A Blog on McConnell Center Life

Paige Brewer By Paige Brewer , Class of 2015 On March 5, Dr. Aigerim Shilibekova gave a lecture at U of L through the Center for Asian Democracy. Originally from Kazakhstan, Dr. Shilibekova is currently a visiting scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard. Her public lecture was titled, “Transformation of Higher Education in Kazakhstan: The Case of Gumilyov Eurasian National University," and she offered many interesting insights about the state of higher education around the world. Many Westerners have probably never heard of Kazakhstan, the sizable country south of Russia, except for maybe as the homeland of Shacha Baron Cohen’s 2006 Borat character (a movie Dr. Shilibekova advised to never mention to a local Kazakh). Under the control of the Soviet Union until 1991, the nation is currently in an interesting point of transition. It is also very rich in natural resources and arguably important to pay attention to in terms of U.S. national...

Travis Wilson By Travis Wilson , Class of 2016 Book X of Plato’s Republic centers around the importance of philosophy and the negative effects of poets on the attainment of justice.  Socrates recounts why he was required to banish the poets from the city.  His argument is not limited to his specific city, but to society as a whole.  This raises questions regarding the role of modern media in our society.   There is no question that the expansive range of media that the population has access to today affects us in many ways.  Plato’s argument revolves around the fact that poets do not represent the most realistic aspects of the world and corrupt the soul through their supposed knowledge of great topics, of which they only actually have minimal understanding.  Their representations are far removed from reality and often focus on lower ideas than Plato deems acceptable and nurturing to philosophy.  This only destroys the souls that come in c...

Sam Whittaker By Sam Whittaker , Class of 2015 In the United States, the main foreign policy headline of the last month has been Russian aggression in the Ukraine and the Russian annexation of the Crimea by referendum, a vote that most United States citizens view as coerced and a mockery of true democracy. The headlines that have dominated the United States recently focus on the reaction of the United States Government and the reaction of western European democracies to the Ukrainian crisis. However, in light of our upcoming trip to China, I decided to look into stories relating to the Chinese Government’s reaction to Russian aggression in the Crimea.  China and Russia share a long border and have a long history as both allies and antagonists. While both nations were under Communist rule, the nations, who would have been thought to naturally be allied, split on policy and even engaged in an undeclared border war in the 1960s. This has been termed the Sino-Soviet Split...

Danielle Robinette, right, with a friend at the Jeronimos Monastery while on an adventure to Lisbon, Portugal. By Danielle Robinette , Class of 2015 In the final days of my semester abroad, I find that my time has been characterized by two quotes that I came across here in Spain. The first comes from the movie Princesas from director Fernando Léon de Aranoa that I watched for my Contemporary Spanish Cinema class. (Forgive my rough translation.) Caye: ¿Sabías que el mar aquí es muy  importante, donde más? (Did you know that the sea here is very  important, more than anywhere else? ) Zulema: No hay mar aquí.  (There is no sea here.) Caye: Por eso. Es donde más se piensa  en él. Las cosas no son importantes  porque existen, son importantes si  se piensa en ellas… Mi madre lo dice  siempre. Que existimos porque alguien  piensa en nosotros y no al revés.  (Therefore, here is where it is thought of  most.  Thin...

(from left) McConnell Scholars MeghanWaters, Jason Jewell and Haque listen as Givens speaks as part of the Local Leader series.  By Arsh Haque, Class of 2015 Brigadier General Rob Givens came to speak with us on a Tuesday morning in February about “The National Security Environment of the 21 st Century.” Much like Lt. General Josiah Bunting III and other military speakers we have had in the past, General Givens was widely knowledgeable and articulated complex ideas in a smooth way. He was humble and very casually cited Thucydides and his time running the Middle East air campaign. Most interesting, though, was his prediction of what warfare would look like in the next century.  Rather than emulating twentieth century warfare (i.e. similar to World War I and World War II) he believes it will look much more like the 19 th century. In that era there were brief, intense skirmishes between European powers like Prussia. There were high numbers of casu...

By Arsh Haque, Class of 2015 A liberal education breeds a peculiar habit of connecting separate topics. It is not uncommon to use a Platonic framework to analyze literary works (e.g. Evidence of the tripartite soul in All the King’s Men). This habit led to two disparate areas of my McConnell Scholars experience coming together: Moot Court and upcoming study abroad in China. Using a point-of-view given by the prior I have been able to analyze the latter.  Moot Court is a forum for students to engage in oral argument over constitutional law. This year one of the legal questions concerned privacy. In particular, can the FBI track a suspected threat to national security through his cell-phone? This examination brought forth a thorough study of what privacy means, how it is evaluated, and where it applies. The study was immersed in decades of US cultural context. The conclusion, broadly, was that there is a balancing act between the federal government’s interest in national se...

Benjamin Whitlock By Benjamin Whitlock , Class of 2015 The Confucius Institute is located in the library at Western Kentucky University.  The goal of the Confucius Institute is to promote understanding of Chinese language and culture through training courses, cultural workshops, and special events that focus, particularly, on children’s programming.  Through partnerships with local schools, the Confucius Institute introduces Modern Chinese language to high school, middle school, and elementary school students.  It also serves as a regional center for Chinese curriculum development and tackles the business and community needs of China and Sino – American relations.  More pressing, however, is the Confucius Institute’s goal of building connections between China and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.   McConnell Scholars share WKU’s goal of building relationships between China and the Commonwealth.  Every year, ten McConnell Scholars travel to the Peo...

Andrew Stewart By Andrew Stewart , Class of 2015 I had the opportunity to hear former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman speak at the University of Kentucky about leadership and American relations with China. For the first half of the lecture, Governor Huntsman spoke encouraging words directed towards the students and the younger generation. He encouraged students to find something they are passionate about and do their best at fostering that passion. He explained how our generation needs to take advantage of the ability to learn extensively about different cultures. Governor Huntsman emphasized that students need to understand the politics, economics and languages of other countries. Governor Huntsman pointed out that when he was around different universities in China, our peers in China are doing a great job of learning about our country, the politics, economics and culture of the US. Governor Huntsman discussed ways to bring jobs and capital back to America by engaging with Ch...

Advocate Scott By Advocate Scott , Class of 2017 Some students from the LGBTQ center came to speak to my Communication class a couple weeks ago. I really appreciated the experience as a true learning opportunity and a way for there to be more solidarity on campus. I have been around the LGBT community since I was child. My mom and dad were active volunteers with the Louisville Fairness organization. I saw how badly “those gays” were treated and I saw how they were ostracized from our community. I heard how scared people were of coming out and how they got disowned when they came out. It has been interesting to see how accepting society has become even in my short years on this earth; but we haven’t come far enough and that is why it was so good to hear what those kids had to say.  The first young man spoke on coming out to his parents. When his father found out he divorced his mother and the young man never heard from him again. The man’s mother was more understanding b...

Cathrine Mountain By Cathrine Mountain , Class of 2015 Although I have never had much interest in political cartoons, attending the “Annual Lecture and Exhibition of Political Cartoons Banned in Malaysia”, made me see the art in a new light. The lecture was hosted by the University of Louisville’s Center for Asian Democracy and featured Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, otherwise known as Zunar, as their guest of honor. Zunar spoke with us about the situation of political affairs in Malaysia and put the level of political corruption into context. In the Global Financial Integrity report of 2013, Malaysia ranked second among 150 countries in terms of the amount of tax payers’ money lost through bribery and political corruption.  Among the issues discussed were Zunar’s personal experiences with the government banning his books of cartoons, his commentary on the Prime Minister and his wife’s excessive use of public tax money, and a few well-known scandals throughout Malaysia.  ...

Evan Shepherd By Evan Shepherd , Class of 2014 What is diversity? Ask a thousand people and I’m sure you will get a thousand variations.  I venture to assume that a great majority of those will focus on something you can quantify. Ethnicity, race, socio-economic level, gender, age, etc. are all quantifiable characteristics of a person's being.  In that sense, levels of diversity are easily measured. As a society, we have begun to quantify diversity and the result has not been pretty in some cases. Don’t agree with me?  Read the article below. You can easily count and categorize things or people as ‘diverse’ without giving a second thought to the purpose of seeking diversity.  Don’t worry; it’s time for that second thought.  What is the end game of policies enacted to foster diversity? You may not agree, but the Supreme Court says that it is to achieve a critical mass of people. That is, a representation wide enough that no person feels isolated as...

Evan Shepherd By Evan Shepherd , Class of 2014 Mention Kentucky in the same sentence as education and you are not likely to elicit a slew of positive responses.  We could talk about Julius Randle’s inability to discern what ‘attainment’ meant or the abysmal performance numbers of many public schools.  Don’t agree with the previous two statements? I would like to refer you to Hopkins County Central High School. Central, my high school, was taken over by the state soon after my graduation in 2010 and I am sure that story is not unique.   Regardless, the McConnell Center has found a way to provide an Ivy League educational experience at a state-funded public university.  Four years ago when I decided to attend the University of Louisville, that statement seemed like a cliché. Newsflash —the McConnell Center has lived up to that promise beyond anything I could have expected. Yesterday, I accepted a full-tuition scholarship to attend the New York Universi...

Cathrine Mountain By Cathrine Mountain , Class of 2015 After attending a lecture given by the current Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, I left feeling slightly overwhelmed with the amount of information he presented to us concerning US-Sino current relations. Huntsman focused heavily on describing the kind of growth that China is experiencing in terms of population, economic status, and prominence on the world stage. While a lot of issues were brought up and briefly discussed, I was particularly interested in his discussion of the ways in which China is handling its rapidly increasing population. With increased urbanization, not only does the government have to handle issues related to overcrowding and pollution, but they must also begin to revise the Hukou system which has existed in various forms since as early as the Qing Dynasty. Since 1958, the Chinese government has used this system to control the immigration of rural workers into the cities, in order to ensure cities d...

Jason Jewell By Jason Jewell , Class of 2017 Those of us who can remember the atrocities that occurred on September 11, 2001 also remember the impact that day had on our nation. While I cannot recall the political climate or what things were really like before that tragic day, I could, and still can, feel the anger and fear that raged through nearly every American. Toby Keith is a popular country artist known for his outspoken political views and his patriotism. Following the attacks on our nation he wrote a song titled “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)”. Prior to 9-11 the United States experienced sporadic times of stable peace but nothing that was sustained. The 2000s seemed to be the coming of a new age and the beginning of a more peaceful time for America. The terrorist attacks on our country that day would forever change the course of our nation and would entrench us for several years in a glorified war. For over a decade peace served as a foreig...

Andrew Stewart By Andrew Stewart , Class of 2015 Last week I went to the lecture "Uncovering Patterns in North Korea Nuclear Rhetoric" presented by Western Kentucky University professor Timothy S. Rich. As Americans our perspectives of North Korea is that they are irrational and strange. However, little is known about the North Korean leadership. But Professor Rich explains that a paradox is currently taking place. In actuality, North Korea gives the world lots of material and insight into their country. However, few empirical studies have been made about North Korean intent and patterns of leadership. Professor Rich analyzed North Korean’s own words, by dissecting North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). This information was made available by North Korea via web in 1997. The KCNA news has been dismissed as propaganda. This news source gives insight into the factional interest within North Korean government and changes in officers.  The KCNA news site is...

Janna Imel By Janna Imel , Class of 2014 I successfully completed my first unassisted mediation on Friday.  When I first began, I immediately knew I was in over my head (which apparently is the usual first reaction).  Before the mediation, I was given a brief case file.  The file stated that two employees had engaged in an argument and needed to resolve their issues as they would be working together in the future.  My first reaction was that this case would be easy.  I assumed the mediation would take no more than 45 minutes, if that.  I was wrong. When the two clients entered the room, I immediately sensed the hostility.  I soon found out that a "minor argument" had not occurred.  In fact, the two clients had engaged in a physical altercation.  To make matters more difficult, the two had been friends for over a decade.  It turns out that a decade of just "playing around" and "joking" with one another had created a pit of ag...

By Benjamin Whitlock , Class of 2015 As the McConnell Scholars Class of 2015 prepares to travel to the People’s Republic of China, we must answer questions from our classmates, friends, and family members. “Is it safe?” “Are you afraid of the Chinese Communist Party?” “Do they like Americans?” and “Does China’s economy threaten the U.S. economy?” (My grandparents are begging me to stay home.)  My research has yielded a great deal of information about the Chinese government, as well as Chinese foreign policy and the Chinese military. I have learned that the United States made several security agreements with China during the Cold War, which led me to think about how the U.S. would contain potential Chinese ambition in East Asia. Ultimately, though, I concluded that war with China is unlikely – not because of the strength of the U.S. military, but because of the combined strengths of the American and Chinese economies. Although China has continued to ...

Diana Lalata By Diana Lalata , Class of 2017 Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” trilogy calls for the urgent re-evaluation of the career-driven and productivity-focused democratic society of the United States of America. Although the series appeals mainly to young adult readers (with the incorporation of two predictable star-crossed lovers in the midst of a twisted plot), Roth addresses political concerns, exposing the threats to democracy produced by a faction-based society. For instance, individuals are obligated to be “civically engaged” by enlisting with one of the five established factions: Dauntless (the brave and fearless), Erudite (the intellectual and curious), Abnegation (the selfless and democratic), Candor (the honest and impulsive), and Amity (the kind and hardworking). The faction placements are determined by a comprehensive aptitude test that analyzes the reasoning behind individual reactions in various challenging scenes. After receiving the test results, each...

Alicia Humphrey By Alicia Humphrey , Class of 2017 I’m sure several of us remember reading Mark Twain’s beloved classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , at some point in high school. I had largely forgotten about the novel until Dr. Dale Billingsley, my British literature teacher, brought it up in one of his lectures of wide-ranging subject matter. Although we were originally talking about another work, Dr. Billingsley connected the two works by making a unique point about Huck Finn I had never before realized. Dr. Billingsley reminded us of the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, the two feuding families Huck Finn came across during one of his adventures. He related the story to the Biblical tale of Cain and Abel, with the Grangerfords representing Cain, a farmer (a ‘grange’ is where a farmer lives) and the Shepherdsons representing Abel, a shepherd (the name connection being obvious). Like Cain in the Biblical tale, the Grangerfords were the guilty party in Huck Finn . ...

Landon Lauder By Landon Lauder , Class of 2017 Having taken Sociology and reading through Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America , I’ve been able to more fully develop my personal philosophy of societal issues and government intervention. I’ve always known of issues in society, but Sociology has allowed me to understand the core root of the issues by examining them from a systems perspective. The systems perspective is where you realize the individual attributes of people contribute to a group and therefore the group (now being a melting pot of attributes) behaves in a certain way.  Both liberals and conservatives as we now know them in popular media are wrong in my view. Both sides fail to understand people behave differently than the group and vice versa, and thus they fail to recognize societal issues have multiple causes which cannot be solved with just one or two “magic bullet,” “solve-all” fixes. Additionally, because they view society with tunnel v...