Category: Uncategorized

Mormonism and the Limits of Political Neutrality

When discussing the influence of religion on politics in the United States, commentators typically discuss the “religious right.” However, in devoting so much attention to this group, it is easy to forget about other groups that are influential on a smaller scale. One such group is the Mormons, who make for an interesting case to study given the consistency of belief among orthodox members. The aim of this project is to demonstrate how institutional Mormonism has shaped American policy in the 20th and 21st centuries in a more significant way than might otherwise be anticipated. The official position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) on U.S. public policy is emphatically politically neutral. However, as illustrated both by policies covertly supported by the institutional LDS Church and by U.S. Supreme court cases related to these policies, this is not the case in practice. The methodology for this project will be to take a case study approach. I argue that in each of the cases I present the LDS Church was de facto involved in the political sphere in a way that it claims not to be. The cases I inspect include the Equal Rights Amendment, Proposition 8, and the MormonLeaks release of internal tapes that bring into question the separation of church and state among LDS politicians. This evidence includes videos, as in the MormonLeaks case, opinions from court cases, and internal writings. As an outsider, I am uniquely situated to write on this topic, as previous writings come primarily from members or former members of the LDS Church. As a whole, this evidence indicates that there is a divide between word and deed in the institutional LDS Church. For this reason, we would be remiss to ignore its influence.

The Meaning of the Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Mastery

In an age where humans have evolved to be great masters of both culture and nature, have we exercised our power in excess causing disruption as a result of abundance? The three artworks that I have created/compiled aim to examine the nature of oversaturation and the loss of meaning thereof. The first piece is “Cultural Petri,” a fully physical piece that consists of a traditional picture frame and ceramic bowls. “Cultural Petri” should evoke the feeling of a bird’s eye view, giving the viewer a chance to withdraw from our cities and see the world from a higher perspective. The second piece is “Message From a Keyboard,” a semi-abstracted piece–given that rather than focusing on earthbound materials, the piece is concerned with words and symbols. The elements of the piece are: Victorian flower meanings, keys for encryption, and concepts of cultural inheritance. The third piece is a full abstraction: it is composed of sound and movement, a contemporary piece of lyrical music performed with sign language. The driving force for this last piece is to explore different mediums of communication, apart from merely the lyrics. The three pieces should offer various ways of interaction because they present themselves in all forms: sight, sound, movement, and words.  As a narrative, the three works should give a sense of humanities’ trajectory from nature to culture. To contextualize this body of work I will also write an artist’s statement that will further explain the decisions and connections that are embedded in the pieces and the exhibit as a whole.

The Meaning of the Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Cultural Mastery

 

In an age where man has evolved to be great master of both culture and nature have we exercised our power in excess causing disruption as a result of abundance? The three artworks that I have created/compiled aims to examine the nature of over saturation and the loss of meaning thereof. The first piece is “Cultural Petri”, a fully physical piece that consists of a traditional picture frame and ceramic bowls. “Cultural Petri” should evoke the feeling of a bird’s eye view, giving the viewer a chance to withdraw from our cities and see the world from a higher perspective. The second piece is “Message From a Keyboard”, a semi-abstracted piece given that rather than focusing on earthbound materials the piece is concerned with words and symbols. The elements of the piece are: Victorian flower meanings, keys for encryption, and concept of cultural inheritance. The third piece is a full abstraction: it is composed of sound and movement, a contemporary piece of lyrical music performed with sign language. The driving force for this last piece is to, apart from the lyrics, explore different mediums of communication. The three pieces should offer various ways of interaction given that it presents itself in all forms: sight, sound, movement, and words. As a narrative, the three works should give a sense of humanities’ trajectory from nature to culture.

Narrative of a Dope Black Queen Misunderstood

Hip-hop feminism is a way of thinking and living that is rooted in different life experiences than either the traditional feminism of the Women’s Liberation Movement or the black feminism of the Civil Rights Movement. The ideology was born out of a need to understand the many cultural, social and political conditions that the women of the hip-hop generation (born after 1965) faced. These women weren’t dealing directly with issues of invisibility brought on by systems of segregation, for example. Rather, they were battling extreme visibility within the media and its negative stereotyping. Although some critics consider hip hop disempowering, merely reproducing dominant racist and sexist images of black women, I argue that there are many black women artists who attempt to challenge and undermine such representations. They prove that despite its limitations, hip-hop can in fact be emancipatory for black women. Scholars like Joan Morgan introduce us to this idea of hip-hop feminism. Drawing from this twenty-first century hip-hop feminist framework, my study examines where hip-hop culture and feminist thought and activism intersect. It also explores hip-hop feminism’s ability to empower and inspire young black women.

I will analyze artists Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé to explore the ways in which black women entertainers produce feminist knowledge and empowerment within the realms of hip-hop culture. By examining the collaborations of “Flawless” and “Feeling Myself” by Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé, including their respective lyrics and music video visuals, reviews by cultural critics, the work of contemporary women authors, and interviews with young black women, this project opens the door for further dialogue about what hip-hop feminism might add to current conversations surrounding race, class, gender, and sexuality, and hip-hop’s power to liberate black women.