Writing about this issue forced me to confront how much my understanding of conflict is shaped by proximity, cultural background, environment, and personal relationships. Before coming to Wesleyan, I had very little direct exposure to Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, or Muslim communities. Growing up in Iowa, conversations about Israel and Palestine felt distant and abstract, and …
Today Phyllis is still my best Middletown friend. I have grown in my Wesleyan four years with her in the periphery. She will host my parents when they visit for graduation, as she had hosted my Dad for a year when he went to school at Wesleyan. While not engaging with her on my own …
Making my cultural self-portrait forced me to think about my identity in a more representational way than I usually do. Instead of using language to describe myself with nouns, I had to choose images that actually represent or serve as evidence for various parts of my life I deem worthy. I realized we do this …
At first, choosing my camera as my object felt obvious. It’s something I use all the time, and it clearly represents my interest in photography. While taking 205, I was also in the documentary photography class Photo 3. Thus, I always had it on me anyway. On the surface, it’s just an expensive tool I …
Prof. Anita assigned our 205 class a UCaSal Zoom conversation. Going into the Zoom story circle with students from Argentina, I expected the conversation to highlight clear cultural differences. I thought I would walk away with new facts about Argentina that felt distinct from my own experience. Instead, the conversation felt familiar to conversations I …
