Yesterday was ISCORE, or the long term, the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity. This conference had been [for me] a year in the making. It all began last May when I attended the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Orlando, FL at Disneyworld. I applied to be an NCORE Scholar last March, was accepted, and had a paid trip to Disneyworld and the National Conference to attend seminars on race, ethnicity, and discrimination issues in the United States; the following fall semester [for me, the Fall of 2008] I had a three credit class once a week where me and three other group members researched and presented a powerpoint concerning a topic related to the ethnic background we were assigned, which was different than all of our own ethnicities [ours was Asian Americans].

We originally began with a presentation called “Asian American Portrayal in American Media,” discussing the negative connotations and stereotypes embedded in America’s cinematic culture. After presenting, we needed to narrow down our topic for the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity, or ISCORE. We decided to focus on Arab/Middle Eastern portrayal in American media, following the documentary “Reel Bad Arabs,” by Dr. Shaheen, a professor Emeritus of Communication at Southern Illinois University, and his research focuses on over 300+ films that depict negative connotations of Arab/Middle Eastern populations in popular American films. Click here if you are interested in seeing Part I of V of his documentary on YouTube.

The Arab/Middle Eastern Portrayal presentation was my primary presentation at ISCORE. In December, all NCORE participants were required to apply to present another seminar- some were accepted, some were not. My secondary presentation with another group member titled, “Dora the Explorer: Multicultural or Stereotypical?” was accepted, so Kaylene [my co-presenter] and I researched and composed a seminar concerning that topic as well. It was busy, but enjoyable. I feel like the people that attended both of my sessions really learned a great deal. ISCORE is a great experience because it brings diverse issues and serious discrimination awareness to our campus in Iowa, where it is much needed. We have diverse populations on campus, but with unconscious privilege comes obliviousness to that privilege at times.

At 4:00pm, after both my presentations at 2:10 and 3:10pm, I was fortunate enough to introduce Michele Norris, a former ABC correspondent who has had many honors, including a Peabody Award for her coverage of 9/11 with Peter Jennings in 2001. She was the afternoon keynote, and I was able to introduce her to almost 400 anxious audience members. My introduction was typed out, and I had talked so much previously that day, that I just read and introduced her, no big deal.

After her keynote speech, the NCORE participants [me and nineteen other students] were able to eat a catered dinner by ISU Dining [our on campus food service caterer] with Dr. Thomas Hill [Vice President of Student Affairs], Michele Norris herself [I was able to sit at her table because I introduced her!] as well as the LAS Dean, Michael Whitford, and many, many other Iowa State administrative members, along with the Carrie Chapman Catt Lecture Series board [a group of women bringing lecturers concerning women's issues to campus]. It was an amazing night!

After that, all the NCORE participants got together and hung out that night. All in all, it was a great day. Long, but enjoyable and educational! If you come to Iowa State, you should DEFINITELY apply to go to NCORE [the location changes each year, so it's also a great way to get some traveling in during college . . . for free!] and then present at ISCORE to educate your fellow peers concerning discrimination and racism in society.

Til next time,
Seanna