Jasmin Gilliam Capstone

The Art of Conversation; often times we take for granted the impact that our words can have in situations that are not necessarily clean cut.. Through my year long, senior capstone my main goal was to remind everyone to reflect on past actions in these kinds of conversations and try to put themselves in uncomfortable situations. Especially in cases that, in the end, make you think about things in more complex ways than just getting a solution. While that might be the end goal it doesn't  have to be the purpose of each conversation..

My first major process of was to collect responses from the people around me. At Educon I handed out surveys for the guests to take (administrators, teachers, counselors, etc.) and I made an online survey for the students at SLA. That data was then used to create an art piece deriving different colors from the topics and questions covered in the surveys..The art piece is still in process because of artistic blocks but the meaning behind each stroke of my brush will come clear with the final product. On the date of my presentation I will hang the piece in the school with everyone there to commemorate the reminder we all need sometimes to have tough disussions.My capstone has taken on a life of its own and went  from statistic based, social justice, artwork to a reminder piece of art that will live in our school as long as we are Science Leadership Academy

Link to my progress with the Art Piece

Annotated Bibliography

Dell’Angelo, Dr, Tabatha. "Creating Classrooms for Social Justice." Edutopia. George Lucas Educational Foundation, 29 Sept. 2014. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. This site shows the breakdown of a few basic classroom practices that allow teachers to engage with the students on issues that have happened in the real world. The article specifies different techniques the author (who is a professor) has used or the=inks are useful in situations such as these. This site is important because this is from a higher level educator who is seeing what is working or not first hand in her classroom with this I will be able to have a write up to help explain the art piece that I am creating in my blog post and in my presentation.

Emerich France, Paul. "Controversy in the Classroom: Why We Shouldn't Teach Our Kids That Columbus Was a Bad Guy." InspirED. Wordpress, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. This is a personal story from a teacher who was reprimanded for trying to teach his class about the different types of marriages that exist in the world (one that he was apart of). Because of the fact that he had a personal connection to the issue he was told some things that made him write this article. “The classroom is not the place for personal agendas,” I was told while being reprimanded one day." these are the comments that around the nation and the world steer many of the teachers away from talking about the issues that are relevant in the world at the time.

Emmerling, Leonhard. Basquiat. New York: Taschen, 2006. Print. This book goes through all of the life of Jean‑Michel Basquiat. Through his life he went through a lot of emotional and controversial times and through his art he shows all of this stuff. I am using this book as inspiration for the art piece that will come at the end of this Capstone. He has many pieces that make you think. That feeling is exactly what I want people to think when they see the piece of art. through the thinking I hope to start conversations the same way that Jean‑Michel Basquiat has in his emotion filled art pieces.

Guler, Adem. "Http://www.jcam.com.tr/files/KATD-157.pdf”  JCAM Journal of Clinical and Analytical Medicine 2.2 (2011). Web. This Report makes a number of important recommendations for getting to a world where we can address the vulnerabilities and can build the resilience to future shocking revelations. It calls for universal access to basic social services, especially health and education; stronger social protection, including unemployment insurance and pensions; and a commitment to full employment, recognizing that the value of employment extends far beyond the income it generates. It examines the importance of responsive and fair institutions and increased social cohesion for building community-level resilience and for reducing the potential for conflict to break out.

"Is This Why I'm Still Single?" Is This Why I’m Still Single. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. I like this site because this is a student that isn't too far away from the ages that we are in high school and he is still dealing with the same things that we are in high school in college. Through this site I gained insight to what the inner workings of a white ally's mind was because it is hard for white allies sometimes as they try to be politically correct at all times and try to voice their opinion while not overstepping the boundaries of speaking for someone of a minority group. A white ally's job is hard and this site really outlines what that role actually means.

Kluegel, James R., David S. Mason, and Bernd Wegener. Social Justice and Political Change: Public Opinion in Capitalist and Post-communist States. New York: A. De Gruyter, 1995. Print. This is basically a bigger version of what I am doing I think that through this book or what of it I can get from online I can base a lot of my project off of. The world is going through the same things that it was when this experiment was conducted and through this the project that I am doing will become richer because there was something very similar already conducted by people who have had time and money and the energy to focus completely on the topic. I will be using this extensively in order to analyze my data.

Faith47. Johannesburg, South Africa. My Modern Met. My Modern Met, 18 Feb. 2010. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. This is the exact type of art that makes the viewer stop and try to decipher and analyze what the meaning is. Having words is something that I haven't considered but I am open and through this piece has made me reconsider and see if that will work for this piece of art that I want to do. This piece was Inspired by Lady Justice, this beautiful piece by Faith47 was seen on the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa. The imagery and bold words speak loudly about Faith47’s concern on crumbling worldwide justice.

Nadworny, Elissa. "Uncomfortable Conversations: Talking About Race In The Classroom." NPR. NPR, 24 Apr. 2015. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. This piece is a very specific conversation that happens in the classroom (or at least should happen in the classroom). When talking about race we answer questions that we may have had about our own ethnicities or even others ethnicities. With these conversations research shows that those people start to feel better or more comfortable in their own race. In turn "People who feel good about their own race do better academically." If we have these conversations we will become more and more comfortable talking about these things and they won't be treated as if they are untouchable in a way. With this openness in the conversations the class feels comfortable bringing up the topics that are more risque.

Quigley, Bill. "Social Justice Quiz 2015: Inequality." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. This site is a reality check of sorts because you get to view you perception of the world versus how it actually is. It's kind of the same thing as that link that was going around on Facebook and t=with that you get the reality check what you think versus how the world is. Question Eleven. The federal government keeps statistics on young men, ages 15 to 19, killed by the police. How many times more likely is a young black man to be killed by police than a young white man? The questions are very jarring and very nerve racking because most of them you are actually guessing.

Thomas, Hank Willis. I AM A MAN. 2009. Mixed Media. Hank Willis Thomas. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. In reference to the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike where the declaration “I Am A Man!” emerged and became a popular phrase in the Civil Rights Movement. This is the most emotional piece that I have found and through this piece I see the power of words. I really admire the play on every single piece. But then you read them as a cohesive piece and it gets even better than that. It is poetry in Art. With Kay's help maybe I could achieve this kind of artistry but I don't know if this is possible with what I have so far.