Campus Engagement
About
During my time at the University of Florida, I have attended several campus life events sponsored by the International Scholars Program. These events largely consisted of lectures and museum presentations that focused on cultural traditions and global issues. Below is summary of each of the events I attended and I what I took away from them.
Research Presentation:
Prevention of Soccer Injuries in Rwanda
This event was a lecture presentation by Dr. Nuhu Assuman, who presented his research on the topic of injury prevention from his work with the Rwanda national soccer team. The event was sponsored by the UF Center for African Studies. Dr. Assuman’s presentation especially resonated with me because of my past experience playing soccer and my interest in how the sport compares among different cultures. Interestingly, I learned that soccer injuries tend to occur at a higher rate and severity in African countries due to lack of information about warm-up routines. Dr. Assuman asserted that studies like his help to understand how these countries can implement better injury prevention strategies before players participate in sporting activities. This lecture definitely allowed me to gain a better perspective on how athletes from different countries may have more/less knowledge on preventing injuries based on the environment in which they grew up.
Museum Nights:
Art for All
This event was hosted by the Harn Museum of Art and included a presentation from Endia Beal. Ms. Beal was an engaging speaker who discussed her passion for creating artwork to highlight issues related to social justice. I thought it was very interesting how an artist is able to create deeper meanings and send real-world messages through their artwork. I learned the significance of viewing art with a different perspective, and that I should try to find out what the purpose of the artwork is even if it is not obvious at first glance.
Portraits and Pathologies:
Likenesses and Clinical Pictures in Turn of the Nineteenth-Century France
This presentation was hosted by the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere and took place at the Harn Museum of Art. Dr. Mechthild Fend of University College London gave a lecture presentation on 19th century France, and how artwork was used as a medium to spread knowledge of diseases and infection. Dr. Fend explained how in a world without internet or social media, portraits of sick people were used to understand the symptoms and traits of a certain disease. I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation and it was very interesting to learn how artwork was used to spread knowledge of illness in the 19th century.
Noche de Museo
This event was hosted by the UF Center for Latin American Studies and located at the Harn Museum of Art. The art that was presented featured Latin American influences and I was able to discuss different pieces of artwork with other members at the event. I loved getting to meet new people and hear new perspectives on each piece of artwork. I especially enjoyed seeing the Latin American influence on art, as I was at the time planning on visiting Guatemala for a mission trip on the upcoming Spring Break. Looking back, it was amazing to compare the artwork at the this event to the artwork and murals that were present in Guatemala when I visitied there for my mission trip.
