Final Blog Post

Good morning! With the conclusion of Talking About Freedom and the Summer Advantage program, Jessica and I will be touching on a few key class components.Throughout this course, we prioritized several historical timelines, notably the Founding Era, Civil War Reconstruction, Progressive, Civil Rights Era and the remaining U.S. history.

 Additionally, the class held a particular concentration on the significance of the 1st and 14th Amendments. These two revisions directly impacted court case conclusions and the nation’s historical context. Similarly, Professor Smith provided knowledge on the nation’s construction, including the six clauses of the First Amendment, four classifications of law, the association between prior restraint and subsequent punishment, and, of course, the STATE ACTION DOCTRINE.  

Furthermore, the timelines assisted our visual learning and the comprehension of past ideologies. We utilized this tool as an indicator of our nation’s progression and movement from racist ideologies. Initially, the United States participated in a slavey system, ostracizing African Americans for decades.With the Confederacy's loss in the Civil War, systematic racism slowly began to alter. This was despite the Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws hindering efforts. More prominently, these notes were the key to our five topic quizzes, even feeding into the requirements for our blog posts.  

The three movies that we watched as a class during the Summer Advantage program were Gone with the Wind, Green Book, and In the Heat of the Night. The movies that we watched (Gone with the Wind, Green Book, and In the Heat of the Night) enhanced our learning experience. The movies brought what we learned in class to life.

The movies not only provided us with more and new information, but they also elaborated on the topics we were learning in class, such as Green Book and racism, as well as Jim Crow and deep-seated racism. These three movies would also be a good spark for reflections and discussions because they incorporate great talking points, and you can look back at the topics in the movie and see if there is anything that you learned, found interesting, and more. 

African Americans voting

In addition to the associated films, our class watched two primary documentaries. These publications were meant to solidify the information taught in Talking about Freedom while providing several visual elements. In particular, Reconstruction: America After the Civil War detailed the aftermath of the Civil War, the Freedman’s Bureau, and a 2015 racially motivated mass shooting. This documentary outlined our nation’s prejudiced past and our attempts to solve these societal issues.

Bob Jones and his inner circle of the KKK

Our second documentary highlights the history of the Ku Klux Klan. The publication outlined the multitude of leadership and societal influence fluctuations. Viewers were also able to view Greensboro’s direct involvement in the group’s assembly, an interesting concept that is in accordance with the university’s location. These publications demonstrated the information presented in Talking About Freedom with the utilization of proper visuals. Overall, this powerful tool showcased the events of violence and history firsthand.  

Writing the Blog posts for some of our assignments was a great experience. Overall, I liked that the writing style was on the shorter side than the longer side. I liked this because it gave me a challenge to write everything that I could, still have it sound professional, and have all of my main points. I also liked it shorter because then I could get straight to the point instead of having to write a two-page essay just to get to the point at the very end of those pages.

The online format also made writing blogs more fun and interesting. I say this because instead of just writing a few paragraphs and then posting, I was adding links, pictures, captions, and more, which was fun to do and made my writing look more professional and interesting. Blogs also taught me how to present my work professionally. What I mean by this is that the blogs made me add in little details like embedded links, pictures, captions, and more to make it sound more professional, but also look more professional, like I was writing for a newspaper company, a magazine company, or a journalist. So, in all the blogs, not only elevated my writing style but also improved how I can present my work more professionally. 

Plessy v. Ferguson

With the use of EOTOs and Mock Trials, the class was able to discover the information, precedents, and conclusions of two notable Supreme Court cases. In particular, we highlighted the information and conclusions of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Regarding Plessy v. Ferguson, eight students were given their roles as the team’s lawyers. Each side covered the topics of legality, morality, history, and the economy. This method created distinctive arguments for each opposing side, allowing the remaining students to grasp the case’s facts.  

Brown v. Board of Education

In the following week, another eight students were instructed to serve as representatives in the Brown v. Board of Education case. These individuals underwent the same process, each presenting their persuasive argument to the court. Regarding the EOTOs, groups were able to instruct the class on the Reconstruction Era and the Civil Rights Movement. We highlighted significant events, including the murders of the Three Civil Rights Workers, the rise of African American education, Standing at the Schoolhouse Door, etc. These presentations provided viewers with additional knowledge on these periods, outlining their strengths and weaknesses. 

 

By using the AI tools, I was able to feel more comfortable using AI to help me with my work. By experimenting in class, I was able to get the AI to work for me. When using AI on assignments that were ok to use it on, I was able to see the ethical side of AI. What I mean by this is that by using AI on assignments that allowed it, I was able to see when the right times to use AI and when it is not ok to use it. For example, assignments that were ok to use AI on were the EOTOs and Trials to help with research that I gathered into a more organized style.

For example, assignments that were not ok to use AI on were the Movie Reflections because those assignments are supposed to be written by you and about what you learned, what was interesting about the movie, and how it related to our class topic and Era that we are focusing on. AI also helped speed up the research process. I went from taking more than 30 minutes to a couple of hours to now 30 minutes or less. The use of AI also made my research more accurate. I say this because the AI was able to take the key points of my notes and research and find articles, books, videos, etc. that were mainly about my topic and give me the most accurate information on those topics. Overall, from this class, I was able to understand how to make the AI work for me and help with making my notes and words more organized. 

High Point University

To conclude our four weeks at the Summer Advantage Program, we gained more than simply eight college credits. The 250 students were able to bond, learn, and grow with one another. We grasped direct insights into college realities and how to properly adapt to High Point University. Throughout the time, we experienced a few key events, seeing our clothes have mysteriously moved in the laundry room, ordering late-night food at The Point, hating the “Follow Me” printers, staying out later than we probably should have, sleeping through all fifteen of our alarms, hearing unexpected knocks on our dorm room doors, creating new friendships, and above all - learning to love our new lives! 

Building where we had our amazing Talking about Freedom class 

Overall, this program and DIS1000 helped us develop as individuals and college students alike. I am proud of our progress during these past four weeks and our future development in the next four years. Thank you.