Willamette World News

By Fernanda Oliver Ooh, mate, my faithful companion. For this last issue of the Willamette World News, I was asked to write about something that was deeply related to my country’s culture. If I had to choose one element that is linked to Argentine culture, history, traditions, people, and basically everything, it all comes down […]

By Stina Köster I have to be honest with you – writing this article might be dangerous for me. But I think it is time for me to speak up! Although I might be attracting THEIR attention… What I would like to write about today is Bielefeld. If you ask Germans what Bielefeld is, you […]

By Julia M. Robleto Flores In the heart of the American continent, a land of lakes and volcanoes emerges known as Nicaragua, a country with old colonial cities, lonely beaches, impressive lakes and lagoons, many volcanoes, bodies of water, wild jungle, and breathtaking mountains with 70 different exotic ecosystems. It’s hard to believe that there […]

By Shotaro Kumano I don’t know if everyone knows, but the hip-hop dance is lately very popular in Japan. Especially in colleges and high schools. Most schools have dance teams and do various types of dancing which are originally from the U.S. It’s can be hard to identify the name of the dance but it’s […]

Greetings, Have you ever wondered how your education compared to students around the world? Well, look no further, because the Willamette University Language Assistants from Argentina, Nicaragua, Japan, Germany, France, and Russia recount some of their experiences in this issue on “Education Around the World.” As a special edition to this issue, check out this […]

By Shotaro Kumano Japan has some unique educational customs in the school. Of course, in the class there are some strategical methods to education, but I’m going to focus on education at outside of class. Outside of the class is very significant for building a responsibility, bond, and roll in the group.

By Julia M. Robleto Flores In a quote, Gandhi says, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” From that point of view, I believe that from any perspective, whether it be historical, theoretical, theological, social or psychological, education can be perceived as a central axis of human development. […]

By Norma Fernanda Oliver Education sets us free, education is a universal key to infinite doors. In Argentina, the obligatory education starts at the age of 5; however, I started attending school at the young age of two. Both of my parents worked and there was not child care or nurseries where I lived, so […]

By Mariia Ulibegova In this article I will try to recall my most vivid memories and most distinguishing features of all the levels of Russian education I’ve been through, from learning how to write to learning how to write a thesis.

By Stina Koster Those of you who have already talked with us language assistants before might have noticed that most of us share a common characteristic: Many language assistants want to become teachers when they are back in their respective countries. This is my dream, too. However, I am going to be a teacher at […]

By Julie Dine, French Language Assistant Living in the U.S. during the latest elections was a deeply upsetting experience. Many people were shocked from the results, myself included. One could say Oregon filled with a very open-minded, tolerant, and caring population. So, naturally, it was a hard time for our university. People were obviously down, […]

By Mariia Ulibegova, Russian Language Assistant In this article I want to present various views on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election that individuals and certain media hold in Russia. Is Trump good or bad for Russia? Opinions differ. I want to show how they differ and why. I also tried to incorporate these […]

By Stina Koster, German Language Assistant When I was asked to write an article about the reaction in Germany to the election of the new President of the United States of America, I definitely had problems with starting to write it. Where was I supposed to start? I remember talking to friends before I left […]

By Shotaro Kumano, Japanese Language Assistant On election day, I was on campus watching the ballots being counted on TV with my friends. I still remember what the atmosphere was like after the President of the United States was decided. Many of the people had feelings of fear, sadness, anger at that time. And, at […]

By Julia Flores-Robleto, Spanish Language Assistant November 8th was a historic day in the United States of America. The world is holding its breath after the results of the election. Trump is a man with radical ideas and holds an anti-immigrant position fueled by xenophobia. Despite this, he managed to receive millions of votes. Donald […]

By Fernanda Oliver, Spanish Language Assistant *The following article is based on my sole opinion and does not aim at tokenizing Argentinian people.* It is a well-known fact that politics and soccer are hot topics in Argentina, so most people try to avoid them. Yet more often than not, we see a Boca vs River¹ […]

Greetings, We hope you’ve had a fun and relaxing summer break so far! For the final Willamette World News issue of this academic year, we interviewed our contributors, giving them a chance to reflect on their time here at Willamette not only as international students and language assistants, but also as our peers. We hope […]

Greetings, Thanks for checking out our second issue of the semester! This issue’s prompt was contributed to us by Professor Allison Hobgood from the Willamette University English department and Women’s and Gender Studies Program: From world news media to Willamette’s own campus, we hear all kinds of talk about “equality,” “equal rights and opportunities,” and even “treating everyone […]

By Emmanuelle Schopp “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity). These words constitute the motto of the French Republic. This notion of equality can also be found in the first words of the American Declaration of Independence:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, etc.” The fact that the concept of […]

By Anne Schwobe When it comes to equality, I think nearly everyone agrees that it is something we all have to work for. And if we look back at some of the more recent changes in laws, or even the establishment of new laws, it is obvious that there have been some substantive efforts over […]

By Lucía Baigorrí Haüen “Equality” and “equity” are two words that are often used interchangeably. Fair enough, they look and sound pretty similar. However, being alert to language nuances can be very empowering. Part of me believes that the common treatment of certain concepts as synonyms serves a purpose: whenever one is not aware of […]

By Gesa Musiol What is equality? As an international student from Germany studying at Willamette for a little over eight months now, I now know that this question has to be considered not in only one cultural context, but rather two – and both of them consist of a million different fragments, experiences, and statements […]

By Guadalupe Torres Equality and equity are two concepts that are commonly heard of in the United States. In many occasions these can be topics that are difficult and/or uncomfortable to discuss for some people, but nevertheless they are important to speak about. I grew up learning that equality meant treating everyone the same – […]

By Shotaro Kumano Equality requires that all kinds of people, tribes, and countries are fair in every way. That includes discrimination and war, things that gives people pain which shouldn’t exist in this world. Sadly, some people still discriminate, so that’s why there is still such war and disparity in each country.