Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Guest Speaker - Dasha Gajic
Today we heard from Avila's activist-in-residence, Draga Dasha Gajic, who is visiting from Banja Luka in Bosnia-Herzegovina. She is the author of three books in the field of Gender Studies, Women's history and women's heritage, as well as a book in the field of photography and street style.She is currently the Executive Directory of an NGO in her hometown, working with women and disabled youth. Pictured with the class in Thornhill Gallery, where her photography is currently being exhibited.
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Hope House Contributions
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Christian H.
ReplyDeletelearned a lot from the guest speaker that came into class. She not only touched on thing that we had talked about in class, like media and magazines portrait of the perfect body for men and women, but the information about Bosnia as well. Not just the culture aspects like population, food and music, but the fact that in Bosnia has many of the same issues with equality that we see in america as well. However there are a lot of other issues that I had never thought of that happen over in Bosnia as well. For example i had no idea that there could be so much prejudice against deaf people. I would never had thought that deaf people should be looked down on or face such a high level of attacks from society like being denied from college and regular public school. This opened up my mind to think how any disability could be attacked and from anywhere in the world. I also liked how she used different forms of art to spread word instead of using things like protest and pointless social media post like we had discussed in class. I'm glad we had gotten to hear her talk
Dasha really opened my eyes with the issues of equality in Bosnia. It shocked me to hear her story of the deaf children trying to enjoy something as little as ice cream and get shut down. Deaf people are people just like everyone else. I feel as if they should be able to enjoy life like the rest of us without being discriminated about a disability they don’t have control over in the first place. I was also intrigued by the fact that the “ideal” body image is no different from the way it is here in America. I can’t believe people all over the world aim to be super model skinny or super buff with a six pack of abs. It saddens me how far the media and society are taking it to look a certain way just to be accepted by others. I am excited to take part in Dasha’s movement by taking pictures that speak up about words that hurt, and bullying. Her work in the gallery is very good and I would love to be a part of this movement. Based on the photos and information given by Dasha about Bosnia, aside from the discrimination against women and disabled, it’s definitely a place I could see myself visiting in the future. I can see why the people of Bosnia put such an emphasis on the nature because from the pictures it looks astonishingly beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMatti Morgan
Dasha is such an inspiration! It is amazing to see what power young people have to change the world. Dasha was going to be a great doctor, but at the age of only 17 discovered she wanted to work for social justice especially for the deaf/hard of hearing community, particularly girls and women. I had no idea the impact that art and photography can have on each of us. It never struck me that a single image has the capacity to change concepts. Something else that makes Dasha such an incredible person is the fact that despite having witnessed human evils and oppression, she is always with a smile and passionate about the girls that she works with.
ReplyDeleteListening to someone like Dasha speak about her movement gave me hope not only about the power young people have, but also allowed me to see that someone like me can achieve peace in an otherwise marginalizing system. Finally, Dasha is proof that not every fight against injustice requires violence because her movement is one that is resistant and powerful, yet non-violent.
Finally, I can't wait to find out what else Dasha will do for the girls in her community who are receiving and education. At such a young age, Dasha has been able to spread her message through hard work, art, 4 published books, and most of all love and determination. As someone who aspires to work for human and social justice, it was an incredible opportunity to meet Dasha.
Everyone is equal and everyone has a say in things or decisions that will affect them. So in general peace is an important element to have a conducive living environment. And in order for there to be peace we have seen that everyone has to be treated equally which means that we have to squash gender discrimination which is a very prevalent form of discrimination.
ReplyDeleteShe is involved in many activities that work towards the goal of peace making. She is a volunteer activist that works with kids and educates them. She is involved in peace initiatives in her country as well and as a person who studied political science, she hosts seminars and conferences that are used as a platform to spread awareness about peace and how to maintain it
She gets sustenance from well-defined objectives and goals. She is also passionate about achieving these goals so she works diligently in order to achieve them. For them they believe in their cause and are motivated by the picture of a peaceful future where their country is not subjected to wars and various forms of violence and lack of democracy and human rights. So for her, her motivation is the hope for a peaceful future.
Saud Alotaibi
I love learning about different cultures and different issues around the world so I found Dasha’s presentation to be engaging and highly informative. Before listening to her speak about her home country I had never heard much about Bosnia. It was heartbreaking to hear about some of the cases she has dealt with through her women’s rights group along with her fellow activists and founders. I’m not sure if I’m alone in this but, I had no idea deaf rights is such a prevalent issue in Bosnia. Her story of taking the children to the gelato shop and being denied service is one that I’ve been sharing with all of my friends and family to see if anyone else was aware of this reality over there- so far, no one has.
ReplyDeleteWhile some issues are different from here in the U.S, some are strikingly similar. Hearing her speak about the struggle with cyber-bullying and her photo series to combat it was inspiring. It is so incredible that she gets to share her work so far from home in a place that is heavily impacted by the same issue. I am looking forward to her returning so our class can take part in her ambassador counterpart while she is visiting Avila.
Alyssa Winters
I thought that Dasha’s presentation and discussion were very interesting and I would love to know more about what she does specifically. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of her presentation for me was her advocacy for deaf acceptance and accessibility. In my opinion, the U.S. also struggles with deaf accessibility, but not to extent Bosnia does. Dasha’s personal experience with deaf discrimination appalled me and also revealed that other countries are far from justice and equality as well. Being denied acceptance from universities because of deafness or other disabilities is ignorant and asinine. I also admire Dasha’s approach to supporting deaf acceptance, peaceful and effective projects to spread the word. Apart from that, I enjoyed listening to her describe the Bosnian culture and some of the more positive aspects of it. The monetary situation of other countries always fascinates me and if their citizens are concerned about financials. I am curious to know what Dasha’s perspective is on the Bosnian government whether good, bad, or neutral. I meant to ask her about deaf unemployment and the effect that it has on families. Furthermore, what are some productive ways to help mend or fix that problem? Similarities can be drawn from that situation in Bosnia to the mentally disabled in the U.S. regarding unemployment. Overall, I really enjoyed hearing what Dasha had to say and look forward to hearing more.
ReplyDelete^^^Scott Bower
DeleteI was very interested and pleased to hear what Dasha had to say, although I was not completely sure what to expect. I like that told us about her background and her home and how it made her who she is. I was surprised to hear that she did not become very involved in photography until she went to college as well as the fact that her popularity as a photographer actually started as fashion photography. I love that she was honest about her hopes for the future and her point of view on the issues that are being faced here and in Bosnia.She spoke about the expectations of gender roles in her country. She also talked about how controversial and negatively be a feminist was in society. One thing that I believe shocked the entire class, was when she mentioned how badly people with disabilities, more specifically deaf people, were treated in her country. She spoke of a time she and other members of an organization took a group of deaf kids to an ice cream shop and were refused service. She spoke a little on her current project that translates to words (don't) hurt. I think it is a powerful movement that will continue to grow and hopefully enforce change for the better.
ReplyDeleteAhmed Aljohnai
ReplyDeleteDasha’s presentation was an interesting one because she just showed us how deaf children was struggling with the community, and that example of how the store ask them to leave, and how she is helping them, and what she does to help this kids, I like her because she is a smart person she has two master degrees I think one was in gender studies from the university of Novi Sad and the other one in political science from the Faculty of Political sciences in Banja Luka to complete her study in get more knowledge so she can help the world with it for example she is an author of three books about gender studies and one in photography and street life. When we went to see her photos was amazing she is so good at what she does, I learned from her how people can study and get degrees to help people and how you can do the things you like to do. Dasha also in her presentation explained to us another culture that was something new to me to hear and see country with a different culture and how she enjoying talking about her city and life back home.
It was fascinating to hear from our activist-in-residence this year, Draga Dasha Gajic. We don’t often consider places outside of the US when talking about controversial issues such as race, gender, sexual identities and how the media portrays these things. To hear her talk about her life in Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina and how we can compare that to our lives and experiences was not something I would have ever thought to have done. She brings fourth the discrimination of deaf culture in her country and to my knowledge that does not occur much-if at all. I personally have never heard of nor encountered this type of discrimination when dealing with a deaf person. I think in our society, in recent years, we have worked particularly hard in preventing discrimination to those with disabilities. Although it still occurs, it is far less often happening. I believe it is important to be knowledgeable of different types of disabilities and to be considerate for those who may struggle with them. Her projects and activism are encouraging and are making great strides for her country. I would be interested in hearing more about her current and future projects and would like to see her take her “Words (Don’t) Hurt” around the world.
ReplyDeleteSavannah Spencer
DeleteWhile listening to Dasha, I realized that while we are all in different timezones and locations, our cultures are not all that different. In Bosnia, the beauty standards that we have set for our men and women in America still apply. The ideal man is the one with pronounced muscles and abs while the ideal woman is the one with an hour glass figure. These very standards apply in Bosnia, which Dasha explained is one of the effects of the media. The media has the capacity to shape the way a society thinks and it has been used on several occasions to do the same. Popular culture is often transferred from one culture to the next and especially today where everyone is interconnected, standards set in one part of the world easily influence the standards of another part of the world. Dasha also touched on the issues of discrimination and cyberbullying which are prevalent in Bosnia. It was particularly heart breaking to hear about how deaf people could be refused service for no reason other than their disability. This is an extreme case of discrimination, but in other regions of the world the same discrimination may still exist, but more subtly. The media is a powerful tool, and it has only become more powerful as the world becomes a global village, thanks to the Internet. This means that we will continue to experience an exchange of cultures and have similar standards of everything in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed hearing Dasha speak to us. It was interesting hearing about issues that happen in her country compared to the US. I have never been out of the United States, so this was very eye opening. She discussed issues in her country for women, and specifically, deaf people. It was incredibly disheartening to hear that deaf children are turned down in ice cream shops and other places. It was surprising to learn how deaf people are treated in Bosnia because it’s not something people in America think about. People with disabilities in America aren’t looked down upon and many places accommodate for them. I loved looking at her photography and seeing the different ways the quote “words don’t hurt” was portrayed on different people. I look forward to being part of this project as a class. It was also interesting hearing about the culture in general and getting to see pictures and videos. The music videos she showed us seemed to portray women the same way our culture portrays women, which is in a sexy, “perfect body” manner. It goes to show how even across the world in a different country, humans are still the same and media plays a major role in influencing society.
ReplyDeleteAvery Ralston
DeleteGuest Speaker – Dasha Gajic
ReplyDeleteDasha Gajic is a social activist from Banja Luka in Bosnia-Herzegovina. She is Executive director of an NGO in her hometown, working for woman and disabled youth. She is also the author of three books in this field. Dasha talk about inequality in Bosnia. She told about the discrimination towards woman and disabled persons in Bosnia. She also tells that her goal was to become a doctor but the society behavior encouraged her to become social activist and work for discriminated persons of society. She pointed that all cannot perfect in this world, everybody cannot have shiny skin, silky hair, six abs, or a perfect body. For disabled persons it is not in their control, some are natural disabled and some by accidents. So we should accept them warm heartedly. Her main concern was deaf persons in his presentation, and said that they also want to enjoy their life. Being deaf is not in our control, so we must not insult or discriminate them. Listening to Dasha encourage me to work for deaf peoples and for woman empowerment. I get much guidance from Dasha lectures and also want meet her personally. Now I want to go to Bosnia in the home town of Dasha and want to see how she and her colleagues are working for the sake of humanity. After the encouragement from Dasha now I also want to work for ignored and discriminated peoples of our society.
Silmin Alghamdi
Dasha gave a real broad discripiton on how things were in her country. Dasha gave her views on how she supports deaf people. Really gave me a different perspective on how i look on things in different countries. Especially on how I view misfortune people. She just made me open my eyes up and see how it is for the less fortunate people.
ReplyDeleteByron cooke
After meeting Dasha I found out a lot about the world. From what she spoke about, I found that Dasha is a great person and is about peace as well as ways of promoting peaceful existence, and gender equality. She describes peace as having an existence that encourages integration between people at no cost. Dasha also terms peace as essential for our everyday cooperation. Dasha further says that peace is the primary reason for some actions such as respect for human rights and equality. In her description, she gives some of the benefits which result from peaceful existence. One is ensuring that gender equality is upheld in our societies. Dasha provided her personal experience where she could not get information of heroines who were of excellent service to the community in the past. However, one could easily get past information of men of honor who served their community well. It was not that women were not active in assisting the society, but due to gender inequality which was rampant. The scenario made Dasha write a book which described various women who had contributed enormously to the community. It was one way of ensuring that gender equality thrives in the community through recognizing the role of women.
ReplyDeleteHesham Albadr
I really enjoyed listening to our activist-in-residence Dasha Gajic. First off, when she was introducing herself and explaining her purpose of being at Avila, I was fascinated at how different Bosnia and the US were. However when she started explaining her NGO foundation and the encouragement of equality for women and disabled children in Bosnia, I soon realized that the only difference between both countries is the appearance and that there are problems with inequality everywhere. Dasha went on to explain the examples of how women and disabled children are discriminated against such as deaf children being turned away by restaurants or ice cream shops. Also she explained how women are scrutinized if they do not fit the perfect model image and are held to outrageous and sometimes unhealthy standards. While I was listening to Dasha it was stunning to realize how similar the US and Bosnia are when it comes to inequality of women, or anything; whether it is the pay difference or the similar standards of looking like a model. Some easy examples of how the media influences such ideas are music videos where woman have perfect bodies and are being led by a male. Just subtle things, like differences in magazines where they explain how men got money or fame, or tips on how to be successful whereas women magazines include tips on how to lose weight. Overall, you see the similarities in places all over the world and I believe Dasha did a great job at opening my eyes to see the less fortunate side of things.
ReplyDeleteTristan Askan
I really enjoyed having Dashi in class with us. It was interesting to learn about her country. I found it shocking to know of all the oppression that the women and the deaf go through it’s surreal to think about. It just goes to show how some of us take things for granted here in the United States. I also admire her and her work as well. It takes a lot of determination to stand up for something like she did and is still doing. I also enjoyed learning about the many different things that there are to do in her country. It gives me ideas on what I want to do and where I would like to visits next. Also the “Words don’t hurt me” movement I feel is a great way to protest bullying. It takes a great person to stand up and to fight and tackle such a big issue which is what Dasha is. I could tell from her talking about work just how passionate she is about her job. I could tell that she loves what she does which is a fantastic trait an quality to have.
ReplyDeleteMyron DeBerry
DeleteDasha spoke about many interesting things to me that got me curious to look further into her study and into her culture. It was very eye-opening to hear what she had to say about all the cases that she had to deal with and that are going on in Bosnia. I also do think that the most highly of her to work with all the individuals that were deaf and all the amazing things that she has done for those people. It is such a shame to see a beautiful place like Bosnia end up being not such a great place. Hearing the story about the children going to a restaurant and then getting denied of service because of their disability is very sad. And it makes myself want to actually go to Bosnia and see how these people really are as a culture. She also talked a lot about Bosnia and all the tourist attractions and they were very interesting very beautiful. From what Dasha had to say on her presentation I will say that it was one of the most inspiring and one of the best presentations I have seen in awhile. It was very inspiring and very informative that the world is very big and there are many things out there that no one has any idea that is going on and it makes me want to do something about it. Dasha has open my eyes for the rest of my life and I'm not looking at the world as I did before.
ReplyDeleteSeeing another part of the world be so different from what im use to just lets me know that theres so much more to see in life and so much more to experience. The story she shared about people who had disabilities and how they were treated differently because of them upset me because i feel they should be seen equally and still be given a chance based off the best of their ability. I would say her country is more at peace than ours and the scenery was completely beautiful! The part where i felt like i could truly relate to her was when she was talking about how much of a passion she had for photography and how her parents didnt really agree with it and just wanted her to go to school. Ive experienced this with my own parents but when it came to making music and dancing they were more concerned about me going to school rather than truly following my dreams. it made me feel good knowing i wasnt the only one who went through something like that.
ReplyDeleteAaron Rogers
Hernán Pulido
ReplyDeleteGender equality
Today’s speaker Dasha Gajic had a very interesting topic to talk about. With all the feminist movements and gender equality being bigger every day, this topic has become a trend and most people know about it. What made her presentation so important was the real view and the real experience of her working on that field as well as her knowledge and experience with multiple cultures. Dasha not only gave a good understanding on how Women in other countries are mistreated and portrayed as less than men but also showed how in her experience helping women, she found cases that really shocked her and with help she was able to help those women overcome their problems and be very productive in society.
The fact that she understood the issue and decided to help those women and kinds with disabilities was wonderful. She is restoring lives of women that were being treated as useless and those kids that where likely to be mistreated as well and were going to have very few opportunities in life. She also does art, which in my opinion, as an activist is one of the best ways to portray and fight for those women who are being mistreated and harmed. Art is an awesome way to reproduce thoughts and images that can move people and call for attention.
As far as myself, after listening to her, I will help women in need and if I ever come across any occasion were I feel a women is being treated as less or being harmed. As well as treat them as equal and not be disrespectful on my every day life.