All students and members of community are invited to submit art work and photography or a six word story. The theme is “World without fossil fuels”. The perspective might be alternatives to substitute fossil fuels and the consequences. Submissions are limited to three pieces for each category (category one: art and photography, category two: six word story) per participant. Cash prizes will be awarded for each category. Submit any kind of art works or six word stories along with the following information: title of your art (for artwork only), Authors’ name, contact information (email and phone number) by 5:00 PM Tuesday, December 5^th.  Artworks will be and six word story might be displayed for public viewing . Please direct any questions to Bahareh Estejab (bestejab@vt.edu or text 865-771-4097)

The last class we talked about educational system in different countries. Here, I would like to use this opportunity to bring up the Stereotype treat subject.

Stereotype treat is an inseparable factor of diversity. I believe that regardless of how much we try to keep our opinions unbiased, we all can remember times that we judge others just by what they wear, how they look, what gender they have, what nationality they are, so on and so forth.

I read somewhere that our brain can be set on “pilot” and “auto-pilot”. I believe that it is true but the point would be: does “pilot” mode means full control of our thinking? I don’t think so. If stereotype poisoned our brain in any shape, it would somehow affect our behavior. It could even show itself in the opposite form. Try to recall times when one tried to compensate a common stereotype by leaning toward the other side and gave more credit to that group even in mind.

In some aspects, our brain is likened to a computer’s memory. There is always ways to retrieve data from your PC, even though you had deleted the information. It doesn’t matter that one dose not want to recall data and tries hard to forget them, they are still somewhere in there!

Individuals are defined and somehow judged based on their communication with their surroundings. Each one of us has a unique analogy in our brain, which lies behind our unique life, that subconsciously categorizes people in our mind: smart, beautiful, nice, affectionate, …. Regardless of our unique analogy, some characteristics are mostly defined as positive and some as negative. For instance, beauty has always been attractive for people. We all try to look nice and neat every day. Buying nice cloths, using beauty products, having regular trips to beauty salons are all some prices that we pay to look sophisticated and beautiful. People enjoy their nice appearance because it somehow absorbs more affection, respect and attention.

Smartness is almost always positive characteristic too. People like to look smart and like to hang out with smart people. After the last class, I kept thinking about the outcomes of all activities. Almost all activities that we did in class tried to teach us how to look as smart as we really are. The ultimate outcome would be more attention from our surroundings; it could be in the form of new opportunities, new funds, and new relations. My point would be how the unwritten rule of communication can define every aspects of our life!

Dear Friends,

ISVT (Iranian Society at Virginia Tech) first event of the semester, Mehregan, will be held on Oct 18th, at the Commonwealth Ballroom, Squires Student Center. ISVT board is proud to announce that we host Dr. Nader Majd and his group (traditional Persian music) and dance performers from Washington D.C.

Halal food is also going to be served for dinner. You can buy your tickets from the following link. The deadline for buying the tickets is Oct, 10th.

Regards,
ISVT executive board and Mehregan organizers.

http://www.iranian.org.vt.edu/events.htm