In HIS-290, we researched public history and how it can be applied in our futures. We learned about possible careers for historians. We celebrated internships and critiqued public history projects. We learned about presentism and how to think with intent about history. While we wrote annotated bibliographies and outlines and typed metadata, there was a base layer to our work that should inform a globally-focused, engaging, and responsible historical education, one that is in line with the curriculum Agnes Scott College promises. The Agnes Scott History Department wants us to be able to write a 25-page senior seminar, but they also want to develop the future historians of the world, and that is evident in the coursework of HIS-290.

Why does the Agnes Scott History faculty want to create a different type of historian? I am positive that these classes exist at other academic institutions, but I assure you, their methodology classes are completely different. They are more like the POL-226 Methodology course: papers, intensive writing and research, and more papers. HIS-290 was not, nor is it ever intended to be, a weed-out course. It is intended to make students fall in love with history, to pursue it as a career path. Perhaps, as a small department, the History faculty doesn’t want to lose any students in an unnecessary weed-out process. But the intent behind the HIS-290 curriculum is much deeper than cultivating class size and graduating majors; the course wants to foster a lifelong love of history and develop responsible and engaging historians. The History faculty cares deeply about the futures that they nurture. Can that be said for other colleges?

Because of HIS-290, I am ready to approach my senior seminar from a new angle, one that takes into account all aspects, identities, and perspectives of the topic. I am ready to work in Historical Interpretation this summer at Old Sturbridge Village and encourage visitors to think deeply about the 1830s farm at which they are watching me churn butter. Furthermore, I am excited about how The Historical Imagination will inform my future, whether as a Historical Interpreter, a Social Media Manager, or as a Novelist, my true dream. To develop engaging and dynamic histories for the enjoyment of the public is a dream of mine, and I know that HIS-290 has prepared me well to achieve these goals.

After deciding to invite pirates and philosophers alike to my salon, I decided it was integral to the evening to discuss the topics of Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality, as well as Democracy, Human Nature, and Authority. While Kant, Locke, and Rousseau discussed their beliefs on the matter, the Pirate guests would offer their input as to best actualize the philosopher’s theories, as Pirates put ideas into action.

Finally, I was tasked with putting my salon online in digital format, so that it was easily accessible to not only those in my class, but to anyone who is interested in Enlightenment history, or Golden Age Piracy. The Agnes Scott College History Department loves digital history and this project correlates with the Summit curriculum and the development of our digital portfolios. Below is my methodology for my project, and a link to view the final website!

Introduction

As a Digital and Visual Literacy tutor, I knew that I had not only the training but the resources to create an engaging and dynamic digital salon. That, coupled with my love of Enlightenment history and my interest in piracy, I threw myself into my research and creation of, what I believe, is my most comprehensive and well-designed website to date.

The Frontispiece (Home Page)

I spent a lot of time working on the frontispiece, or home page, of my digital salon. As the landing page of my subdomain, I wanted to make sure it was eye-catching, informative, and provided suitable navigation for the rest of my website. I wanted to include the quote that formed my thesis, the Yoke of Nonage quote from Immanuel Kant. That, contrasted with the image of Blackbeard directing two men underneath a yoke, provide a direct correlation between the Enlightenment and Piracy that I continue throughout my website.
I first selected my template because it allowed for video as a header. The first piece of media created for my digital salon was the header video, which shows images of the Golden Age of Piracy with an overlay of a waving black sail. All photos, including the pictures in the video, were either from Wikimedia Commons or sources otherwise.

As the reader scrolls through the Frontispiece, the reader comes to a series of text boxes that link to three critical areas of research, the thesis, evidence, and analysis that make up the backbone of the website. The images included in the text boxes are ornamentations from Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates. As this text formulated much of my research, I wanted to include the beautiful ornamentation that I had come to know and love in my readings.

The reader then comes to a miniature “about” section, preceding the more in-depth separate page with navigational links. These sections allow the reader to quickly learn about the class, as well as the creator of the site. If the reader clicks on the links, they go to my digital portfolio or the Agnes Scott History Department website. These links allow the website to function not only as a research project but as an advertisement for Agnes Scott and myself as a content creator. Throughout the Frontispiece, as the website logo and icon, I have an image of the Jolly Roger, Calico Jack Rackham’s flag and the most enduring symbol of the Golden Age of Piracy.

About the Project (About Page and Scope)

I chose to include a page introducing the history of the salon, as well as the purpose of the digital salon. The project is not typical, and therefore, the average reader might not understand the reasoning behind the project. I further chose to include the methodology essay, albeit differently formatted, on the about page, so it is readily available to my classmates and the reader.

The page that introduces the scope of my project is when the research behind The Enlightened Pirate is introduced. I begin the page with a quote from noted pirate historian, Phillip Gosse. It was impossible to research the entirety of the Enlightenment, the Golden Age of Piracy, or the connections between them. As I explain on the page, I chose to narrow the research scope for the project based on coursework, primary source documents, secondary source research, as well as geographic range. I also included an image of an engraving from the 1772 edition of Encyclopedie, again, via Wikimedia Commons. After defining the scope of research, I was able to write my thesis and begin researching The Enlightened Pirate.

Research (Thesis, Analysis, and Evidence)

My thesis, as presented on the thesis page, went through several revisions. I wanted to create a thesis that adequately stated what I was attempting to argue but also provided sufficient information for someone casually reading the project. I chose to accentuate the thesis page with a quote found in a valuable secondary source, Bandits at Sea: a Pirates Reader, that informed my research but did not directly make it into any analysis. I also chose to include one of the more complete images we have from A General History of the Pyrates, an engraving by Benjamin Cole that depicts Bartholomew Roberts, and his flag.

Next, I have a category of posts that summarize my research, or, what would be my essay, if this was a traditional research essay. I wrote six posts, three about piracy and the enlightenment, and three about enlightenment philosophers, to best examine the evidence and argue my thesis. I chose to outline the philosophy of the Enlightenment philosophes attending my salon, that is, John Locke and the Right of Rebellion, Immanuel Kant and the Yoke of Nonage, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and The Social Contract. I then chose to synthesize my argument in three short essays; Enlightened Pirate Democracies; Piracy, Human Nature, and Autonomy; and Freedom, Liberty, Equality, and Pirates. Each post contains links to direct evidence, as located further on the website, as well as footnotes.

I also chose to create images for each post, by combining an image of Enlightenment art, or a portrait of an Enlightenment philosopher, with an overlay of a pirate flag, in the same motif and design style of the video header.

Like the categorical organization of my analysis, I chose to organize primary source evidence in one category, with each piece of evidence having its own post. This system allowed for an efficient tagging and categorizing and allowed me to link back to direct evidence with ease. While I did not upload every piece of evidence utilized, I thought that uploading the primary sources that I found showcased my research abilities.

The Salon

While the Salon page precedes my scope and research on the toolbar, as it was the most in-depth page, I decided to leave it to last in my methodological essay. On this page, I showcase the guests of the salon; with the guests being three Enlightenment philosophers and six pirates. For each guest, I show a portrait, and give a brief biography, alongside essential arguments or accomplishments. For the Philosophers, I link to the posts that further outline their arguments.

I chose Kant, Rousseau, and Locke as guests for my salon because of the similarities in their arguments about autonomy, the human condition, and social contract theory. While each offers a different argument, and in Locke’s case, one that precedes the other two by a century, all of the philosophers chosen created a cohesive base argument for my research.

In regards to pirate guests, I chose the most famous, most successful, and most notorious. This was difficult, and I had to leave out many notable pirates (Edward England, Emmanuel Wynn, Henry Every, Mary Read) to create a concise guest list. I also chose pirates based on the availability of primary and secondary sources on their lives. For instance, while Mary Read may have been more ruthless than Anne Bonny, I chose to showcase Anne Bonny because there were more resources about her life and her actions.

Beneath the guests of the salon, I included one of the most famous images of the salon era, Madame Geoffrin’s Salon, painted by Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier in 1812, again with the imagery of the pirate flag. The text is what would have been my conclusion if this were a traditional research essay. It summarizes the topics discussed at the salon and leaves the reader thought-provoked and interested in learning more.

Biography and Links

The bibliography is separated into primary and secondary sources, just as they would be in a research essay. To keep the dynamics of the rest of the website, I decided to consolidate the bibliography into a file-like widget, which allows the reader to view the full citation of a work, only if they wish. I think this allows the page to be less cluttered, and it also is pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

Finally, I included a link to my digital portfolio and the Agnes Scott College website, to continue to promote my work and the college.

I really enjoyed creating my digital salon, and I am incredibly proud of my work. I hope you enjoy looking at it and learning more about the Enlightened Pirate!

View The Enlightened Pirate here!

Realizing the Future: Bridge to Business Analysis and Reflection

When I first arrived at Agnes Scott College in August 2015, I knew what my future held. I was going to study International Relations, with a double minor in History and French. I was going to get a 170 on the LSAT and receive my dual J.D./M.A. in International Affairs from my dream school– Georgetown.

That dream abruptly ended when I realized how much I hated the methodology of International Relations, how little I wanted to be a lawyer, and maybe most importantly, how much I despised the thought of spending four years in grad school. But I had this dream ever since my ninth grade Honors Government class– what was I supposed to do now?

My advisor gently reminded me that I was working in a social media job, I was the social media or marketing chair for several organizations on campus, and my mother had her MBA in Marketing, my father, the same advanced degree in International Business. Maybe, she suggested, it was time to stop avoiding the obvious, and enroll in a couple business courses.

I immediately knew I made the right decision, even if I did feel like I was selling out. But how could I know for sure a career in business was right for me?

I had been interested in the Women’s Bridge to Business since before my first year at Agnes Scott– I received a pamphlet shortly after a visit to the campus in my junior year of high school. But as a Sophomore at Agnes Scott, I decided that it would be the final test– a confirmation of whether or not I was sure I would study business.

The good news is, I am now positive that I want an MBA. The even better news is that I want to receive that MBA at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business (or Chicago’s Booth School of Business, like my dad). Opportunity is in Atlanta, and that is abundantly apparent after my three weeks in the Bridge to Business program.

It was hard to choose which functional areas I was most attracted to over the course of the program. I think my favorite was Marketing because I feel as if I have a natural affinity for it, but I was also fascinated by Project Management and International Business. I think this may lead to a future in Brand Management, something I have always found interesting and a natural progression within my future career.

Within these modules, I was able to relate to the content and the skills being offered by professors with a wealth of knowledge. I could imagine myself, in their shoes, after years of experience working and learning, teaching to another young Scottie. I believe I enjoyed these areas because they required creative, critical thinking, and I aspire to have a career where I am creatively challenged and learning every day.

However, even though I enjoyed these areas of the program, it was the modules more tailored to our careers and futures that I found most rewarding. The modules spent with Catherine Neiner provoked me to ask questions about my future that I hadn’t considered. She was frank and honest about the future of working as women, and I appreciated that– often times at Agnes Scott, we live in a bubble where we think the future will tailor itself to us, and that is simply not the case, especially in the business world. It was incredibly refreshing to hear a powerful woman say, “you may be called brazen, bossy, or bitchy. Here’s why you should be proud of that.”

Similarly, I found our session with Gail Evans to be, quite frankly, the most rewarding three hours of my academic career. She encouraged me to think of myself, my personal brand, and my future in ways that I had never before. I was taught why ‘hardworking’ is a bad word, and that if I want to promote myself, I need to tailor my language to my own success. Instead of referring to myself as hardworking, driven, and creative, I will now refer to myself as productive, promising, and passionate. Because, as Ms. Evans said, that is how a CEO refers to herself. I have already engrossed myself in the book she gave to me, and I plan to make my mother read it as well.

While I immensely enjoyed my three weeks in the Bridge to Business program, there were some things that I definitely knew weren’t for me. My father is an accountant, but staring at financial statements, fiddling with Excel, and pulling my hair out over ratios and vertical analyses just wasn’t for me. Still, I gave it my best effort, and I was pleasantly surprised at the rewarding feeling I felt when all the numbers equaled 100.

I also was very frustrated with the Strategic Management Simulation, Minnesota Micromotors, which was disappointing, as I found the Strategic Management module fascinating. I always love to focus on the big picture, and I felt I did well in the ‘strategic plan for Agnes Scott’ activity. However, after I got fired three times, I figured that I can still think big picture and focus on the future of an organization– I’ll just leave the customer service, price management, and research & development to the experts.

I think I was fascinated by Strategic Management because it closely relates to Marketing and Brand Management, two things I see in my future. In marketing and brand management, you must think creatively and anticipate what the customer wants to see, and needs to see, in the future. I think Strategic Management combines all those things, and maybe, is the culmination of many different aspects of a business.

Another module I struggled with was negotiating– kind of. It wasn’t as if I didn’t do well in the activities– I did extremely well. I just felt so unconfident– which is very unlike me. I love to speak publicly, argue, and get my way– negotiating comes naturally to me. However, afterward, when thinking about the future and negotiating my future salary– a topic discussed with Dawn Killenberg– I felt worried.  What if I’m not worth the price I ask for? What if I’m laughed at? What if my job is taken away from me?

All these questions may seem silly, but I called my mother, and she confessed that she has the same fears. She has negotiated dozens of salaries and raises from dozens of employers over her incredibly long and successful career. And yet, she fears what I fear. Is she worth the money? Is she asking for too much? Too little? What will they think of her?

I wonder if men experience these fears as women do. I wonder if, by-product of more and more women entering the workforce and negotiating for themselves, these fears will slowly become less ingrained in our minds. I hope so because I never want to make any less than a man, especially if he is equally or less qualified than me. But before these past few weeks, I hadn’t even considered, nor confronted, these fears that now seem ever present in my mind.

Maybe that is the real reward of the Bridge to Business program– learning valuable life skills that will help me in my future profession, like being able to confront my fears over negotiation, or balance a budget even though the black and white numbers make my vision swim and my brain hurt. I know I will be successful in marketing, or brand management, or social media, or whatever my specialty may be. But I know I will have to confront what I am less excellent at– that’s life, and that’s business.

The Bridge to Business program taught me that, and those lessons are valuable– more valuable than being assured that yes, I’m good at marketing and more valuable than reassuring me that I want an MBA. I knew those things before I enrolled in this program. But to learn to face your fears and try something new, and at the end of the day, still want to dress in a suit and go to work in an organization, trying to change the world or the marketplace, is something unique. And it is definitely unique to the Bridge to Business program.

Love and Marriage in the Italian Renaissance: An Analysis

In the Italian Renaissance, there was a gendered view of love within marriage not explored before. Previously, in the middle ages, notions of love were thought of as ridiculous: marriage was a survival tactic, a means of reproduction and producing stability in unstable times. However, there is a change in that thinking, as evident in primary sources written by both men and women. Within the context of marriage, women saw love as a mutual agreement of passion and equity as evidenced in Laura Cereta’s letters to her husband in The Collected Letters of a Renaissance Feminist while men viewed love within marriage as a familial, educational, honor-bound duty, void of romantic love, as evidenced in Alberti’s The Family in Renaissance Florence: Book III.

In the Italian Renaissance, women viewed love within the context of marriage as an agreement of romance and equity, as evidenced by Laura Cereta’s letters to her husband. Cereta saw marriage as an equal partnership. She loved her husband, Pietro Serina, and expected Serina to love her back. This romance is exemplified in letter 21, as Cereta’s language is flirtatious, encouraging her husband to return from his business. In the letter, Cereta playfully apologizes for neglecting to write Serina, but states that “[her] innocence alone will be the tinder for your forgiveness of me.” By referencing her innocence in such a flirtatious manner, it is clear that to Cereta, their sexual relationship is one of pleasure, to both herself and Serina. In this period, the concept of women’s sexuality was sinful and immoral, forbidden outside of consummated marriages. For women, sex was for reproduction. By flirting with her husband, and requesting that he come home, insinuating sex for her pleasure as well as his, Cereta demonstrates a love for her husband, one of passion and romance.

In letter 25, Cereta addresses Pietro Stella, a nickname for her husband, in dreamlike prose. While the second paragraph of the letter attests to Serina’s violent nature towards Cereta’s letters and writing, the first paragraph is intimate and romantic. Cereta’s nickname for her husband indicates that she views him as the center of her universe or her stars. By writing in the middle of the night, Cereta allows herself to be vulnerable and tender. While it seems that Cereta and Serina wrote letters to each other constantly, with Serina even berating Cereta for not responding to him fast enough, no other letters we see are written in the middle of the night, and certainly not in the middle of a dream. Cereta clearly loved her husband and loved him so much that she would sacrifice her intelligent, braggadocious vocabulary as seen in letter 21, to write to Serina with “blemishes” in her writing. Even in later letters, such as letter 31, when Cereta apologizes for her unimpressive writing, the letters were long, well thought-out, and full of beautiful, intelligent prose. They were not short, sweet letters written to a husband far away. That is romance.

In addition to Cereta’s romantic view of love, she also believed that her love should create equity within her marriage. This is evident in two letters to Serina, letters 23 and 24. In letter 23 Cereta offers to finance the rebuilding of Serina’s business after fire destroys it. As the translator states, “[Cereta] sees her role as both her husband’s financial and moral supporter.” In response to accusations from Serina that she does not love him, Cereta effusively states her loyalty to him, using her confidence and virtue as evidence to the fact. Furthermore, she states that she “[doesn’t want to] buy [Serina] at any price,” and that “[Cereta] is not a person who lays more stock in words than duty.” Cereta demands equity in return for her unrelenting love for her husband. In other marriages, women may express a lesser type of love, one of inequity, because they have no confidence in themselves, their love, or their virtue. On the contrary, Cereta loves her husband because of her confidence and virtue, and this allows her to support him morally, and eventually, financially, as she presumingly pays for repairs to his business.

In letter 24, Cereta claims that her husband has spent too much time mourning his brother, and he has not spent enough time or energy on their relationship and, in turn, their love. This letter proves Cereta’s expectation of equity in her marriage. As she states, “[Serina] has a greater duty towards [Cereta] than you do towards the dead.” She expects Serina to perform his duty to her even in the aftermath of his brother’s death, as she is alive and not dead. To Cereta, their marriage and their love is more important than any familial relationship. As she further states, “[…] a man and his wife must so mutually love one another that they will not turn aside from that love at any time.” Cereta’s emphasis on mutual love further evidences her demand for equity within her marriage. Finally, and perhaps most evidently, Cereta summarizes her entire view of love within her marriage within one final sentence to her husband. Cereta writes, two weeks before Serina’s death, “[…] we are now, and we always will be, two souls belonging to a single being.” There is nothing more romantic, more passionate, or more equal, than two souls merging as one. Not in the Catholic faith, where traditional marriage vows still place ownership over wife by man. Not in conventional marriages during the Renaissance. Cereta’s view of love is a unique perspective on the way women view their husbands, their lives, and their marriages.

However, according to Alberti’s The Family in Renaissance Florence, love within marriage was a familial, educational, honor-bound duty, devoid of the romantic love seen in Cereta’s letters to Pietro Serina. This is evident in Book III, as Giannozzo and Lionardo converse about Giannozzo’s family and, within that family, his wife. Within Giannozzo’s marriage, he assumes the role of patriarch and teacher to his wife. He must teach her how to manage a household, how to raise a family, and, in essence, how to be a wife. It is unlikely that Giannozzo’s marriage was devoid of romantic love. However, Giannozzo’s love for his wife was less sexy and more fatherly. Not only did Giannozzo have full authority over his wife’s education of the management of the household, where records, books, and valuables were kept, but also full authority over their relationship as husband and wife. As Giannozzo states, “I made it a rule never to speak with her of anything but household matters or questions of conduct, or of the children.” He further states that he did this as to “make it impossible for her to enter into discussions with me concerning my more important and private affairs.” This view of Giannozzo’s wife was didactic and pedantic, and certainly not the sweet, passionate writing of Cereta.

Furthermore, it seems as if Giannozzo actively objects to the romantic and passionate love of Cereta’s marriage. Giannozzo states that he would prefer modesty, chastity, and discipline from his wife. It seems as though Giannozzo does not care if his wife loves him, but only that she respects him, and does not bring embarrassment to the family and the family’s affairs. It is hard to find specific evidence to prove Giannozzo’s feelings of honor, duty, and patriarchal love towards his wife, not for lack of resource, but for the sheer amount of it. From pages 80-99 of  The Family in Renaissance Florence, Giannozzo goes on and on about his duty to educate his wife on how to be a proper woman, a proper mother, and proper head of the household. At many points, he embarrasses his wife and treats her like a father scolding a daughter. He compares the education he has given her to the education in obedience she received from her parents in adolescence. Additionally, it is clear that this idea of love within marriage is the status quo during the Renaissance, as Lionardo continuously agrees with Giannozzo and compliments his achievements on educating his wife. Alberti’s writing couldn’t be further from the intimacy of Cereta’s letters, proving just how different a man’s view of love was from a woman.

However, the question must be asked: which view of love existed within marriage? It is hard to stipulate fact from the two texts examined. Both are innately personal stories, and both are biased by the writer’s point of view. Was Cereta’s view of love and marriage clouded by the fact that she was young and infatuated with her husband? Or was Alberti’s view of love in marriage conflated with children and status as head of the household?

By looking at two of Lorenzo Lotto’s paintings, Portrait of a Married Couple and Marsilio Cassotti and His Bride, Faustina. there is evidence of both the man’s view of love within marriage: the familial, educational, honor-bound duty; and the woman’s view of love within marriage: the passionate equity. The familial, educational, honor-bound duty can be seen in Portrait of a Married Couple. The man holds his marriage certificate in front of his wife, as evidence of his duty towards her. Additionally, there is a squirrel on the table, which represents the man’s duty to provide for his wife. Furthermore, the wife’s hand rests on the husband’s arm, perhaps showing her reliance on him.

Contrastingly, Marsilio Cassotti and His Bride, Faustina, demonstrates the passion and equity that permeated the woman’s view of love within marriage. The couple are seated evenly, bound by a yoke by Cupid. As Cereta wrote in her letters to her husband, “[…] we are now, and we always will be, two souls belonging to a single being.” This idea of love is also evidenced by the ring being placed on the left ring finger, a tradition that started in the Italian Renaissance. This tradition states that the left ring finger connects directly to the heart by an artery– a romantic notion perhaps shared by Ceretea.

While it is important to explore the understandings of love in the context of marriage in relation to gender within the Italian Renaissance, the question posed in this essay will never be truly answered, simply due to the masculine culture that permeated the time period, and the lack of primary sources written by women. It is entirely possible that Cereta’s writings are an outlier, and women thought of love and marriage in a similar way to men. It is also possible that some men, maybe even Cereta’s husband, Pietro Serina, saw their wives as equals, and loved them passionately and immensely. However, due to the lack of letters from Serina, and due to the toxic masculinity of the time period, the question will never be answered. That is why it is important to look at paintings, like the two Lotto paintings referenced in this essay. They provide a non-biased glimpse into the complex world of love and marriage in the Italian Renaissance, one that is not always easily derived by reading and questioning texts.

Bibliography

Alberti, Leon Battista, and Renée Neu Watkins. 1994. The Family in Renaissance Florence. Prospect Heights, Ill: Waveland Press.

Cereta, Laura, and Diana Maury Robin. 1997. Collected Letters of a Renaissance feminist. Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press.

Lotto, Lorenzo. Portrait of a Married Couple. 1523-1524

Lotto, Lorenzo. Marsilio Cassotti and His Bride, Faustina. 1523.

Ma grande famille

J’ai une grande famille. En plus de ma mère et mon père, j’ai deux sœurs, deux frères, deux nièces, un neveu, et deux chiens! Décembre Dernière, toute ma famille a visité pour la fête des Lumières, Hanoucca! C’était bon de visite avec ma famille.

Pour Hanoucca, mon frère, Douglas, a voyagé de New York avec ma nièce, Ashley, et mon neveu, JJ. Je n’ai visité pas Douglas depuis longtemps. Il est plus âgé que moi. J’ai 21 ans, mais Douglas a 34 ans. Nous avons visité plus souvent avant j’ai quitter New York. Ma nièce, Ashley, a treize ans. Elle est très intelligente et elle aime écrit. Mon neveu, JJ, a sept ans. Il est un petit comédien!

Ma sœur, Bethany, visite de la Virginie, avec son mari, Tommy, et son bébé! J’aime visiter avec ma sœur parce que son bébé, Ava, a un an et elle est trop mignonne!  Elle est très amusante à regarder. Ava apprendre à parler et à marcher. Elle a de grands yeux bleus et des cheveux blonde. J’aime visiter avec Bethany, Tommy, et Ava beaucoup. Ava me rend très heureuse.

Mon frère, Harrison, a 24 ans. Il vit en Atlanta avec son chien, Max. Il a conduit d’Atlanta pour Hanoucca. Harrison travaille avec les ordinateurs, et il est très riche. Je l’aime, mais il me met en colère. Toutefois, il me fait rire aussi.

Ma petite sœur, Frances, a quatorze ans. Elle habite avec mes parents. Elle est une gymnaste. Dans son école, elle est très populaire. Elle a beaucoup ses amies. Elle est très dramatique. Nous nous battons, mais je l’aime.

Nous sommes restés à la maison de mes parents. Je vis avec mes parents quand je ne suis pas à l’école. Mes parents, Alan et Laura, sont très intelligents. Alan a son MBA. Laura a sa MBA aussi. Alan travaille pour l’institut de technologie de Géorgie, et Laura travaille pour l’université de Géorgie. Ils vivent à Athènes, en Géorgie.

Mon père, Alan, est juif, et ma mère, Laura, est catholique. Nous célébrons Noël et Hanoucca. J’aime quand nous sommes tous ensemble. Parfois, nous célébrons Hanoucca ensemble, et parfois nous célébrons Noël ensemble. Quand nous sommes ensemble, nous sommes bruyants et fous. Nous sommes comme un cirque! Ma famille m’énerve de temps en temps, mais je les aime!

For extra credit in my BUS-202 class, I wrote a short paper about the communication exchange in a scene from Mean Girls. The paper is short, sweet, and well-written, as well as fun!

Mean Girls and the Breakdown of Communication: an Analysis

In the 2004 film Mean Girls, there is a famous scene in which the Plastics: Regina George, Cady Heron, Karen Smith, and Gretchen Wieners conduct a four-way phone call rife with gossip, name-calling, and faux-friendship of the most famous frenemies in cinema history. The film, written by comedy queen Tina Fey, was created to highlight the complex relationships between teenage girls in America’s school system. The film draws inspiration from the book Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boys, and the New Realities of Girl World, a psychological self-help book written by Rosalind Wiseman.

The two-minute scene begins with a conversation between Regina and Cady, gossiping about their friend Gretchen. The film reveals that Gretchen has been listening to Regina gossip about her. Gretchen, leaving Cady listening on the other line, then calls Karen to expose what Regina said about Karen. However, before she can talk to Karen, Regina calls Karen to ask her to go out, even though she told Cady she was going to bed. Gretchen then reveals to Karen that Regina called her a slut, to which Cady responds to the ‘harshness’ of the revelation. Karen, offended by Regina’s comments, tells Regina that she can’t go out with her because she’s sick, leading Regina to respond with the now-famous quote, “Boo, you whore.”

This scene is an example of a dense, decentralized communication network. No single member of the foursome dominates the network, and because they can call members of the network independently of another member of the network, this scene is an example of an All-Connected Network. The density of the network supports this example: there are any number of potential connections between the four, as demonstrated in the scene when they call various members independently of a single, information-knowing member.

Additionally, this scene is an example of informal interpersonal communication through both gossip and rumors. The four girls are not communicating effectively, and there are many individual barriers to communication within this exchange. First, the girls all have differing perceptions of each other. Gretchen and Karen believe that Regina is their friend, while Regina’s actions prove otherwise. Regina also believes that Cady is ‘on her side’ so to speak, and doesn’t know that Cady is acting as a middleman to the rest of the girls. Second, there is a myriad of status differences between the girls. Regina is perceived to be the leader, thus making her word law to Gretchen. However, Cady does not see Regina as the leader and sees herself as outside of the network. This outsiderness allows her to be objective to Regina’s gossip and allows her to pass the information on to others without fear of retribution from Regina. Finally, there are different levels of self-interest within the exchange. Gretchen wants to know if Regina is mad at her, while Karen is interested in pleasing Regina until she learns Regina calls her promiscuous. Cady is attempting to sabotage the Plastics with her other friends, Janis and Damian. All these combined lead to a breakdown of communication between the group. However, no one in the group is interested in overcoming the individual barriers to effective communication.

This scene and the rest of Mean Girls is a fascinating look into the exchanges between teenage girls, and the effects they can have on the individual. While the film is a comedy, it shows the misunderstood behavior and communication of one of the most complex organizations in the world: the teenage girl’s clique. While this film may not be viewed as a ‘serious’ topic, the book it is based on certainly is serious, and I believe much can be revealed about organizational behavior and communication within larger, professional organizations if we continue to analyze the relationships and exchanges between teenage girls.

References

Hitt, M. A., Miller, C. C., & Colella, A. (2011). Organizational Behavior: a Strategic Approach
(4th ed.). Chichester: Wiley.

Michaels, L., Fey, T., Waters, M. S., Lohan, L., McAdams, R., Meadows, T., Poehler, A., …
Paramount Pictures Corporation. (2004). Mean Girls. Hollywood, Calif: Paramount. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/hVN7TJRRskQ

Wiseman, R. (2009). Queen Bees & Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World (3rd ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press.

The Development of Conservatism in Regards to Race

By examining Conservatism in regards to race through political and socio-economic development, works by Kruse, Wright Rigueur, and Cadava will show that race was, and is, an inherent factor in the development of the conservative movement. While Cadava writes on both political and socio-economic issues, Kruse and his book White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism^[1] looks at the socio-economic issues facing Atlanta in its desegregation and consequential white exodus to the surrounding suburbs, while Wright Rigueur focuses on the political development of conservatism in her book The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power.^[2] Additionally, while Cadava presents a look at the development of conservatism in regards to Latinx voters, Wright Rigueur and Kruse focus on the historical development of conservatism and race, especially after the Goldwater campaign and its subsequent fallout.

Historically, the political development of the conservative movement is often linked to the relationship between Black voters and Republicans, as outlined in The Loneliness of the Black Republican. Wright Rigueur looks at the active outreach to Black voters, as well as their participation within the Republican party. After the Goldwater campaign, Republicans attempted to reach Black voters and work to include them in the party. Huge strides were made, such as with the election of Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooks. However, time and time again, Black Republicans were passed over for valuable leadership positions, such as with the nomination of Spiro Agnew as Nixon’s vice president, or placed in subordinate “cabinet” positions within the administrations of Reagan and Ford. Time and time again, the loyalty of Black Republicans like Brooks was tested.

However, as Republican outreach towards African-American communities continued, more and more Republicans claimed success in their work. Following Ford’s unsuccessful campaign in 1976, 13 Black Republicans ran in the 1978 midterms, and while only one was elected, Republicans saw this as evidence their outreach was working. Perhaps it was– one elected black official in the Republican party still represents progress and movement for the party as a whole. Furthermore, legislation produced by Black Republicans often benefited all minorities, as well as white people, and were often supported bipartisanly. So while their numbers might be small, the effect that Black Republicans had on legislation still constituted effective outreach, and thus was inherent to the development of political conservatism.

Perhaps this development of conservatism is most apparent in the 2008 election of Barack Obama. Krugman states that Obama’s nomination would never have been possible, claiming “It’s possible today only because racial division, which has driven U.S. politics rightward for more than four decades, has lost much of its sting.”^[3] Krugman states that racial polarization was a dominating force in politics, and that was evident in the administrations of Nixon and Reagan. It is possible that Krugman’s argument could be applied to the work of Black Republicans in developing conservatism– and politics as a whole– allowed for Barack Obama to win the 2008 election.

Furthermore, need for Republican outreach to minorities has continued, especially after the loss of Mitt Romney in the 2012 election. Cadava outlines this need in “The GOP Doesn’t Need Hispanic Outreach—It Needs a Hispanic Takeover”^[4] which follows the 2012 moratorium of the Republican party. According to Cadava, Republicans believe that Latinx voters are “naturally conservative,” and look “nostalgically” at the 2004 election, when 40% of Hispanics voted for George W. Bush.^[5] However, Cadava writes, “[that] none of those superficial solutions will work […] until and unless the GOP confronts the discrimination that persists within its ranks — and the discriminatory effects of its policies.” Cadava then states “Latino conservatives are plotting a takeover of the party, setting the stage for the next major realignment of Republican politics.”^[6] Hispanic and Latinx voters and legislators are willing and ready to transform the Republican party, and in turn, the Conservative movement and perhaps this effort to entice the voting block and regain political control will help rid the political conservative movement of discrimination and bigotry.

In terms of socio-economic conservatism, development has been pushed by integration for economic growth, as outlined in Kruse’s White Flight, or, as Cadava writes in the case of Latinx-Americans, “most up-and-coming Latino Republicans walk in step with new-wave conservatism. They advocate policies indistinguishable from the mainstream or far right elements of their party: pro-growth business measures, lower taxes, smaller government, curtailed entitlements, pro-life, school choice, anti-Affordable Care Act […]”^[7] and today’s rise of the “anti-poverty crusade” in conservatism.^[8] 

In 1952, Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield developed a plan for the economic progress and expansion of the city.^[9] Plans were met with the “beginnings of white backlash” as white residents “[revolted] over the ‘loss’ of their neighborhoods, their golf course, their buses, their parks, and their pools.”^[10] This eventually led to an exodus of whites to the surrounding suburbs of Atlanta, in what Kruse describes as “white flight.” White flight perhaps led to the creation of socio-economic conservatism within these exurbs, thereby acting as a catalyst for the development of conservatism.

In fact, it often seems as if white people’s actions are often a catalyst for development within the conservative movement. For example, as the Republican party works on outreach to Hispanic and Latinx voters, more and more bigotry is projected by poor white members of the Republican party, falsely claiming that immigrants are “stealing” their jobs. Conservatives are working on an “anti-poverty crusade” aimed at Hispanic and Latinx voters, but Page advises Republicans to “begin your anti-poverty crusade where Lyndon B. Johnson did 50 years ago, among poor whites.”^[11] Page states that “there are numerically more poor whites in the country than poor Blacks or Hispanics […] the issue became unfortunately colorized in media and public perceptions in the mid-1960s.”^[12] It is possible that Latinx conservatives are turned away by the bigotry of poor whites who believe they are somehow disenfranchised by people of color. This “anti-poverty crusade” coupled with the $10 million dollars the RNC spent on Hispanic outreach in 2014,^[13] the Conservative movement “boasts about its multimillion-dollar fundraising successes and claims responsibility for helping to elect 15 new Latino Republicans in nine states in 2012 alone.”^[14] Money equaled development for Republicans and Conservatives, and their hard work seemed to pay off, until Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016, where he spewed an overwhelmingly negative rhetoric against Hispanics and Latinx, leading them to vote in overwhelming numbers against him.

In conclusion, race is an overwhelming factor in the political and socio-economic development of conservatism. Whether through participation, active outreach, or reactionism, conservatism would not exist as it does today without the polarizing factor of race. Furthermore, political and socio-economic conservatism was not just developed by Black and Latinx Americans, but by the actions of white Americans as well. However, this conclusion may not seem surprising, as race is intrinsically linked to everything in America, whether it be politics, economics, criminology, sociology, or entertainment, and writers such as Cadava, Wright Rigueur, and Kruse stand to prove this.

Bibliography

Cadava, Geraldo L. “The GOP Doesn’t Need Hispanic Outreach—It Needs a Hispanic Takeover.” The Atlantic. May 1, 2013. Accessed December 02, 2016 <http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/the-gop-doesnt-need-hispanic-outreach-it-needs-a-hispanic-takeover/275401/.>

Cadava, Geraldo L. “Rise of the Conservative Latinos.” OZY. January 4, 2014. Accessed December 02, 2016. <http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/rise-of-the-conservative-latinos/3864.>

Krugman, Paul. “It’s A Different Country.” New York Times, Jun 09 2008. <http://0-search.proquest.com.sophia.agnesscott.edu/docview/433862708>

Kruse, Kevin M. White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2005.

Page, Clarence. “Memo to GOP: Poverty Isn’t just about Race.” Philadelphia Tribune, April 11, 2014. <http://0-search.proquest.com.sophia.agnesscott.edu/docview/1519848860>

Rigueur, Leah Wright. The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015.

As an International Relations/French double major with a minor in Religious Studies, I will spend the next four years at Agnes Scott in a myriad of history courses. Coca-Colonization, a class led by Professor Blaich, is not only preparing me for this future, but is enriching my interests and my skills. This class is helping me further my skills in analysis, discussion, and critiquing. It is both fascinating and powerful– in the discussions we share, the films we watch, and the essays we read.

It is by far the most important class I am taking this first semester of college. I am excited to see the ways in which this class shapes me and forms me for the future.