Page 61 - e-Kongre Bildiriler Kitabı-II

Uluslararası Covid-19 Kongresi

person is such a mix of nationalities that they are all basically the same. As a result, differences between
peoples in the US have become more and more based on skin color with whites, African, Asian, Hispanic
or Latino, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders being identified.
The white Americans have dominated the population of US since its founding, but according to the US
Census Bureau, the US will become ‘minority white’ by 2045.
The fact of the US becoming ‘minority white’ by 2045 has fueled and emboldened white supremacy,
egged on by the past President of the US, which fueled the US capital riot invasion of January 6, 2021.
This has turned the base of supporters of past President Trump into emboldened white supremacists
who believe conspiracy theories suggesting that the last presidential election was rigged and that anyone
who supports racial equality wants to destroy the US.
A number of college students have accepted these racial theories and I believe so strongly that one
of the strengths of the US is its diversity that I include discussions of global diversity in all of my clas-
ses. I teach courses in natural resource ecology and soils, watershed management and global resource
systems. In each of these courses I assign team projects that require discussions of global significance.
Students are required to produce a paper and make a power point presentation on such topics as
the water quality issue of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh, major deforestation in Indonesia for the pro-
duction of oil palm plantations, and death of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for the irrigation
of vast cotton plantations, among others in my ecology and soils class.
In the watershed class teams create a paper and power point presentation on a major river in the
world. Rivers such as Niger and Benue Rivers in western Africa, the Lena in eastern Russia, the Xingu
in Brazil, the Omo in Ethiopia and Kenya and the Mekong in Southeast Asia. For these projects students
must describe the physical and biological characteristics of the both the river and the watershed it runs
through, the people and their culture who live in the watershed and their use of the river, and major human
and climate change impacts on the river.
We have recently developed a new major at the University called Global Resources Systems in which
I co-teach two courses that deal with natural resources, agriculture, food and socio-economic resource
systems around the world. This new major prepares students for jobs that focus on international issues
working with multi-national companies in the US or working overseas in countries around the world.
Within this program I also lead one or two international study abroad trips each year.
We have a university facility in Uganda where we team Iowa State students with Makerere University
students from Kampala to teach fifth and sixth graders and work in school gardens. We also work with
young mothers and babies in their first 1,000 days of life focusing on providing them healthy nutrition. In
addition to our work in Uganda, I have also taken students to more than 20 countries around the world
in study abroad programs.
We strongly believe that the modern technology of communication and travel have made the world
a smaller place where all people must develop an understanding and respect of the diversity of cultures
that make our planet such a rich and rewarding place to live.

- Davetli Konuşmacı- 61 Eğitimde Yeni Normlar-II