I was very glad that I attended the panel about Climate Injustice and the call for equity in a changing climate. Going into this discussion, I already knew a lot about climate change and the way it affects how I plan to live and work. One particularly important topic that I think was addressed very well in this talk was the idea that climate change is not just an environmental issue, but a social one as well. When you think about how the environment is exponentially decaying it does not really sink in that climate change is not just a physical but social problem. There has been a lot of displacement in areas where we are already starting to see a rapid decline in livable conditions, yet many corporations and countries turn a blind eye to what is happening to our planet. This talk was a refresher for me to be more aware of this growing issue despite it not physically affecting me yet.
Author Archives: iam43
Careful Strokes
After attending the first Calligraphy Workshop session, I was very intrigued when I found out about the second event happening. Prior to taking the sessions, I had never taking a calligraphy class, instead I grew up practicing script. During the first class, I spent most of the time trying to relate the same rules and visual shapes to script and adapting these rules to a different type of pen. While attending the second one I thought more about the feeling of the letters and worked with the pen instead of forcing the pen to do what I wanted it to do. Overall it was a very relaxing experience and allowed me to take a break from this stressful semester.
Myths and Misconceptions
This documentary on Pruitt-Igoe was a very good portrayal of how poorly executed public housing is in the United States. This film brought me back to a discussion that I had in my History of Architecture class about whether housing should be a basic human right. During the discussion many of us highlighted that shelter is a necessity but the infrastructure for affordable housing is very complex when there is no profit being made. Sadly, many of the projects similar to Pruitt-Igoe do not have the funding and government backing to grow as a community. When you think of affordable housing you also have to look at the wealth gap between many of these neighborhoods and how the decline of the St. Louis economy specifically affected the successfulness of Pruitt-Igoe.
What is a Good Joke?
I attended one of the Thursday seminars on How to Tell a Joke: Timeless Strategies for Winning the Room and Getting Ahead. Initially I went into this seminar thinking that it would consist of funny jokes and explanations as to why they were funny; however, to my surprise the seminar was more about joke formatting than the jokes themselves. I did not understand some of the reasoning behind why certain jokes were considered funny, but it did allow me to understand more about the craft of telling a good joke.
Art Through A Different Lens
Attending the event on How to Understand Modern Art, specifically looking at the artworks found at the Johnson Museum was very interesting. Having gone to the Johnson Museum for presentations and reviews in architecture, I never took the time to actually browse through the artwork on display. While attending this event and actually being able to develop an understanding about some of the artwork that has been at the Johnson, it made me realize how much about art we do not understand. Usually when we view artwork we do so from a surface level with minimal context on what the painting, sculpture or other media form represents. For instance, “The Crossing Man” sculpture depicts one element that is not necessarily highlighted but is shown to us through a different lens. I appreciate hidden contexts within artwork a lot because it allows you to rediscover a specific piece each time you view it.
Treme – Black New Orleans
The Faubourg Treme – Untold Story of Black New Orleans documentary was very interesting and insightful. In our initial discussion about why we chose to attend the film session, many of us explained that we did not know much about the history of New Orleans, especially the segregation aspect and the diverse cultural environment presenting in this area of Louisiana. Looking back into the historic lens of New Orleans there is a lot of truth and history that we do not generally learn in school. Looking at Treme for instance, there is a direct link to how community infrastructure is directly affected by the government and devastating natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. The end of reconstruction in Treme highlighted the inequality that black communities faced and are still facing due to systemic racism. Despite the injustice we see the resilience the people of Treme had through expressing their pain through jazz and the arts. This was very special to me because it portrayed how people can take their situations and create something beautiful regardless of what is thrown at them.
Ryan Lombardi Q&A
While attending the Fellow interview conversation between Ryan Lombardi and Ken Roberts, I was able to gain more insight on the two’s history and perspective on education and the Cornell community. It is evident that faculty on campus are very committed to Cornell and the people that come out of Cornell instead of just a ranking. Being a transfer student in the Fall 2020 semester, I was not able to become accustomed to the Cornell campus and community as much as previous years, so this talk allowed me to get to know our faculty a bit more as opposed to just mass emails about campus safety. Listening to Lombardi’s commitment to Cornell and its community made me feel more apart of the community and provided me hope to being more involved next semester when things begin to shift back to some form of normalcy.
Diversity in The Arts: Taking a Closer Look
I had the opportunity to listen to Hassan Mahamdallie’s discussion on Diversity and the Arts and was. very fascinated by his perspective on performing arts and inclusion. Hassan’s talk about the focus on Western art forms and how important diversity is in the arts really resonated with me as an African-American woman. After listening to his discussion I thought back to Misty Copeland’s debut as the American Ballet’s first Black principle ballet dancer in 2017. It was very exciting but also sad that within a 75 year span of the American Ballet that Misty Copeland was named the first Black principle dancer so late in its history. Nonetheless, I agree with Hassan Mahamdallie on his perspective on how making the arts more inclusive is not only imperative but beneficial.
Script Perfection
While attending the calligraphy workshop with Seema Singh, I thought it was very therapeutic to sit down and practice penmanship. Doing this exercise reminded me of when I was younger and I had to learn script for the first time. My favorite part of this session was the continued practice that we had to have when copying the letters from the sheet. This allowed me to have more patience for myself when I messed up and allowed me to take my time when writing out the letters. I think it is very beneficial for people to learn cursive in school because it is a great skill to have and looks very professional. After this workshop, I kept my pen for the remainder of the semester as a token for completing the class 🙂