First of all, for tonight, I'd say that our final performances are really a "happy ending" for our esem class while it's also a good start point for all of us to carry on our discussion.

Words about our project:
The reason we choose this particular topic is that we noticed the disparity between "how we feel when we stay here" and "who are we." Bryn Mawr is such a special place that the designing of the campus and the way it has been used are so "classist." A space is somewhere need to be occupied while as a part of the "Bryn mawr" structure, we, as students, have to face the pre-occupied spaces (the connotations of upper class) on campus and balance it with our own identity. After some many years, education, space and students changes a lot; however, there is one thing that remains to be  true, people would have mixed feeling about themselves on campus when we first come here and find our own way to settle down in a comfortable way. For the time we staying here, all we want is to convert the place into home, a place we feel comfortable doing everything and grow.

For my project I did a prezi called Class for Dummies. I was kind of trying to mimic the series of books “blank” for dummies. I found that explaining class is a difficult endeavor because there are so many elements that determine an individual’s class. I tried to convey in my prezi that class is very complicated and not always based on the things that society tells us their based on. I used the prezi to take the reader on a journey through the concepts I’ve learned about class in ESEM. My target reader is all of society because it is relevant information for people with money and people without and those somewhere in the middle.

Lee Wacker

12/10/11

GenSex 290

Self Evaluation

At the beginning of this course I was slightly terrified. My attitude was rooted in my fear that I had never taken a gender and sexuality studies course that wasn’t cross-listed with another department (silly, I know, because the nature of gender and sexuality studies within the tri-co is that it is inter-disciplinary). So I automatically believed coming into the class that there would be no room for intersectional, inter-textual and entangled scholarly work. My, my, how wrong I was!

I assumed that since I was taking two other Flexner Lecture Seminars I would do the bulk of my inter-disciplinary learning in those classrooms and the heavy theory work would be done within my gen-sex core course. If anything I found the opposite to be true. Our core-course was a site of theory knowledge and also mainly of theory gestation through the intra-action of our extensive and overlapping class acts. I found myself applying the heavy theory from my other Flexner courses onto the material in our core course and vice versa. A mirroring pattern and diffractive engagement thus developed between my academic classes that provided space for layered deep critical thinking.

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The Arc

Written on the wall, to be seen as the first thing when entering the exhibit:

“Right relationships are human relations in which each (or all) seek, without abandoning themselves, to be attentive and responsive to the needs and emotions of one another, quite apart from considerations of entitlement. There are also several important “negative” markers of right relationships, namely they must be free of systematic oppression, exploitation or manipulation. That is, a relationship is not “right” if participants seek to overbear in power (oppress), to overreach in resources (exploit), or to mislead for selfish advantage (manipulate).” – John A. Humbach1

The introduction to this exhibit, to also be printed on the wall:

http://prezi.com/sr_m-hpllgpp/class-for-dummies/ 

My piece  is titled 'We All Live in a White Man's World' The color represents the different perceptions in the world. I could not find a canvas anywhere so I resorted to using paper. The white is suppose to represent the the upper class that shapes our society and controls what is 'proper' and what is not. I used a typewriter to create the words. The picture in the middle is the close up of the center of the piece. It reads 'see past the colored lens, look in their eyes' and I also put the single words a majority of us chosse in class, 'noise' and 'jail' because I thought they were not only great descriptions of class but of my piece connecting that the 'white man's world' is a jail and the perceptions are the noise. If I had a frame I would have framed it and hidden on the back is a clipped on 'Guide to Naming Your Class.' I spoofed on an old-aged article of who is who.

The Elephant in the Room

There are times on Bryn Mawr Campus where nothing seems to be taboo. Conversations can range from the mundane and boring to the deep and thoughtful even to the offensive and abnormal. Yet, the topic of class seems to be the most taboo of all. When class is mentioned, conversations are stalled and an awkward tension mounts. And when someone is asked about his or her class (which is a rarity in itself) a sudden wall is erected around them-- causing a barrier to form between the questioner and questioned. According to a survey done during the 2010-2011 school year , class is the most taboo subject at Bryn Mawr-- everyone is aware of it, can feel it, yet seldom wish to openly talk about it. And through this lack of conversation- this silence- frustrations mount and suddenly what could have been a simple conversation becomes confrontation. This silence was distilled during the Class Matters workshop, where class was the only topic to talk about. And with every word uttered during that workshop, the people who attended grew one step closer to figuring out, understanding, and accepting class. And even more so, I, who was supposed to be a hostess, a leader of the workshop learned quite a lot.