On Friday, April 26th of 2024, I attended the International and Area Studies 2024 Symposium with a keynote presentation by Dr. Suisheng Zhao of the University of Denver. The primary theme of this year’s symposium was, “Mapping and Measuring China’s Influence Worldwide,” with additional talks by guest experts at OU.
While I am not an International and Area Studies (IAS) student at OU, I had attended the symposium in 2023 as part of my IAS 2003: Understanding the Global Community course, and I new I wanted to come back every year that I attended OU. As a theatre student, my days are usually filled with discussions of Brecht and Beckett—of dramatic structures and directorial strategies. While I live for these discussions, it is sometimes easy to get trapped in the bubble of my own major. Sometimes, it is like a breath of fresh air to gain alternate perspectives on the world—to step into another academic culture with topics that are completely new to me. (This is also part of why I am grateful to be a Global Engagement Fellow—the push to be accountable in creating and curating my own global citizenship is all-important in my goal of gaining a holistic education.)
The symposium was composed of a small but passionate crowd. While, admittedly, I did not understand everything that was discussed at the symposium (some vocabulary words and political science terms flew directly over my head), I found the discussions of culture—and how it affects political strategy and understandings of other countries—exhilarating. Dr. Zhao answered many hypothetical questions from the audience that dealt with “what if’s” about U.S./China relationships, and it was exciting to watch a professional grapple with and lay out the possibilities of the two countries’ future dynamics.
I will be back at the symposium next year, eagerly awaiting an event that always teaches me something new.
