What
- What is your object? – Part 1: As you embark upon your post-graduate adventures, what do you wish to keep with you from your AADS and BC experience? Why?
- A podcast. The first thing that came to mind when I thought of what I want to keep with me from BC was my mindset shift. Documenting my development on themes such as race, religion, and identity more broadly resonated. This is tied to AADS as much of these developments led to attending lectures, listening to popular thinkers in the space, and ultimately declare an AADS major. All in all, I think it will be a great way to cherish the moments behind my journey of growing at BC.
- A podcast. The first thing that came to mind when I thought of what I want to keep with me from BC was my mindset shift. Documenting my development on themes such as race, religion, and identity more broadly resonated. This is tied to AADS as much of these developments led to attending lectures, listening to popular thinkers in the space, and ultimately declare an AADS major. All in all, I think it will be a great way to cherish the moments behind my journey of growing at BC.
- What is your object? – Part 2: What form will your project take? And why? How does the form of your project resonate with the object you mean to keep with you? Be specific. You should tell me not only about the medium (e.g. film, performance, visual art, paper, etc.) and the genre (e.g. If you choose to do a visual art piece, are you thinking about a sculpture, a photo essay, a quilt, a mixed media installation, etc.); you should also describe, to the extent that they are relevant, any details about how you envision the length, size, scope; location, potential audience, texture, specific materials, specific design elements, and/or any other relevant detail to the content and form of your specific project.
- Inspired by a listening to Malcolm X’s autobiography this most recent summer, I found that its ark touched on similar themes of race and religion. After workshopping this in class, I realized that taking Malcolm’s ark may not be the way to go, instead honing in on the spiritual journey at Mecca I took back in 2019. Given that the pilgrimage consists of walking and that I enjoy long walks, the idea to hone in on the spiritual rituals at Mecca really resonated. And so I will look to frame my reflections of my time here at BC around each of the steps of the pilgrimage. At least as of now, I envision recording a podcast while taking a walk for each step of the pilgrimage so that there. There are 7 steps of the pilgrimage so that will mean 7 brief podcast episodes.
- Inspired by a listening to Malcolm X’s autobiography this most recent summer, I found that its ark touched on similar themes of race and religion. After workshopping this in class, I realized that taking Malcolm’s ark may not be the way to go, instead honing in on the spiritual journey at Mecca I took back in 2019. Given that the pilgrimage consists of walking and that I enjoy long walks, the idea to hone in on the spiritual rituals at Mecca really resonated. And so I will look to frame my reflections of my time here at BC around each of the steps of the pilgrimage. At least as of now, I envision recording a podcast while taking a walk for each step of the pilgrimage so that there. There are 7 steps of the pilgrimage so that will mean 7 brief podcast episodes.
- Please attach a file and/or provide a link to three existing texts that you might refer to as a model for your project. You might not find one text that perfectly models how you envision your project. The goal is that three models together will help you and me have a sense of your vision. As such, when you submit your three links and/or attachments, make sure that you also include A) complete and accurate bibliographic information for the source and B) a brief 2-4 sentence note about which aspect of this text you’re thinking about as a model for your project and why:
- Model 1: Link to Central Park 5/Yaqeen Institute; note: takes applied approach to spiritual topic
- Model 2: Link to FaithIQ’s Video on Hajj note: technical breakdown on steps of Hajj
- Model 3: Matt D’Avella’s Video on Books He’s Read note: narrative approach, easy-to-follow
Who
- Describe your ideal audience for this project. Your audience may be you or may include yourself, which is fine. However, you should still work to be specific about your audience. If your audience is yourself, say more. Yourself in what context? Is the audience for you in the first three months post graduation to record your thoughts and/or make a plan? Is this for you to hold when you feel lonely and/or lost and/or nervous about where you’re going? Is this for you to keep yourself honest and accountable?
- Ideal audience will be me to revisit after a few years as opposed to months. A version of me after experiencing changes likely from operating in the working world as well as from like. I have a feeling that my BC experience of being in rooms without many people sharing my journey from humble beginnings and to/through BC will continue to resonate. As such, I think my podcast will help in embracing that reality and continue to give me some stability/confidence knowing that I’ve been through something similar before.
- Ideal audience will be me to revisit after a few years as opposed to months. A version of me after experiencing changes likely from operating in the working world as well as from like. I have a feeling that my BC experience of being in rooms without many people sharing my journey from humble beginnings and to/through BC will continue to resonate. As such, I think my podcast will help in embracing that reality and continue to give me some stability/confidence knowing that I’ve been through something similar before.
- When your audience experiences your project (its content and form), what do you hope your audience (even if your audience is just you) will experience or be able to contemplate and/or do?
- Drawing parallels to BC experiences and finding strength in knowing that I’ve been through a similar experience will be a success. It may look like journaling, taking a walk and thinking, etc etc.
Why
- Content: How does the content of your project relate to black study? Please be sure to address how the content responds to and/or draws from your experience of black study at BC as well how the form speaks to and/or might facilitate your efforts to continue black study beyond BC?
- Resisting the urge to essentialize a group has been a strong takeaway from several of my AADS courses. I think in taking this concept and tying it to my own personal narrative, I will hopefully hold on to this concept for years to come. One potential interest I have is in going into the psych space as a counselor. In coming into contact with a variety of people, I can see my working against the rigidity of essentializing identities proving useful in helping individuals, especially those of color, rewrite their own story.
- Resisting the urge to essentialize a group has been a strong takeaway from several of my AADS courses. I think in taking this concept and tying it to my own personal narrative, I will hopefully hold on to this concept for years to come. One potential interest I have is in going into the psych space as a counselor. In coming into contact with a variety of people, I can see my working against the rigidity of essentializing identities proving useful in helping individuals, especially those of color, rewrite their own story.
- Form: How does the form of your project relate to black study? Please be sure to address how the form responds to and/or draws from your experience of black study at BC as well how the form speaks to and/or might facilitate your efforts to continue black study beyond BC?
- Oral accounts have a huge presence within Ifa traditions as well as more broadly in many African and African Diasporic cultures. And so I find my documenting in podcast form to be symbolic of tying my story to that tradition of oral accounts. As for how this will relate to life beyond BC, I think the concept of helping others find their voice is a powerful concept. In addition to being a means of healing in the counseling sense, it can rekindle/spark individuals to tap into passing oral traditions down that may have not occurred otherwise
HOW
- What supplies and/or materials will you need in order to create this project?
- IPhone, headphones
- Do you need any special technology or software to assistance for the project?
- Not to my knowledge
- What skills and/or technical know-how might completing your project require?
- Should be surface level tech (editing voice memo)
- Reflecting on your responses to 1-3: Please organize your lists of necessary supplies, technology, and skills into two columns. Column A – Items/Skills which you have and/or can acquire, and Column B – Items/Skills which you neither have nor know how to acquire.
- Please break the project down into 5-8 detailed and actionable steps or tasks, with specific dates and times (i.e. deadlines) by which you plan to accomplish each of the 5-8 tasks.
QUESTIONS
Include at least two questions you would like me to answer about your project in particular about the project assignment in general:
- Would centering around the pillars of the pilgrimage be too narrow, too broad, etc for a frame?
- Would touching on moments from the pilgrimage itself be fair-game for my transformation or would it be more so catered to BC specific events?