I’m a Texas girl born and raised. If you didn’t already know, us Texans have an endless amount of state pride. It’s hard not to when you grow up reciting the Texas pledge every morning and have multiple pairs of cowboy boots in your closet.
Every Texas stereotype really does ring true in one way or another. No, I don’t ride a horse to school, but I would be lying if I said I haven’t seen other people riding horses in busy streets. Most people do own at least one pickup, and I am guaranteed to see multiple cowboy hats every time I go out in public.
My sister and me at the fair (with the Texas Star in the background!)
One place that radiates state pride significantly more than others is our prized possession: The State Fair of Texas. Open for only one month out of every year, the State Fair is the Disneyland of Texas. I grew up going to the fair at least once a year, and there is honestly nothing better than fair season. Schools give children a free ticket and a “Fair Day”, a day off of school with no other intention but for students to go to the fair. You will never witness a larger amount of food, carnival games (which are definitely rigged, by the way), or rides in your entire life. It’s truly incredible.
Texas likes to take the most random foods of all time, stick them in the deep frier, and serve them. All of this happens at the fair. Fried cookie dough, fried lemonade, fried butter, and fried chicken noodle soup are only a few of the deep fried foods served.
Just about any type of food on earth can be found at the fair, but by far the most popular are Fletcher’s Corny Dogs. I’m not personally a fan of corn dogs, but Fletcher’s is a whole new story. I crave them for the whole year leading up to the fair’s opening.
Fried cookie dough with chocolate and powdered sugar on top.Fletcher’s Corny Dogs are definitely the fair’s most popular food items.
Part of the fair experience is trying your hand at one of the games, though each one is purposely impossible. If your goal is to win a prize, it’s best to stick to the booths with the “each child wins a prize” sign on the front. Rides are also a necessity, whether it be the massive ferris wheel (The Texas Star), the swings, or one of the roller coasters. There’s something for everyone.
The fair is a place I will forever hold close to my heart. I’ve never missed a year of going to the fair, and some of my favorite childhood memories took place there. Ever since my childhood nanny’s daughter, Riley, was born in 2010, it’s been a tradition for us to go together each year. Especially now that I’m in college, this time spent together is extremely important to me, and I hope I continue to keep this tradition up as we get older.
Riley, Rachel, and me jumping for joy on our traditional trip to the fair.
Instead of simply describing my experience at the fair this year, I thought I’d show you instead.
I have never been particularly good at engaging in small talk. I much prefer sharing deeper conversations with those who really know me, my close circle of friends and immediate family. During monumental stages in my life, this dreaded small talk was especially, painfully prevalent. Family-friends and community members always managed to bring up my least favorite topics of discussion. In eighth grade, everyone wanted to hear about high school. What were my options? What were the considerations? I was always somewhat frustrated by these questions, as I was not particularly enthusiastic about my choice of schools, and rather wanted to avoid the subject matter entirely. “Ask me about eighth grade!” I always thought, “That’s the grade I’m in now.” The college process brought even more questioning. Where was I applying? What were my top choices? These questions felt higher-stakes and sparked unwelcome stress. The application and decision-making process were anxiety-producing enough, but now I was forced to discuss them with countless members of my community.
As Fall Break approached, I eagerly anticipated my return home and reunion with many of the special people in my life – family friends, neighbors, and even past high school teachers.
Excitedly reuniting with my grandparents.
But carried away by my excitement, I failed to consider and brace myself for the onslaught of personal questions that I would be forced to answer yet again. At every shared meal or community gathering, I was asked the same questions. “How’s school? How’s your roommate? Your friends? Your classes? What is your major? What classes are you taking? Are the bathrooms communal?”. The list goes on. I responded by delivering generic answers with as much enthusiasm as I could muster up. “It’s good! My roommate and I are getting along well. I am undecided right now, but I’m taking psychology, sociology, freshman writing, and Hebrew.” People asked me these same questions so many times that I developed automatic responses to deliver on cue. The pestering continued. “Isn’t it great?” they would persist. “I miss college! It’s the best, I just wish I could go back.” “Yes!” I responded, but I sensed the insincerity in my own answers. Sure, college was going well, but it had only been two months. I was still adjusting to a completely different lifestyle. I was transitioning away from my home, family, and friends, and into a new city, with new people and friends. While I was impressed with the way I was navigating the adjustment, I knew it would take time to feel fully at home and settled at Emory. No matter their intention, these questions gave me a sense of inadequateness. I felt like they posed unrealistic expectations for this stage of the adjustment period, and this sparked doubt about how well I was truly handling myself.
Talking to family friends about my experience at Emory.
My initial inclination was to be somewhat resentful of the people who asked me these questions, putting me on the spot and leading me to doubt my confidence when I was just excited to be home. I tried to remind myself that these frustrating questions come from a place of care. Part of adult life is engaging in these polite interactions, even smiling through them. And returning from my visit, now automatically programmed to answer all of these questions, I am reassured to know that at least my community is invested in my happiness and success.
For some time, I’ve been dreading the Lecture Spotlight section. Most of the time the lectures seem kind of boring or confusing and they just don’t appeal to me. However, this changed when I decided to attend a lecture on James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man. For once, I thought that the title of the lecture was interesting and felt like the subject would be interesting as well since I’m planning on studying African-American Studies, so this had to be a win-win right? No, I was dead wrong. In fact, I was so wrong that it made me question why is there a lecture spotlight section when obviously Emory’s lectures aren’t for freshman nor are an exciting part of the freshman experience. I’ll get to that later though.
Before diving into the flaws of the lecture, it’s important to give a little background. This lecture was held by the James Weldon Johnson Institute (JWJI) here at Emory. JWJI was founded in 2007 and is the first institute at Emory established to honor the achievements of an African-American. The mission of JWJI is to “support research, teaching, and public dialogue that examine race and intersecting dimensions of human difference including, but not limited to class, gender, religion, and sexuality.” Every Monday during the Fall 2017 semester, JWJI hosts a Race & Difference Colloquium Series at 12pm in the Jones Room of Woodruff Library. The particular talk I attended was hosted by Noelle Morrisette who is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
Morrisette’s introduction made me excited because it is “rare to have JWJI talks regarding James Weldon Johnson because not many scholars study him,” so I thought I would be in for a fascinating and highly coveted lecture…and then the lecture actually started. Essentially, Morrisette’s lecture could be split into 7 sections: the background of James Weldon Johnson, a paraphrasing of The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man, the contextual impact and interpretation of the book, more information about Johnson’s other works and history, contemporary use of Johnson’s ideas, modern interpretations of the book, and finally and question and answer session. The lecture itself seemed to go over well with the majority of the audience which was filled with faculty, staff, and other adults. During the Q&A session, a few people were really engaged with the lecture and had a few burning questions. I don’t remember the exact questions, but somehow the topic of Donald Trump and Puerto Rico was brought up.
However, I think it’s important to emphasize that the lecture was well received by the adults in the audience. There were very few people in my age range or below and those that were there seemed to be very distracted and disengaged. I genuinely found the topic and points that Morrisette raised very interesting, but towards the end of the lecture, I was using every ounce of will in my body to stay off Snapchat. I think that this is a testament of most lectures here at Emory are not “freshman-friendly” in a sense that we are not the target audience and lectures aren’t set up in a way to engage us. I set-up this blog post purposefully to present this. Throughout this blog, I had two pictures which represent the two different slides that Morisette had in her presentation. This blog was very few, if any, relevant pictures, with a lot of text. Similarly, Morisette’s lecture was very few, if any, relevant pictures with a lot of text read aloud. This lack of visual multimedia would turn away many freshmen because of the era in which we live. In the age of social media, young people are becoming somewhat dependent on visual and tactile stimulation. Whether it be scrolling through your Instagram feed or tapping through a Snapchat stories, we’re more engaged when we can see and do something. I would have liked this lecture much better if it wasn’t just talking, and this is coming from someone who listens/watches TedTalks in their spare time. This is not to say that Morisette’s presentation was bad, it definitely wasn’t, this is just to show the importance of having a multimodal presentation when dealing with a specific audience. Morisette had some really engaging asides and incorporated some humor into her lecture, but having some sort of visual aid could have made the lecture go from decent to great.
Jenna: Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to intersect medicine, architecture, and law all into one? The affects that Women have on music and the media? Have you ever desired to intertwine social sciences, biology, and history all into one? At its inception, Emory’s Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts was considered a bold academic endeavor, and had been among the nation’s first graduate programs within humanities devoted to the new trend of interdisciplinary studies. The year was 1952, and the program’s chief architect was Emory’s new Vice President and Dean of the Faculties Ernest C. Colwell, an Emory graduate and former president of the University of Chicago, who had emerged as an early leader in the field of interdisciplinary education. This program was recognized as “a major step in the program to extend and enrich the graduate study at Emory,” according to the Emory Wheel. Sixty years later, the drive to pursue research that transcends conventional academic boundaries is still going strong, says Kim Loudermilk, a senior lecturer in the ILA and director of the program in American Studies, who is working on the history of the program. That unique intellectual environment, nourished by faculty representing a wide array of disciplines, is what first drew Loudermilk to the program, in a quest to examine the relationship between social movements, such as feminism, and the media. Today, we are going to teach our friend Sandro about all the unique opportunities this program has to offer. Hunter: Hey Sandro, what’s wrong?
Sandro: Nothing. I don’t want to talk.
Jenna: Sandro, please, I hate to see you so upset. What is wrong?!
Sandro: Well, you see, I can’t seem to find an area of study at Emory that satisfies my specific interests. I don’t want to be constrained to one specific major or minor!
Hunter: Well, have you ever considered Emory’s ILA Program?
Sandro: No, what’s that?
Jenna: ILA is Emory’s Institute for Liberal Arts.
Sandro: Well, I don’t know if I’m liberal, and I definitely don’t like arts.
Jenna: Haha. The ILA Program, or Institute for Liberal Arts, maintains two unique majors that you can only find here at Emory: IDS and AMST. These are the only two majors which allow students to structure their own program of study around a field of interest that they define through more of a humanities perspective. Students are in close consultation with faculty experts from different disciplines who have specific training in interdisciplinary study. As part of these Majors, students are permitted to take courses in a number of departments, provided they meet appropriate departmental prerequisites.
Sandro: So how to the IDS and AMST majors work?
Hunter: Well, You get to choose a set of courses from across Emory College that will constitute part of your major requirements (24 of 44 total required credits); This is called a “student designed concentration,” and the courses you propose are your Concentration Requirements. Senior projects tend to draw upon two or more disciplines you’ve studied with involvement of scholarly research – 50 pages is typical. Essentially, your senior project is a thesis that culminates all of your research, in order to demonstrate your ability in organizing complex ideas. However, your thesis can be composed of other forms of scholarship as well, anywhere from artistic expression to other forms of broader public engagement. Examples of this have included films, art exhibitions, or teaching in local public schools.
Sandro: Would students be given advice on types of courses to major in?
Jenna: Yes, the courses you choose for this major are definitely not random or made without the aid of expert advice. An ILA advisor will discuss with you your intellectual interests, helping you to focus on an interdisciplinary research question (or range of questions) that will be answered across your years at Emory College. It’s really an opportunity to engage in multiple particular disciplinary interests, in order to shape your own educational experience which is unique and distinctive to you.
Sandro: Okay, that actually sounds pretty cool. What are some examples of interdisciplinary questions studied by students?
Hunter: Some proposals focused on by students include: how social assumptions about artists relate to the visual art produced by the artist, how Native American leaders and writers understand and portray science -especially biology- and even how FDR’s experience with polio changed public support for medical research within the United States.
Sandro: So you’re telling me my range of possible questions can be as broad as my imagination? That’s just not safe.
Jenna: Yes, Sandro – Because interdisciplinarity involves applying two or more disciplinary methodologies, your ILA adviser will also put you in touch with other Emory faculty experts to assist in articulating your interests and selecting relevant courses that might be part of your major. Early on, you’ll identify a faculty “co-adviser,” in addition to your ILA adviser, just to ensure that you can be well supported through your academic decisions.
Hunter: Let me tell you about my buddy Kevin..
Sandro: (cuts him off) What’s his last name? I might know him.
Hunter: McPherson.
Sandro: No, I don’t think I know him.
Hunter: Anyways, Kevin is very academically minded and loves to study various subject matters. He is double majoring in ILA and Biology. He became interested in Native American alcoholism from various readings he did outside of class. ILA permitted him to study Native American alcoholism through a humanistic approach, while Biology allowed him to expand and comprehend on the scientific aspect as well. Kevin was not only able to study a blend of philosophy, history and literature in order to find how that all pertains to alcoholism, but also what he gleaned from his studies of scientific literature as well. His intertwined writing of Native American alcoholism helped him receive prestigious awards, one of which entails extensive research at Stanford University.
Sandro: Oh, yeah. His name rings a bell. But dude, I want to make money. What can I even do with an IDS or AMST major?
Hunter: You see, since students study a field they are intrinsically passionate about, businesses are more inclined to seek out their style of learning and knowledgeable experience. Students of the IDS and AMST majors, like our buddy Kevin, have worked for Google, Amazon and many other awesome firms within the Atlanta area. Many alumni are still doing fascinating things, such as serving as museum directors, becoming involved in politics in Hollywood, working in academia as professors and administrators, and one alum is even president of the United Negro College Fund. Also, students commonly continue onto the Law School or other graduate programs thereafter. A key advantage that former students of ILA have gained over students from other majors is held within the strength of their letters of recommendation, especially from teachers with whom they have collaborated with extensively.
Sandro: Wow! The ILA program seems just right for me! I wonder why Emory doesn’t promote this graduate program in the way that it promotes the Med School and other graduate schools. This program is very unique to Emory, and seems like it can provide the type of academic diversity that would help Emory take itself one step ahead of its competition. What draws students is the ability to examine or explore an idea or question or problem that cannot be addressed through one discipline alone. I believe they should discuss this program in tour groups and stress it elsewhere, perhaps even while meeting with your Pre-Major Advisors. Doing this may assist Emory in receiving more creative and passionate students who maintain a drive to do something different, but are limited by many other institutions’ academic limitations. Prospective students may find it important that one building home to a diverse professors, all with a passion to study vastly differing subjects held at ILA students’ fingertips. Other students may be impressed that at such a large institution, there is a major with a significantly finite community. However, some may be excited to have the ability to create their own curriculum, in order to further study their own curated academic passion. If these prospective students are never informed of the ILA program, they may never apply to Emory, simply because they deem it to not have what they’re looking for. The ILA is a perfect demonstration of the multitude of academic opportunities at Emory, and how there is simply a learning style for everyone.
Jenna: If education is really an intrinsically risky enterprise, because of its focus on the need for transformation, then we need to be open to the discourses of constantly changing times and the unexpected conversations that threaten to turn everything we thought upside down. We should not give up music, insight, conversation, or public scholarship. We should leave room for growth upon the free state of education and the liberal arts.As time goes on, it seems that the problems we face as a society are becoming more and more complex, and the questions we need to ask become more difficult to answer from merely one perspective. The interdisciplinary work and training that the ILA provides teaches us how to do just that: approaching the problems of the world from multiple perspectives. The ILA seems to partially mirror Emory as a university, but also a specific reflection of its deep and broad history.
In fact, the ILA was instituted as a graduate doctoral program 60 years ago, when not many doctoral programs existed at Emory. It was founded primarily on the basis of a felt need for living conversation among literature, philosophy, religion, theology, and history. A little later this conversation expanded to include public scholarship and the social sciences, especially in response to the movement for civil rights in higher education, linking Emory with historically black institutions in Atlanta and beyond. Gradually, the ILA became the unique interdisciplinary institute it is today: a hybrid departmental home for many interrelated programs, faculty, and students. It now comprises a graduate interdisciplinary program with a broad range of focused interests, including American studies, science and society, history of medicine/science, race and difference, visual studies, interdisciplinary humanities and critical studies, and some outstanding certificates and other programmatic concentrations. Above all, the ILA is an institute, rather than a department, that fosters existing and new initiatives that cross traditional disciplinary for new possibilities within our university – a laboratory for a deeper sense of intellectual community.
“My whole thing is just to put out positive messages in the music, give people something that can change their lives.” – Scott Mescudi
Kid Cudi performing
Scott Mescudi has changed many aspects in the world of hip-hop. Known by his stage name, Kid Cudi, Scott grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and has paved the way for your favorite new artists. Whether you realize it or not, Kid Cudi is more than just “Day n Nite” and “Pursuit of Happiness”, as he is able to create a new world of defiance and joy in his music. Connecting with the everyday struggles of the younger generations, Kid Cudi’s discography serves as an escape from reality by bringing listeners on the journey of “The Man on the Moon”. Rather than highlighting the satisfactions found in life, Cudi addresses the darker truths of depression, pain, and sorrow as his music emphasizes the power of realism. By doing so, Mescudi is able to connect with his audience in a deeper and more meaningful way that resembles the influence of Kurt Cobain. With countless critically acclaimed albums and a cult like fan base, there is only one thing missing in Kid Cudi’s legacy: the credit he deserves.
Man on the Moon Volume I (Left) Man on the Moon Volume II (Right)
Kid Cudi is an easy target for criticism. While his music is played by millions of fans around the world, mainstream culture likes to discredit the impact he truly has. Because his music does not easily fall into the norms of rap, many do not like the dark and mysterious path that Cudi follows. Combining grunge rock with hip-hop, Kid Cudi embodies the melting pot that music culture should be. Instead of following the status-quo, Kid Cudi is one of the only artists to fearlessly break creative boundaries and truly show a progression of differing ideas and aesthetics. Whether it is the “Man on the Moon” or “Mr. Rager”, each album is connected to different personal identities that express emotions and relate with various groups of listeners. While Mescudi’s first two albums were praised by practically everyone, there was definitely a turn in his career that hurt his mainstream legacy. Following the Man on the Moon series, Kid Cudi released “Indicud” and “Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven”, two albums that were considered disappointments in the eyes of popular culture. Famous music blog, Pitchfork, wrote, “While his diehard fans await his long-delayed Man on the Moon III*,* Kid Cudi opted instead to release a 90-minute, double-disc rock album. Unfiltered, unpolished, and uncomfortable, the album is a failure, and not even a noble one.” While mainstream culture around the world lost its faith in Scott Mescudi, your favorite artists today remained loyal to his vision.
Kid Cudi, Kanye West, and Travis Scott
Whether you realize it or not, Cudi has inspired many of our favorite artists today. I truly believe there would be no Travis Scott, Drake, A$AP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, and Lil Uzi Vert without the inspiration from Kid Cudi. Travis Scott even said in a 2015 interview that Cudi is a “part of [his] story, part of [his] life. There would be no Travis Scott if it wasn’t for him.” Having multiple credits on Kanye’s “808s and Heartbreaks” and frequently collaborating with techno artists, Kid Cudi is a clear inspiration in the new wave of auto-tuned/techno rap. Mescudi also diverged from the genre of “gangsta rap” and instead embodied the character of a rock star, which artists like Lil Uzi Vert and others have taken. With the influence that Cudi has left behind, one may wonder why he does not receive the credit he deserves. We as people often criticize the unfamiliar instead of embracing it. With experts and artists around the world praising his influence and revolutionary style it is clear that popular culture fails to appreciate the impact of true artistry.
Kid Cudi is performing in Atlanta on 10/12
Click the link to purchase tickets: https://www.stubhub.com/kid-cudi-tickets-kid-cudi-atlanta-coca-cola-roxy-theatre-10-12-2017/event/103142786/?sort=price+asc
The excitement had been building for weeks. Everytime my aunt’s name popped up on my phone, I would smirk because I knew it would be something pertaining to the surprise that we were planning for my mawmaw and pawpaw. I had bought my plane ticket and began to make my packing list. The only people who knew I was coming were my aunt and my mom. More than tired of food from the duc-ling, I submitted my list of meal requests to my mom so she could bless me with some home-cooked meals. From the smothered turkey necks to the shrimp and grits, to the spaghetti and meatsauce, to the meat pies, I might have gained my freshman 15 in this one week.
Spending time with my family gave me the refreshed feeling I was looking for but it also completely obliterated my sense of homesickness. I am completely fine with not seeing my family until Thanksgiving. My curfew went back into effect while I was home, there were many more chores to do than there are in my small dorm room, and everyone wanted to know who I was dating and what was my decided major.
My short time in Natchitoches was pretty eventful. I got to take professional pictures with my godson, be diagnosed with pneumonia, and finally go to mass at my church. I was able to spend time with my brother for the weekend. The best part of my weekend was everyone talked super fast and nobody commented on my accent.
The Oxford Road Building’s lecture room filled up. Interested people, as well as students fulfilling a class attendance requirement found their seats. The doors closed and the speaker, Dr. Brennan, started to introduce herself and the topic: The Milgram Experiment. Just as she proceeded to the second slide of her Powerpoint presentation, it happened. A loud cough, followed by some sniffles came from the back of the lecture room. A couple of heads turned, and saw an uninterested freshman who was busy typing away on his computer. If only they had known then how the rest of the lecture would go, then they would have tried to move as close to the front of the room as possible. For a full 45 minutes, the audience was subjected to Sandro’s coughs, sneezes, computer noises and more. It is truly amazing that he didn’t get thrown out.
The Oxford Road Building lecture room
This presentation on the Milgram Experiment was a part of the Williams Memorial lecture series, a group of lectures focused on great American works of liberal arts. Students who are enrolled in Emory’s Voluntary Core program are required to attend the lectures and learn about something they might not have found out about otherwise. The lectures typically take place every second Wednesday at 4:30pm. This specific day, Sandro was swarmed with work but somehow managed to make it to the lecture. He decided to bring his computer with him in order to be as efficient as possible, despite how distracting he knew his device would be. Sandro and Josh sat at the back of the lecture room to try and not interfere with the audience, but most people sat near the back anyways because they were uninterested.
Sandro working on his lab
“Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, conducted an experiment focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. He examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused at the World War II Nuremberg War Criminal trials. Their defense was often based on “obedience” — that they were just following orders from their superiors. That’s exactly what Milgram wanted to test in his experiment” Exclaimed Dr. Brennan, but all Sandro could think of was that his lab was due at 5:00 PM and it was already 4:58 PM. What would he do? Submit the half-finished lab or- “What’s she talking about ?” said Sandro as he turned to his partner Josh on his right, letting out half a dozen coughs before actually completing the sentence. Josh, completely disregarding Sandro’s cry for help, said that the girl sitting in front of them has turned around and shifted to the farthest point of her seat every time Sandro sneezed or coughed. Both partners laughed as Sandro tapped on her shoulder to get her attention so he could apologize to her, but instead ended up coughing up a lung.
Josh and Sandro sitting in the lecture
Dr. Brennan then proceeded to explain what exactly the experiment encompassed. The procedure was that the participant was paired with another person and they drew lots to find out who would be the ‘learner’ and who would be the ‘teacher’. The draw was fixed so that the participant was always the teacher, and the learner was one of Milgram’s confederates (pretending to be a real participant). The participant was told that they were taking part in a study to test how the brain responds to a pain stimulus when learning new things. It is now 5 PM and Sandro’s chemistry lab has been submitted. Excited, he begins closing his laptop, but not before accidentally hitting the play button on his MacBook Pro™ and blasting Black Dog by Led Zeppelin for everyone to hear (28 minutes and 10 seconds into the lecture video if you want to listen to the tunes). Panicking, he slams his hands on they keyboard letting out a wild sneeze, and by some miracle one of the fingers must’ve hit the play button once more because the music stopped. “F**k”…. “God f**king damn it” said Sandro almost as loudly as his music had played.
Snapping back to the lecture Sandro noticed that Dr. Brennan had begun saying “The learner (a confederate called Mr. Wallace) was taken into a room and had electrodes attached to his arms, and the teacher and researcher went into a room next door that contained an electric shock generator and a row of switches marked from 15 volts (Slight Shock) to 450 volts (XXX). The teacher is told to administer an electric shock every time the learner makes a mistake, increasing the level of shock each time.”
The layout of the experiment
The learner gave mainly wrong answers (on purpose), and for each of these, the teacher gave him an “electric shock”, to which the learner pretended was real.
When the teacher refused to administer a shock the experimenter was to give a series of orders/prods to ensure they continued.
There were 4 prods and if one was not obeyed then the experimenter (Mr. Williams) read out the next prod, and so on. 40 minutes into the lecture, Sandro couldn’t help but wonder out loud, “Am I high off cough syrup?” Looking over at Josh he whispered, “I mean.. I’ve been taking 30 milligrams of Dayquil along with 2 pills of advil, and on the bottle it doesn’t even say how much i should be taking, I just.. *cough*”
After surveying the audience about what they thought of the experiment, Dr. Brennan revealed that close to 66% of participants in the experiment blindly followed the instructions of the high-and-mighty experimenter, “shocking” the learner all the way up to 450 volts (XXX). The experiment found that a scary amount of people were absolutely obedient to someone who was in a position of power. Dr. Brennan also provided come statistics for when they varied the conditions of the experiment. For instance, when the teacher had touch proximity to the leaner they found that the number of people who followed until the highest “shock” decreased by a significant amount. The lecture then transitioned into a question and answer segment, where the few people who paid full attention were excited to ask about experiment details and ethics.
Sandro leaving the lecture
With this final thought as well as Josh’s quirky “You won’t leave the lecture, you won’t” Sandro got up as the 3rd person had finished asking his question and started heading towards the door. After climbing over 4 people who were sitting in his row, he made it to the door. He gave out the signature cough, sneeze, sniffle, and blow before looking back at Josh and then exiting the lecture room.
As he met up with Josh outside the lecture hall, they started discussing the post, how in the world were they going to make this lecture in any way, shape or form creative to fit the in class rubric? They talked and talked until they came to a conclusion. *cough*
When I drove up to Raoul Hall on move-in day, I was greeted by three eager-looking sophomores ready to help. After exchanging brief introductions, they proceeded to lug all of the boxes to my room, leaving my mother and me empty-handed. Although these students had just moved in a few days ago themselves, they were committed to making my move-in day experience seamless.
Emory’s culture of designating Resident Advisors (RAs) and Sophomore Advisors (SAs) to oversee freshmen’s college transition and well-being speaks to the strength of the greater school community. These students may end up in the same classes, clubs, and parties as their residents, but they commit themselves to helping new students face the same challenges they have.
While Residence Life staff are all motivated by different goals and appreciate different aspects of their roles, they come together to foster community for themselves and for incoming students.
Freshman, reach out to your RAs and SAs. Use them as resources. They have found their places at Emory, and they are here to help you find yours.
Anisha Verma’s Emory profile.
*What’s your name?*
Anisha: Anisha Verma.
*Where are you from?*
Anisha: Wisconsin
*What Emory class are you in?*
Anisha: I’m a senior.
*What Emory clubs do you belong to?*
Anisha: I am in ECAST which is the Emory Climate Analysis Solutions Team, and EUSAC which is the Emory University Sustainability Advisory Council. And I’m part of Campus Kitchens. Um, I’m really into running. I like reading, writing, working.
*What motivated you to be an SA/RA?*
Anisha: I really liked my RA my freshman year. She was just a lot like me, I guess, in terms of like of how she was super sarcastic and people thought she was being mean but she was just being herself and, like, making jokes, and I have that problem a lot too. So I just kind of like try to establish some ground form of, like, friendship before I start, you know, cracking jokes, being mean, that sort of thing, yeah. And, um, I thought that Res. Life would be a cool and welcoming community to be a part of throughout the next three years at Emory. And yeah I really like helping the First Years with their adjustment to Emory.
*What has been the most rewarding part so far?*
Anisha: I think when like I see my residents from sophomore and junior year, and they’re like still really excited to see me, and they — because I think there’s like no way to tell whether or not you’re doing a good job as an RA, and so like when there – they still wanna be your friend and wanna be around you it kinda makes me feel that I’m doing something right.
*What was the hardest part of your freshman year?*
Anisha: Um, all my friends joined Greek life, and I did not, so they were kind of like we don’t really need you anymore because we have all of these new, hip, and cool friends who are in my sorority and fraternity. And then, I was kind of left alone with no friends. (Laughs) But it’s fine.
*What would you tell your freshman self?*
Anisha: I would tell my freshman self to stop talking as much, because I still have this problem where I’ll have something to do but then somewhere I’ll see someone and I’ll be like you know this conversation will be worth more in the long run than me studying for this test and getting a good grade, which isn’t always true. Um, so, you know like prioritize more efficiently I guess.
*What do you think makes the Emory community so unique?*
Anisha: There’s an Emory community? I don’t know. I think people are just kind of like doing their own thing. You’ll know what I mean when you like spend more time here.
Josh Fishbach’s Emory profile.
*What’s your name?*
Josh: Hi, my name is Joshua Fischbach.
*Where are you from?*
Josh: I’m from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
*What Emory class are you in?*
Josh: I am part of the Class of 2020.
*What Emory clubs do you belong to?*
Josh: I really like soccer, music, uh, different cultures, language. So I’m part of the club soccer team at Emory. I’m part of, um, Emory Students for Israel. I’m, uh, hopefully going to be part of TEDx at Emory. Um, and then I do, uh, and then I do, um, Coaching Corps. Um, I’m also part of Res. Life, so I’m a Sophomore Advisor.
*What motivated you to be an SA/RA?*
Josh: I thought it’d be a good way to get involved in the Emory community, uh, and it’d also be a great way for me to reach out and meet, uh, a diverse range of people from different backgrounds and be able to help them transition into college.
*What has been the most rewarding part so far?*
Josh: So far I’ve really liked, uh, the relationships that I’ve formed, um, both with my fellow SA — fellow Res. Life staff members and also with, um, the residents.
*What was the hardest part of your freshman year?*
Josh: The hardest part of my freshman year was probably, um, figuring out ways to manage my time, uh, efficiently so that I wouldn’t, um, be stressed out or constantly drag out work so definitely organization — time management in order to succeed here.
*What would you tell your freshman self?*
Josh: I would tell my freshman self to, you know, don’t worry about anything, like, social pressure, academic pressure, you know…it’s all trivial…just be happy and enjoy yourself, where you are in life.
*What do you think makes the Emory community so unique?*
Josh: There’s a diverse range of people in the community, so you can find really any type of person that would sort of — sort of fit into any type of category or label that you want, so there’s –there’s people for everyone here which is really nice. There’s not just one type of student or one type of person.
Caroline Rosen’s Emory profile.
*What’s your name?*
Caroline: Caroline Rosen.
*Where are you from?*
Caroline: Pennsylvania.
*What Emory class are you in?*
Caroline: I’m the Class of 2020.
*What Emory clubs do you belong to?*
Caroline: I’m on the club gymnastics team. Obviously, I’m involved in Res. Life, and I’m on the executive board for Emory Miracle.
*What motivated you to be an SA/RA?*
Caroline: I was very close with my SAs and RAs last years, and I really liked their role of getting to know the residents and helping people adjust to college, and I wanted to do that too.
*What has been the most rewarding part so far?*
Caroline: Meeting my residents.
*What was the hardest part of your freshman year?*
Caroline: The hardest part of my freshman year…was probably getting sick. That sucks. And like the whole hall was sick, it was a nightmare.
*What would you tell your freshman self?*
Caroline: Um, calm down. Everything will be fine in terms of your social life, and academics, and everything
*What do you think makes the Emory community so unique?*
Caroline: I think we all are, you know, very involved in academics, but also really value spending time with spending time with the people we care about and being involved, uh, outside of academics.
Kevin Niu’s Emory profile.
*What’s your name?*
Kevin: My name is Kevin Niu.
*Where are you from?*
Kevin: I’m from Canton, Ohio.
*What Emory class are you in?*
Kevin: I’m part of the Emory Class of 2020.
*What Emory clubs do you belong to?*
Kevin: Some of my interests would include definitely music, I play piano, I’m an avid rock climber. Um, in terms of extra-curriculars I’m part of the club swim team here, I’m part of Student Programing Council, and as well as Emory Student Ambassadors.
*What motivated you to be an SA/RA?*
Kevin: Being an SA sounded like a really good opportunity to meet people while also having fun. The idea of second year housing just didn’t seem appealing to me, in the sense that nobody was going to try and establish a sense of community. Um, and I thought first-years would be more willing to have engaged conversations with people who they lived near — they live near.
*What has been the most rewarding part so far?*
Kevin: I think it’s been really neat to see everybody kind of find their way through Emory and see, like, who these people were when they got here and kind of the things they get involved with afterwards, and kind of see people discovering new things.
*What was the hardest part of your freshman year?*
Kevin: I think the hardest part of freshman year was there were a lot of times where you’d feel very alone just because you had a lot of friends, but you’ve only known them for, like, two or three months and so you don’t really trust them the way that you did people back home. And I think that was one of the most significant challenges, learning how to cope with issues and problems on your own.
*What would you tell your freshman self?*
Kevin: I would probably tell my freshman self that the biggest way to, like, succeed in college is to just push through, uh, because there’s a lot of stuff that happens in college, um, a lot of times where you feel like, you know, you’re just under way too much stress and under way too much pressure. Um, and I think being able to find things to look forward to is a great way to kind of keep yourself moving.
*What do you think makes the Emory community so unique?*
Kevin: I think the fact of the matter is that anybody who really tries to fit in to the Emory community will fit into the Emory community. I think at other places in it at like state schools or extremely small liberal arts college it is very possible that it’s not a good fit for someone, but I think at Emory, like, everybody is, like, welcome and everybody has the potential to find a community here.
Have you ever wondered why there are door levers and door knobs? Have you ever noticed the different types of faucet handles found in bathrooms? Though at first you may only think of these designs as products of architectural advancements, they all serve a bigger purpose in our world as they help people suffering with disabilities and injuries. Whether it’s the simple design of a ramp alongside stairs, or an indent in a curb next to a crosswalk, these architectural modifications all fall under what researchers call “The Universal Design”. As these researchers continue to discover unique ways to make our lives more efficient, some have started to wonder how we can apply this universal theory to the classroom. Though children with disabilities used to receive individual attention, more and more have been assimilating into a classroom setting forcing researchers to identify new forms of accommodation.
Dr. Jennifer Sarrett opens her presentation, “Autism in the Classroom”.
Jennifer Sarrett from Emory’s Center for the Study of Human Health is at the forefront of implementing the Universal Design for Learning on our campus. She crafts her syllabus and each lesson to be accessible to all students, with or without learning disabilities. After noticing a downward trend in graduate rates and post-graduation employment in autistic students, Sarrett knew she needed to make a change.
“These students aren’t being set up for success in the same ways that other students are being set up for success,” she said. “We have autistic students on campus and we want to continue to have autistic students on campus, so we need to figure out what works best for them.”
In order to increase success for students with learning disabilities, Sarrett provides accommodations in the classroom to benefit their learning capacity. She alters her lectures and presentations to suit the needs of all students, whether they be visual, auditory, or sensory. Sarrett’s efforts to better serve autistic and learning-disabled students in class are helping not only her students, but also the Emory community as a whole to become more aware and accommodating. By including all of her accommodations in her syllabus, she is telling her students that her classroom is a safe and open space. Sarrett stresses using a language of difference, not deficit, as some people are different, not worse. She is spreading a sense of respect and normalization for autistic people across campus.
Sarrett shares resources about autism in the classroom that can be utilized by professors as well as students.
When Professor Sarrett opened the audience to questions, it seemed as if every faculty member in attendance immediately raised their hand with a concerning look. These gestures of anxiety instantly made us realize that these professors and TAs were quite apprehensive and inexperienced when approaching students with disabilities. One by one they nervously asked about techniques regarding accommodations and shared episodes of frustration from their classes. With these teachers seeming to lack any knowledge in the field of autism, they desperately tried to obtain any advice they could get from Professor Sarrett. One question in particular sparked an interesting conversation in the audience. A woman questioned how these accommodations truly prepared students for the “real-world” when the working environments can often be harsh and traditional. With most of the audience nodding in agreement, Sarrett made sure to be diplomatic in her response and stressed that a lot of these accommodations are found in companies around the world. This was honestly hard to believe for many as they continued to question the applications to life after college.
The audience, consisting primarily of professors, prepares to leave after Sarrett’s presentation and Q&A.
Emory, as an institution, has a duty to prepare its students for the “real world”. In other words, the school is providing its students with the tools they need to be successful in their future endeavors. Though Emory tries its best to be an accommodating and tolerant school, it is easy to question how such accommodations in college can help students be prepared for careers that are not so tolerant. While Emory acts as a safe haven for social differences and disabilities, this progressiveness is not necessarily universal, making it difficult for students to adapt. With hundreds of schools around the country taking on this Universal Design of Learning, the real question is: Will different companies and career paths also adapt to these accommodations? Or will they continue to be conservative with their working style?
The Beat Generation & Counterculture, 1940-1975: an exhibition celebrating the contributions of the writers, poets and artists of America’s Beat Generation. This exhibition reconsiders postwar literature and the ways it mirrored, predicted, and remade the culture around it. With its emphasis on the influential group known as “the Beats,” the show rediscovers a number of fascinating countercultural writers and remains the first major consideration of the Beats in the U.S. in nearly a decade.
The Beat Generation emerged as a key part of the U.S. counterculture in the years following World War II. The exhibition showcases the Beat spirit of exploration and experimentation around practicing politics, making art and building community.
This is an exhibition that looks at the power of literature to change our perceptions and to influence our culture. Thus, having an impact that is multi-generational and cross-disciplinary. All are invited to study, peruse and to be inspired by such creative energy. There remains a diverse group of people within this movement, united despite their differences by a commitment to radical experimentation and resistance to the mainstream; They have women and people of color writing, who congruently want to share their stories.
As we ventured into the realm of poetry for one hour in the Oxford Road Building, we began to evaluate and reminisce upon the environment in which the Beat took place. Co-curated by English PhD candidates Aaron Goldsman and Sarah Harsh, the pre-exhibition event began with the introduction of Anne Waldman’s endeavors.
As a prominent figure within the Beat Poetry Generation, Anne Waldman has been recognized as an organizer and instigator for the experimental poetry community; She has worked as an editor, teacher, performer, and cultural/political activist. Waldman, in her own words, is “drawn to the magical efficacies of language as a political act.”
Waldman has raised the bar as a feminist, activist and powerful performer. She has read in the streets, as well as numerous larger venues such as the Dodge Literary Festival in the U.S. and the Jaipur Literature Festival in India, while continuing to teach poetics all over the world. She remains a highly original “open field investigator” of consciousness, committed to the possibilities of radical shifts of language and state of mind, in order to create new modal structures and montages of attention. Waldman has received numerous awards and honors for her poetry, including the American Book Awards’ Lifetime Achievement, the Dylan Thomas Memorial Award, the National Literary Anthology Award, and the Shelley Memorial Award for poetry.
As Waldman entered the room, her long, dark hair, draped in black clothing and complemented with gold accents, set the tone for her poetry readings; She seemingly embodied the spirit and soul of her presentation. We began to recognize Waldman’s strong, firm stance as she spoke in a deep and fiery tone, which emphasized her rhetoric and purposeful language. Her words, wrought with passion and embrace, conveyed a lively and powerful voice. As she spoke, we glanced around at the ubiquitous captivation that took place within each individual of her audience: all eyes, bodies, and ears were focused directly on her.
Waldman’s poetic hymns are deeply connected to her work as an activist, along with her practice of Tibetan Buddhism. As she remains true to her artistic integrity, Waldman utilizes transitions which speak upon her performativity, often including rhetorical usage of chants, song, and emphatic reading.
As we employed Anne Waldman’s stylistic approach to poetry, we curated a poem which embodies the many aspects of our rapidly changing ecosystem. Just as Waldman conveys her message on environmental change, we harnessed her methodology within our reading. The Beat Generation, from 1940-1975, was an era in which poetry and art were simultaneous commentaries on American culture and political issues. Now, maintaining consistent ideologies, writers like Anne Waldman have brought back to life the importance and value of these messages in today’s society. Her galvanizing performances, extensive collaborations, and radical mission to inform our world on constantly changing policies and environment have reminded us just how powerful the effect of poetry can be.
Waldman’s provision and emphasis upon poignant views within her writing have conveyed not only the importance poetry has on our rapidly changing world, but how to properly implore the mechanisms of rhetoric within her poems. Thus, emanating her message tenfold. We highly recommend attending one of Anne Waldman’s performances, as we guarantee you’re in for a passionate, lively, informative experience like none other.
Weldon Johnson’s 
Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man
