Introduction

On this page, you will find several of the projects completed for this class including personal reflections that I hope illustrate the change in my awareness and learning that I have experienced during this semester.   

Virtual Exhibit Process Reflection

This assignment is located here. 

My goals for this assignment were to highlight the importance of the historical aspect of civil rights including gender that I think are subconsciously absent, within this class. I acknowledge the finite number of elements that are possible to cover in the frame of a 16-week semester, but we would have no subject matter to build the class upon without the stories of individual sacrifice that when summed account for our status today. On becoming aware of this deficiency, the subject for this assignment became clear.

I think the strength of this subject is the emphasis on keeping in mind the historical context of where society has been as we struggle for equality. Maintaining objective focus is nearly impossible in a subject dominated by subjective emotions. However, contributing measurably as individuals may be the most important strategy in maintaining the continuity of the trajectory that has been positive overall. A weakness of this assignment was in deciding who to highlight as there are so many individuals that fit the profile needed to make this point. Other limitations are the ever-present permissions requirements for using multimedia material. 

This assignment was of my own invention and was not clear to me until near the end of the semester. After deciding on what I wanted to do and beginning research it became clear to me how prominent the actions were of individuals like Rosa Parks. Not in the way we all know from the famous telling of her story, but in the way of individuals like her who have never had their story told yet endured similar injustices. This research gave a much deeper meaning to the title of the movie Hidden Figures. These figures were not only hidden in segregated buses and toilets but they are also hidden still today in plain sight if just take the time to see them. Recent anti-DEI laws passed by states including Utah are the modern age-segregated bus. The disguise is not even a good attempt and although society has come a long way since desegregation the fight may never be finished. The resilience required to continue requires the motivation to do so and that is the gift that history gives us.