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Chapter 3: The Burger Boycott and the Ballot Box
The Summer of 1968 marked a dangerous time immediately after MLK’s assassination – racial tensions were high throughout the United States, and Mayor Stokes’ main goal was to avoid further riots in Cleveland, Ohio. White and Black businesses had been destroyed by the riots, and Cleveland needed something new to take root and provide…
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Scholar Spotlight: Norah Elmagraby
Why did you apply to HASTAC? I learned about HASTAC during the third year of my Ph.D. while coming across an announcement from Emory University’s Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry. During that time, I was considering adding a digital component to my dissertation research, and I didn’t know where to start. What attracted me to…
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Conclusion: Bigger than a Hamburger
Growing up in a rural, predominantly white community, food options, including grocery stores and fast food restaurants were at least a 20-minute drive away. Despite their distance, fast food restaurants still have a prominent place in my childhood and teen memories; albeit, these memories are intertwined with my racial and socioeconomic privilege. In elementary school,…
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Scholar Spotlight: Monique Kampherm
Hi there! I am Monique Kampherm and I am a PhD candidate in English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, researching the rhetorical intersection of politics and social media. 1. Why did you apply to HASTAC? I applied the HASTAC scholars fellowship because of the extensive knowledge-network of collaborative thinkers…
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Thinking through a pandemic: reflections & resources from humanities and social sciences
Cihan: On March 10, when the Futures Initiative team was preparing to start working remotely, I started to write a few paragraphs reflecting on the resources I have as a scholar who is interested in our collective human heritage. From my previous, recent experience of collective uncertainty and fear accompanying large-scale political repression, I had…
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Introduction: From Sit-In to Drive-Thru
In the introduction of Franchise, Marcia Chatelain uses the tagline “From Sit-In to Drive-Thru” to illustrate how fast-food restaurant franchises such as McDonald’s have been central to black capitalism in the United States since the 1960s. Chatelain suggests that black capitalism is “[t]he notion that black liberation can come through black control of the means…
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How to Change Our Classrooms (and Digital Spaces) to Empower Girls: Insights from Dr. Urvashi Sahni
We are excited to share the inspiring words and expertise of Dr. Urvashi Sahni, founder and CEO of the Study Hall Educational Foundation based in Uttar Pradesh, India. Dr. Sahni’s work centers on classrooms as “radical spaces of possibility” (a phrase she quotes from bell hooks). She weaves in critical and feminist pedagogies to integrate…
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Don’t Let The NYT Fool You! College is Worth It, Necessary, and the Only Major Tool We Have for Combatting Income Inequality
The New York Times today has an article on the “5 Takeaways from the Year in Education.” While I agree with the other four “trends,” I want to respond and offer a rebuttal to #3: “Declining Faith in Higher Education.” I believe this so-called decline is a hoax. Over 92% of rich people send their…
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Neighborhoods of Refuge – PhotoVoice
Hi everyone! I am working on a website to showcase ta PhotoVoice project titled “Neighborhoods of Refuge.” The projected was carried out by faculty and students from Florida International University and Miami Dade College, alongside the organization Camillus House in Miami. Project participants attended photography workshops and debriefing sessions where they discussed issues related to homelessness.…
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Introduction to Kathryn McDonald — First Time HASTAC Scholar 2019-2021
Hello, everyone! My name is Kathryn McDonald, and I am in the first year of my Master’s in Library and Information Science through the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I am an online student and live on the north Oregon coast. I am excited to meet everyone in this program, and I think that the best…