Research and Methodology: Inscription as a Liberating Practice

The primary focus for today's lesson was to revisit previous lectures that have taken place throughout the course of the semester. Dr. Williams reiterated the goals for Freshman Seminar; which are to encourage every student to pursue a lifetime of independent discovery and build a commitment to academic excellence. As a student at Howard I have constantly been encouraged to become a woman of excellence in all areas. However, I do not feel as if freshman seminar has influenced me to pursue a lifetime of independent discovery. Although students are required to complete an individual group research projects, it seems that the project is extremely short and will not require much effort. For future courses I think that students should be given more time to develop a thorough project and presentation.

Also, during the lecture Dr. Williams taught the six components of research. The first aspect is "Component of Research." This section is where the statement of the problem and or challenge is located. Researchers should consider the purpose of the research and the skill level that is needed. The second component is the "Current State of Research." The underlying question of this component is "what has already been said about the subject?"; in other words what research has been done and what analysis have already been concluded. The third component is "Methodology." It determines how you will approach the research, study the design of the research (ex. longitudinal), and method of data collection (secondary sources, interviews) . There are three types of studies which are discipline specific, multi-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary. Discipline specific refers to the underlying assumption of one field. Multi-disciplinary is comprised of multiple disciplines and their thinking process. Lastly, interdisciplinary is inquired knowledge that has an unlimited domain.

The last three components of research are framework, development of thesis, and conclusion. The framework describes how you will structure the project and how you will display your data. The development of a thesis is self explanatory; the way in which you write your assertion about the data is the development of a thesis. Researchers must be able to clearly articulate their thesis in order for readers to comprehend it. Finally, the conclusion should provide new insights that the research has revealed. In the conclusion one should provide the limitations and obstacles they inquired will doing the research. These six components if followed accurately are the steps to produce a good research project. In freshman seminar specifically students must follow the six components of research in conjunction with their group project.

-Kaylynn Webb

Omoluabi: Self Actualization and Communal Responsibility

Dr. Gbadegesin started today's session in a very unique way; he began by paying homage and saluting many of the influential persons in his life. For example he saluted his mother, father, and the Howard University class of 2014. He then went on to tell an elaborate story that his father had started. The overall moral of the story was that a person who does not have character lacks wealth, health, children, and essentially any other important aspect of life. Another word for character is Iwa, derived from the Holy African Scripture. Iwa was a core principle from the ancient goddess Ma'at. Dr. Gbadegesin explained that before philosophers like Socrates or Aristotle arrived there were Ancient Africans such as Goddess Ma'at, Vizier Ptanholep, and Pharaoh Amenemope who created the Principles of Ma'at, Pyramid Texts, and Coffin Texts.

Coffin texts differ from the other texts because they were literally messages on the coffin's of pharaohs reminding people of their themes of reward and punishment in the afterlife. The way in which Ancient Africans conducted themselves was so important because it impacted them in their afterlife. Afterlife was a central belief in Ancient history and each individual's afterlife path was dependent upon their current life. Goddess Ma'at helped to navigate people into a positive life by giving the Principles of Ma'at. An example of these principles would be "I have not closed my ears to truth." Ancient Egyptians practiced truth, justice and order. Through the stories that Dr. Gbadegesin described students understood that we have to fight for our rights and justice.

Not only did ordinary humans strive to abide by the Principles of Ma'at but other Gods also made an effort to practice her principles. Gods became strong by living through Ma'at. They were not exempt from certain morals or consequences; This ties back to the idea of Iwa. Keeping good character means that you are living in good existence. Omoluabi: a child begotten of the chief source of Iwa is what many wanted to be. This type of person was a person of character,disciplined,self-improving and thus earning respect from others. In conclusion it is important that Howard University students and staff have character or Iwa. We must salute the influential persons in our life like Dr. Gbadegesin did at the beginning of his lecture. We must remember "a river that forgets its source will eventually dry off."

-Kaylynn Webb

Practices of Freedom & Justice

In America the term freedom is often times used very loosely. America is known as the land of the free yet it incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. It is perceived that American citizens have the freedom to make choices based upon their own desires; This is mostly true when speaking in terms of modern day America. However, when discussing early United States history spectators will discover that the African and African-American race was largely exempt from America's perceived freedoms. In early America nearly all peoples of African decent were slaves. As a slave you were considered nonhuman and your life was at the mercy of your owner. Being enslaved is the farthest idea away from freedom. According to Dr. Fletcher freedom refers to a group's inalienable right to exercise choices whether good or bad. As history has progressed black leaders have paved the way so that African-Americans today can utilize their freedom to make choices. It was in the hopes of our ancestors that we would make good choices that would continue to advance the race. None the less we see many blacks in gangs, unemployed, uneducated, and incarcerated. There is a large disconnect between our ancestors hopes for the progress of the black race and its actual advancements. Although there are many negative things holding back the black race Howard University is committed to creating and molding successful and productive African-American members of society.

Another idea discussed in today's lecture was justice. Justice was a term that used to mean "Just-Us" relating to one specific group of people. In this society in which just-us derived everyone could not participate in government, economic decisions, etc. Justice can be described as the relationship between fairness and equality. Dr. Felder emphasized how religion largely plays a role in the ideas of freedom and justice. Our actions are heavily influenced by our desire to seek and do God's will.

Dr. Felder's overall presentation discussed ancient and modern concepts of freedom and justice. He related the two ideas with religion and gave vivid examples/stories of how they relate.

-Kaylynn Webb

The Eloquence of the Scribes”: Initiation, Expectations, and Mastery—Continuing the Legacy of Howard University

   
    A scribe is a person who writes books by hand as a profession. In history scribes were usually employed by the government to help draft important documents. Although there were many scribes who had government oriented jobs, there were those who specialized in other specific fields. In today's lecture Dr. Benjamin discussed prominent scribes that Howard University has named their buildings after. She presented the information so that students could fully understand the richness and caliber of history that Howard University has.


One of the early scribes discussed was Oliver Otis Howard. He was a United States General and founder of Howard University. Howard was known for encouraging the education of former slaves and blacks in general. The school was incorporated by congress in 1867 and today Howard's home still remains on the University's campus.


   The Harriet Tubman Quadrangle houses many Howard University female freshmen. The buildings are named after Prudence Crandall, Phillis Wheatley, Lucy Diggs Slowe, and Julia S. Caldwell-Frazier. Before the lecture I did not know that Crandall was a woman who opened a school for young ladies that welcomed girls of color in the 1830s'. Unfortunately the school was closed due to great controversy. It is women like Crandall who continuously inspire Howard students and especially Howard women to value education and the lengths that people had to go for us to receive an education today. 

   The Administration Building is named after the eloquent scribe Mordecai Johnson. He is well-known for being the 11th President of Howard University and more importantly the first African American one. Johnson was responsible for getting the college annual funding from congress.

     

   There are other buildings on Howard's campus that are named after profound scribes that I did not mention.  The one's that I did describe are only used to give a general idea of the history here on our campus. These historic scribes continue to motivate students with their great accomplishments. 

-Kaylynn Webb
   

Abandonment, Dismemberment and Reawakening; The History and Legacy of Howard

 

Dr. Dunston lead the lecture for the week with the central topic being genomes. A genome can be defined as a set of 23 chromosomes which are also used to operate the human body or can be defined as the gift of life. The session was a reinforcement of last week's session topic which was knowledge. Dr. Dunston showed how knowledge is embedded in each and every genome. Instead of knowledge being acquired it is something that is already within your genome. A major point that Dr. Dunston highlighted was that we as humans are extremely competitive. We fight each other constantly to get knowledge and information that we already have and are born with. It is up to us as the individual to figure out how we will unlock our own embedded knowledge. As she further explained students discovered that the genome is also a "record book" and legacy of human kind. Each and every body of people can be defined by their genome. The most vital key when discussing the genome record book is to fully comprehend that the Africans were the first and foundation of all other origins and their story. We cannot discuss European, Asian, or any other genome history without the African history.  

"There is nothing more powerful than a sense of purpose" says Dr. Dunston. Your genome has a unique sequence that defines your energy field. When a person walks in a room that has a strong presence their genome can be credited for giving off that type of energy field. We as humans need to be aware of the type of energy fields we give off and how we can positively use them to help us discover our purpose. Everyone has a divine purpose in life that they should strive to master. Howard University students are "On time, on point, and on purpose" says Dr. Dunston. Meaning we are a group of young intelligent people who mostly know our purpose or are striving to discover it and then execute it.  

Dr. Dunston overall was a very effective speaker. She presented a scientific topic such as genomes and taught how it was more than just scientific. The genome plays a large part in our every day lives and helps to define our divine purpose in life.

-Kaylynn Webb

Learning, Wisdom, and The African World Experience

Dr. Gregory Carr, Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University, delivered the first lecture to the freshman seminar class on “Learning, Wisdom, and The African World Experience”; more specifically an Mbongi. Mbongi is a word in the Kikongo language which means “learning place”. The Mbongi is a place where people in a village come together to look for and find solutions to problems. In his presentation, Dr. Carr strived to make understood the connection between our ancestors and ourselves, by examining their contributions to global traditions and innovations in teaching and learning, the purpose and relevance of an Mbongi, as well as how these African foundations contribute to the intellectual work at Howard and the community. He discussed the misconceptions of the Africans. How they were believed to be intellectually inferior, and how these beliefs were slowly passed down through mis-education. Africans created writing, counting, sciences, art, spiritual systems, and formal teaching. They built pyramids, branched out to populate almost every continent on earth, and ruled Spain for nearly 800 years. These actions alone prove that Africans were highly intelligent beings. Dr. Carr also expressed the importance of studying the pass contributions of our ancestors in order to learn from their mistakes, observe their success, and apply what wisdom we have gained from their experiences to generate growth within ourselves. In other words, “se wo were fi na wosan kofa a, yenkyi”: there is nothing wrong with learning from hindsight! By the end of the lecture you started to see that even if you have never known Africa, you cannot deny how much it is apart of you. It’s through the developments of Africans, and their ancestors, and their ancestors after that, and so on and so forth, that you are who you are today.

Africa

Africa, my Africa

Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs

Africa of whom my grandmother sings

On the banks of the distant river

I have never known you

But your blood flows in my veins

Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields

The blood of your sweat

The sweat of your work

The work of your slavery

Africa, tell me Africa

Is this you, this back that is bent

This back that breaks

Under the weight of humiliation

This back trembling with red scars

And saying yes to the whip under the midday sun

But a grave voice answers me

Impetuous child that tree, young and strong

That tree over there

Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers

That is your Africa springing up anew

Springing up patiently, obstinately

Whose fruit bit by bit acquires

The bitter taste of liberty.

David Diop

~ Al'Shondra ~