J1) I think when it comes to defining the liberal arts to someone who might not be familiar with them is a fairly interesting dilemma depending on who you ask. To me, the liberal arts encompasses everything not within the STEM field. However, on a deeper level of thought the liberal arts are areas of study that benefit society both in conversation and productivity in nature. They let us question and wonder about the human experience on a level that almost and sometimes does give us a sense of community. Simon During mentions something similar to this effect “The humanities, unlike the sciences, routinely produce knowledge that is not testable and rulebound, while, unlike religion, they do not claim to be supernaturally empowered, and they are constitutively wary of revealed knowledge’s authority (p5).” The humanities are hard to quantify but equally as beneficial as science and business as well as other subjects that do not fall within this category.
J2) The work that I love to do involves research. Anything history-related past, present, or future is all things that I love. With that telling those stories for people to hear/understand is crucial as a history major. When I did my history internship, I loved researching the area of Saco and Biddeford to then curate a museum exhibit for the public to see. The exhibit isn’t up yet but is slated to be up soon. When curating or doing research, it can be rewarding and lonely at times. From my experience, sometimes you work with a team to complete a research goal and sometimes you are locked away in the archives by yourself for hours on end. Music does help but sometimes seeing someone is just enough to lighten the mood. I have taken many history classes, so understanding how the research process works and how much effort it takes to make an exhibit was something I had not experienced until I made this internship work. Museum curation is a solo and team-based job that requires research skills, coordination/organization, as well as interpersonal skills. Being able to collaborate and communicate your ideas is crucial to looking for archival works. To explain my undergraduate study is more complicated. I have taken a wide variety of history classes with no real focus on anything. This is where I believe my problem lies. Maybe just consider me a well-rounded history student with some knowledge of the outside world per se.
J3) I think when looking back on projects and or assignments that I have done in my Liberal Arts career, a few come to mind. For one, the project I did about how Hollywood affects how we view Africa was such a fun and interesting project. I have touched on a lot of history projects/papers but this one was soo fresh and new because I have never had such an open assignment like this. Exploring why we view things a certain way and how that then intern affects how we see each other is dangerous and fascinating. The other project I was considering was the film project that I made. I really enjoyed writing a script, filming the shots, casting my friends, and editing the footage. It was a really fun experience and I would love another wack at it. Finally, the other project I did was a podcast for Eric Zuelow on the Environmental History of New England. That project was mainly focused on the jetty we have and how it affects the environment around us. I loved making the script and doing research on it, to then record it. It was just overall fun!
J4) 2Q-C-Q
- Q1- “Didn’t you know that? Didn’t you know Dorothy died in that windstorm? Away she spun, dog, pigtails, and all Into a green heaven; arriving too soon, She came back to Uncle Henry and Aunt Em As a ghost; she still haunts vast tracts Of Kansas (Seelye 11).”
- Q2- “They have carried the mahogany chair and the cane rocker out under the lilac bush, and my father and mother darkly sit there, in black clothes. Our clapboard house stands fast on its hill, my doll lies in her wicker pram gazing at western Massachusetts. This was our world (Rich 1).”
- C- I picked these two quotes because they portray why perspective matters. Seelye tends to lean towards a more darker-foreboding tone in his poetry along with the image spliced to cut out the girl. This gives the impression that the girl is dead, but the death feels recent even now. Whereas Rich paints a more light-hearted and relatable tone with (what I am assuming is) the full image. However, towards the end of Rich’s poem/writing it leaves the reader to question of if the girl is almost an apparition of sorts.
- Q- My question is which image is the true image?
J5) I think something that this proposal does well is working with a professor to identify secondary sources to tell the project how you want to tell it academically. Furthermore, primary sources are just as important to have in the project as well. Making sure it puts a “cap” on our studies is the most important thing about this work. The goal of my project is to discuss how Mexico has been depicted in media from movies, TV shows, and books. Working with Alegre is super important to this project as his knowledge of Mexican media will further the project. I will also be interviewing him to get his perspective on the matter, which I feel is a significant improvement from the last project. I think looking at the example as well as the guidelines was super helpful to get a clearer timeline for the project.
J6) I think what is interesting about Krisch’s article is the blindness of her argument. The liberal arts have not lost their ways by any means, but society has lost itself. I think the problem in the 21st century is we have decided that winning and getting ahead of everyone is the mindset we must have. This sense of winning makes us arrogant and individualized. This inherently makes us selfish and aggressive in ways we don’t understand quite yet. Things like STEM or business are important and useful to our society. But at the same time, they don’t help us with the “human experience.” The Liberal Arts help us understand well, us. Even at the high school level the Liberal Arts are struggling art classes or even woodshops are getting shut down or being underfunded because of “lack of interest.” The “lack of interest” is really the bigwigs in charge of making the calls.
