Course Reflection, Humanities 1010

I’ve always had a strong interest in the Humanities. My father is an artist, so I was brought up to revere great art from a young age. My appreciation for visual art grew as I grew,  including a love for music, film and television, painting, and sculpture. I’ve always had a tendency to pick and choose what I like without much distinction for style or artist, so being led through the humanities chronologically in a structured course was a bit of a new experience for me. I was surprised by how early in time the coursework extended, back to very early human history. This course came on the heels of a class in biological anthropology in the previous semester, so it was nice to see some overlap in material on artifacts from early human artistic expression.

As the weeks rolled by, we started engaging with some of my favorite topics like religion and governmental structures. I went to a Zen Buddhist meditation sitting, something I haven’t done in many years and which I liked quite a lot. I’m glad I got that motivation and opportunity to meditate in a more regimented environment than sitting on my bed maybe once a month. During the Revolution and Reform module, we were faced with the history of genocidal and authoritarian regimes which shook the world. These subjects are always emotionally rocky to engage with, but should not be avoided and must be confronted with honesty and integrity. Although this has not been a class which focuses to a significant degree on the details of political events, it is very important to integrate the events of the world wars into our understanding of human expression.

I feel that my understanding of the humanities has been expanded and more thoroughly integrated as a result of this class. Having knowledge of a number of disparate artists and works is not sufficient to build a cohesive understanding of artistic expression throughout history, and I will continue to build a more nuanced and continuous knowledge of this subject as I move forward.

Civic Engagement, Spring 2023

On April 22nd, 2023 the Utah Republican Party held their yearly organizing convention at a conference center on the campus of Utah Valley University. The convention would normally have gone forward with relatively little fanfare or outcry, except for one decision made by the Utah GOP: their headliner. Florida governor and likely Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. This man has been quite the bugbear for the political left for some time, even as his regressive policies on gender, sexuality, and immigration have gained him favor on the right. When his presence at the 2023 Utah GOP convention was announced, I knew I had to be there. Not to hear him speak, but to add my voice to the inevitable crowd of my fellow leftists in denunciation of DeSantis, his supporters, and the dominant Republican party which invited him to spread his hateful rhetoric in my home state. And so I was there, at noon on the dot at the pedestrian bridge on the UVU campus, surrounded by flags and signs proclaiming the humanity of women, trans folks, gay folks, economically vulnerable people, and racialized minority groups. We then marched to the steps of the conference center, and listened to a sequence of speeches by individuals who organized the protest. Common talking points were Ron DeSantis’ ridiculous and oppressive policies, the support he continues to receive from congressman Mike Lee, the increasingly fascist nature of the Republican party in 2023, and the systemic inequality inherent in neoliberal capitalism.

Feminism as it was understood in the 1920s, first-wave feminism, is generally considered today to have been a good thing. Women gained the right to vote in the USA, were more widely accepted as being human beings and not property, and things moved on. The flaws such as the movement’s leveraging of anti-black racism in order to gain the vote are usually politely ignored. Second-wave feminism was less overtly racist, and focused on gaining a greater degree of socioeconomic freedom for women, although the focus was certainly hegemonic in that the experiences of white east-coast American women were generalized to represent the female experience as a whole. The event I attended was most definitely a third-wave feminist protest. The intersectionality of race, economic class, sexual orientation, and gender identity were at the forefront of motivation. DeSantis centers his rhetoric and policies on the moral panic around LGBT+ individuals currently prominent on the American right wing, and also on the xenophobic and racist narratives which have been in vogue in the USA for what seems like an eternity at this point. DeSantis is also quite sexist in his policies, infringing on the bodily autonomy of women in his state and consistently aligning himself with gender essentialist sentiments.

I believe that it is essential to engage in resistance against fascism as it gains ground in America. There is some disagreement on the political right about whether fascism is the correct term for their current sentiments and policies, but from my perspective the accuracy of this label seems fairly incontrovertible. The right wing of American politics has always edged on fascist ideology through glorification of the military, authoritarian “tough on crime” policies, violent suppression of public demonstrations by groups of opposing political affiliations, and support of patriarchal hierarchies among the US population. These signs of fascistic leanings grew worse under Ronald Reagan, perhaps most typified by his use of the “welfare queen” stereotype and his draconian implementation of the Chicago Boys’ model of neoliberal capitalism. However, the Republican party took a deep deep drink from the fascist well when Trump was put into power in 2016. I will not expand on that further than I already have, but I will say this: it is very important to express opposition to the Republican party’s fascist policies right now.

I was glad to be there. I was glad to hear the voices of oppressed people voicing their perspectives, their experiences, and their disapproval toward far-right ideology being entrenched in government. I believe that this protest could have been met with far more active resistance if the crowd numbers had been fewer, as a smaller group is more easily dispersed or threatened. At one point there was a short interruption in the procession of speakers by a man who decided it was his time to speak. He was evidently there to attend the GOP event rather than the protest, but took the time to attempt to “cut in” on the planned speakers and share some thoughts. He was not allowed to do so, and his audacity was roundly criticized at high volume by the protestors. The incident lasted only a few minutes, but the man insisted on staying near the center of the crowd and engaging in a halfhearted debate with some of the protest organizers for some time. This is indicative of the kind of intrusion that would be easier and more disruptive with a smaller crowd, which made me even more glad to add my body to the event. I will continue to attend similar protests in the future, and though I do not see myself as the type to take on a leadership role, I truly believe in the cause of feminism.