Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Fearless Friday: Venissa Ledesma, Venissa Ledesma

SURGE

This week we are celebrating the work of Venissa Ledesma ’19. Venissa is a sophomore at Gettysburg College from San Diego, California. She is an Environmental Studies major and a Peace and Justice Studies minor. Currently, Venissa is the president of the Latin American Student Association (LASA), a Program Coordinator for Immersion Projects at the Center for Public Service (CPS), a tour guide for prospective students, and a Day Host Ambassador for the Admissions office.

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Realtors, Resistance, And White Roses, Casey Trattner

SURGE

I remember driving to school with my mother, eyes wide. I thought, as we passed by buildings and stores and little cafes with seats outside, that the small suburban town we were driving through was beautiful.

And when I told my mom, she looked at me out of the corner of her eyes and told me:

“Did I ever tell you how Dad and I were going to move here?”

“Here?” I said. “No… I don’t think so.”

“We were looking at a house that we both liked, but when I asked the real estate agent about how I heard …

I Hope, Mai Trinh

SURGE

As I have gotten older, I have learned that no matter how hard I try, I am never going to be able to repay my mother for everything that she did for me. The blood, sweat, and tears she put into nurturing the sick and troublesome, five-year-old me, the rebellious and lazy fifteen-year-old me, and the clumsy, and sometimes lost me now, are insurmountable. I know she had more trouble raising me than she was supposed to. I know her first five years of being a mother did not include taking me to the park, sitting down on a park …

A Note From A Naive, Soft-Hearted Liberal, Katia Rubinstein

SURGE

“I’m voting for Trump,” my step-dad announced this summer. Through and through he is Republican, but his backing of Trump still shocked me.

When I asked him why, he said that he thought Trump could bring change while Clinton would only bring the status quo. He wanted, in fewer words, to “Make America Great Again.”

When I provided him with Hitler’s speeches and Goebbels’s propaganda, comparing the threats made to the Jews with those made to undocumented immigrants today, he brushed it off. “It’ll never happen,” he said with a shrug. When I replied with the sentiment of concern, explaining …

Oral History With Jerome Wilson, Matthew R. Griffis

Oral History Archive

Dr. Jerome Wilson was born in Meridian, Mississippi in 1942. He attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Meridian from kindergarten to secondary school, whereupon he attended Dillard University in New Orleans to earn a BA in Chemistry and Mathematics.

Wilson later earned an MA in Immunology and Biochemistry from Cornell and, in 1983, earned his PhD in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He spent much of his career as a researcher and a research administrator in the pharmaceutical industry, later transitioning to academe when he helped set up the department of epidemiology at Howard University. …

Fearless Friday: Anya Jameson, Anya Jameson

SURGE

This Friday we are celebrating the work of Anya Jameson ’17, a senior at Gettysburg College who is originally from Gettysburg, PA. Anya is a Political Science major and a Middle Eastern/Islamic Studies minor, whose most active involvement at Gettysburg is as co-founder and President of Refugee Action Committee. This group, which is only in its second year at Gettysburg, runs many fundraisers to raise money for various organizations that aim to support refugees. This spring, the group will be running a Refugee Rights week, with a CUB table and events including a movie night and a guest speaker. As …

Lifting A Weight Off My Shoulders, Alison Lauro

SURGE

It’s a familiar scene for anyone who’s entered the Jaeger Center. You walk past the entrance desk, past the rock wall, the blue mats with some students stretching; there, the cardio machines, some soccer players cycling on the bikes, some girls on the elliptical machines and scattered on the treadmills, a guy on the stairmaster, a teacher jogging. Finally, you reach the end, the huge space filled with free weights, barbells, a leg press machine, and some pull up bars. You pay attention less to the selection of weights then who occupies this space: men, lots of them. At any …

Fearless Friday: Vanessa Martinez, Vanessa Martinez

SURGE

In this week’s edition of Fearless Friday, Surge is pleased to honor the work of Vanessa Martinez ’19.

Vanessa is an Anthropology major with a Peace and Justice Studies minor from Los Angeles, California. Though she is only a sophomore, Vanessa is already heavily involved in Gettysburg’s campus. She is the secretary of the Latin American Student Association , handles public relations for the Asian Student Alliance, and is a member of the Black Student Union. Vanessa works for the Center for Public Service as a program coordinator for the bilingual after-school program at VIDA Charter School. During Spring Break …

Bang, Lexus P. Davis

SURGE

I am afraid
Your black skin. My skin. Our skin is one skin.
A skin that say Bullseye.
Shoot.
I am innocent.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I am waiting for someone to notice that we are dead.

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Fearless Friday: Michael Deleon, Michael A. Deleon Jr.

SURGE

In this week’s edition of Fearless Friday, SURGE is pleased to honor the work of Michael Deleon ‘18.

Michael is a originally from Philadelphia, PA, and is a current junior here at Gettysburg College, majoring in Sociology. On campus, he serves as the President of both the Black Student Union (BSU) and VIBE, a fusion dance group that he founded. Michael is also involved with the Bias Response Team and works as a Residence Coordinator.

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Continuing Efforts To Alleviate "Orange Pain" An Internship With The Da Nang Association Of Victims Of Agent Orange/Dioxin, Loan Heilner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This year marked the 55th anniversary of Vietnam’s Agent Orange Disaster. Decades after the end of the war, Vietnamese people are still largely being affected by the remnants of the United States’ Agent Orange herbicide sprays. Dioxin chemical has now been confirmed detrimental to human and environmental well-being, but unfortunately it still remains in high concentrations in certain areas of Vietnam. Dioxin chemical is passed on through genetics to new generations, but one of the leading causes of dioxin-related health defects today are due to environmental residue. In Da Nang, Agent Orange was stored and loaded at the local airbase …

Human Creativity As A Vehicle For Societal Change: Can Social Action Through Art And Music Drive Positive Societal Change In Jordan?, Marina Qutab

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This case study addresses a gap in the research on society and culture as it examines the relationship between social action through human creativity and positive societal change in Jordan. This relationship was studied through the following methods: six formal interviews with three Musicians, one Artist, one Organizational Behavior and Work Psychologist, and one Cognition and Didactics Researcher; one informal interview with a Jordanian taxi driver; and 30 oral surveys provided to students at The University of Jordan. The researcher’s main goal was to investigate how human creativity expressed through music and the arts can address current pressing environmental and …

The Spike Of Female Soccer Players In The Netherlands Since 2010, Morgan Colley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the Dutch society, the sport of soccer, also known as football, draws a lot of attention and has millions of followers when it comes to the men’s soccer clubs. The most common and widely celebrated soccer teams in the Netherlands are the major teams, such as, AJAX, PSV and Feyenoord, all being male soccer teams. There is a lack of female soccer clubs around the Netherlands when comparing it to the number of male soccer clubs. Women’s soccer is underrepresented in the news of Dutch sports media and obviously overpowered by the enthusiasm surrounding men’s soccer. Only in the …

Analysis Of Media In Rwanda: Internship With The New Times, Rhiannon Snide

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This report examines the effects and expectations of media in Rwanda today, specifically in reference to the New Times daily newspaper. I spent one month interning with the New Times as a news writer, spending approximately 45 to 50 hours a week with the institution. Within this month, I was able to use both primary research and secondary research to analyze the role of media in Rwanda’s society today. Interviews with head editors of the New Times and conversations with paid journalists from the New Times provided me with much of the information specific to the news outlet, while desk …

Talking Walls: Freeing Art In Bali, Indonesia, Lila Chu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In some ways Bali’s street art manifests everywhere, in the form of abundant banten, decorations for Galungan and Kuningan, shrines, temples, ornaments, and the black and white checkered cloth draped over scared statues, rocks, and banyan trees. This aesthetic pleasure moves beyond the sacred, and into the street—peering out among Bali’s intricate ornaments and decorations. Declarations of Bali Tolak Reklamasi, and images of a Balinese woman sporting a gas mask circulate Bali’s cityscapes, along with other marks, writings, and murals finding homes on grey walls.

Fearless Friday: Tiffany Lane, Tiffany Lane

SURGE

This week, SURGE is highlighting the fearless work of Tiffany Lane, the new director of the Women’s and LGBTQ Resource Center on campus.

Although she is a new addition to the Gettysburg community, Tiffany has been working with issues of systemic injustice for much of her life. Her social justice journey began when she was an undergrad at Michigan State University (MSU), where she began to accept her identity as a queer woman. Tiffany was a student leader and activist at MSU and became so passionate about this work that she decided to make a career out of her activism. …

Fearless Friday: Julie Davin, Julie E. Davin

SURGE

In this week’s edition of Fearless Friday, SURGE is honoring all of the amazing work that Julie Davin ’17 does for our community.

Julie, originally from Newtown, Connecticut, is currently a senior at Gettysburg College majoring in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and minoring in English and Philosophy. Over the course of her college career, Julie has been involved with the Gettysburg Anti-Capitalist Collective (GACC), Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA), Outerspace (formerly Friend or Foe), SURGE, Gettysburg Cares, and the annual Vagina Monologues. This long list of activities does not faze Julie; she cares deeply about each and every cause …

Your Masculinity Does Not Make You My Judge And Jury, Melissa J. Lauro

SURGE

For me, Springfest 2016 began with the purchasing of a pack of cigarettes. A bad decision, surely, but not surprising for a weekend that is usually filled with them.

Before walking over to a party with my friends that weekend, I tucked the cigarettes securely in the back pocket of my shorts. The scene that unfolded as I walked into my friend’s apartment was a typical one: a rush of people, dim lighting, and loud, pulsing music. I tried to walk through the crowd quickly, waving and shouting a quick “hey” to friends here and there as I passed by. …

I Am Me, Vanessa C. Martinez

SURGE

You say my accent is interesting It shows I’m not you I don’t understand your words even though I grew up knowing I am me and you are you I guess what I’m saying is well, what do you mean? When you say that my accent is interesting Are you trying to get to know me or assign me an identity? Is the nopal que tengo en la frente a symbol too ambiguous to fully convince you? When you’re unsure, do my words comfort you? Because they are connected to the deserts and the cacti that are linked to the …

How Civility Works, Keith Bybee

Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics, and the Media at Syracuse University

Is civility dead? Americans ask this question every election season, but their concern is hardly limited to political campaigns. Doubts about civility regularly arise in just about every aspect of American public life. Rudeness runs rampant. Our news media is saturated with aggressive bluster and vitriol. Our digital platforms teem with expressions of disrespect and trolls. Reflecting these conditions, surveys show that a significant majority of Americans believe we are living in an age of unusual anger and discord. Everywhere we look, there seems to be conflict and hostility, with shared respect and consideration nowhere to be found. In a …

The Digital Society, Place

PLACE Historical Documents

This document explains the PLACE theme at Linfield College for 2016-2018 (The Digital Society).

Martha And Her Help: A Different Kind Of Relationship, Victoria E. Krus

Martha McMillan Research Papers

In nineteenth century America, middle-class families often had domestic servants in their home. Domestic service looked different in various parts of the country and at different points in the century, but a common theme of racial tension and class struggle defined servant/employer relationships throughout the hundred year period. In Ohio, Martha McMillan recorded the events on her family’s farm in a series of journals from 1867 up until her death in 1913. Thousands of pages portray the day-to-day events of a farmer’s wife, her children, and her relationship with farm employees. In contrast to nineteenth-century employer/employed attitudes and practices, Martha …

Social Justice And The Future Of Higher Education Kinesiology, Brian Culp

Faculty Articles

This article presents a rationale for the infusion of social justice into kinesiology programs for the purpose of reducing inequities in society. Specifically, the current climate for social justice is considered and discussed using examples from an university-inspired service-learning initiative, law, and politics. Of note are the following areas of discussion: (a) differentiation between social diversity and social justice, (b) public pedagogy as a means by which to inspire service action, (c) the creation of climates for speech and application of social justice, (d) modeling and socialization for equity, and (e) the neoliberal threat to inclusiveness. The article concludes with …

Rethinking Greece: Despina Lalaki On Hellenism, State-Building, Archaeology And The "Democratic West", Despina Lalaki

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Exterior Of Dinand Gets A New Look, Evangelia Stefanakos

Civitas Branching Documentation

This article describes new art installations and landscaping which enhance the exterior spaces of Dinand Library at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The murals, "Civitas Branching" and "Lungs of the Planet," are collaborative art projects created by students of the College and members of the Worcester community. They were installed in April 2016. A dedication ceremony was held April 20, 2016.

The Cradle Of Democracy And The Longue Durée Of A Crisis: Some Thoughts From The Perspective Of Historical Sociology, Despina Lalaki

Publications and Research

The relationship between Modern Greece and the West has always been a complex and tortuous one. Greece as “the cradle of democracy” – a construct at the intersection of western modernity’s political imaginary and Greek national identity – a terribly familiar and powerful cliché which to a great extent, still today, informs our imagination and politics has been at the heart of this relationship. It is rather a truism to suggest that democracy lies at the political core of the civilization that the West insists offering to the rest of the world, yet we tend to forget that this is …

Place Events 2015-2016, Place

PLACE Historical Documents

This document describes PLACE events at Linfield College for 2015-2016.

Fearless Friday: Laila Mufty, Laila M. Mufty

SURGE

In today’s Fearless Friday, Surge would like to honor the work of Laila Mufty ‘18. Laila is a sophomore from the Bay Area in California and is majoring in Environmental Studies. Currently, she is one of the CPS Program Coordinators with Big Brothers Big Sisters and is the Immersion Project Leader for the New Orleans trip in May focused on the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. In addition to her work with CPS, Laila participates in multiple cultural organizations on campus and has volunteered with El Centro, Painted Turtle Farm and Casa de la Cultura. Laila has also written and …

Dedication Ceremony For Two Murals Outside Dinand, Jack Godar

Civitas Branching Documentation

Article reporting the rededication of Civitas Branching, a 5-panel mosaic depicting scenes from the College Hill neighborhood, originally installed on the College Hill Civic Association building located at 79 Kendig Street in Worcester, Massachusetts and Lungs of the Planet, a tile mural installed on the west patio Rooftop Garden of Dinand Library.

Civitas Branching: Rededication Program Introductory Remarks, Jacqueline Peterson

Civitas Branching Documentation

Remarks given by Dean Jacqueline Peterson at the rededication of Civitas Branching, a 5-panel mosaic depicting scenes from the College Hill neighborhood. The mosaic was created as a collaborative art project by students of the College of the Holy Cross and residents of the College Hill neighborhood in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was originally installed on the College Hill Civic Association building located at 79 Kendig Street in Worcester. In 2016, the mosaic was relocated to the east patio of Dinand Library on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. A rededication ceremony was held …