Intern Spotlight: Shuo Wang

Learning Life intern, Shuo Wang, who goes by Gladys, hails from China, and is currently a graduate student pursuing a Master’s Degree in Information Systems Technology at the George Washington University School of Business. Gladys interned with Learning Life in her fall semester 2014 and quickly proved her skills in web development by carrying out a variety of edits, additions and redesigns to Learning Life’s website.  Her work since has included constructing the website for our partner, Signia Surfaces using WordPress.  Gladys kindly took some time out from her work to answer some questions about herself.

Thanks to Learning Life writer, Craig Gusmann, for drafting Gladys’ profile.

 

Gladys Shuo WangWhere were you born?  I was born in Jilin Province in northeastern China.

What did you want to be when you were a child?  I wanted to be a singer or an actress.

What are your hobbies?  I like to play musical instruments, especially the violin and “Guqin,” a traditional Chinese wood instrument with seven strings.  I began playing when I was seven years old. I didn’t like it at first, but now I enjoy playing.

Do you have any secret talents?  I prefer to keep it a secret.  🙂

What talents or skills do you wish you had or hope to someday learn?  I would like to develop my skills in tasting and appreciating food and wine.  It would be great if I can make all my favorite dishes myself.

What is your fondest childhood memory?  Going camping with my family. We camped in parks in my hometown and played card games. Our camping trips were not extraordinary, but they are memorable because I was surrounded by the people I love.

What is your dream vacation?  Vacationing in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s home country of Austria.  I fell in love with Mozart’s music when I was 15 years old and still love his music.

What do you want to become in life?

In the immediate future, I would like to find paid work as a web developer in the USA when I graduate in May 2015.  But long-term, I just want to be strong, independent and happy.

Why did you choose to intern with Learning Life?

It is meaningful to work for Learning Life to help spread knowledge to more people. Nothing in life can make people feel more useful and satisfied than helping other people.

Are there any other interesting things about yourself you would like to share?

I am a successful matchmaker.

 

 

Five Facts on Global Food Insecurity

Thanks to Learning Life volunteers, Derrick Costa and Erin Birmingham, for assisting with the research and writing of the following five facts.

1) 795 million hungry worldwide

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 795 million people worldwide suffered from hunger and malnutrition in 2015.  That’s a reduction of more than 167 million over the last decade, and more than 216 million since 1990-1992, but still means about 11% of the world’s population goes hungry.

2) Most in Asia and Africa

Most of the world’s undernourished are concentrated in Africa and Asia, which together also contain the majority of the world’s population.  But the percentage of people undernourished varies substantially by region within these two continents, from 41% in Middle Africa to 7% in Central Asia.

Spring basket operation3) Causes

Food insecurity can be caused by various factors, and the causes vary to some extent by nation and region.  Major causes worldwide currently include economic downturns, war and civil war, agricultural mismanagement and lack of investment, and natural disasters due to climate change and other weather patterns.

4) Consequences

Lack of nutritious food leads families to pull their children out of school to work, thus lowering educational levels and undermining economic productivity (education is a key driver of economic productivity).  Malnutrition also contributes to illness among women and children especially, stunts physical and intellectual development, and increases death rates.  Malnutrition causes 45% of all child deaths worldwide.

5) 50% more food by 2050

According to the World Bank, the world needs to produce 50% more food to feed the 9 billion people expected to inhabit the Earth in 2050.  To increase the amount of food available, the World Bank recommends smarter farming methods that take climate change into account, restoring degraded agricultural land, developing more resilient and nutritious crops, and improving transport and storage to reduce food waste.

 

Sources

United Nations.  “Global Food Crisis: More Go Hungry Amid Economic Turmoil.”

UN Food & Agriculture Organization.  “The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015.

World Bank.  “Food Security Overview.”

 

 

The Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant (ISIL)

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, has become one of the most feared terrorist organizations in the world due to their violence and rapid land conquest in Iraq and Syria in 2014.  Learning Life presents the following five facts to give a brief sense of ISIL’s size, origins, beliefs and violent impact, plus the international response to ISIL and its cost thus far.

1) 2004

The year the United States government first recognized ISIL (alternately known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS) as a terrorist organization. The group originated in 1999 as Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, and calls for the establishment of an Islamic state or “caliphate” that follows early Islamic beliefs and rejects more recent and moderate ones (as well as those who don’t follow Islam), from Hamas to the Saudi Arabian state.

Sources:

http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant 

2) 12,000 fighters from over 50 countries

The estimated number of sympathizers that have traveled from other countries to join ISIL in Iraq and Syria thus far. This includes approximately 100 U.S. citizens.

ISIL has at times joined forces with al-Qaeda and Sunni factions in Iraq, though these groups have also sometimes opposed each other.

Sources:

http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/rm/2014/231462.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant#Ideology_and_beliefs

3) Over 9,000 dead, and 17,000 wounded

The estimated number of civilian and military casualties from fighting between ISIL and its opponents thus far in 2014, according to the United Nations.

Source:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/10/02/U-N-ISIS-uses-women-girls-as-sex-slaves.html

4) Over 60 Countries

The number of countries formally in coalition against ISIL.  Among the members of the coalition are the USA, Australia, France, Germany, Ukraine, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.  Coalition partners are providing troops and/or weapons to fight ISIL, making it harder for foreign fighters to join ISIL, blocking funding to ISIL, providing humanitarian aid, and/or “exposing ISIL’s true nature.”

Source:

http://www.state.gov/s/seci/

5) $8 million per day/$776 million total

The cost of “Operation Inherent Resolve” against ISIL in Syria and Iraq from the start of the Operation on August 8, 2014 through November 12, 2014.

Source:

http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2014/0814_iraq/

 

Educational Partner Spotlight: Ziad Munson, Ph.D.

Learning Life occasionally spotlights experts who contribute to the educational content we spread, whether by writing a quiz based on their research, answering a Big Question of public interest that we pose to relevant experts, or else. Dr. Ziad Munson, a sociologist, contributed to Learning Life’s Big Questions on terrorism based on his research investigating the dynamics of terrorism. This profile offers a glimpse of his life and work.    

Special thanks to Learning Life intern, Dimitra Rallis, for helping to draft Ziad’s profile.

Ziad Munson is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he spends much of his time exploring the realms of political sociology, social movements and the sociology of religion through a combination of personal interviews, archival research, and analysis of quantitative data. Ziad is currently researching the organizational dynamics of terrorist organizations and how the abortion issue has realigned partisan politics in the United States.

Ziad MunsonZiad graduated from the University of Chicago in 1993 with a B.A. in Sociology with honors, and went on to earn his Ph.D. in Sociology in 2002 from Harvard University, completing a thesis on activism in the American pro-life movement. While at Harvard, Ziad served as a Teaching Fellow, Instructor and Lecturer, receiving an award for Distinction in Teaching. He has taught at Lehigh University since 2003, leading a variety of courses stemming from his research interests, such as Religion & Society, The Social Origins of Terrorism, and The Christian Right in America.

In his career thus far, Ziad has published a volume of work on international political violence, including research on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. His expertise contributed to Learning Life’s “Big Questions” on terrorism. Our Big Questions series presents experts’ short, provocative answers to important public questions, like “What are the underlying causes of terrorism?” and “How big a threat is terrorism?

To understand terrorism, Ziad has taken a different path. Rather than focus on what makes terrorist organizations different, he starts by looking at the similarities terrorist organizations share with other types of organizations, like established political parties and advocacy groups. By taking this approach, he has been able to distill the dynamics of terrorist groups into more understandable patterns. His most surprising findings on terrorism thus far have been that: (a) “ideology is relatively unimportant in understanding the dynamics of most terrorist groups,” and (b) “many of the most lethal groups today did not start out committed to violence at all.”

Beyond his work on terrorism, Ziad has also produced considerable research on the American “pro-life” or anti-abortion movement, including the qualities of its activists and its influence on political parties. In 2009, he authored the book, The Making of Pro-Life Activists, a study of U.S. pro-life organizations that sheds light on pro-life activism as well as how people more broadly mobilize for causes they care about. Ziad is currently working on a second book, tentatively titled Understanding Abortion Politics (to be published by Polity Press), that examines how the issue of abortion has been molded by shifting political forces in the United States over the last fifty years

Aside from research and teaching, Ziad serves as an elected school board member in his local public school district.  As he explains, “I am convinced that a robust public education system is critical to both our local communities and our larger democracy. Serving as an advocate for public schools, and helping to guide their direction, is thus very rewarding for me.” In the same vein, Ziad also volunteers as a trustee of his local public library system.

Ziad’s commitment to public learning make us proud to call him a friend of Learning Life.