ADVENTURES AT FRANKLIN

Growing up in Guatemala, I never realized the postcolonial environment that surrounded me until I left for university. My postcolonial identity permeated unto little things. When a friend was proofreading an essay of mine, she brought to my attention that I had not capitalized the word "Indigenous." It did not come from any sort of malicious intent. However, I am proof that little things like that are so subconsciously in your head as an effect of being raised in a postcolonial environment with a privileged postcolonial identity. "The distance enables us to actually more clearly see how our countries operate," says Franklin University Switzerland 's Postcolonial Studies Professor Kate Roy . It was until I left Guatemala that I noticed the lasting effects colonialism has in the country and even on my identity. Of course, I knew that there was strong Spanish influence in Guatemala, but I could not clearly visualize the legacy that colonialism had left absolute...

The title may seem alarming but it’s true. Latinx is a gender-neutral term for Latino and Latina and is a term that has been popularized in recent years as a more inclusive term. According to UCLA’s 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report, Latinx people were more than 18% of the population but only had 5.3% of the roles in the Hollywood entertainment industry. In the U.S. alone, the Latinx population is so prominent and is one of the biggest minority groups, so how come the media is not reflecting that? In terms of why the media is not reflecting a big part of its population lies in the issues of these so-called Hollywood “gatekeepers”, which is a term used to describe any person that has the highest power in an industry and can control what is presented, who are predominantly Caucasian and do not understand the history of most minority groups. Most Latinx stories in the media fall into the same stereotyped umbrella and the complex history of Latinx people is mostly swept under the rug. Centur...

  “Everything you look at in life has a drawing underneath it,” says Clarice Zadanski, head of the art department at Franklin University in Lugano. “Art is not just something we do to blow off steam or relax, art is what makes us human and makes our world a form of expression.” What does creativity do for society? Why should society care about creativity? How do the arts benefit our lives? Art is the universal language that has the power to build bridges across oceans of difference; it helps us discover the connective threads in our human tapestry. The importance of the arts is constantly being questioned, disregarded, and taken for granted in many ways, starting with a lack of knowledge, funding, and education. With a population of only just over 60,000, Lugano is not necessarily known for the arts, therefore artists experience a lack of visitors and tourists. The LAC, Lugano Arte e Cultura, is the leading art museum in the city and has expanded Lugano's population in the past dec...

It's 8 AM on Tuesday morning and the sun is rising over Napa, California in the United States. The ice on the vines is defrosting, the birds are beginning to chirp, and the locals are heading to do their grocery shopping. About nine hours prior, and 6,000 miles away, in Lugano, Switzerland, these locals had already done the same. However, the commonality of this morning routine is not in the rising sun or the necessary grocery-run, but in how and where this shopping takes place. These Tuesday morning grocery markets are made up of local farmers, butchers, and bakers. The colors of red, pink, and vibrant green help in differentiating the fruits and the veggies, demanding for consumption.  There is no question these sensations are not from the industrial supermarkets in these cities, but this is the description of a farmers’ market. However, a descriptive illustration cannot do these markets justice. Though Napa and Lugano differ in geographic location, they are similar statisti...

  TikTok has a basic interest in collecting personal data, including biometric data such as face recognition and voiceprints. “Biometric data, together with genetic and health data, are at the top of the personal data scale of sensitivity: they represent the highest level of invasiveness with regard to personal identity, confidentiality, and private life,” says Rosario Imperiali, a lawyer specialized in Italian and international data protection legislation. The dissemination of this data is generally prohibited. “There is the highest level of invasiveness with regard to confidentiality and [from a] privacy right standpoint,” says Imperiali. TikTok, the Chinese video-sharing social media platform is owned and developed by ByteDance, a Chinese multinational internet technology company. It has gained much popularity around the globe; as the most downloaded social media app, the community has grown rapidly surpassing the 1 billion users in August 2020. It may have gained a ton of users...