On Nov. 25, the Contemporary Affairs Club met in C110 to discuss terrorism. Contemporary Affairs is a student organization that seeks to inform people about current events, history, politics and contemporary thinking. Stephen Russell is the faculty adviser of the club as well as a history professor here at NECC.

Russell showed the group a video on empathy, which talked about understanding other people’s cultures and how they think differently than we do. I found the video to be very interesting. It made me see the world differently.

“The video shows how people … not only think differently than us but (helps us) understand why they think that way. We don’t have to agree, though,” Russell said.

Samson Racioppi is also part of the Contemporary Affairs club.

“This is by far my favorite club. This was the first meeting that wasn’t much of a debate,” Racioppi said. “The video puts you in their shoes, which helps you understand why they do what they do.”

It saddens me that there is so much hatred in our world today but when I watched the video, it sort of helped me understand that while other cultures are different from ours, that doesn’t make them “abnormal” or “deviant.” We should refrain from judging or making assumptions about other people.