April 2019 – Page 19 – (Im)Possibilities

April 17, 2019April 17, 2019 by - No Comments

“S-K” IS /SK/ AS IN “AXE”

In the last week I have taken two of my teacher certification exams, so Education is the primary current running through me at the moment. As a result, I can’t help but focus my attention on Molly’s character in Suzan-Lori Parks’ Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom. Early in the play, she seems to string together a series of phrases that are unrelated to the situation at hand, such as, “I lie down you lie down he she it lies down,” and, “The-little-lamb-follows-closely-behind-at-Mary’s-heels-as-Mary-boards-the-train.” She questioned the phrases, pointing out the absurdity of a lamb boarding a train (25). Likely, these are phrases that she was taught to memorize during her formal education, and they come to mind as she recalls being thrown out of school.

Of Molly’s words, what stands out most to me is the repetition of, “S-K is /sk/ as in ask.” It’s fairly common for people, especially children, to produce the word “axe” in speech instead of “ask,” as Molly does later on. Based on what she is saying, it appears she was receiving phonics instruction intended to change this tendency. Continue reading ““S-K” IS /SK/ AS IN “AXE””

April 17, 2019 by Alexis Banaszak - No Comments

Social Sustainability Through Art, Life, and Literature

Blog Post Written by:

Alexis Banaszak, Kazon Robinson, Madison Jackson, Mary Rutigliano, Joo Hee Park, Melisha-Li Gatlin, Devin Hogan, and Cindy Castillo

Sustainability is a definition that is not fully set in stone. In fact, the term sustainability has no self-sustained answer because of its wide and various meanings. Every person interprets sustainability differently. For some, sustainability is a matter of maintaining something to a certain level. For others, sustainability is focused on the environment and fighting for conservation matters. Generally speaking, sustainability is structured by three pillars: environmental, economical, and social and that we need all three pillars to aim for sustainability. Our group first searched the definition of sustainability and decided the definition with the best fit is from the website YadaDrop. The website defines social sustainability as “an ethical responsibility to do something about human inequality, social injustice, and poverty.” This definition strongly resembles Prince’s compositions and content. Over the entire semester our class has been filled with intellectual curiosity about what Prince tries to unpack in his work. From the pieces we have examined in class, our group agreed that there is a both/and with simplicity on the surface and multiple meanings upon analyzation.

Continue reading “Social Sustainability Through Art, Life, and Literature”

April 16, 2019April 18, 2019 by Claire Corbeaux - No Comments

Untangling Sustainability

By Liv Binda, Sarah Bracy, Claire Corbeaux, Lindsey Kriaris, Noah Mazer, Sarah-Anne Michel, and Morgan Torre

Sustainability is a frequently used buzzword, defined as “a socio-ecological process characterized by the pursuit of a common ideal.” Almost every day, efforts are made to conserve resources on a global scale, as well as on local ones. SUNY Geneseo, for example, demonstrates a commitment to environmental sustainability through initiatives such as composting programs, hosting a campus beautification event, giving out Campus Sustainability Leadership Awards, holding exhibits that feature art that deals with issues of ecological sustainability, and launching a campus sustainability month.

In class recently, we started looking at sustainability from a wider perspective and began investigating and incorporating the three pillars of sustainability: economy, society, and the environment. The United Nations recognizes another pillar that exists outside of, yet interacts with, these canonical pillars. In our estimation, the pillar of cultural sustainability is equally as important as the other three, but is often underrepresented and rarely discussed. Indeed, Geneseo often fails to consider this fourth pillar and the role it plays on-campus: a recent email about the Sustainability Leadership Awards explicitly referred to “the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental)”.

Continue reading “Untangling Sustainability”

April 16, 2019April 16, 2019 by Helen Warfle - No Comments

A Look Into Sustainability In Art

By Amina Diakite, Niamh McCrohan, Abby Ritz, Corinne Scanlon, Abbie Sorrell, Brian Vargas, Brooke Ward, and Helen Warfle

Sustainability is the balance of three systems: the economy, society, and the environment. The idea of sustainability is that you need to meet the needs of people at present without compromising a possible future for other generations. The Urban Garden piece created by Steve Prince and the students and faculty at SUNY Geneseo is an example of society trying to gain such a balance. In this piece, we brainstormed about the three systems under sustainability and how they can intertwine with one another to either create enormous huge problems that we should be addressing or successes that we appreciate. One half of the Urban Garden showed the unsustainable aspects of how we currently live; but the positive half showed hope—the seeds for how balance can be restored. Continue reading “A Look Into Sustainability In Art”

April 16, 2019April 18, 2019 by Molly Byrne - No Comments

The Silent Viewer

This semester in Dr. Fallon’s English class, I’ve read multiple pieces of literature involved with the concept on worldmaking. For instance, our class read works on early European exploration and famous tales of utopias. Every reading the class has encountered plays with the notion of a new or different world. In addition to these stories of exploration and utopias, we read William Shakespeare’s famous play, The Tempest. The Tempest applies to this worldmaking context due to the formation of a new society on an isolated island after a shipwreck. I enjoyed engaging in Shakespeare’s work in Dr. Fallon’s class. Little did I know I would be looking back at The Tempest as parts of it apply to Dr. McCoy’s class as well. Continue reading “The Silent Viewer”

April 16, 2019April 19, 2019 by Michee Jacobs - No Comments

Response to Analiese Vasciannie’s Post “My Theory Between ‘Big Machine’ and ‘Us'”

First of all, I would like to thank Analiese for her post, specifically because I did not draw the connection between the movie being called “Us” and the U.S. This was something I overlooked on my mission to watch a Jordan Peele movie without carrying expectations of repetitiveness, like I wrote about in my last blog post on anticipation. There are probably plenty of small clues I overlooked in the Peele film. Anyway, I would like to discuss the brilliant comparison of “Us” to “Big Machine.” Both works deal with inner meanings and workings that really do apply to the overall status of American capitalist society. A concept that I think, as college students, we often have the privilege to overlook, even when it is put directly in our line of vision. Continue reading “Response to Analiese Vasciannie’s Post “My Theory Between ‘Big Machine’ and ‘Us’””

April 15, 2019April 17, 2019 by Brian Vargas - No Comments

Thoughts On Progress I

Thoughts on Progress I

All those who have the ability to learn and experience are capable of progress; all humans have the potential to experience. In the same respect that progress is possible because all humans can learn and experience, the state and pace of progress may often depend on the environment in which one is able to learn and experience. Because of the environment one must live in, they may not be able to focus completely on their forward experiencing of life in the way they desire. Similarly, those who can enable themselves to experience may face rapid progress in their own work—that being said, I personally do not believe that an individual is completely bounded by the environment they are born into or must live in; people can have the will to overcome their respective environments. Continue reading “Thoughts On Progress I”

April 15, 2019 by Nicole Fyvie - No Comments

The Value of ‘Kitchen Talk’

A few weeks ago, I attended the Steve Prince lecture “Kitchen Talk: The Art of Steve Prince” in the Doty Recital Hall. I’ve been to other events of Steve Prince’s like his “Urban Garden” Community Project and I really enjoyed the way he incorporated the students of Geneseo into his artwork. He wanted us to work on the art project with him and be a part of the experience. I’ve never experienced anything like that, and it really spoke to me.

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April 15, 2019 by Mary Rutigliano - No Comments

What the Middle Ages is teaching me about how the rich relate

I’m in Lydia Kertz’s class ENGL 466: Medieval Romance and Its Afterlives, and have found that studying the often-derided genre has developed my analysis of power and legislation of institutions that we still experience today, namely marriage, as well as how an upper class exacts power through its connections across sectors. Continue reading “What the Middle Ages is teaching me about how the rich relate”

April 15, 2019April 15, 2019 by Sean McAneny - No Comments

A Semiotic Reading of a Courthouse

Two weeks ago, I traveled to St. Louis with six other English students and Dr. Paku to present a paper at the Sigma Tau Delta International Convention. During the last day of our visit we went to a courthouse that had been preserved as a national landmark and turned into a museum. As it turned out, this particular courthouse held the first hearing in the case of Dred Scott v. Irene Emerson in 1846, when Scott sued Emerson for his freedom. The experience was so intense and interesting that I knew I wanted to bring into our blog, but I hadn’t yet the language necessary to make the connections to our course. However, after returning to Suzan-Lori Parks’s “Elements of Style,” I think I am ready to unpack what I saw. Continue reading “A Semiotic Reading of a Courthouse”