By Tuesday August 27 (our first official day of class, though we won’t meet until Thursday 29), make an introductory post to our course site.
Include the following information:
- Some information about yourself. This might be the classic name/major/pronouns, but most of you probably know each other already and I’ll be finding out that stuff via the confidential questionnaire, so feel free to be creative. For example, some information about me (Dr Lothian) is that I’ve attended the feminist science fiction convention WisCon 11 times since 2008.
- What social justice means to you: for example, which issues and causes are important to you and why.
- What speculative fiction means to you – are you a fan? If so, of what? If not, what are you interested in learning more about?
Aim to write around 300 words.
Hi everyone,
I’m Madelyn Harris (you can call me Maddy) and I’m a Sociology and African American Studies double major. This summer, I worked for the Orientation Office as an Orientation Advisor and it was the most rapid and significant period of growth for me in my life thus far. It was so fulfilling to help incoming students find their way at the university, and it is such a joy to continue to be a resource for my students and to see them on campus now. This year, I’m also working in the Sociology Undergraduate Office as a Peer Advisor and I’m serving on the Dean’s Student Advisory Council for BSOS. In my spare amounts of free time, I enjoy reading, journaling, and getting into shenanigans with my friends.
Social justice to me means identifying a problem and addressing it as a community. My interest in social justice began in high school, when I discovered that my high school neighborhood was the most food insecure area of Howard County, with over 30% of the high school receiving free and reduced lunches. I was inspired to take action, and opened a food pantry at my high school.
Social justice does not need to be concrete. It can be observed in abstract trends, in the way we treat others. To me, social justice is simply working towards building a better, safer, more equitable community which allows for all to thrive.
From my understanding, speculative fiction encompasses fictional works which utilize imaginative elements or themes in order to convey a social commentary. My most recent speculative fiction reads include Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Morrison’s Beloved, which also happen to be two of my favorite books! I’m excited to read more speculative fiction, as I am always awestruck by the meaningful connections the authors make with such creative and engaging writing style.