Projects
~Detailed coursework that included community engaged work, or directly inspired community involvement~
Prison Industrial Complex
It has been through one powerful documentary and three life-changing books that I have come to understand that a person cannot understand the danger of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, until they end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Watching professionals attempt to explain how the justice system has gotten so out of hand has made me feel so much pain and anger. Looking down at the pages of the books: Picking Cotton, Drawn to Injustice, and I Am Troy Davis, completely altered the amount of power I have understood words to have. One influential film and these three books have enabled me to feel a deep hurt for strangers I will never get the opportunity to meet. They have completely transformed the way in which I view the justice system. These literacy experiences have inspired me to continue to challenge the status quo in a society that has too often become negligent to its shortcomings. Please check out my reflections on this issue and the community engaged work that followed.
Community Sustainability Efforts
As an advocate for creating strong communities, I have learned about the value of connecting course curricula to the communities in which I reside. This type of community engaged work has challenged me to practice my rhetorical skills in settings that have impacts beyond the classroom. This approach to rhetorical practices encouraged me to draft, learn from failures, improve, and produce campaigns that truly had the power to make a difference. Writing for real campaigns pushed me to do my best work. It encouraged me to be proud of the work that I placed under my name. Expanding my audience beyond my professors eyes and into the real world have improved my understanding of the power of rhetoric, and the importance of properly framed rhetorical conventions in order to truly impact an audience and urge them towards change.
