The climb up the mountain commences…
My portfolio is essentially the work of an interested, somewhat educated person who has a fascination for the social sciences. I am especially interested in the effects of hegemony and racism, as well as media (mis)representations of certain groups and demographics. Although acquiring the prerequisite qualifications through a university education is an imperative in being effective within the field of social sciences, I hope to reach a broad-based audience through a popular approach. In doing this, I intend to develop a writing style that is clear, concise and engaging to the general reader, and an online presence which is pleasing and creative.
My wish is to communicate to a broad-based audience that hegemony, structural violence, racism, economic exploitation, and authoritarianism are often very closely related. At the time of writing, my bibliography reflects these concerns with writings from Bourdieu, Farmer, Hall, Molina-Guzmán, and Said indexed. An extreme combination of these issues listed may result in fascism, which I have chosen as my first keyword. I’ve attempted to demonstrate that fascism is not merely a relic of the 20th Century, but a political phenomenon that one must guard against constantly. For the images that I’ve chosen in defining fascism, the first is of Adolf Hitler, who looms largely in the foreground, while his followers form an indeterminate mass in the background – an image that I believe captures the essence of fascism’s cult-of-personality and totalitarianism. The second image is that of “ordinary” people at a far-right rally in Greece, which I feel demonstrates the insidious appeal of fascism or authoritarianism to those who may feel marginalized within their societies.
I intend to hone my knowledge and qualifications to add authority and accuracy to any assertions made by me on my portfolio, as point 2 suggests from Cantoni’s and Tardini’s work (104). And, of course, I strive to present my claims with rigorous objectivity, as Cantoni and Tardini also state (103-104). Gaining additional knowledge and qualifications through ISS will ensure this. In addition, I would like to add additional visual components to my portfolio, such as photos of my (or others) travels through regions which may have experienced the effects of structural violence or Orientalism, such as the regions of Central Asia or the Middle East. Finally, I would like to create an interactive element within the portfolio that would allow for questions and discussion with others who view my site. At present, I’m not certain whether I wish to be employed in Central Asia, or merely work with the expatriate community within the United States, but I do intend to use the knowledge and skills acquired through the ISS program in either aim.
Bibliography:
Cantoni, Lorenzo, and Stefano Tardini. Internet. Routledge, 2006