I really enjoyed taking Loss and Redemption. My professor Dr. Lund was invested in having us explore the topic of 9/11 in our own way. We started the class with us interpreting literature and films and we finished with us each taking on an individual project that showed our research and displayed our unique understanding of how 9/11 still shapes the world to this day. What I  got out of class was the skill to analyze media content in several different ways.

Normally when I look at an object, I view it in a pretty straightforward manner. I look at the physical features and I like to understand the reason the object is the way it is. When I struggle to find the meaning behind something, I often fail to see symbolism and some of the context around the object which may reveal its meaning. In class, I was challenged to notice things I would normally not think about.

We started class in a really odd way. We watched a 30 second car commercial about the soccer world cup. Our teacher then asked us to say something “learned” about what we just watched. This question confused us. As honors students we are very concerned about getting the right answer. A question that was so broad sent us into a state of paralysis. We viewed the commercial passively, but we were challenged in that class to read and watch artistic content actively, to keep our minds thinking about the intentions behind each artistic step. Consuming artistic content in that way nay not be fun to some people, but it is important for everyone to develop the skills of deeper analysis for both their social interactions and their awareness of the messages they themselves send of to people in their interactions or their body of work.

My artifact is on the health and environmental impacts that can be traced back to 9/11 both directly and indirectly. I chose this topic in order to relate 9/11 to my field of study.