Digital Archive
Module 1: Conformity-
Conformity is seen to be the main topic within the first module. During this module, we went over lectures concerning the books Unflattening by Nick Sousanis as well as Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera. Within this module, we had a critical response assignment that was about Yasodhara, one of the main characters of the story, and how she did not want to conform to family traditions and her mothers’ expectations. She was told to marry someone wealthy and of fair skin but tried to chose to marry for love which extremely aggravated her mother. This relates to the module topic of conformity through how she was trying to step out of it and follow her own path. Other class assignments during this module went over this topic of conformity like for instance, our group discussion. In this group discussion, we talked about unflattering and flat citizens which are people that strictly follow and conform to societal standards. They have no say in what they do and are ideally puppets being controlled. The image below is a depiction of flat citizens seen in Unflattening and shows how they do not have anything unique or different about them. Looking down represents the statement that they do not see with their own eyes or make their own judgment since they are put into place to do what they are told.
Module 2: Moral Beliefs-
Throughout module two, morals and judgment are constantly questioned with relation to our pieces of literature for this topic being The US Bill of Rights as well as the Oresteia, a tragedy written by Aeschylus. Oresteia and morals are closely related through how the actions made by Oreste clashes with the moral standard of family since he killed his mother to avenge his father. This is the main topic within our critical response since his mother, Clytemnestra killed his father and we were asked if this was justifiable or not and whether his father was a hero or villain. I chose the side of Agamemnon being a villain since he destroyed the moral bond of families first through sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia. While this lead to his wife killing him in his sleep, which is not justifiable, in a way he seemed to deserve punishment and she made amends with the fact that she as well would be punished. This then leads to the issue of judgment when Athena is leading the trial of Orestes to see if he is innocent or guilty for avenging his father which she claims innocent. Next, the Bill of Rights is seen to relate to this idea of morals since it can be defined as a list of morals for a country to its’ citizens. This transfers morals on a personal level to a larger scale and translates the topic of family within greek history to citizens in a more common time.
Module 3: Just & Unjust-
This module strictly focuses on what defines a just and unjust man. The quote above helps to show that life affects both of us yet the one that is generous to others and puts one before themselves can be seen as just while the one that does not is unjust since they are focused on themself. This is an important thought to keep in mind since we challenged the question of what makes someone just and unjust throughout this week with the help of The Republic by Plato. We specifically focused on book 1 of the republic as well as book 8. Within the critical response for book 1, we went over how the ideals and lesson of the republic relate to an issue on our college campus at UCSC of strikes being done by our employees. For this, we went off of an article from the Employee perspective as well as from the UC systems. With these articles, we went over how the UC system was treating their employees and whether they were being just or unjust towards them. I believe that they were treating them unjustly due to the discrimination with hiring and other issue stated by the workers. Other assignments throughout this module and with the reading of Book 8 focuses on unjust societies and unjust men as well as what the author considers to be the true definitions between just and unjust men.
Module 4: ethics-
Module four is all about ethics and more specifically about the ethnic values seen within the Nichomachean Ethics Book written by Artistotle. The assignments and discussions within the module revolve around Aristotle’s teaching within this book as we question and interpret what he is saying as a critical thinker. For instance, in a lifeboat assignment, we examine wicked, just, as well as unjust, and pure people to pick between whom we would keep on a lifeboat and whom we wouldn’t. We judged their stories and the moral values they showed incorporating how Aristotle described wickedness or justice into each person. We also questioned the actions of unjustness through three main levels. Misadventures, mistakes, and unjust issues that are found within oneself. The first two can be classified as not being the true intent or having no ill manner behind the action. The third example of unjustness in oneself derives from being controlled by an emotion like anger for instance. This can be exemplified by a crime of passion where your anger blinds you into hurting a loved one and is shown through the image below. The others can be exemplified as well with misadventure relating to nudging someone playfully and they accidentally fall into the street where there is an incoming car. The other is a mistake which an example would be accidentally running into someone in a crowded hall. The difference in how one determines which unjustness has taken place is through questioning; what is seen behind the act and who is it towards? If it is towards a stranger and there was no ill intent then it was a mistake, if it is filled with anger and hurt towards a loved one then they were driven by emotion, and if they were being playful or joking with someone then accidentally hurt them, it was a misadventure.
Module 5: Worth-
Module five is all about the topic of worth, specifically self-worth. This is seen with the help of the play The Merchant of Venice written by William Shakespeare. The majority of our assignments during this module revolve around this book and the values it depicts. During a quiz for this play, we relate self-worth to all the main characters within the case of Antonio. We were asked the role of each character being Portia, Antonio, and Shylock in the final verdict as well as if justice was distributed on each of their behalfs. When answering these questions, for Portia, she is an extremely impactful character within the play. She is the reason that Antonio was able to walk free with more than he originally had and she was able to provide justice that was deserved to everyone else. Antonio was the victim of this play and was being told to repay his debt with a pound of his flesh by Shylock. In the end, Shylock lost everything for essentially trying to murder Antonio and Anotnio gained money and Shylock’s estate as well as freedom. We move beyond this topic of The Merchant of Venice we focusing on the broader term of stakeholders and one’s worth. For this, we chose the modern issue of flooding in Venice and were assigned a role. For this, my role was a Venetian environmental activist and through reading the article Venice’s desperate 50-year battle against floods, written by Daniel Van Boom, I went over how my role would have a very important worth in this topic since they would be campaigning to bring about positive change on this issue. As an activist, I would also be helping the community like the person seen below.
Module 6: Impact-
Impact, specifically the impact of a disaster is the main topic seen within our 6th module. We take a look at the impact disaster had on different societies at different points in time and how that affected and united the citizens. The two different societies seen impacted are Europe depicted in The Decameron written by Giovanni Boccaccio between 1349–1353 and Japan in Hōjōki: A Hermit’s Hut As Metaphor written by Kamo no Chōmei between 1185–1333. Within The Decameron, the impact seen is from the effects of the Black Plague and how it changed societies and people. To show how it changed people, on day 10, it went over stories told by 10 different people and how due to the impact of the plague, it allowed them to be more generous towards others and kind since they all knew they were suffering together. Generosity is the result of the impact provided and can be seen as the main topic within this part of the book. This was evaluated through a quiz and how different types of generosity were conveyed depending on the situation, for instance, this is seen within Emilia’s story where Madonna Dianora promises herself to a man of the name Ansaldo in the result that he makes flowers bloom in the offseason. This he eventually does due to the help of a wizard causing Dianora to plead into Ansaldo for her Husbands’ generosity to uphold the promise she made would lead her to lose the man she loves. This warms Ansaldos’ heart and he gives her the generosity to call off the test since he loves her and wants her to be happy. This is only one of the stories within the Decameron but shows two different types of generosity and how the impact of disaster changed people to be more forgiving and loving. Now, within Hojoki, we were tested to evaluate the virtue brought about by Japan’s disaster of famine and terror due to the relocation of the capital. This virtue seen is Impermanence, which was depicted to save and provide enlightenment. I then went over how this related religion to being a saver in the time of struggle since impermanence is directly connected to Buddhist culture. Other assignments gone over this module were related to a present issue which is, The Corona Virus. In one discussion we compared the Bubonic plague to our Covid19 pandemic in which I went over how throughout history with all forms of disaster and conflict, one thing still stays present, which is a desire for love. Using this I compared the unity and forgivingness seen within the stories made by the 7 women and 3 men to the craving for love and togetherness seen by so many during this time of struggle.
Module 7: Equality-
Through the use of supporting text, module 7 conveys issues on equality and civil rights. These texts used are Letter From a Brhimmingham Jail by Martin Luther King as well as Notes of a Native Son, a book written by James Baldwin. Using these two pieces of literature we had a student discussion where we went over racism and discrimination and how they relate to other things like for instance, the topic of the Black Lives Matter movement in our current day and issues on police brutality. During these discussions, other activists besides these two for civil rights were mention like Angela Davis as well as the Black Panther Party. We also had a discussion on the just and unjust laws about equality. This connected the past module 3 as well as the module on morals and judgment to this current module. Morals and judgment are connected to this through this topic since how morals seemed to be corrupt and twisted for how white people treated other ethnicities. Judgment was also flawed through how it was not correct for many white people who saw people with more melanin than them as lesser beings which is false. Now, unjust and jut is connected to this through its relations to laws. For instance, the Jim Crow Laws are prime examples of laws that were unjust and unfair toward people of color. They segregated and persecuted people of color for trying to do things as common as sitting in a restaurant. We also went over this unfairness towards how the African American community within assignments. An example of one of these assignments is our critical response to the debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley. In this critical response, we evaluated Baldwins’ argument on racism, black history, as well as what the US flag meant to him.
Module 8: History of Immigrants-
Module 8 focuses on a broader term compared to module 7 with different ethnicities and immigration being the main topic. We used literature like Angela Davis’s Race, Gender, and Prison, The Case for reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates, as well as Breaking the Silence Sexual Harassment of Mexican Women Farmworkers found in the Journal of Agromedicine. These forms of literature were used to convey how issues are prevalent with multiple ethnicities and many people getting away with wrongfully treating immigrants. In an assignment on humans in prison, I went over the mistreatment seen with convict leasing within history. This would essentially target black citizens and make them work for free for plantations as if the plantation owners owned them. In many cases, the treatment here was even worse than slavery since there was no significant value to the prisoners like there was to the slaves. While going over I mentioned how this is now illegal, there are still practices of prison labor that gives these prisoners little to nothing money for extensive and harsh labor. Another assignment went over on domestic terrorism was given after learning issues on Immigration and mistreatment of immigrants. This mistreatment went over racist and offensive language as well as the history of persecution of many different ethnicities in the United States and emphasizes how every immigrant fell victim to this domestic terrorism even the Native Americans who are not immigrants at all. This info powerfully shaped the arguments made against domestic terrorism in our assignment and gave so many reasons why reparations for everyone affected, sadly does not seem possible.
