner and advocate who worked as the Doctors Without Borders’ international president. He spoke to the challenges of stepping up, and stepping out globally.
In conclusion the conference demonstrated the strong skills and abilities of first year undergraduate students, and their ability to speak to a large crowd after only being in University for such a short period of time. It allowed the audience to see what the new Bachelor of Global and International Studies program is bringing to the table for students, and for Carleton University.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 in Ambassadors, Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs, Bachelor of Global and International Studies, Communication and Media Studies, FPA Research Series, International, News
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