Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · 13d

There's a good reason that the most alarmed people right now are those who have deep expertise or experience in Russia and Central/Eastern Europe.

Opinion | What I Learned From My Days in Russia: Silicon Valley Needs to Start Speaking Out About Trump

www.nytimes.com

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · 13d

Arizona is a complicated place at the center of many of our country's cultural and political debates. It is also gorgeous. I was lucky to catch both monsoons + fall leaves on a quick trip back this week.

A tree full of red leaves against a blue sky in Flagstaff.

A yellow aspen leaf with rain droplets, on a black patio table.

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · 14d

“I asked [agents] why they were holding me if I was an American citizen, and they said I had to wait until they looked me up,” Johnson said. “I asked if they had a warrant, and I asked for a lawyer. They never brought one.”

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated'

The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

chicago.suntimes.com

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · 15d

Today's int'l film on authoritarianism is Barbara. As a doctor plots her escape from a stifling existence in East Germany in 1980, she gets pulled into relationships and obligations around her, raising questions about freedom, desire, connection and ethics. #worldcinema #filmsky

Barbara Movie Trailer (East Germany DRAMA)

YouTube video by ONE Media Coverage

youtu.be

Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · 16d

This mirrors my own experience teaching intercultural communication to master's students. They are hungry for authentic and constructive engagement, but also anxious about how to do it and what others might think about them if they speak up.

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 16d

The students Christopher L. Eisgruber encounters as a university president aren’t afraid of free speech—quite the contrary, he writes.

The Myth of the Campus Snowflake

The students I encounter as a university president aren’t afraid of free speech—quite the contrary.

bit.ly

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · 16d

“We let her out of our sight. She never came back,” May said. “We were lied to; we were tricked in order to have her separated from the attorney we brought specifically for any kind of worst-case scenario like this.”

KTLA 5 @ktla.com · 16d

California newlyweds say feds tricked wife into ICE detention

A newly married man says he and his wife were lied to and tricked by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services when his wife was detained by federal agents during what they believed was her final s…

ktla.com

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · 16d

“As they’re walking me away, I’m telling them: ‘I’m a U.S. citizen. I’m American. I’m a veteran. I didn’t do anything wrong,’” he said.

He was held for three days without a phone call."

‘I’m From Here!’: U.S. Citizens Are Ending Up in Trump’s Dragnet

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Melissa Hahn

Brad Lander @bradlander.bsky.social · 21d

I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today, where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital. (🎥: Elias Eliahu)

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · 28d

Tonight my exploration of #authoritarianism across cultures takes me to Estonia, whose Madame K series illuminates the double pressure this small Baltic country faced amid dueling occupations from Nazi Germany & Soviet USSR during WWII. #worldculture #estonia

Madame K

The events of WWII are told through the eyes of the people at Madame K’s brothel.

www.pbs.org

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Reposted by Melissa Hahn

Sandra Day O'Connor Institute @oconnorinstitute.bsky.social · Sep 8

The O’Connor Institute’s new policy brief asks: Why are teachers uncomfortable teaching civics?

Survey results show:
🔹 80% of civics teachers have self-censored
🔹 86% cite fear of controversy
🔹 Fewer than 15% receive clear guidance on what they can teach

oconnorinstitute.org/research2025

Why Are Teachers Uncomfortable Teaching Civics?

K–12 civics teachers across the country feel underprepared, unsupported, and increasingly afraid to teach vital material.

oconnorinstitute.org

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · 29d

A senior fellow at Korea University cautions that "Only a sustained series of serious trust-building efforts can begin to repair the shattered confidence in the U.S. — specifically in its commitment to human rights, reciprocity, respect for sovereign allies and democracy." #korea

Beware of rising anti-American sentiment in Korea - The Korea Times

The recent Georgia raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deeply wounded and angered Koreans, the extent to which may be difficult to...

www.koreatimes.co.kr

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Reposted by Melissa Hahn

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 29d

according to an immigration attorney representing several arrested workers, ICE agents chose to arrest the Korean workers to fulfill the quota of 3,000 daily immigrant arrests set by Stephen Miller www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...

Stephen Miller’s Quota Likely Drove Korean Arrests In Immigration Raid

When ICE agents arrested over 300 Korean workers at a Georgia battery plant, a daily immigrant arrest quota was likely on their minds.

www.forbes.com

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 16

I really enjoyed this conversation w/ French global leadership expert Yasmina Khelifi. We talk about a formative cultural experience I had while living in Poland plus insights from my book Forging Bonds in a Global Workforce. #crossingcultures #globalteams #diversity

Episode 26 : Melissa Hahn, Intercultural consultant, educator and author — YASMINA KHELIFI

[01:42] Beginning of the interview. In this episode, you will learn: The best memory of Melissa when she lived in Poland New insights about forging bonds in a global and hybrid workplace ...

yasminakhelifi.com

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 15

There seems to be a fantasy that Americans don't need to understand other countries anymore. But the rest of the world is still here, and ignorance and hubris won't help us advance our goals or insulate us from global challenges.

Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · Sep 15

The end of Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships and National Resource Centers means the loss of critical language and area studies expertise across the United States. These are the actions of an administration that cannot imagine the future, presiding over a declining world power

Research at risk: Cultural fluency and critical language expertise | Cornell Chronicle

The federal government ended a program that has funded Cornell's Southeast Asia Program and South Asia Program for decades.

news.cornell.edu

Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 15

Today's rec is Hangmen Also Die! by Fritz Lang. It was made in Hollywood during WWII as a warning and call to action against fascism. It shows the power of ordinary people to outsmart regimes and their collaborators - but also the enormous risk they take in doing so. #worldcinema #filmsky

Hangmen Also Die (1943) Trailer HD | Fritz Lang | Brian Donlevy

YouTube video by Film Trailer Channel

youtu.be

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 15

Many countries have experienced authoritarianism. By watching their films we can gain a better appreciation of its universal characteristics as well as the unique aspects in specific societies. Recently I've been offering my own suggestions from Asia, Europe and Latin America.

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Reposted by Melissa Hahn

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · Sep 14

It should be needless to say, but it is perhaps at this moment worth saying, that transgender individuals have the same right as anyone else to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 11

Some US coverage of the factory raid fallout has emphasized Korean nationalism. I think that overlooks key cultural elements like how they view relationships, trust, dignity and mutuality. This Korea Herald op-ed adds context:

#korea #internationalrelations #intercultural #diplomacy

[Wang Son-taek] Shackles and trust: The Korea-US alliance tested again

On Sept. 4, the mass arrest of around 300 Korean workers at the Hyundai-LG joint venture in the US state of Georgia jolted Koreans — an unexpected image of comp

www.koreaherald.com

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 10

"Lee Eun-ju, a top member of the president’s governing Democratic Party, suggested that if necessary, South Korea would withdraw all its nationals working on investment projects in the United States and suspend all its investments, including factories under construction."

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 10

#Intercultural competence doesn't mean prioritizing the other country's feelings ahead of your own interests, but it does mean strategically making decisions that are likely to work rather than backfire. #internationalrelations #korea

Anger Mounts in Korea as Release of Workers Detained in Georgia Is Delayed

www.nytimes.com

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 10

Tonight's int'l film on authoritarianism comes from Poland. Blind Chance by Kieślowski reveals how a single moment could lead a person down a path towards collaboration, dissidence, or apolitical neutrality. It questions how much is ultimately in our own hands vs fate and chance. #worldcinema

Blind Chance | movie | 1987 | Official Trailer

Dailymotion video by JustWatch

www.dailymotion.com

Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 9

Lessons from Venezuela:

"Living through the rise of a dictatorship just means inhabiting a space that is gradually shrinking... You just make do with whatever breathing room you still have - until you lose that, too." - Gisela Salim-Peyer

Authoritarianism Feels Surprisingly Normal—Until It Doesn’t

Life in Venezuela was deceptively mundane. Then everything collapsed.

www.theatlantic.com

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 9

"This precisely is what authoritarian regime looks like — armed, masked, anonymous agents of the state jumping from unmarked vehicles and whisking people away."

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · Sep 9

We are watching an unprecedented public rejection of federal law enforcement (and, increasingly, by extension, the National Guard as well). It is not hard to see why the public is reacting so strongly to ICE’s abrupt takeover of daily life in America. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-is-eat...

ICE is Eating the Soul of America

Four things that show ICE increasingly considers itself outside the law

www.doomsdayscenario.co

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Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 9

As one Taiwanese exec said, “The US government has become very different and unpredictable now.”

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · Sep 9

Workers in shackles, companies in shock: Georgia raid spooks foreign investors in US on.ft.com/4gzcMlb

Hyundai-LG immigration raid sparks alarm at foreign companies in the US

Overseas companies pause travel and seek legal advice after detentions at Georgia factory

on.ft.com

Melissa Hahn @hahncultural.bsky.social · Sep 9

I have been recommending int'l films on the theme of authoritarianism. Today's is Argentina, 1985 which follows the prosecution as it makes its case against the recently-ended military dictatorship. #filmsky #worldcinema

Argentina, 1985 | Official Trailer

YouTube video by Prime Video México

youtu.be

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