LATESHIA PETERS ’23

THE SUBCULTURES AND SUBGENRES BIRTHED FROM QUEER AND/OR BIPOC COLLECTIVES

By bonding through a neglectful and intolerant society or embracing untrodden paths, marginalized communities have managed to organize spaces that foster inclusivity and limitless expression. Inspired by a discovery of Black Grrrls Riot and ballroom culture, my project will explore the multiplicity of subcultures and subgenres created by Queer and/or BIPOC collectives from the past to the present. I will compile my findings in a multi-media website which will include blog posts, playlists, videos, interviews, and photography. I hope to emphasize the multifaceted utility of communities for Queer and/or BIPOC folks and convey the essence of each subculture and subgenre with my creative expertise. To be non-comforming and reject society's rigid standards, is daunting but more comfortable with a support system of individuals with similar experiences and an overwhelming sense of acceptance. 

DANA VILLASENOR ’24 AND MARGO COHEN ’25

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE: A FREE PODCAST

For the Dunbar Fellowship, we will explore how COVID-19 has affected shared spaces in detention centers. While many free people saw a change in social dynamics when the pandemic started (e.g. self-isolation, distancing), detained people were already experiencing confinement inside jails which brings a new perspective to the discussion of shared spaces. We are interested in exploring the interactions that detained people have had within their communities inside and outside of their detention centers. For this, we will be staying in Riverside, California to interview detainees.  Our conversations will encompass living conditions, impact of COVID-19, community, lack of resources, and what they and their peers need for a better life and upbringing.  By the end of our project, we will have created an audio library of the recordings of our interviews for posterity that will be uploaded to streaming platforms as a podcast. 

XRISTINA ZOGOPOULOU ’25

DICTATORS OF DISEASE: AUTOCRATIC CREEP IN THE LINGERING LOCKDOWN

From 2019 to 2021 I lived in Hong Kong, during which I saw the protests first-hand.  I saw people screaming “ga yao” (add oil) from their windows, and people in the streets, fighting for their freedom and independence. And then … I saw silence. COVID-19, in combination with the Hong Kong national security law, suppressed the protests under the guise of “public health concerns.” COVID was used as an excuse to reshape history, forcing a “mainlandification.” The Chinese government slowly shut down most of the pro-democracy newspapers and removed sculptures and works of art referring to the Tiananmen massacre.

Similarly, my home country Greece has experienced a growing intervention by the police in the public space justified in the context of pandemic measures. Since the beginning of 2020, there has been an increase of police surveillance, with the simultaneous imposition of various restrictions on movement, and an aggressive response against public gatherings, regardless of their nature and size. In light of this, a number of changes that emerged in the fields of public order and policing during the beginning of COVID-19, have a more permanent character in the post-pandemic era.

In my project, I will look at the shared experience of increased authoritarianism that many countries have been experiencing in a post-pandemic society, looking at two countries I have lived in: Greece and Hong Kong. Lastly, I will discuss the contribution of art as a form of companionship, community creation, and civil engagement during this encroaching authoritarianism.

Axel Ahdritz ’22

GPT-ME: Personalized Language Models and their Psychological Implications

Hearing the exploits of transformer-based language models, I was motivated this summer to apply their generalized intelligence to an old problem: that of consciousness itself. With a microphone on my cheek and OpenAI's language model at my fingers, I have collected over 80 hours of spoken audio to date—the data of my waking life—and trained GPT-2 on the resulting database of words. Hypothetically, if the language model is able to learn the inner patterns guiding my linguistic expression, then wouldn't the model capture in its parameters some of the ineffable substance that I call: "me"? In pursuit of the ever-elusive "self," my model has yielded fascinating results to date, widening the aperture of the digital humanities and hinting at the possibility of a new form of "computational psychology." My research will no doubt continue after the conclusion of this project, so don't hesitate to shoot me an email at aahdritz22@cmc.edu for more information!

Alexis Gero ’23

Portrait of a Pandemic: Artistic Movements Following Historical Health Crises

Conceptualizing our post-pandemic world can be overwhelming given the collective isolation and trauma suffered, which cannot be communicated in a concrete or quantitative manner. Looking to past pandemics can be helpful in understanding the cyclical responses and cultural shifts that occur as a result. These changes can be understood in an art historical context by examining the artistic movements that are created as a response to widespread disorder and disease. My research project focuses on theartistic movements that arose after three past pandemics—the Black Death, the Spanish Flu, and the 1980s AIDS epidemic—in order to discover common themes, sentiments, and techniques. The Black Death catalyzed a return to Classical art, the Spanish Flu inspired Expressionism, and the AIDS epidemic created uniquely political and critical art work. Universal themes of family, insecurity, religion, and questioning arise during these three time periods, as they do today. In studying past pandemics and their artistic consequences, there is the opportunity to understand our post-pandemic world—both in itself and in relation to the past. Current technologies have also made what we can expect in post-pandemic art infinitely more accessible and universal, with the rise of online galleries, zines, NFTs, and digital art. There is an immense opportunity to begin a communal reckoning with the events of COVID-19 and working to heal through artistic expression. Even for the non-artist, viewing art recognizing the internal turmoil and universal devastation can be extremely powerful.

Damian ho ‘22

The New Normal: Exploring the Post-Pandemic Transition

Broadly, my project will be a concept album of around five songs in length that explores what happens when all the norms of a society radically changes—explored from a historical and philosophical perspective. For well over a year now, humans have been living with these new norms COVID-19. Things such as social distancing, lockdown, wearing masks, and using ZOOM for everything. One of the things I am most interested in exploring in the post-pandemic world is what people’s reactions will be whenthese norms are no longer necessary in everyday life. Thus, my album will be a narrative that follows one individual’s life in a small town changing from isolation and lockdown to liberation and free expression, using his personal thoughts and emotions aswell as observations to explore some of these epistemological questions. I plan to base my narrative in thorough research on previous historical instances where norms have radically changed. By the end of the project, I plan on delivering a complete 5 song album of songs I have written and recorded entirely myself.

Ari Moore ‘23

Tap dance and its place in a post-covid america

This summer I will research tap dance in the post-COVID world as a case study for how cultural communities persevere through hardships. My project will include attending tap performances, participating in a tap dance festival, interviewing tap dancers active in the community, and conducting research on tap dance as a cultural unifier in the post-COVID world. Through my research, I will create a mini-doc (~15 minutes) that explores themes of cultural resilience and love of tap. I will also write an ethnographic introduction of the concepts based on the conducted interviews and research. Then, in the fall, I will perform a tap routine at the Gould center inspired by the interviews, performances, and festival I engaged with. I look forward to presenting my findings, both academically and rhythmically.

Julia Schulman ‘22

The Issues that Remain: Documenting Post-Covid Consequences

For my Dunbar Fellowship Project I will be conducting interviews and writing articles related to issues that have largely been ignored during the pandemic. These issues range from internet moderation to economic inequity. The resources and media attention devoted to COVID-19have primarily focused elsewhere and let these problems fester and grow. The crises caused by the coronavirus won’t be over once the pandemic ends; this project brings attention to the consequences of neglecting these issues.

Sabrina stone ‘22

a new dimension to creativity

For my research project, I am exploring how some CMC students are turning to creative outlets during the pandemic in a new dimensional way using digital art and Augmented Reality. In this time of confinement and isolation, artistic expression through art, music, dance, etc. can be both cathartic and healing. For me personally, expression through different artistic mediums has been one of the most positive aspects of my pandemic journey. I have spoken to several students who have also turned to art forms such as cosplay, fashion, and digital media as a form of escapism and happiness. I will be interviewing these individuals and creating a collective, virtual AR exhibit demonstrating how these students, including myself, have practiced creativity as an outlet and coping mechanism during one of the most intense periods of our lives so far. This AR exhibit would be achieved through interviews, photo and video examples, animation, the app Artivive and other creative ways of capturing these narratives. Not only is documenting creative expression during this time extremely necessary, it also projects into the future to see how these creations can manifest further and evolve as a result of the pandemic.

AXEL AHDRITZ ’22

THE QUIET—SEEMS UNEVEN

Music is invasive by nature. While shutting our eyes gives us the ability to control incoming light, there is no equivalent physiological mechanism that allows us to control sound, at least none that doesn’t disable our ability to function. And even if we do succeed in blocking out a sound, like a faulty record player, it will often replay, “stuck” in our minds. In my view, music is defined by this invasiveness because music dissolves the “personal.” In the confessions of singer-songwriters, this power of music runs through the individual in the same way, breaking down their own personal difficulties—opening up their personal space—to an audience that is eager to empathize with their own. COVID-19 has presented us with an odd paradox, for in the midst of a communal catastrophe, the whole world has been sidelined into each of our respective personal spheres. No concerts. No dancing. No fireside singalongs with friends. Where is there to go but inwards? I will explore the role of music as a communal activity and its ability to repurpose the personal traumas of the pandemic, writing the music and lyrics of a short EP detailing my exploration.

KAMARA ANYANWU ’22 AND AISHAT JIMOH ’23

BROKEN SILENCE

There are two pandemics plaguing the world today: one is COVID-19 and the other is racism towards Black people all over the world. The goal of this research project is to highlight the latter of the two, taking a look at how the pandemic of race directly affects the Claremont community. Our research project is an atypical one because instead we will specifically be focusing on researching the Black student experience at the Claremont Colleges. We call this project “Broken Silence,” it will be a conglomeration of the written and artistic histories dealing with the Black student experience. We want to provide Black students a way to share their stories with the Claremont college community. Oftentimes, the Black voice is silent and unheard on campus, our issues are not addressed, but the time for that is over. In addition to highlighting Black student voices we also hope to include sections in the work about the prison industrial complex, systemic racism, allyship to the Black community, anti-racism initiatives, and more.Our hope is to publish/distribute this through an online medium that will be accessible to the student body and faculty. We believe that this project is important because more now than ever it is important for Black students voices to be heard, especially as many of the Claremont colleges have made statements condemning racism and committing to anti-racist practices. We believe that this project will serve as a way to hold our institutions accountable for their words and help them remember why this is important. Most importantly, it is vital to allow Black students to have a space and way to express their frustrations and experiences during this time.

AVA LIAO ’23

CRAFTING A CRISIS NARRATIVE: THE LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY OF PROPAGANDA

The humanities have always served as effective tools of persuasion and discussion, but are often overlooked as impractical and overly idealistic in times of crisis. Propaganda—both corporate and government-issued—serves as a conspicuous contradiction to this notion of irrelevancy, as well as providing a stark reminder of how powerful the humanities can be in shaping public thought and opinion during crises such as pandemics. My project will explore how propaganda narratives are created in times of crisis through the combined use of the expansive visual vocabulary provided by graphic design and typography and the language of coercion. It will examine how crises—events involving significant social, political or societal upheaval such as pandemics, outbreaks of war, mass protests and revolutions—are depicted in media in order to appeal to public consciousness and promulgate particular narratives, and will also aim to identify and explain prominent visual patterns. I also plan on applying the principles of crisis propaganda design to fictional narratives to produce a series of visual art pieces as perhaps "counter propaganda"; breaking down the process of how graphic styles are used to amplify political rhetoric through fictional analogies to force the audience to step back and distance themselves from its influence. I hope to contribute a wider, more holistic approach to analyses of propaganda by providing context through graphic design history, and add to growing public awareness and civil discourse in a rapidly shifting political climate marked by “fake news” controversies.

ALI MAROUK-COE ’21 AND MAYA SHAH ’21

CHRONIC ILLNESS AND COVID-19

Though millions suffer from chronic illnesses, they often feel dismissed and unsupported. This is amplified in the pandemic, when resources are spread thin, and institutions on every scale are being tested in their capability to problem solve through crisis. Ali and Maya are both passionate about increasing empathy for this population in the medical field, on campus, and within our larger communities. They believe the best way to do this is to share the stories of patients and those closest to them. Ali and Maya’s project is an interview-based film highlighting how those who suffer from chronic illnesses have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To present a full picture of this vulnerable population, they plan to interview various persons who suffer from chronic illnesses, their loved ones, and doctors treating such patients. By looking at how people with chronic illness have been affected by the pandemic, they will seek to illuminate themes which will provoke empathy within their audience and are representative of larger institutional issues.

ANNETTE NJEI ’23 AND MAYELA NORWOOD ’23

AN ANALYSIS OF HOW RACISM AND CLASSISM HAS BEEN UPHELD THROUGH THE UNITED STATES’ HEALTHCARE SYSTEM DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Our research project is an exploration of how the United States healthcare system upholds the institutions of racism and classism, perpetuating systematic oppression onto the Black communities during a global pandemic. We will begin with studying the foundation of the United States’ healthcare system, specifically focusing on how the US healthcare system has treated Black communities in times of past health crises, identifying patterns and trends that have contributed to the neglect of Black people. We will then dissect the hybridization of private and public providers in order to understand its contribution to the class divide within the Black community. Additionally, we will examine the optics and language presented by the media portrayal of the Black community’s experience during various health crises to further recognize the societal biases that have contributed to the quality of medical care, or lack thereof, that Black people receive. The analysis of media output and the historical creation of healthcare systems across the United States will then provide a gateway for us to identify present-day structures that enable racial discrimination against Black patients by US healthcare providers. In summary, we hope that our research sheds light on the various ways the Black community is being disenfranchised and discriminated against during the COVID-19 pandemic.

JON JOEY TELEBRICO ’23 AND MAKENNA MAHRER ’23

PANDEMOS

Pandemos, defined as “common to all the people,” is the Greek word from which pandemic is etymologically derived. Despite being associated with the virulent nature of disease, the word has also been used to describe and represent the unity of the collective, especially during times of struggle. We posit that this meaning can also apply to the universal nature of the human experience and ultimately believe it to be a critical component to understanding how generations who came before us have responded to pandemics of the past. The primary goal of our project is to promote a shared sense of comfort in examining this collective experience and applying it to the seemingly unprecedented circumstances unfolding in the present day. We will be examining online archives, media articles, and museum exhibits, tracking our findings through a series of academic analyses and personal reflections—curating our own digital framework of historic quarantine life applied to the present in the form of a website. We hope to supplement this resource with an accompanying forum for the public to reinforce historical commonalities through recorded shared experience. In adding further to the contemporary perspective, the forum will in turn contribute to the creation of a database for posterity. We hope that Pandemos will show you that although pandemics may temporarily disconnect us, the humanities exist as a foundation for the understanding that by virtue of being human we are never truly alone.