Students may seem to think that faculty members talk to one another across their fields of study. After all, they work in the same place, don’t they? But, the fact is, that they rarely interact with each other at all. The infrequent conversations among faculty members affect students who want to learn more about other departments on campus. For instance, have you ever had the frustation of finding out that there was an interesting conference at the Humanities Faculty and you didn’t go because you were simply oblivious to it? This is a common issue for all collegiettes. Let’s face it: majority of faculties seem to have no intentions of partnering on education for the benefit of the student body.
About two weeks ago, Sociales hosted La Semana de la Antropología. The conferences and lectures held explored the fields of anthropology, linguistics, archaeology, and the impact of culture on individuals. Also, the faculty did a screening of two fantastic documentaries: “The Anatomy of Hate” and “Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey”. Moreover, Puerto Rican artisans sold eco-friendly jewelry and bags, plants, soaps, scented oils, and organic food in the Green Market located in the REB’s lobby.
As a journalism student, I don’t usually go to Sociales, unless I’m meeting up with a friend, and the chances of becoming aware of the faculty activities are actually quite slim. Fortunately, I was informed because a friend sent me the invitation of La Semana de la Antropología via Facebook. I saw it as an opportunity of enhancing my knowledge in other areas, and as soon as I looked over the events, I fell in love.
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The first conference I went to was Professor Don E. Walicek’s “Resources for Doing Linguistic Anthropology: Burma and its National Minorities.” Expecting a full amphitheater of enthusiastic Social Sciences students, I arrived at REB thirty minutes earlier, went up to the fourth floor, and asked the secretary to help me find the conference room. She ushered me quickly to the REB 407, and to my utter astonishment, the room was roughly twice the size of a broom closet. There was no way on Earth that more than 20 students could simultaneously occupy that space. Obviously, the room was empty.
As the clock slowly ticked away the minutes, students began filling up the room, until all of the twelve were taken. I felt out of place, especially since I was the only student NOT studying anthropology. However, one of my friends showed up, and I stopped feeling uncomfortable. Minutes later, Professor Walicek started his mind-blowing conference on linguistics and Burma’s/Myanmar’s displaced ethnic minorities.
As soon as the conference was over, I started asking people from COPU, if they were aware of la Semana de la Antropología, and they were not, which didn’t surprise me at all.
Jonathan Torres Rentas, one of the anthropology students who organized La Semana de la Antropología, explained that this event was created in order to make people become aware of the impact of anthropology on society, and to promote communication among students and professors. “We want [to incorporate] more students from around the UPR in the activities held by Sociales,” said Torres Rentas. “Unfortunately, it’s too expensive to do a strong publicity campaign with flyers and stickers all over campus, but we do have a Facebook page that more people follow and are constantly reminded of our activities.”
Apparently, the faculties inside the UPR have the same problem with publicity, because most of the events go unnoticed and unheard of by the vast majority of the student body. But there’s one exception to the rule: Facebook and other social networking websites, such as Twitter, Instagram and Google+. “I think that the use of social media tools can benefit these faculties and their events, but they don’t get the necessary exposure so that the students become aware of the resources that the UPR offers,” said Joan Olmo, a social work student.
So don’t miss out anything happening on campus. Whether it is through a friend or social media, try to keep yourself informed about all the activities and events. You don’t want to regret missing an opportunity to explore other fields and enhance your knowledge.
Tips to be up-to-date with the information on what’s happening on campus:
- Like the faculties’ Facebook pages– the faculties tend to periodically advertise their events on Facebook;
- Visit each faculty and read their bulletin boards at least once a month-this can be helpful for you to notice any interesting conferences or activities;
- Check out the UPR’s official calendar– their updates can show some of the events planned out for the semester;
- Ask a friend- usually word-of-mouth is the most effective publicity there can be, so be sure to ask your friends across campus about their faculty activities!
*Pictures were taken from:
Suzzette M. Martínez
Cristina Pérez Reyes