Honors Students in Action

Honors Student Lauren Tousignant speaks out the media, Bono, and genocide
in Darfur, Sudan

(left to right) Allison Piché, Brianne Kujawski and Kacie Allen

Bri, Ali and Kacie:
When did you first become aware of the problems in Darfur, and how?

Lauren:
I can't pinpoint the exact time when I first became aware of the problems in Darfur, but I can tell you that once I started my time here at Lasell I became much more aware of the social problems facing different parts of the world. Upon becoming increasingly aware a few years ago I started to seek out more news relating to these current issues, and the genocide in Darfur has been hugely recognized by many different groups of activists as well as journalists who are trying to expose these types of issues. 

Bri, Ali and Kacie:  
Why did you decide to teach this course?
 
Lauren:
The course actually formed out of an Honors Component project done by Chelsea Comeau and myself that was part of one of our education courses taught by John Carroll. Originally we were only planning out a current social issues course on paper as an exercise in class planning since we are secondary education majors, and John Carroll, along with Chelsea and I, decided that it would be great to take it a step further and create an actual course for the college. At the end of that semester we asked Chris Herget and Kevin Lawson to take part in creating this student-led course with us around current social issues because we were in the same course that the honors component came out of and we are all secondary education majors. We narrowed down the topic to Darfur over the summer when we decided that taking on social issues in general was far too big a task. We decided to choose the genocide in Darfur because it is such a current important and urgent issue that so many still do not know about, and we admittedly wanted to learn more about it ourselves. We were helped so much in our planning and implementing of this course by Cathy Zeek, John Carroll, and Stephanie Athey, who are all part of the faculty here at Lasell. 

Bri, Ali and Kacie:
Do you think that the media plays a large role in what we know about Darfur?
 
Lauren:
I absolutely believe that the media plays a large role in what we as the public in the United States know about the genocide in Darfur. In the course there was much discussion generated over the fact that there is not nearly enough media attention surrounding the issues in Darfur, or focused on social problems around the world for that matter. At our age, we are very much a generation influenced by the media. For many, whether it be consciously or subconsciously, the media shapes how we view different aspects of the world and sometimes even our values. Mainstream media of television, the radio, and major published newspapers and magazines tend to keep in mind special interests of specific individuals or groups that they have ties with, and this can affect the types of stories that get released and highlighted. Although there has been some media attention on Darfur such as concerts trying to raise money and awareness for the cause that have gotten press, some Hollywood stars speaking out about the issue (most will immediately think of Bono of U2), and even just news stories focusing on the issue, it is not nearly enough. MTVU even created a game called "Darfur is Dying" to raise awareness about the hardships being faced by the people, but MTVU is aimed at college students, and while their efforts are great and many have visited this online game, college students are known to be one of the most active groups in social issues already.  continue reading...

Dr. Stephanie Athey Director, Honors Program Director, Mexico Shoulder to Shoulder Associate Professor of English Read our FACULTY BLOG