School News AGS

On October 16^th, the American Graduate School in Paris had the honor of hosting Pamela Ratiu as a guest speaker in the Foreign Policy Formulation and Diplomacy course led by Ambassador Michael Einik.

Pamela Ratiu is Executive Director to Romania of the U.K. registered Ratiu Family Charitable Foundation and of the Ratiu Forum, a project run in partnership with the London School of Economics' foreign policy think tank IDEAS, which is currently ranked leading university think tank in the world. She shared with AGS students her expertise drawn from her 30-year experience in international management in both the public and private sectors, actively supporting non-profit organizational development in Transylvania.

Pamela Ratiu joined Ratiu Democracy Centre in 2004 and has actively supported the partnership with Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in offering the Ion Ratiu Democracy Award to those fighting for democracy around the world. She has initiated the Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy, a series of lectures that aim to strengthen discussions and visions on democracy, reuniting professionals with diverse backgrounds who share an interest in current challenges faced by Balkan nations, with a particular emphasis on Romania. She is also coordinating the sustainability initiatives run by the Ratiu Foundation in Romania to support the local community projects of the Ratiu Democracy Centre. Throughout the years she developed a sustainability ecosystem in Turda, seat of the Ratiu family. This initiative includes social businesses in the field of hospitality and creates local employment opportunities.

Briana Jones, M.A. Candidate in the International Relations and Diplomacy Program (class of 2022) and President of the Student Association, comments: "Speakers such as this are so significant as it allows us to form connections and expand our network worldwide. Our professors and their connections add so much depth to our learning experience; it truly does tailor and personalize our student experience.”

Paris is an ideal setting to study International Relations, and AGS has a long experience in making the most of this strategic location through guest talks and visits, making Paris our classroom. In this new era of online meetings and virtual conferences, we have expanded our classroom even further with guest speakers from the international community. On October 2nd, Ambassador Michael Einik, who teaches Foreign Policy Formulation and Diplomacy at AGS, invited Mihai Carp, Deputy Head of Section in the Operations Division at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, to speak to the students virtually.

Mihai Carp delved into the evolution of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a major global entity and as a peacekeeping body. The talk also included a spotlight discussion on how COVID has given new light to NATO as an international organization. During this discussion, the students were able to ask their questions regarding the nature of working for NATO, and how their specific research interests can apply.

Briana Jones, M.A. Candidate in the M.A. in International Relations and Diplomacy program at AGS and president of the AGS Student Association writes: "The American Graduate School in Paris strives to prepare us, students, for professional opportunities to ensure that we have the opportunity to understand professional points of view regarding international relations. During COVID especially, our school has committed to finding the silver lining in the situation given; and utilizing the time to spotlight some remarkable guest speakers to give virtual talks and share the ultimate, firsthand perspective on foreign service in a globalized world. Our student body is composed of emerging foreign service professionals; and this series is one of many talks that are designed with our interests and our futures in mind." 

Kryssandra Heslop graduated with a Master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from AGS in 2013, after earning a Bachelor’s degree in psychology. She wrote her thesis on children's rights and unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors in Italy, and also completed the NGO Management Certificate Program. Since her time at AGS she has worked and volunteered with vulnerable children and young people.Two years ago she co-founded a non-profit called Soul Food, dedicated to supporting young refugees and unaccompanied minors through art and culture. This Sunday Soul Food is celebrating two years of existence.

Kryssandra explains how she was able to take the expertise in international relations and migration issues that she built at AGS to the field, to help the future of vulnerable populations who have been impacted by the political situation of their country.

What are the purpose and goals of Soul Food?

Our principal purpose is to help young migrants (primarily unaccompanied minors). We do this by promoting positive integration and providing safe spaces for them to learn, express themselves and enjoy another side of life in Paris, through our cultural excursions and artistic activities. These include dance workshops, studio sessions, gastronomic meals at the Refettorio Paris, museum visits, film screenings, drawing sessions, concerts, a book exchange program, and an English Club. We have a professional development program for those young migrants who are interested in careers in cultural fields, such as fashion and the culinary arts, and we have been able to connect several of them with internships, volunteer opportunities, and an apprenticeship program - all in prominent establishments, working alongside professionals who are considered to be the best in their field and/or where important issues such as sustainability, equitability and fair trade are at the core of the work they do.

We hope the accumulation of all of these activities and opportunities will improve the quality of life of these young migrants, now and in the future. We also strive to change the narrative of migration because we envision a world where migrants have this type of positive visibility, attending concerts and visiting museums, working within different cultural fields at their own world-renowned restaurants and for sustainable fashion brands, and not one where we only see them sleeping in tents in crowded cities and refugee camps.

How does this project relate to your studies at AGS?

Soul Food is directly related to international relations as we work primarily with migrants, within a political landscape that has made it necessary for us to do what we do. The AGS Master’s program allowed me to research and write about issues faced by children and youth from a different perspective: Previously I was more focused on the psychological issues faced by vulnerable children, and at AGS, I learned about the political, human rights, children's rights and legal issues they face. During my time at AGS, I researched and wrote my thesis on human rights violations against unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors in Italy. I thoroughly enjoyed this work and continued looking for opportunities in this sector after I graduated. I continued this research and published an academic article on it, and then I started volunteering with unaccompanied minors to gain more direct experience. One of my biggest take-aways from the international relations program at AGS was how international relations impact so much of the tragedies that migrants face both in Europe and in the countries they are often forced to leave.

How did the idea of creating this NGO come to you?

I have been volunteering with unaccompanied minors in Paris for four years now at ADJIE (Accompagnement et Défense des Jeunes Isolés Étrangers), mostly helping them with administrative and legal issues. Through this work, I have been able to see firsthand what is lacking. Even though in France minors have certain rights, such as the right to go to school and the right to live in a safe place, it takes a long time to access these rights. Even after these young people are recognized as minors and taken into care by the French child services, they often have to wait months and years before they are allowed to attend school. This is precious time wasted. These are formative years for anyone, but especially for someone who is working against the clock because once they turn 18, their problems in France only multiply. That is why we had the idea to create Soul Food. We wanted to fill in these gaps of wasted time, with something meaningful that could feed their souls, give them hope, encourage learning, help them integrate in a positive way, and bring them joy.

François, the other co-founder of Soul Food, and I are both art and music lovers. He is a jurist but also a musician, so one day we had the idea to take a group of kids from ADJIE to a concert. After that first concert, we went to a few others. Each time the young migrants we brought seemed to come out of their shells. Some were generally more outgoing and got into the music right away. Others started off shy, sad and reserved (understandably as many have been through unthinkable traumas), but ended the night dancing with their new friends. We realized we had something special going, and that we should expand it. Next we started going to museums, which was also a wonderful experience. We understood that through these excursions, it was the first time that most of the young migrants were able to experience Paris the way we do. This really inspired us to start something more concrete and so, the official Soul Food was born.

How do you envision your NGO in ten years from now?

A lot can happen in ten years and we have a lot of ideas! In general, we would love to grow and expand our initiatives to other countries. It would also be great to have a space (or multiple spaces) where we are based, to provide a safe, artistic, educational place where these young people can come to participate in free art classes, language courses, check out books, listen to music, eat healthy food, etc. Some of the young migrants we work with are homeless so it would also be nice to be able to provide a place where they can spend their time off of the street. We would also really like to find ways for them to stay involved with Soul Food as they get older. I would love for those who are interested, to eventually work with us in different ways and to be positive role models for the younger generations. Representation is so important, so that's something we already have in mind. Finally, I am still very much interested in research and would like the opportunity to explore short and long-term effects of these kinds of initiatives on topics such as the extent of positive integration, levels of education, mental health, and professional success rates.

More information on Soul food activities and how to donate at soulfoodparis.com and on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn: @soulfoodparis

Each year, AGS students travel to a different destination for a few days' trip organized by the AGS Graduate Student Association (GSA) during the Fall break. These trips are a perfect way to complement and enhance the international experience provided by AGS, while developing the bonds between fellow students. Taking advantage of the location of the school in Paris, which provides a perfect platform for travel across Europe, previous years' destinations have included Oslo (Norway), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Berlin, (Germany), Porto (Portugal), and Budapest (Hungary). This year, the students went to Geneva (November 1-4). Ariana Diaz (M.A. 2021) and Kailin Mundt (M.A. 2021), the Graduate Student Association's president and treasurer, give an account of this experience.

This year’s chosen destination for our annual Graduate Student Association (GSA) student trip, was the known Peace Capital of the world, Geneva. For the GSA Committee, composed by current enrolled students, it was important not only to factor in interests that arise during our studies, but to as well be able to observe firsthand a city housing key institutions to International Relations. When it came to deciding our destination, Geneva was the perfect choice.

The historic metropolis was the ideal location for spending a long weekend over our fall break, with its attractive scenery, Swiss charm and offerings of local cuisine; not even the weather could put a stop to our excitement and activities around the city. Each student was able to experience the city on their own time and parting from their own individual focuses, with visits to the International Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (CICR), the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Museum Ariana, the Art and History Museum of Geneva, and other cultural offerings of the city. As well, iconic Geneva sightseeing locations made our list, like the Broken Chair and the Jet D’Eau. Two of the students, who spent their entire childhood in refugee camps in Subsaharan Africa and were excited to be able to visit the headquarters of the UNHCR. 

We also had the chance to meet casually with some of the current United Nations interns, in order to discuss their passions, areas of focuses and general recommendations to us students looking to follow in their footsteps. Composed of diverse backgrounds, we had interns from the departments of Human Rights, Human Affairs and the Syrian Fact Finding Mission formed, part of our mixer.

Our student trip culminated with a guided tour of the UN Headquarters in Geneva. Lead by our tour guide Rita, we were able to see and visit some of the historic and iconic rooms of the Palais des Nations, as well as discuss current projects and the current day-to-day work that happens at the facilities. We were even able to take pictures at a UN podium, hopeful in foreshadowing the future careers we’ll embark on.

The student trip’s main focus is to have the opportunity to experience a new European city through the perspective of our current role as students in Paris, yet we are composed of diverse individuals, and along the way we discover that our student trips mean so much more at individual levels. For some of us, an exciting new adventure and for others a lifetime's full circle.

More photos:

AGS is supporting an initiative to host weekly English language sessions for refugees and displaced persons in Paris, bringing together groups of refugees from diverse countries and backgrounds to the AGS classrooms in the heart of Paris.

The goal of this project is to not only provide these people with a skill that will help them connect with the local community and will boost their employability, but also offer a platform for cultural exchanges and the sharing of experiences.

Professor Mariam Habibi, who teaches the Middle East courses at AGS, originally started this initiative with the NGO SINGA France and has engaged AGS students to participate. “All the refugees have travelled far and have grueling stories to tell," she said. "These exchanges create a space where our students who are curious about the rest of world ‘travel’, meet and hear their experiences. I am extremely grateful to AGS that has given me the opportunity to start this project.”  

Edgardo Galindo (M.A. 2021) has committed his time to teach the group weekly, building on his own experience teaching foreign languages in the US. “One of the things that motivated me is that the population that I help through these English lessons are migrants from regions of the world that are undergoing conflict, especially from the Middle East, which is my area of specialization,” he said.“As I am going to pursue a career in International Relations, this gives me an opportunity to interact with people and cultures that I plan to interact with in the future. The students that I have met have shared their unique and often tragic stories, and given me an insight into the situation in their countries in a way that no book would portray. In any student-teacher relationship, there is learning exchange: I feel that I am already learning from them as much as I hope they are learning from me.

The next step is to expand this initiative to reach out to younger migrants through Soul Food, a Paris-based NGO founded by AGS alumna Kryssandra Heslop (M.A. 2013), which seeks to support young refugees and unaccompanied minors through art and culture. She explains: “I started researching and writing about issues faced by unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors during my time at AGS.  It is a subject that I am still very passionate about today. This passion and my interest in children's rights are part of what inspired the creation of this non-profit organization. At Soul Food we believe that young migrants should be afforded the same opportunities as local youth. We also believe that art and culture can positively impact the world.  Language is an important part of culture. Joining these English classes at AGS will be a great way for them to practice and improve their English language skills, and in turn will hopefully open more doors for them in the future.”

AGS and its US partner Arcadia University launched a one-week program on Diplomacy, which was held in Paris on June 3-9 for the students in Arcadia's International Peace and Conflict Resolution graduate program. The course was directed by Ambassador Michael Einik, a Paris-based senior policy level diplomat who has been teaching at AGS for three years after a long diplomatic career that took him from Washington, DC to Russia, Romania, Macedonia and various countries in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

This intensive course was designed to introduce to the students a toolbox of practical skills for real world use. Starting on day one with a core definition of diplomacy as nothing more then an “encounter” between an us and an other which leads to some outcome, the students over the course of the week built up on top of this definition an architecture of diplomacy which, by the end of the week, they were able to use toward an analysis of the final case study on the breakup of Yugoslavia at the end of the cold war.

Throughout the week, an effort was made to leverage each assignment. For example the case study on Yugoslavia was proceeded by a half day role-play negotiation which had as its scenario donor and recipient NGOs trying to agree on how to help victims of the Yugoslav war. Similarly, a discussion on the organization and structures of Foreign Ministries and Embassies was followed by a half day workshop on the drafting of decision memos, where the students needed to deal with the complex issue of chain of command. This workshop also introduced them to the nature of post academic drafting for action in a real-world setting. Each student had to define their own scenario as to who they were, what was the issue to be decided, and whom were they writing to, and how to frame the entire issue in less than two pages.

While not a course on theory or foreign policy as such, the day spent on how foreign policy is formulated used a comparative case study between the US and Russia in terms of how each country is structured to make policy. This process introduced some new insights as to the impact of organization on policy itself. Similarly, the discussion on soft power used China as the example of an increasingly active soft power state and how this impacts on and relates to other global actors again such as the US and Russia.

"My goal over the course was to support the participants' transition from being students to being practitioners of Diplomacy in one form or another," says Ambassador Michael Einik. "The essence of a good diplomat as I see it has been captured best by someone more associated with war than peace – Carl von Clausewitz, who of course said that 'War is merely the continuation of Peace by other means', but for me in terms of what I hoped to accomplish over the week, he more importantly also said: 'Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth, and second, the courage to follow this light wherever it may lead.' Together it is these two traits that make a good diplomat."

This was the inaugural session of a summer program for the students in the International Peace and Conflict Resolution program at Arcadia University, upon the initiative of the Program Director Dr Warren Haffar. "This program in Diplomacy serves to reaffirm the importance of diplomacy as the best tool for international relations at a time when the role of diplomacy is all too often called into question by the loud voices of anger and intolerance and fear. This, despite the mountain of evidence of the damage, destruction, and upheaval that comes when dialogue is replaced by war as a favored solution to our problems. The summer program in Diplomacy at AGS delivers the knowledge and skills for conducting diplomatic tradecraft.”

By Claire Alden, Global Studies 2020, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine

Study Abroad semester at the American Graduate School in Paris

As an undergraduate student enrolled in a graduate program for a study abroad experience, I find every day positively challenging and intellectually stimulating. American Graduate School in Paris’ 14^th annual graduate student conference was no different. This year’s theme “Globalism vs Populism” offered an educational approach to the new landscape of international relations. Both the panels and the keynote presentation provided detailed analysis about the various fronts of “populism,” a broad term that can be interpreted variously in the international arena, and “globalism,” which has been trending long before the new rise of these populist fronts. With President Trump, Brexit, European anti-establishment leaders and similar populist parties in Latin America and Asia, everyone seems to be talking about populism these days. The presenters laid a foundation for a narrower perspective of growing populist rhetoric that is caused in part by failures of globalism in states around the world.

The first panel began with Burak Bulkan (University of Essex, UK), who spoke about various rising populist parties in Europe and offered a broad idea of populism that laid the groundwork for the rest of the conference. Bulkan’s presentation, titled “Economic Sources and Divergence of Populist Parties in Europe” discussed the attention that populist rhetoric has received in Europe specifically, France, Hungary, Spain, and Greece, where a rise in populist parties is challenging the larger project of European integration. In southern Europe, Bulkan explained, populist parties are left-wing, while in northern Europe, they are right-wing. He continued with a discussion on why populism is not an ideology as much as it is a “strategy.”

This rhetoric drove the discussion into the next speech, Ivana Jordanovska’s “Love Thy Captured Neighbor: An Analysis of the Effects of State Capture on Populist Rhetoric, Evidence from Macedonia and Serbia.” A Macedonian Fulbright Fellow, Jordanovska (New York University) presented the audience her paper on the rise of populist rhetoric in Serbia and Northern Macedonia. She used content analysis to explore “state capture,” a type of corruptive political influence that involves private interest impacting a state’s decision-making process, and that contributes to authoritarian populist leaders.

Fatimaah Menefee (American Graduate School in Paris) offered an engaging presentation of her study of two middle powers: South Korea and South Africa. Her presentation discussed the possibility for South Africa could use the branding policies of South Korea to enhance its own “soft power.” Gabrielle Childs (American Graduate School in Paris) discussed in an informative and compelling talk the “desiccation” of Lake Chad. This complex environmental and political crisis, which has dried 90% of the water supply, threatens the lake’s surrounding population with famine. Childs proposed the possible movement to create a major water project to divert flow from the Congo River through the Central African Republic and Nigeria to Chad to replenish the lake.

The second panel focused on how specific nationalist discourses underpin rising populist trends. Olga Gheorghiev (Charles University, Czech Republic) gave an in-depth explanation of the case study of EU enlargement to central Europe. She claimed that this expansion has been shaped by an civic discourse of “justification,” which has been countered by a violent “critical” populist rhetoric in central European countries. Olivier Sempiga (American Graduate School in Paris) followed with a detailed presentation on Western aid and democracy, based of his doctoral dissertation, to be defended at the end of May. He showed how tied aid from the US and EU failed to promote Western-style democracy while it succeeded in contributing to economic growth and regime stability in post-genocide Rwanda. These findings prompted thoughtful discussion among the audience as Rwanda remains in the spotlight as a progressive state, especially in terms of development.

Kaitlin Junod (American University of Cairo, Egypt) gave a fascinating talk about nationalism and new “alt-right” discourses on immigration in America. Junod’s presentation added further context to why nationalist discourses are laying foundations for a rising populist rhetoric. Using a mass communications model she explained how populist politicians, mass media, and right-wing US audiences feed upon one another’s identity in a “propaganda cycle,” full of skewed thinking and false interpretations and bias, tapping into audience emotions through slogans and images or selecting information by censoring facts.

Dr Olga McLean kept up the discussion of right-wing nationalism and populism in the United States. McLean (University of Hamburg, Germany) used theories of American political culture to explain Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential elections. Her conclusion was that Trump’s victory was not a surprise nor an anomaly, but reflected a deep-seated ideological discourse of individualism in American political culture. It is almost impossible, especially in relation to President Trump and the United States, to talk about populism without mentioning nationalism or neo-nationalism and individualism. McLean’s presentation connected these terms with the 2016 U.S. election and made the audience ask themselves how embedded individualism really is in American culture.

The keynote speaker Dr. Clara Rachel Eybalin Casseus (Doctorate, University of Poitiers), an independent researcher in issues related to migration, diaspora, and identity politics, concluded the conference with a presentation based on her latest book The Geopolitics of Memory and Transnational Citizenship: Thinking Local Development in the Global South (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2019). Her research grew out of a desire to fill the current gap in literature on Haiti, which is often concerned with literature more than it is with social science. She used “globalectics,” a theory developed by David Hart (2017), to argue for a way of thinking and relating the world by embracing interconnectedness. Dr Casseus used this theory to argue that a common memory of “neocolonialism” (American) and challenges posed by “globalism” (China) continue to affect migrants in both the Caribbean and Europe. Her doctoral research on Haitian migrants in France and Jamaican migrants in Britain led her to travel to both island nations and explore how identity and memory are related through ethnographic fieldwork. “The interaction between place, space, and memory has led to heritage tourism by members of the diaspora,” Dr Casseus explained, speaking of how she has related state and memory in her fieldwork: “To annihilate a set of people, the initial step is to erase their memory,.” To drive home her point, she discussed her efforts to conduct the process of “de-colonial mapping”, which she used to explore a Jewish Haitian community’s five-hundred-year-old history. This is a history that is unknown, but to Dr. Casseus it reflects the “very deep power of memory” among a diasporic community. Her brilliant presentation closed out the day, connecting the themes of each conference panel by delivering her perspective on the treatment of migration in relation to diasporic policies as characterized by nationalist approaches.

Globalism’s inclusion of ideas, peoples, and livelihoods is creating a split between and within states. Just as analogous splits have in the past, politics today are polarizing into hard left versus alt-right. Now, new political and social affiliation are being thrown into the mix. The conference agenda looked at how new political affiliations such as populism is challenging globalism.

As an undergraduate student and Global Studies major attending my very first conference, I found each presenter provided a clear understanding of the drivers of globalism and populism as well as compelling arguments as to how populism is challenging globalism and how the tension between them is affecting international affairs. I left at the end of the day with a deeper understanding of the relationship between globalism and populism which I will use to analytically approach this growing rhetoric in the future.

The American Graduate School in Paris is welcoming two study abroad programs in coming weeks from US-based partner institutions, Governors State University near Chicago and Arcadia University outside Philadelphia.

Governors State's renowned criminal Criminal Justice and Public Administration programs will bring a group of graduate and advanced undergraduate students to AGS from 6 to 12 May to study responses to transnational crime. In addition to GSU faculty, the program will feature AGS Professor Ruchi Anand and Kevin Mills, a US foreign service officer with the Paris embassy who specializes in human rights, religious freedom and human trafficking. The students will visit the French National Assembly, a Paris courthouse, and UNESCO headquarters, as well as take a day trip to Brussels to tour the European Parliament.

Arcadia University's prestigious International Peace and Conflict Resolution program will bring its masters students to AGS in June for a week-long intensive program in diplomacy, one of the core study areas at AGS. The Arcadia program will be led by Ambassador Michael Einik, a long-time US State Department expert on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union who is now on the AGS faculty.

The Arcadia program is the latest in the long-time partnership between Arcadia and the American Graduate School in Paris. The AGS Masters in International Relations and Diplomacy is a US-accredited degree thanks to its relationship with Arcadia.

AGS works with several other partner institutions to provide tailored study abroad programs complementing those institutions’ coursework in areas related to international relations and diplomacy. Through these programs, AGS shares its expertise and allows partner institutions to take advantage of its location and connections in Paris, through its faculty drawn from the diplomatic community and through visits to international organizations, government agencies and other Paris-based organizations.

In addition to the two upcoming programs, AGS will partner with Purdue University in Indiana on an international communications study abroad program in October.

AGS also will host a delegation of government officials from Vietnam for a professional development program on national security policies, in collaboration with the Institute for Executive Education, which specializes in Asian educational exchanges. As part of its long-term commitment to foster international educational, cultural and political dialogue, AGS has welcomed delegations of judges and inspectors from Hanoi to study new French anti-corruption laws, and publishers interested in studying new technology and issues raised by the digital revolution in print media through the partnership with the Institute.

For more on AGS' study abroad partnerships, contact Corentine Chaillet at corentine.chaillet@ags.edu.

On April 16, AGS will host a special talk and discussion about the Trump Presidency and Democracy during a Wine and Cheese evening animated by Chris Edelson, Assistant Professor of Government and Director of the Politics, Policy and Law (PPL) Scholars Program at American University in Washington D.C., a partner of AGS.

Chris Edelson will discuss the threats to the Constitution in the Trump era, with a particular focus on the tension between authoritarianism and constitutional democracy in the US and the success or failure of the US Constitution in the context of the authoritarian threat posed by Donald Trump.

Chris Edelson's teaching and research interests focus on presidential national security power under the U.S. Constitution. His first book, Emergency Presidential Power: From the Drafting of the Constitution to the War on Terror, was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in fall 2013. His second book, Power Without Constraint: The Post 9/11 Presidency and National Security was published in spring 2016.

American University has been a partner of the American Graduate School in Paris since 2015 through a dual program allowing students to earn two Master's degrees over the course of three years.

The talk will take place at 6:30 pm. If you wish more information on this event or if you wish to attend, please email rsvp@ags.edu.

Photo: courtesy of American University

Award-winning Italian filmmaker and producer Elena Rossini visited AGS students in Professor Ruchi Anand’s Gender, Militarization and War class on March 1^st to talk about her work advocating diversity and fighting the commodification of the body and the detrimental effects of media and consumer society.

Rossini talked about the research and findings behind her documentary The Illusionists, in which Prof. Anand was interviewed. This feature-length film shows how advertising and the beauty industry are changing the world as we see it, creating a population of people striving to look a particular way. The supposedly ideal body that they promote, one that is white, blond, small-nosed, long-legged and Western, is unobtainable for the majority of people, but companies sell this “perfect” image around the world to foster insecurity in billions of people. Because nothing sells better than insecurity. Elena shared how the process of gathering the data for her film revealed the hypocrisy within the advertising agencies: many large brands promote skin whitening creams in nations such as India, while a simultaneous promotion is broadcasted to people in the United States for skin tanning. These contradictions show how companies are manipulating the population of each country, telling them that beauty can be bought if only they keep consuming.

This conversation on beauty standards sparked an interesting conversation among the students, who related to the different impacts advertising had on their diverse communities, from Western Africa to the Southern United States, and the impact they’ve seen of skin whitening cream and the discrimination they feel based off of the tanning of their skin.

Elena then introduced students to her newest project, labelled The Realists, which centers around the impact technology and social media has on people’s self-esteem and self-image. Still in the midst of interviewing and gathering research from around the world for this project, students reflected on the importance of this project and how different daily life is with instant access to people’s lives on their phones.

"In a  diverse class on 'Gender, Militarization, and War', Elena's thought-provoking presentation evoked a multifaceted discussion on the role of worldwide beauty standards. These standards, her film depicts, are globalised through profit-seeking multinational companies, capitalising on consumer-insecurities that are fostered through gendered expectations! The traditional international definition of war took new meanings including a war on self!"

For more information visit Elena Rossini's website

Written by : Katie Pratt, M.A. Candidate 2021