Since June 2010, we've coordinated the African American Literatures and Cultures Institute (AALCI) at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The program was created by Joycelyn Moody. I cover the curriculum and teaching.
During the summer, we discuss a variety of Black studies readings, academic writing, African American visual art, and challenges and opportunities associated with scholarly research. |
| poster session 2016 |
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| Poster session 2017 |
This summer, I noticed that half of our 10 fellows have double majors. That's more than we've ever had, though it's not uncommon for folks in the program to have two majors. I was curious about those who have more than one major, so I asked a few of them questions.
Victoria Lefler, from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, is a dance and history major. "I have always loved to dance," said Victoria, "and cannot see my life without dance being apart of it, but I also loved learning about history in grade school." That's why she chose to do both.
She has noticed links with classes in her two majors. "There has been some overlap between my classes in both departments," she explained. "Seeing these connections has helped me understand certain topics better because I had prior knowledge from a different perspective."
Ryan Collins, from Pomona College, also majors in two fields. " I decided to pursue a double-major in Africana Studies and Political Science," he said, "because I found that my work in either field was intimately informed by the other which led me to embrace my passion for both fields of study."
According to Ryan, "the benefit of having two majors is definitely being able to get to know the faculty within two different departments. I’ve been able to take classes with amazing professors in both departments, and I’ve enjoyed being able to enjoy the department student programming events for both of my majors as well."
Sokeyra Francisco has a double major at Swarthmore College. "When it came time to declare my major," she said, "I looked back at the courses I had taken and saw that I was most interested in the ones in both the fields of History and Peace and Conflict Studies." For her, a benefit of pursuing the two majors is that the learning is "both unrelated and interconnected."
She explained that "All of your classes can be about different things but there are core connections that can be made."
Sokeyra, Ryan, and Victoria also noted some challenges to pursuing double majors. Sokeyra noted that because of the required courses with both fields, "you aren't able to take as many classes outside of your majors." Ryan said that completing two different senior assignments is challenging. "Finding the time to study sufficiently for each course can be a challenge at times as well," said Victoria.
One of the new activities this summer involved the production of data visualizations using the software program Tableau Public. Students designed projects based on a few different datasets, and throughout the process they had one-on-one meetings with Professor Margaret Smith, the assistant research professor at the IRIS Center at SIUE.
I had previously worked with Smith on a few projects for my own research, which is what gave me the idea to ask her to work with our AALCI fellows. The students informed me that they benefited by drawing on her knowledge and getting her feedback on their projects.
One student said these meetings were important because Professor Smith "asked me questions and gave me possible other routes that I could take the time to explore that helped to bolster my final product."
A few different students mentioned a common word when it came to the assistance that they received from Smith: "trouble shooting." As one of our fellows noted, "Without her support and quick tips to fix the problems I encountered, I wouldn’t have been able to finish the overall project."
"Those meetings with Smith were especially helpful," said another student, "since I could ask her for guidance in certain situations which were beyond my expertise." Yet another student pointed out that, "I could tell Professor Smith was really dedicated to making sure that I knew how to use the software" and added that "If it wasn’t for her I would’ve been frustrated with the software."
It's rare for students to get the one-on-one attention that they received from Prof. Smith this summer. Recognizing how much the students benefited, however, I'm going to start thinking through ways to expand this kind of educational opportunity.
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