Teja Arboleda: Crossing the Line a Complete Success!

'Ello internet loves. This is Izzy taking over the blog to give the post show run down! Prepare for some awesome.

Tuesday night, despite pouring rain a sizeable crowd filed into the theater in Maytag and prepared themselves for a show about crossing the metaphorical line between funny and downright offensive. Speaker Teja Arboleda began his presentation and instantly earned points by asking for something most college students secretly long for. Involvement.

That's right, it was a show of shouting out answers and ideas while being delighted and horrified by the words that have escaped the lips of famous politicians, comedians and shock jocks.

(What's up with the term "shock jock" anyway? Just curious.)

Students were shown clips of outrageous comments and insults while being asked to think critically about why the people running for public office would say such things. The question was also raised to think on what we say. Why can some people throw around terms like the n-word or b-word and get pay raises while others can't? Can taking back a word from those who would use it against you really negate its harmful meaning? What role does intent play in the words we use? These were just some of the questions students were asked to ponder.

After the show there was delicious apple cake and conversation as Teja and the students talked about race, religion, sexual orientation and why any of it matters in the long run. Many students said afterwards it was great to not only listen to a speaker but share their opinion afterwards. And the cake didn't hurt either.

And now, as I put off my post-show evaluation, I see positive and stunning reviews for our show!

"It was great!" Said one anonymous student.

"This should have been required!" Said another.

Oh yeah, it was a good show.

So, a million and one thanks to the wonderful students and teachers and everyone else who attended our show. We here at the Intercultural Life Office would like to remind you that every time you attend one of our events an angel gets their wings. Or we smile a lot because great events make all our hard work worth it.

We'd also like to give a huge thanks to Linda Laine of the Communications department for inviting us into her class and encouraging students to attend. And thank you catering for the beyond delicious meal you prepared for us and our guest.

Until we meet again,
Izzy

Welcome to Intercultural Life

Welcome to our very first blog!  Our goal for this blog is inform students and the surrounding community about our events as well as to have discussions about various issues we find important.

 This office is made of 5 student employees, known as the Intercultural Educators (Shannan, Izzy, Trinh, Jessie, and Felicia).  There is also Sarah who is the assistant to the director, she keeps this office running.  And we have Brandyn, the director of Intercultural Life, who is smart and interesting to say the least.

We do have an event happening TONIGHT!  We are proud to present Teja Arboleda in Crossing the Line.  Teja will talk about why some people can say a word or phrase that others cannot.  It should be a very interesting show and we hope to see you there!  7:00 pm in van Emmerik, upstairs Maytag.


Your Intercultural Educator,

Shannan