Author: Kallie Hutchinson

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Intangible Knowledge of Far-Away Existence

Elizabeth J McGrath’s talk titled, “Using Distant Galaxies as Cosmic Time Machines”, provided an area of scientific research and discovery that I personally have absolutely zero background in. In reflection of Dr. McGrath’s talk, I realized that my Colby education has very much provided me with a taste of a multitude of different disciplines. Graduating in two weeks, I feel rather grateful for my liberal arts degree. This seminar has provided a look into the “presence of the past” across many different platforms: literature, biology, history, economics, ecology, sociology, anthropology, anatomy, poetry, physics, and astronomy (to name a few). I have come to know that in order to understand and truly see anything in this world, it is most advantageous to examine it under many different lights and many different concepts of thought.

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A Call For Social Change

Dr. Loren McClenachan’s discussion on the environmental changes occurring in marine ecosystems was both shocking and intriguing. I feel as though these conversations are happening in regards to environmental change, global warming, and governmental interventions (or lack there of) to prevent such changes, but Dr. McClenachan’s talk highlighted aspects of these drastic changes that are not commonly discussed, and to her emphasis, should be. She specifically discussed the role of society and social understandings on environmental policy and behavior in practice.

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Women’s Role and Strength in Numbers

Last week, Heather Streets-Salter’s talk about the Noulens Affair and the associated events in the 1930’s very much opened my eyes to the happenings during the Cold War and implications of communism throughout the world. At the beginning of her talk, I struggled to understand the associations between ethnic background and experience of communist fear, but she made it easier to conceptualize how country association was impactful in regards to treatment and consequences when convicted. In reflection, two points that Dr. Streets-Salter made proved particularly interesting to me were the gendered division of convict behavior during the Cold War and the collectivist mentality that is highlighted between nations in time of international conflict.

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Nature of the Human Body: Art, Science, or Both?

Dr. Carin Berkowitz’s talk discussed the interdisciplinary nature of the human body as it pertains in art and the science of anatomy. She thoroughly analyzed Charles Bell’s work in an attempt to argue that the human body is a visual and experienced art form above all else. In doing so, Dr. Berkowitz gave elaborate examples of Bell’s historic artwork being compared to contemporary works to show how the human form has adapted in the ways it is shown through art. The human body presents a platform for, arguably the most authentic form, of what is known to be “Nature”. She discussed the ways in which the body is scientifically and critically manipulated to either support or refute this comparison. Due to its “inherent beauty” and normative symmetry (from the exterior), the body is loved by artists and scientists alike.

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Social Conflict and Gene Expression

Professor Suegene Noh’s talk, titled “How Current Genomes are Shaped by Evolutionary Pasts”, acted as a catalyst between the disciplines of genetics and biology in conjunction with the humanities. Much of her discussion explored how science and technology can inform our culture’s ways of thinking, describing, and understanding biological basis of change. Specifically, Professor Noh explored the ways in which social involvement of social pressures influence the biological selections for or against certain organisms, or specific traits expressed by those organisms. This discussion specifically has allowed me to question the influence of social involvement on gene expression. As concluded in her talk, “genes induced by social conflict show evidence of positive selection”. This talk showed vast similarities to a course I currently take that focuses on the connections between biology, society, and addictive behaviors. I am thinking about the importance of social interaction, and in this case conflict, on processing ability and acceptance into society. The knowledge that the brain controls many biological substrates of gene expression that directly correspond to behavior allows me to believe that gene expression is influenced heavily both in regards to the “nature”, but also very much by the “nurture” of life.

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Sexuality, Humoralism, and the Environment

Greta LaFleur’s lecture explicitly attempted to trace the relationships between sexuality, human sexual diversity, humoralism, and the environment. In her discussion, Professor LaFleur explained the roles of sexuality in the 18th century as being more directly related to the environment. She explained how humans have adapted sexually as our relationships with both sex and the environments around us have changed. Handmaidens in historical contexts represented the first developments of sexuality before sexuality was a known concept. They acted as a symbol of sexual behavior in a way that marital sex was not. Professor LaFleur argued that there was sex before sexuality, but the prevalence and social relevance of sex implied that sexuality existed. She outlined terms that were associated with sex and sexuality during the 18th century to be socially and culturally relevant in literature although they were not understood as terms of sexuality. These included terms that pointed to sexual exchanges between people that would not be considered as such today including conversation. In reflection, I now realize that in a college context, people might refer to a couple as “talking” when they really mean that the two are “hooking-up” or in sexual relation. This has allowed me to question how much our sexual vocabulary has actually changed.

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Emotion-less Science and Fact-less Literature

Dr. Wai Chee Dimok’s lecture has allowed me to consider the potential intersections that exist between science and literature. Dr. Dimok suggested that the potential failures of scientists in inspiring people to understand the impacts of climate change lies in their inability to express emotional significance. She suggested that the lack of emotion in science makes climate change unbelievable for the common member of society. Literature provides the platform for the unbelievable aspects of climate change to be portrayed with emotional relevance and impact. The role of the humanities in scientific development of knowledge lies in the ability to encourage scientists to further establish the humanistic qualities of thought in subjective fact. The scientific method from question and hypothesis to result and conclusion must in turn have elements of emotion and social quality to encourage valuable and necessary change in structured culture.

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Removing Racialization from Informal Conversation

In personal reflection of professor Projit Bihari Mukharji’s presentation, I am thinking a lot about the cultural significance of ethnicity and race. Previously in anthropology courses, I have been fascinated and absorbed by the construct of race. The quote, “race is imagined, but not imaginary”, has always influenced my beliefs towards how race is discussed in our modern world. It took many years for me to understand how race is not a scientific method of separating the human population into separate boxes. Projit Bihari Mukharji’s talk was especially powerful because it combined my two intellectual passions: the science of genetics and cultural anthropology.

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Impossibility of Original Thought?

Nathan K. Hensley’s talk last week got me thinking about the influence of the past on every aspect of modern life and personality. I was particularly motivated by Hensley’s comment that we, as humans, “are the past” in that our physical bodies and personalities are developed as a response to past events, past people, and past ideas. Our minds and memories are inspired and formed by previously created literary conventions. Our modern moment is inherently motivated and shaped by a moment prior. Everything that we think or say at any moment is participation in this convention that is arguably created for us. We therefore have an undeniable dynamic and material connection to the past. These ideas which Hensley was arguing have put my mind in a questioning state. I am now wondering whether any thought can even truly be organic and original if all thought is adapted and generated as a response to a previously heard or read sentence. Is originality impossible? Hensley noted that all thoughts and ideas are simple reorganized or re-worded thoughts and ideas that have already existed somewhere in the world. Are humans really incapable of waking up one morning and developing an entirely independent and organic idea? I personally find it terrifying that our minds are naturally plastic and adaptable by anything and everything we are exposed to in our culture. How can we expect to experience such radical change as a culture if we are always motivated by our past?

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Swept Under the Rug: Lack of U.S. education regarding the Indian Genocide

I found Sonja Thomas’ lecture, “Indians on the Reservation: Missionary Priests from India and Catholic Settler Colonialism”, to be extremely moving. This past semester I attended the showing of the film Dawnland, which I consider to be my first true exposure to the narratives of Native American people in my home state of Maine. Looking through the other posts by my peers, it is overwhelming that many of us share in the perspective that we were not well educated in elementary school (and even high school) around the issues of cultural genocide that has taken place here in the United States. I can vividly remember reading picture books in November leading up to Thanksgiving holiday that romanticized the relationship between American Indians and the white settlers. I can honestly share that my personal misconceptions and misunderstandings of American Indians continued until I was a collegiate student (and even still I am sure I do not truly understand fully). Professor Thomas’ talk brought to light additional aspects of this genocide that I would not have otherwise considered.

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