NBN Multimedia Presents..‪.‬ North by Northwestern

During my first year in Medill, we were required to do “person on the street” interviews. It’s when Medill students went around campus asking several people random questions in order to build interview skills. As an introvert, I was very intimidated by this. However, throughout that quarter, not a single NU student denied my silly little interviews. If you are one of the many people who have at least responded once to the relentless — and sometimes awkward — Medill students, you have officially answered to the press more times than the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, has in the entirety of his ongoing regime. 

Modi was elected Prime Minister of the world’s largest “democracy” in 2014, and then reelected in a landslide victory in 2019. Over the past 8 years, he has not taken a single question from the Indian media or the international press. 

MODI, THE BJP AND THE RSS 
In case you aren’t familiar with the leader of the second-largest nation in the world, Modi is the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a political arm of the para-militant Hindu nationalist group, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). I will use these acronyms moving forward because, as you can see, the alternative is a lot of letters. 

The BJP and RSS run on “Hindutva,” a movement working to establish India as a Hindu state. India – while primarily Hindu — is home to a diverse array of religions including the third largest Muslim population and some of the oldest Christian and Sikh populations. Mahatma Gandhi stated that such diversity necessitated that the Indian government remain secular. Gandhi was assassinated by RSS member Nathuram Godse. 

Modi’s 2014 election was embraced by both the right and the left in the West: Trump and Modi bonded over mutual right-wing nationalist values, while Obama wrote Modi’s profile in the Time “100” list. Here’s an excerpt: 

“When he came to Washington, Narendra and I visited the memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We reflected on the teachings of King and Gandhi and how the diversity of backgrounds and faiths in our countries is a strength we have to protect. Prime Minister Modi recognizes that more than 1 billion Indians living and succeeding together can be an inspiring model for the world."

However, before he was elected Prime Minister, Modi was actually banned from entering the United States because of his involvement in the 2002 Gujarat Massacres. When Modi was Chief Minister of the Indian State of Gujarat, right-wing Hindu mobs killed, burned and tortured thousands, leaving 790 Muslims dead. Police and government officials remained silent as Muslim houses and mosques were destroyed, while people remained trapped inside. The violence was actively instigated by the rhetoric of the BJP. Due to Modi’s refusal to apologize or acknowledge his inaction during the massacre as Head of State, the US revoked his visa. It was then reinstated when Modi was elected Prime Minister. 

Modi grew up a part of the RSS, as a child. The RSS is a militant, volunteer organization entrenched in the Hindutva ideology. These Hindu nationalists believe India is a fundamentally Hindu nation. Founders of the RSS, such as MS Gowalkar cited Mussolini, Hitler and Nazism as influences for their organizations' push for “purity of a race and its culture.” The RSS has a history of violence against Christians, Sikhs and Muslims over the past 50 years that has often totaled thousands of deaths at a time in mass killings. 

In a disturbingly circular manner, it now perpetuates white nationalism itself. Both the 2019 Christchurch shooter, who murdered 51 Muslims during Friday prayer, and the neo-Nazi behind the 2011 Norway attacks cited the RSS as an influence. In fact, the manifesto left by Anders Breivik, the terrorist behind the Norwegian attacks, shared URL links to both the BJP and RSS websites. 

SYSTEMIC VIOLENCE IN INDIA 

According to a study by India’s NDTV network, hate

The Heart’s Knowledge: Science and Empathy in the Art of Dario Robleto is the Block Museum’s newest exhibition that opened on Jan. 27. Robleto is the first artist-at-large at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. 

Since 2018, the artist-at-large program has encouraged interdisciplinary interactions between the arts and sciences. Contemporary artists come to Northwestern’s campus and immerse themselves in the world of scientific research, processes and collaboration. The Heart’s Knowledge is representative of Dario Robleto’s collaboration with McCormick. 

Michael Metzger is the Pick-Laudati curator of media arts at The Block Museum and the curator of The Heart’s Knowledge. Moving images punctuate much of his curation and educational efforts at Northwestern. He said that Northwestern is the perfect place to initiate dialogues across the arts and sciences.

Michael: The Block [Museum] is the right place for it, because we really do see ourselves as an interdisciplinary hub, a convening space, one of the most critical spaces on campus where people from different disciplines can come together. Northwestern, I think sometimes lacks those, this central kind of cohesive spaces where people are coming together across the disciplines.

Pulling examples from advancements in technology, such as the first recorded heartbeats, Robleto poses questions about the emotional consequences of these breakthroughs. More importantly, he is concerned with the possibility of enhancing our capacity for empathy. 

Dario: The show lays out various proposals and how to do that, both in human history, but also more expansively, my wildest question is: is empathetic behavior a feature of all intelligent life across the cosmos? That's a much weirder and more difficult question. 

One piece in particular represents Robleto’s struggle to answer that question. 

American Seabed (2014) features fossilized prehistoric whale ear bones and various butterflies whose antennae are made from audiotape of Bob Dylan’s song “Desolation Row.” It asks the question: does proximity aid in our quest to communicate, or hinder these opportunities? Michael Metzger said that it might be an advantage. 


Michael: Communication can be simply a form of co-presence, you know, being together with another person or being you know, without exchanging words, you can still communicate and you can know another person that way. 

The Aorta of an Archivist (2020-2021) is a fifty-three minute film that attempts to reconcile with the idea of the forever widening space between two points. It grapples with the human ability to recognize and transcend boundaries of knowledge and what it means when we are unable to do so. 

The film celebrates three firsts in recording history: the first time live music was recorded, the first time brain waves were recorded in a dream state and the first time the human heart was recorded while an individual was listening to music. What was once thought to be impossible is the norm. Yet, Robleto asks: what do we as listeners of the future owe to those speakers of the past?

The notion of owing sincerity to one another is the major theme of Dario Robleto’s exhibition. As emphasized by the pace of scientific advancement and the rate of the universe itself, Robleto argues that the scarcity of time should result in an abundance of empathy. 

For Generation Z, it still feels difficult to bridge boundaries, despite various communication technologies. Robleto said that the only way to contend with these technological dilemmas is with art.

Dario: Given the capacity to record everything all the time, why does it oddly feel like we have less time? That, to me, is a threat to empathetic behavior; if you can no longer feel that you're aligned with someone at the same time and space. So I don't know the answer. But I am identifying this problem that I want to explore.

For NBN audio, I’m Jade Thomas.

This podcast is powe

In this audio story, the terms ‘nation’ and ‘tribe’ are used. Though sometimes used interchangeably in other forms of writing, this article uses nation as a legal term that refers to tribal sovereignty. Tribe is used to refer to a general self-determination, encapsulating lived experiences beyond the legal realm.

[“Lake Superior Waves” by BullSam is licensed under CC BY 4.0.]

The sound of freshwater rushing against the sand in Lake Superior is common noise for Joe Bates. He is a tribal elder of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Northern Wisconsin. Bates was born there. Then, at seven years old, he moved away with his family but finally returned at 29. This is when he made the reservation his permanent home. 

BATES: “This is my homeland. This is what my ancestors died and fought for, this homeland that we have here. I’m just so grateful to be able to come back to my home and remain here for the remainder of, you know, what I have left.”

Bates said that water is sacred. To him, the presence of Lake Michigan on reservation lands is meaningful.

BATES: “And my words for the water was, essentially: essential. Without that good, clean water we will cease to exist. We have everything that we need to survive right here, right here in our homeland that we call Bad River.”

[“Cinematic and Emotional Background Music For Documentary Videos & Film” by MorningLightMusic is licensed under CC BY 4.0.]

He spends an extensive amount of time capturing drone footage of the lake. But this endeavor isn’t just a hobby to collect B-roll. Bates uses his drone to trace the path of a specific oil pipeline. The pipeline is called Line 5 – an underground oil pipeline built by Enbridge, a multinational Canadian pipeline company.

Line 5 carries 22 million gallons of refined oil and natural gas liquids each day. The pipeline spans over 645 miles. It stretches from Superior Wisconsin, where Bates is located, and through Michigan. Line 5 ends in Sarnia, Ontario. 

The problem is that the state of Michigan originally considered Line 5 to have a lifespan of 40 to 50 years. It was built in 1953. 

Currently, Line 5 is 70 years old and its state of deterioration is responsible for 33 recorded spills. The old age of the pipeline has caused corrosion and cracking in certain sections. The Michigan easement that allowed it to function in the straits of Mackinac also requires the line to be supported every 75 feet. Yet, many stretches are unsupported for over 200 feet. One unsupported section even exceeds 400 feet. This lack of support causes stress and makes rupture even more likely. The state of Michigan, climate activists and Native Americans are worried that a larger rupture could compromise the Great Lakes, which accounts for 21% of the world’s freshwater.

Jack Kelly and Catherine Buntin are the co-chairs of the Chicago Area Peace Action Climate Group or CAPA. CAPA is an activist organization that supports various climate issues in the Chicago area. They are involved in the fight against Line 5 and have held protests downtown at Chicago Chase bank locations to call out corporations that fund oil pipelines. They’ve also signed petitions and spoken with local politicians like congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, to share their concerns. Kelly believes in the importance of localized grassroots activism.
 
KELLY: “Local communities should have a say in what their security would look like, not only today, but as we go forward.”

Like Kelly, Catherine Buntin sees organizations like CAPA as a mechanism for change. 

BUNTIN: “You get the environmental groups, you’ve got the indigenous people that live on the land, that grow the wild rice, they know the ecology, they know the damage, that once it’s done you can’t clean it up. So when you have the people at literally the grassroots level, and you have the environmentalists, you have the scientists and then you have climate advocates like our groups, that's

Episode Note
My name is Arden Anderson. I’m from Nashville, Tennessee, and I have an accent. 

Arden: I am Tennessean, born and raised, and for the most part, I love my home. I grew up backpacking through the lush forests of Tennessee wilderness. I vacationed in cabins that perched on foggy Appalachian mountaintops. Over time, I even developed a serious appreciation for bluegrass and two-step dancing, and would go with my friends to the veteran’s bar once a week for two-step Tuesday. 

(bluegrass music begins)

The Southern drawl and Tennessee twang reign supreme where I am from, and my entire family lives in the South. When we all get together for reunions or day trips, you can hear the drawn-out, lazy syllables, and the occasional “bless your heart,” or “I’ll be damned.” So you can imagine my surprise when I introduced myself to my journalism professor for the first time and she told me that I didn’t have a Southern accent! That encounter developed into questions I had about my accent and my family. Why did my accent change when I was in Evanston? Was I eventually going to lose my Southern accent? Would I no longer sound like the rest of my family? 

When I am in Nashville and around my family, my accent promptly reveals itself, and it’s deeper than most of my hometown friends’. This is because my mom, Kristen, filled my childhood with split vowels and substituted consonants. 

Kristen: East Tennessee can have a more Appalachia kind of nasal ton. It’s a lot more kind of in the back of your throat. Kind of more like “you-uns.”

The East Tennessee accent that I grew up with is rooted in small Appalachian communities in rural Tennessee, while the Appalachian mountains themselves stretch all the way from the southern tip of New York state to northern Alabama. The mountains create the perfect isolation for a very specific type of dialect, which combines with some Southern traditions to create my mom’s accent. 

My mother was strongly influenced by her family as she grew up on the border of these mountains. She took trips to her dad’s family farm in Dickson, Tennessee every summer. The farmhouse there had a stand-up piano, an outhouse, and an entire wall of Reader’s Digest condensed books. My mom spent hours thumbing through the well-worn pages, getting her first introduction to the classic literature that she loves today. 

When I’m home, I sound like my mom. I quickly rejoin the world that pronounces economics, “E”-conomics, and where “wire” rhymes with “car” or “star.” However, when I’m in Evanston, I sound different. Subconsciously, I pronounce my words with more deliberation. I don’t say “pi-yun” for pen, or “scho-ool” for “school.” 

Confused why this was happening, I reached out to Dr. Erin Leddon, Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Linguistics and the program in cognitive science. She says that the difference in my accent might be because of my subconscious need to conform to those around me, whether that’s at school or at home.  

Professor Leddon explained to me that I might be “shifting” my accent to highlight my affiliation with a particular group, whether that was here in Evanston or at home in Nashville. 

To me, this made total sense. My mind was altering the way I sounded in order to conform to the group I was with. I began to understand the true effect geographic or social mobilization can have on accents. Even my mom thinks her accent has changed since she moved to Nashville over twenty years ago. 

Kristen:  You know, I don't feel like I sound particularly East Tennessee anymore. I've kept a tonal flux, but a lot of that dropping of hard D's and T's and all that. A lot of that's gone.  I think it's because of education, and I think it's the proximity we have here in Nashville. It's still in the South, but we have a lot of folks here from different places.

From what I can tell, my mom’s thoughts about h

Episode Notes
[“Second GenerAsian Theme” by Tenny Tsang]

Sophia Lo: Hello hello, and welcome to

All: Second GenerAsian!

Sophia: I'm Sophia.

Hannah Yoon: I'm Hannah.

David Deloso: And I'm David.

Sophia: And we are back with our first episode of the quarter even though it's Week Seven.

David: Yes.

Hannah: Hell yeah. So this topic is Asian American Studies.

Sophia: Since we've all taken classes on this topic, we wanted to go more into the history of Asian American Studies. But we brought in an expert to tell us more about the field. I talked with Ray San Diego, who's a Visiting Professor in Northwestern’s Asian American Studies Program. Before coming here, he taught Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, and he's been teaching here since last quarter.

Ray San Diego: There's been a lot of changes with Asian American Studies since it started. And I think earlier in the late 60s and 70s, because of immigration policy at the time, it was mainly focused on Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, maybe to a degree Korean Americans. You didn't have much about Southeast Asians, people of mixed race, Filipinos even. And so I'd say over the past 40 or 50 years, you've sort of seen the incorporation of different ethnic groups and different perspectives. But also I would say what makes Asian American studies a little different than some of the other groups is how heterogeneous we are. So it's not like everyone speaks Asian, right, compared to like speaking maybe Spanish or something like that, or we don't have necessarily a shared history of how we came to the United States. It was much more staggered. On the one hand, it's the experiences, the politics, the cultural production, the stories of struggle and survival of Asians in the diaspora, and people of Asian descent in the United States or North America even more broadly, but at the same time, it's also just as perspective of how we understand power relations in our society and what is equity and what is activism.

Hannah: A major thread in Asian American Studies is activism. In fact, student activists are the ones who really pushed for ethnic studies, and they're honestly the only reason why they exist altogether. I personally didn't know anything about the history of ethnic studies until I took my first Asian American studies course, last year, spring quarter. But it all started with a student-led strike at San Francisco State University, and Ray’s going to tell us more about it.

Ray: In 1968, it was the largest student strike ever in history. It was about five months. Students were upset about the way that faculty of color were not being hired in the college or the university I should say, they weren't receiving tenure. A lot of students of color weren't getting admitted to schools. And when they were they were only learning from like a white male, upper class heteronormative, Eurocentric perspective. And it was sort of like if this is our money and our education, we should be able to learn about ourselves. And so it started with the Black Student Union. And they were upset over the firing of a professor and wanted to make change. And so they had 10 demands that included things like open admissions for students of color, hiring faculty of color, having a College of Ethnic Studies, and then a lot of the other student groups joined in so PACE, the Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor, Raza students, the Native American students, pretty much everyone and even a lot of whites joined in and were like, we want ethnic studies, classes, curriculum, content, faculty because it was really a time in the 1960s about self determination about understanding who you were as a person and where you fit in the world. And you sort of saw a lot of decolonizing movements happening around the world as well. So a lot of these places that we're throwing out sort of the imperial ways of thinking and were like, “We have our own ways of producing knowledge that we n

Episode Notes
Episode Description: Summer’s over and we are officially back! Sophia, David and Hannah (along with special guests Carl Morison and Jakob Lazzaro) talk about studying abroad in Asia in the latest episode of Second GenerAsian!
Sophia Lo: Hi and welcome back to...
All: Second GenerAsian.
Sophia: I'm Sophia.
David Deloso: I'm David.
Hannah Julie Yoon: And I'm Hannah.
David: And for those of you who are new, this is our podcast where we talk about our Asian American identity...
Hannah: And also generally what it's like to be an Asian-American Northwestern student.
Sophia: So today, since this is our first episode back from the summer, we're going to talk about what we did over the summer, more specifically study abroad programs.
David: So for this summer, I studied abroad in Beijing, China through a Northwestern program. I was studying poli-sci and Chinese language. And it was one of the best two months of my life. So many awesome memories, I met so many cool people and it really made me interested about what other people's experiences have been like studying abroad, specifically in Asian countries.
Hannah: So we thought we'd gather some of our friends who have also studied abroad in Asian countries and have them talk to us about what it was like.
Sophia: So, David first question: Why China?
David: So I've been taking Chinese since my freshman year of high school and I've always just been really interested in the culture. And yeah, I just wanted to practice my Chinese, which I had mixed results with, but that's why I picked China.
Sophia: And what's your favorite memory from studying abroad?
David: The one-week break when we all went to Shanghai, or at least my friend group did, and it was great because we didn't have classes that week and we just kind of got to explore one of the coolest cities any of us had ever been in, and just really bond. We all stayed in an Airbnb and we had some amazing food. Shanghai has xiao long bao which are soup dumplings. They're very hard to find in the Midwest. I finally got to have some good ones, and it was honestly a life-changing experience because now all I can think about is when I'm going to have xiao long bao again, and it's probably going to be a while, but that was just a great time.
I think my biggest takeaway was just the fact that being in a country that you're not really familiar with, with other people who are also not that familiar with it is just a very amazing bonding experience. You really gotta stick together. And I mean, I was seeing the same eight or nine people every single day for two months, and by the end we were all so close and I still keep up with them now that we're back on campus. And I don't think that really matters what country you go to. Just being in another country with people is just a really great time. So yeah, I would definitely recommend this program or any study abroad program to Northwestern students or any students who are interested in doing something that's very different from being on campus and like doing the same like, you know, kind of daily grind stuff that you really get used to in college.
It was very, very different from my college experience, even though we were taking classes still. And yeah, it was just a great way to spend the Summer especially since it was the Summer after my freshman year, and I didn't have to worry about getting an internship or anything. Yeah. I really loved it.
Hannah: If you had to summarize your study abroad experience in one sentence in Chinese, what would it be?
David: 我的中文不太好 所以别的人都不会听懂我说的话. So basically that sentence was like, "Chinese people really didn't understand me". You know, no one really did. Luckily, there were a couple fluent Chinese speakers in my friend group who got me through the experience. Shoutout Allison, shoutout Ginny. I realized my Chinese that I learned in school was really not where I wanted to be. But yeah still great experie