For the 8 weeks that I worked with the Religion and Violence Research team as a research assistant at the MMFC, I acquired many skills that have opened new doors to new experiences and opportunities for me to explore. One of the most important skill I acquired is the knowledge I accumulated from the research done regarding diverse issues that surround different oppressed and marginalized groups, with a focus on women in the United States and Canada. That was accomplished through researching statistics from governmental websites and organizations. Which then leads to another thing I learned about from the research I have done – the different websites available for credible research. These will help me my future studies.
My duties consisted of doing research to update the RAVE website. For instance, adding new countries that were not available on the Violence Around the World map on the RAVE website, updating fast facts, sending emails for an event, and developing a new idea for the website. Through this work, I was transfixed by the different statistics of violence (physical, emotional, mental, economical) against women in the world; violence against children, elders, Aboriginal people, and people of religion. Each task helped me learn something new and important about the Western world. Updating the Facebook page once every two weeks, helped me navigate and learn more about social media.
The experience as a research assistant on the whole ameliorated my research skills in navigating information, communicating, reading, and reviewing ideas. Those are fundamental tools to develop as a student with continuing studies. I am also grateful for the help that I got from Dr. Holtmann on helping me develop those essential skills and to create a new idea – Fast Facts on Gender Socialization – that can contribute to raising public awareness. That is why I think the RAVE website is such an important tool to use and be to be aware of because it includes intersectionality and looks at violence and women holistically in hopes of educating people.
Zainab Al-Muttairi, April 1st, 2019