Posted by: Tyler D.
So before I decided to come to Hopkins, I was a little concerned about the campus's political energy. I come from a union lovin', social security backin', full out FDR'ed family and have a certain set of political opinions. Hopkins is technically below the Mason Dixon line and the whole Mid-Atlantic conundrum freaked me out a bit. College students are renowned for being more radical than their parents, and I did not want to miss out on the experience of youthful political disenchantment.
So I thought that I could share my thoughts on Hopkins's political zeitgeist and offer some examples on the political events that pass through here (no bra burnings yet, though). Overall, I have found the campus to be pretty moderate in respect to the New England schools I also visited. However, this wide variety is great in guaranteeing that everyone is going to find their political soulmate on campus. Yes, that goes for you apathetic people out there as well.
One great event that is starting in the spring is the Foreign Affairs Symposium speaker events. The Foreign Affairs Symposium (which I am not on, so this is a neutral endorsement) is a group of students that works to bring interesting speakers to campus. With Hopkins being so close to Washington, students are guaranteed to have access to the world's most interesting figures. However, who is going to deny the convenience of having a speaker show up right at Shriver Hall??
This picture is trying to reflect how pretty Hopkins looked last night in the snow. It's not quite there.
Last night, I attended a speech by Nicholas Kristof who is an op-ed writer for the New York Times. No matter what your newspaper allegiance is (Wall Street Journal vs. NY Times vs. Baltimore's City Paper), no one can deny the popularity and fame of Kristof's column. A link here. His writings generally focus on the inequality issues in developing nations and last night his talk completely centered on gender inequality. His topic completely surprised me & while I disagreed with some of his topics, I couldn't deny how much I enjoyed supporting this event.
As for the rest of the semester, the speaker list is included on FAS's website. The speakers do not have the same name recognition as the speakers Hopkins hosts for MSE Symposium. However, this leads to a more productive conversation and less celeb gushing.
The speakers I definitely am going to see:
FBI Director Robert Mueller III
First Sgt. (Ret.) Matthew Eversmann (the guy Josh Hartnett played in "Black Hawk Down")
Need I further explain why I'm going?
Lisa Jackson (Administrator of the EPA)
I would also like to mention that there are political speakers from other universities about once a week courtesy of the Political Science Department. And I am plugging JHU's political magazine JHU Politik (which Jackie is really involved with and I am writing my second article for).
Anyway, I hope this has given some insight into the political climate at Hopkins.
In the name of my lover Obama,
Tyler
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