Studying abroad is a time of self-discovery. By the end, you may become a person that you would never expect. Maybe you pick up new hobbies or find a new dream career path. Maybe, like me, you will become a regular at 7-Eleven. This is where I started my Friday morning in Copenhagen. Nothing leaves you fiending for a cold bottle of orange juice like a night spent in a sweaty club. To start my day, I miraculously managed to roll out of bed and get ready in time for the bus.
By Qingyun Shi ’23
Staff Writer
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, recently expressed uncertainty about whether his takeover bid for the social media service, Twitter, would be successful, according to an April 15 article from the BBC. Prior to the conference at which he communicated his doubts, Musk “offered to buy the company for $54.20 a share, valuing the firm at $43bn,” as reported by BBC. He also mentioned the existence of a “Plan B,” but did not disclose the content of the plan.
“I think it's very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech,” Musk said on Twitter when discussing his motivations for the takeover bid.
Professor emeritus of politics, Chris Pyle, criticized Musk’s intentions regarding free speech.
“Elon Musk wants to buy one of the biggest printing presses in the country and allow it to function largely without supervision. He claims to be a defender of free speech, but he’s not. He thinks of himself as a libertarian, but the ideas he wishes to liberate are those of rich people like himself. He really doesn’t understand that an unrestricted social media platform really doesn’t advance free speech. It will just advance the freedom of rich men like himself to distort the marketplace of political ideas, often with fake news,” Pyle said.
“Lots of mistakes are going to be made by well-meaning censors, before anything approaching a stable consensus on what should be allowable speech is going to be reached,” Pyle concluded.
Musk hasn’t been the only prominent figure to express interest in purchasing Twitter. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal — who claimed that he has a stake in Twitter through his investment firm Kingdom Holding Company — commented on Twitter about Musk’s offer. “I don’t believe that the proposed offer by Elon Musk comes close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects,” he said.
Musk replied immediately, asking how many Twitter shares Alwaleed bin Talal’s firm owns. Musk added, “What are the Kingdom’s views on journalist freedom of speech?”
Bryan Nakayama, a visiting lecturer in international relations and politics, discussed his opinion about Musk’s stated aim to promote free speech on the platform.
“Based on what I’ve seen, most users in the U.S. are able to express a fairly wide range of views and opinions from the mainstream to extreme. Speech is more restricted on certain topics — [such as] health-sensitive topics or types of speech, such as death threats or imagery of child sexual exploitation,” Nakayama said. “One sticky area is the question of disinformation and algorithmic radicalization — for people on the political extremes, something that is considered ‘disinformation’ would be a normal belief or interpretation of reality,” Nakayama continued.
“Who gets to adjudicate that is a difficult question. Similarly, there are attempts to stem the activity of extremist groups like QAnon,” Nakayama said. “There is no evidence of political bias in the moderation system, but automated moderation systems like Twitter can be gamed by individuals using mass reporting to get accounts taken down. The main clear area of ‘bias’ is in the … promotion algorithm, which favors the right.
Photo courtesy of Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23. This semester, Catelyn Fitzgerals ’23 studied food anthropology and Danish language in Denmark.
By Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23
Contributing Writer
Studying abroad is a time of self-discovery. By the end, you may become a person that you would never expect. Maybe you pick up new hobbies or find a new dream career path. Maybe, like me, you will become a regular at 7-Eleven. This is where I started my Friday morning in Copenhagen. Nothing leaves you fiending for a cold bottle of orange juice like a night spent in a sweaty club. To start my day, I miraculously managed to roll out of bed and get ready in time for the bus. After collecting my much needed OJ and a blueberry muffin, I headed to Danish Language and Culture, my first class of the day. The day’s class looked different from our usual recitations of tongue-twisting Danish dialogues. Instead, we workshopped ideas for our final papers on Danish culture. While I opted to write about Danish author and cultural superstar Hans Cristian Andersen, several of my classmates opted instead to write about a topic that Americans might find puzzling: the Danish welfare system. Denmark serves as just one example of the thriving welfare systems that are prevalent throughout Scandinavia. It might be hard to imagine how they succeed when in America government welfare is often underfunded and subjected to the whims of political turnover. Denmark’s welfare system relies on deep-seated societal trust to keep it going. This collectivism pays off, with Danes — and foreigners staying for an extended period — receiving free healthcare and other services.
After Danish, I headed to my next class, Anthropology of Food, where we mulled over the true meaning of “home-cooked,” which naturally made me very hungry. I met up with some of my roommates after class and we walked to one of Copenhagen’s buzzing centers, Nørreport, for one of the city’s only affordable meals: falafel pitas. Danish food is not known for its spice, nor, frankly, its flavor in general, but one thing Copenhagen does right is have a shawarma shop on every corner. The prevalence of foods from the Middle East is one of the more obvious signs of increasing multiculturalism in Denmark. Immigration into the country is the source of much political and social controversy in Denmark, as it has been across Europe over the past decade. Food is one of the tools through which Denmark has resisted the influx of non-Western immigrants and their cultures. I remember learning in Anthropology of Food about one famous incident dubbed “Frikadeller-gate,” which involved an attempt to mandate serving pork in school cafeterias, despite strict rules against consumption of the meat in many religions, notably Islam. The ease with which Danish society integrates some parts of immigrant cultures while attacking others is almost as puzzling as it is expected.
We brought our tzatziki-laden pitas to a local park, where it seemed the entirety of Copenhagen had gathered to sunbathe, since the temperature had finally eclipsed 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The green surrounding the central lake was dotted with people sipping iced lattes and lying out on blankets. My roommates and I spent a while enjoying the sun before taking the bus back to our apartment in a quiet residential neighborhood just outside the city. After rushing to get ready in time for the next bus — which I missed, in typical fashion — I headed off to meet with a friend who was visiting from Berlin. A 20-minute walk, metro ride and bus trip later, I arrived at Reffen, an outdoor food market placed along one of Copenhagen’s idyllic canals. The market, which is the place to go to try cuisines from around the world, had just opened as the weather started to become tolerable. After waiting in a couple impossibly slow lines — the pace in Copenhagen is anything but fast — I happily stuffed down my chana masala and veggie empanadas. Once the sun went down and we couldn’t stand to be outside any longer, my friends and I parted ways, and I embarked on the lengthy journey home. I arrived to my roommates eating dinner together and, before long, I fell asleep in front of our current favorite show, Love Island, which we’d been chipping away at all semester
By Cynthia Akanaga ’25
Staff Writer
Last year on March 19, Tanzania joined the cohort of African countries with female leaders with the swearing in of Samia Suluhu Hassan, a Muslim Tanzanian woman, as head of state. In Tanzania, Hassan is widely referred to as Mama Samia.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “As the country’s former vice president, Hassan became the constitutionally mandated successor of late president John Magufuli after he allegedly died from COVID-19 in early March 2021.”
In her interview in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, Hassan talked about the challenges with assuming the role of president in the country. “Most of the people couldn’t believe that we can have a woman president and she can deliver. The challenge was to create a trust in the people that yes, I can do it,” Hassan stated, as reported by The New York Times.
Hassan has taken measures to make leadership in Tanzania more accessible to other women. According to The Conversation, “Nine of her cabinet ministers are women, which represents 36 percent, a six percentage point rise from the previous cabinet.”
Sarah Chohan ’24, a student from Tanzania, echoed the idea of the challenges women face in authority positions. “I’m a Muslim Tanzanian woman, and it’s nice to see the representation, especially as a president. … Right now, things are getting better as people are getting educated. But there’s still a lot of backward mindset. Tanzania is still quite, I’d say, conservative. So, I’m not going to lie — we didn’t see this coming, getting a Muslim president woman especially.”
In the same vein, Vanessa Dickson ’25, a first-year from Tanzania spoke about the double standards facing women. “As a woman, you have to do double the work than what the man does to show that you’re capable of delivering the tasks. I think for the longest time, the majority of the people didn’t believe that a woman could lead,” Dickson said. “By Mama Samia now being the person who is leading us as a nation, it’s proving that women can actually lead, and they’re capable of doing it. There is hope for the rest of the women in Tanzania because they have someone that they can look up to,” Dickson added.
Chohan and Dickson both emphasized the improvements Hassan has made for the tourism industry in Tanzania.
“Mama Samia is definitely opening up Tanzania to the world, especially with her recent trips to the U.S. and meeting with Kamala Harris. She’s advertising tourism in Tanzania, which I think is great because we do have amazing things. She’s trying to put Tanzania on the international map, ” Chohan said.
Dickson also highlighted how much Hassan has done for the country’s tourism. She stated, “Personally, I really love [her]. I love what she’s doing for the nation, and one of the things that I really like that she’s doing is within the tourism industry. One of the things she talked about … [was] that many people, when you meet them and you tell them where you’re from, … don’t know it. They’re like, ‘Where’s that?’ Now, she’s made this new film called [Tanzania: The Royal Tour]. It’s a way to promote tourism in the nation and people are able to see Tanzania for what it is.”
Hassan met with Harris on April 15 in Washington, during which she announced this “Royal Tour program … to showcase Tanzania’s touristic and investment potentials,” according to the White House. Hassan’s meeting with Harris also yielded “the investment of nearly $1 billion from American companies in Tanzania’s tourism and energy sectors,” as reported by VOA News.
“On April 18th, I attended the premiere of the Tanzania: [The] Royal Tour documentary in New York,” Hassan wrote in a Twitter post. “The one-hour documentary shot in Tanzania will promote our country’s unique and unrivaled tourism attractions and investment opportunities to a global audience.”
In addition to her focus on tourism, Chohan also shed light on how Hassan responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, including how she publicly received her vaccine dose to encourage the citizens to also get vaccinated.
Chohan stated, “Mama Samia is accepting that vaccinations are out there, [that] we need to get them, [that] they’re necessary, and [that] she believes in the science of it. I believe in the science of vaccinations too, so I agree with her. Tanzanians, for the most part, were very hesitant, and they were resisting the vaccinations.” Chohan continued, “I think her openly taking the vaccinations was more of showing support that, like, ‘I’m also with you guys.’ We’re all in this together,’ kind of thing. I think that was a really good initiative from her because [Some didn’t] believe in the science of it.”
According to CSIS, “As of March 2022, approximately 4.5 percent of Tanzanians are vaccinated against COVID-19. This is impressive given Tanzania’s late start to COVID-19 precautions as well as the pervasive public resistance toward the vaccine.”
Dickson stated, “We’re building relationships with various countries, which is a good thing because it helps both economies and the people of both nations.”
Photo courtesy of Jean-Marc Ferré for UN via Flickr. Rokhaya Diallo talked about her experience as a journalist and anti-racist activist in France.
By Sarah Bell ’25
Staff Writer
“Where do you come from?” is a question that Rokhaya Diallo has received all her life, despite being born and raised in France. According to Diallo, this complicated question normalized in French culture ignites a battle of proving one’s French identity while preserving one’s Black identity.
On Tuesday, March 29, Smith College welcomed Diallo, a French-Senegalese journalist, filmmaker and author, to speak on a panel entitled “On the French Elections and Beyond.”
According to Mehammed Mack, associate professor of French studies at Smith College, “Rokhaya Diallo is the only prominent woman of color to have become a fixture of the nightly news talk shows and radio programs in France. … She brought intersectionality into general public discourse, and has drawn the ire of the right as well as a section of the left that adheres to rigid secularism.”
“One of France’s most prominent anti-racism activists,” according to The New York Times, Diallo is a notable public figure in television and media. Born in Paris, Diallo graduated from Pantheon-Sorbonne with a degree in International Law, according to BlackPast. Her background in journalism stems from 15 years of coverage of the past three French elections. Diallo is also a published author, with a newly released book with her colleague, Grace Ly, titled, “Kiffe ta Race.” She has also written “Afro!” a picture book about the appreciation of Black natural hair, according to Goodreads. A true triple-threat, she has her hand in filmmaking, too, directing “De Paris à Ferguson: Coupables D'être Noirs” (2016) translated to English as “Paris to Ferguson: Guilty of Being Black,” and “Où sont les Noirs” translated as “Where are the Black People,” according to TV5 Unis. She is currently a researcher in residence at Georgetown’s Gender Justice Initiative in Washington D.C.
“Prepare to face adversity and lose opportunities,” Diallo said during the panel, speaking on the downsides of speaking out within the journalism world. Diallo has been fired from previous jobs due to her outspoken nature, but has also gained many opportunities from it.
“Language is a real tool of intimidation,” she said to the crowd. She advised young female journalists to be confident in what they are speaking about. Diallo doesn’t spend time on people who don’t want to take the time to learn from her regarding racism in France, though she emphasized that she is explicit with people who do want to take the time to educate themselves.
Carolyn Shread, senior lecturer in French at Mount Holyoke and faculty exchange professor at Smith, an attendee of the panel, looks to Diallo as a trailblazer in disrupting that pattern of the male-dominated discourse. “Diallo’s voice helps correct the erasures and bring us to a more equitable space, in which we hear from more than the happy few. We need — as soon as possible — for other people to join her so that she is not left to carry the burden of speaking alone.”
Diallo presented a clip she edited called “Qu’est ce que le Manterrupting,” meaning the interruption of female journalists and politicians by male voices. Diallo spoke on “preserving the art of speaking.” She felt like she wasn’t taken seriously in workspaces — however, speaking in a more assertive manner has helped her debate and assimilate in these spaces.
She also spoke on the candidates of the French presidential election, specifically on Marine Le Pen, the current president of the National Rally, and Eric Zemmour, who has made openly racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim remarks, according to The Economist. It is unprecedented in recent years for France to have two far-right candidates so high in popularity.
One question for the panel was about the importance of inclusivity, particularly regarding the underrepresentation of African and Caribbean female and nonbinary voices from Francophone and Lusophone countries. Diallo stated that the preservation of these works by diverse writers and the recentering of today’s notable Francophone African and Caribbean voices, such as Françoise Verges, Awa Thiam, and Paulette Nardal can bring attention to this.
Diallo and Mack recommended several Francophone contemporaries, activists and historical figures, including Louis Delgrès, Toumi Djaïdja and Albert Memmi.
As an English major with a love for Irish literature, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to study in Dublin. University College Dublin was really appealing to me because it has a strong English department. I was particularly excited by the chance to work with a professor whose research I’ve followed since attending her panel on Irish Gothic literature, “Daughters of Dracula,” last fall. Since being here, I have found that it’s not just the classes that make it worthwhile, but also that Ireland is a gorgeous country. I’ve enjoyed taking advantage of the historical sites and natural beauty on the weekends when I’m not doing schoolwork.
Like clockwork, the seagulls begin their daily chant every morning, perched by my room’s window, roof and any other spot they can bother me from. Their morning alarm sets me off on my daily routine, and I get ready, wrapping myself in layers of scarves and coats to protect me from the chilly seaside air of St Andrews — a quaint town tucked along the coast of Scotland. When I step into the cold, makeshift breakfast with coffee in hand, I walk by the seagulls confidently, masquerading as an unafraid local accustomed to their presence for years and not the visiting study-abroad student who got to this town only in January, a mere three months ago.
Following a Congress-approved state of emergency on March 27, over 10,000 gang-related arrests were made across El Salvador, according to NBC News. This sanctioned crackdown on gang violence was reportedly in response to the 62 killings that occurred within a single day earlier that week, the BBC said.
According to a report published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the neurotoxin mercury exists in multiple facets of people’s lives. The EPA also reported that the ingestion of large amounts of mercury can have serious negative health effects, particularly impacting the nervous system. Symptoms of mercury poisoning include tremors, insomnia, memory loss, headaches, muscle weakness and, in extreme cases, death. To address this global challenge, representatives from state governments, United Nations agencies, academia and civil society gathered in Bali, Indonesia at the second segment of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury in March, according to the Minamata Convention’s website.
In its nearly 62 years of independence, Nigeria has never had a female president. There have, though, been many women over the years who have tried to secure enough votes to win the presidential elections. The 2023 presidential elections have seen a rise in the number of female candidates, with Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi being the first woman to declare interest, as reported by BBC Pidgin.
Beginning in 2011, in Quebec, Canada, a group led by Richard Vallières stole over 9,500 barrels of maple syrup from the maple syrup reserves held by the Federation of Maple Syrup Producers, according to The Guardian. The Federation encompasses almost 7,000 different maple syrup producers accounting for almost 80 percent of the world’s supply of maple syrup. In March 2022, Vallières’ trial concluded with a settlement to the Canadian government.
On March 23, 2022, Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state, died at the age of 84. According to The New York Times, “Albright rose to power and fame as a brilliant analyst of world affairs and a White House counselor on national security. Under President Bill Clinton, she became the country’s representative to the United Nations (1993-1997) and secretary of state (1997-2001), making her the highest-ranking woman in the history of American government at the time.” A graduate of Wellesley College, Albright became and remained a prominent voice in American foreign policy long after her tenure as secretary of state ended.
In the wake of Russian military forces invading Ukraine on February 24, Mount Holyoke’s McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives organized “War in Ukraine: Why? What Next?” This event was held virtually on March 8. The event, moderated by Professor of Politics and Chair of International Relations Sohail Hashmi, featured Professor of Russian Studies Stephen Jones, Assistant Professor of International Relations and Politics Christopher Mitchell and Cyrus Vance Visiting Professor in International Relations Natalie Sabanadze, who shared an in-depth discussion regarding the invasion. One of the main topics of discussion was the differences between how this war is portrayed by the media as opposed to conflicts in the Global South. Additionally, the speakers discussed the racism being faced by African and Black refugees fleeing Ukraine.
Early in the morning of Feb. 24, Russian military forces began invading Ukraine. According to NBC News, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a “special military operation” in eastern regions of Ukraine, but in a matter of hours, land attacks as well as air strikes occurred in eastern and northern areas of the country.
Scholars from across the world gathered virtually on Monday, Feb. 21 to celebrate the launch of a new language revitalization journal. The Living Language Journal, a multilingual and open-access resource platformed by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst, plans to host a variety of academic and non-academic writings centering projects in the emerging field of language revitalization, which aims to re-engage with languages considered endangered by scholars and activists.
Content warning: this article discusses murder, gendered violence and sexual assault.
Last Monday, Muhammad Waseem was fully acquitted in an appeals court of the 2016 murder of his sister, Qandeel Baloch — a murder to which he confessed. Waseem’s acquittal, despite both confession and evidence against him, is reflective of a larger pattern of failure to deliver justice to victims of femicide in Pakistan.
Africa, the second largest continent, has over 2,000 distinct languages. Nigeria, its most populous country, is host to about 522 languages. Due to colonial rule, many countries in Africa designate either French or English as their official language. However, with its growing influence, there has been swelling support to make Swahili the lingua franca, or common language, for all of Africa. Swahili is one of the official languages of the African Union. Additionally, it was the first African language to be honored by the United Nations in its designation of July 7 as World Kiswahili Language Day.
