Visualizing Theory

During our sessions in the archives, we were able to collect lots of valuable information about the success activist groups had with environmental awareness and service events. We found many different photos of service projects, collegian articles about the work of activist groups like ASHES, and the most information about donations from the Brown family to create Kenyon's most prominent environmentalist contribution the BFEC. The archives we found were very hopeful and inspiring and we were mostly pleasantly surprised, Kenyon is extremely grateful for the opening of the BFEC in 1995 and the growth from the donation in 1999 in honor of Robert Bowen Brown (former provost) and his family, however upon further reflection, we began to ask questions like: Are there perspectives left out of these archives? I believe that there is reckoning and restoration to be practiced in order to understand Kenyon's history with Environmental activism in the most complete way.  In Chapter 6 of Yaz...

  Constructing Nationalism through Vietnamese Art This image depicts me posing next to a Vietnamese lacquer painting displayed in the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts in Vietnam around three years ago. The painting, “Vườn Xuân Trung Nam Bắc” (“Spring Garden of the Central, South, and North”), was made by artist Nguyễn Gia Trí, capturing Vietnamese nationalism during and post wartime in the 20th century (RedVN 2024). In the middle of the painting stands a group of young Vietnamese women gracefully attired in traditional dresses representing three regions of Vietnam - North, Central, and South. Each dress, illustrated in vibrant colors such as deep red, delicate gold, and rich emerald, draws our immediate attention and creates a rhythmic visual harmony across the painting. The central group of women dance gracefully, sing, and play traditional musical instruments together, evoking a collective, joyful moment. Surrounding them are blossoming flowers that amplify the freshness of ...

  The American Civil Liberties Union's "plan to fight back" against Trump's anticipated (and now extant) anti-DEI policies is headed by the image above (ACLU 2024). It is a collage of four distinct images. The background features a parchment and ink copy of the preamble to the constitution—most of the text is small and scrawled or otherwise covered by the other images, but "We the People" stands out centered atop the image, connecting in shared overlap the two main features described next. The left third is dominated by a black and white headshot of a frowning, squinting, suited Donald Trump. He appears to be scrutinizing something in the distance... perhaps you, yourself. The right third is dominated by another black and white photo: a masked protester holding a banner that reads, "no voice unheard." She stands at the front of a crowd with the pillars of a government building behind it. She and Trump are facing away from each other. Cutting up the...

A comprehensive assessment of the strategy and consequence of the Cuban Revolution is, perhaps unsurprisingly, out of the scope of this assignment and blog post. Instead, through the lens of the picture to the left, I will provide a neo-Durkheimian reading of the early days of the Cuban Revolution—Fidel Castro with his 11 men atop the Sierra Maestra, and the peasant campesinos who would aid and abet the revolution in those harrowing early days. While those peasants were not the only class who supported the July 26th Movement, the compañeros would not have made it out of the mountains without their support (Colhoun 2013:32; Huberman and Sweezy 1961:57). The revolutionaries gained that support because their behavior appeared closer to the values and codes of the civil sphere; the actions of the Batista regime, suffused with the values and codes of the market sphere, were easily painted and already seen as repressive. In the adjacent photograph, Fidel Castro (to the left, with a charact...

  In a Twisted Civil Society  The image I have chosen from this episode embodies the episode as a whole. The main character, Victoria, is shown in the middle. She is wearing a plain gray sweatshirt and similar but lighter gray pants. Her face is a bit distorted by the glass that she is entrapped in, but viewers  can still tell that her hair is up in a messy ponytail or bun and her face seems to be showing distress. Her hands are placed on the chair as if they could be strapped down, her feet have also been placed in this similar position. There is also a noticeable light that is outlining the capsule she has been placed in. Illuminating her figure in the stark contrast of the dark surrounding her. This is definitely a sign and symbol of what is happening to her. Moving to the outside of this capsule, it can be seen that there are figures surrounding Victoria. There are four silhouettes directly in the foreground of this image that can be seen carrying Victoria glass priso...

       The image I am choosing to write about for my first blog post depicts a scene from the insurrection of the Capitol Building in Washington on January 6th, 2021. The Capitol insurrection was an attempt by fervent supporters of then-former President Donald Trump to prevent and disrupt the certification of then-President-elect Joe Biden’s victory by Congress. I and many others remember the insurrection as a horrific effort and undermining of the tenets of American democracy. However, as is suggested in this picture, some believe that their efforts on January 6th align with Christianity or the commands of a higher power. There is a massive wooden cross in the middle of the photograph, with a man to the left presumably holding it upright. Around the man and the cross, you can see the Capitol Building, which is the location of Congress, several other insurrectionists, and Trump-themed flags, one of which looks to read “Trump: Keep America Great.” As a politician, Tru...

  This image captures a wide-angle view of the January 6, 2021 attacks against the U.S Capitol building. It depicts rioters gathered outside in protest, carrying numerous American and Trump 2020 flags and other symbols that can be attributed to the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement at the time. Additionally, you can see a Betsy Ross flag in the background, a symbol of early American unity and freedom with 13 stars in a circle, representing the original 13 colonies. This can be seen as a symbol of the American Revolution recently adopted by far-right nationalist groups as a symbol of resistance of modern government. This image creates a dystopian sort of feeling with the overcast atmosphere and the dramatic mass of people with aggressive body language and facial expressions. The group further shows their support and political views with MAGA hats and additional apparel that is entirely Trump and American supporting in nature. The capitol building looks as though it's trying to stand triumph...

Worshipping Trump: Civil Religion in the Oval Office   The image above is a screenshot of an instagram post from Sean Feucht, an American christian singer-songwriter and former worship leader. The picture depicts the Oval Office full of mostly white men, including himself, all circling Trump who sits in the middle with his eyes closed and hands folded over the desk. Yellow curtains drape the windows in the background; two flags jut out in the background on either side of the group. The people have stoic expressions on their faces, one even posed heroically staring into the distance. Many are gesturing towards Trump, treating him as this Godly figure seated in the center of the room, reaching out to him as if touching him and his presence is a sacred entity. The caption on the right celebrates President Trump for his recent reelection, and makes many religious references including ending with a quote from Psalm 33:12.  In Robert Bellah’s 1967 “Civil Religion in America”...

  This image reads “My pronouns are assigned by God” in bold letters and is decorated with imagery of the American flag on its borders, with a blue border and three white stars lining the left side, and a white stripe between two red stripes on the right side. The bold lettering reflects a strong standpoint and positioning on this statement, and the usage of American flag imagery reflects an alignment with patriotism or nationalist pride. The most striking part of this statement is the term “assigned by God” because it directly challenges the underlying meaning of this statement, which is that one is assigning their own pronouns to themselves by stating what they are to others. This statement undermines this deeper meaning by stating that they are assigned by another body rather than by the individual, and the fact that this body is a religious figure, “God”, also reflects an alignment to a religious belief.  I view this image as a “civil code” that contains weighted symbolic ...

       The image that I selected represents how civil religion serves not only to unify Americans, but also to divide and alienate the nation through political and nationalistic justifications that target more liberal beliefs. When Americans view civil religion in absolutes, adopting a close-minded and aggressive attachment to a narrowed set of underlying values and morals within America, the collective nature of civil religion begins to crumble in a destruction of unity. Two football players kneeling in the foreground, while others around them stand, shows an act of protest against racial inequity and police brutality in America during the National Anthem, a symbol of nationalism, patriotism, and collective pride. The American flag borders the stands, as people are shown standing with their hands over their hearts is an adherence to civil religion and the symbolism of national pride and unity. While the two players are kneeling at the front of the image, their hands...