Global perspectives presented at Tanner

From Tanzania to North Korea, France to China, Wellesley women collectively gained a variety of perspectives this past summer. The Tanner Conference on Tuesday, Nov. 3, provided an opportunity for students to share their global experiences with the community.

Laura Corser '10 experienced the rare opportunity of spending her summer in North Korea. She spoke about her unique experience in her presentation, which was titled, "Meeting Kim Il Sung: An ‘American Imperialist's' Experience in North Korea." During her short five-day trip, Laura witnessed the "Mass games" in the capital, where some 100,000 people performed gymnastics and acrobatics for about 40 days. She realized the effectiveness of information censorship, when all the North Koreans believed that the missile launch was actually a satellite launch. "Their only source of information is from the government so they believed in everything they heard. This really struck me and I started question the accuracy of information I myself get," Corser said.

Corser also managed to record her trip through photography. "I took over 1,000 photos, even though foreigners were forbidden to do so," she said. Corser will present "souvenirs" from North Korea, including the slippers from her hotel, political pins with portraits of the chairman, a "Let Us Learn Korean" phrase book and photos of propaganda posters. "I have learned so much during this trip that it's impossible to present everything in 15 minutes. I am willing to talk to anyone who's interested in my trip," Corser said.

Wenqing You '12, whose presentation is titled, "Cultural Identity: Do Differences Lead to Conflicts?" taught 5th grade education to Tibetan students in Baimaxueshan Tibetan Community Elementary school in Yunnan, China this past summer.

"The school was extremely poor and it didn't have enough teachers. All the differences I witnessed totally stunned me. The foods they eat, their dominant religious life, the language they speak are so different from Han people. I have always been taught to appreciate diversity, but I didn't truly understand what it means until I had the experience of living closely with Tibetans," You said. "I also witnessed all kinds of growing conflicts between Han and Tibetan, young and old Tibetans. I noticed that young Tibetans, compared to old Tibetans, are a lot more open and tolerant to Han Culture. This whole experience was profound because my old cultural identity of being Chinese got shattered and I started to rethink about where I truly belong." Wenqing plans to use slides of photos to illustrate her unusual experience in Yunnan.

Erin Duffy '10, who presented, "Water, Waste, and Wellness in Tanzania," conducted field research in Tanzania to investigate how unsanitary conditions can lead to various diseases. "I synthesized how macro policies can impact micro level community experiences. Before doing research in Tanzania, I did field research in Switzerland and Vietnam for one year," Duffy said. "The Tanner Conference is a really good way for me to connect my off-campus experience with Wellesley." Duffy prepared for Tanner for over a month.

Stephanie Buhle '10 interned at one of the world's most prestigious museums, Musée d'Orsay, in Paris. Her presentation, entitled "Paper or Plastic? Documentation at the Musée d'Orsay in the Digital Age," discussed her experience at the museum.

As she explained, "the museum is still using the old method of photocopying documents for their indexing system. However, the issue of running out of space soon emerged. It's really interesting to witness the ongoing debate about the transformation of the current system." She also studied in France during her junior year and was awarded a stipend by the French House Fellows Program for this internship. "Tanner Conference is a great way for Wellesley girls to find out various stipends and internships opportunities that are available out there," she suggested.