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Kyle Burton's Perspective on Dr. Dana Williams Presentation

Research & Methodology: Inscription as a Liberating Practice

Dr. Dana William’s presentation provided the perfect wrap-up of the semester’s speakers to rally our group project completion. She explained to us that we need to pursue a lifetime of independent discovery and include with it the appreciation of conducting depth research. Meaningful research with integrity is intellectually liberating. The purpose of higher learning is to free one’s mind. Therefore, we should all use research to detail our arguments. This was an important lesson to comprehend because we will soon be giving presentations to our peers pertaining to making the world a better place. In creating our presentation, Dr. Williams gave us a structure on how to attain information that would be valuable to our audience. We must consider the purpose of our research and consider the reasonables of our research question. With the methodology, we should conceptualize a research design, determine a method of data collection, and consider which disciplinary approach should inform our research. Our framework should question the structure and displaying of our project. We must even provide a literature review that questions history and provides changes in ideas. Our presentation will be the culmination of all that we have learned thus far. The presentation is our opportunity to showcase how we will apply what we have learned to identifying the problems that exist in our society on the broadest of spectrums. The presentation will include perspectives of teammates who have done research of their own, and the project will turn into a melting pot of knowledge! We must take this, and any other work that we do, to heart because it has the capability of changing the community. Dr. Williams said, “All that will be left when I die is the impression that I left on my community.” I want to leave an influential impression.

Kyle Burton's Perspective on Dr. Gbadegesin's Presentation

Omoluabi: Self Actualization & Communal Responsibility

“Immortality is living in the memory of the community.” African stories passed down from generation to generation have allowed historical lessons from our ancestors to greatly impact our lives, even today. In Dr. Segun Gbadegesin’s presentation, we learned the lesson that if you lose your character, you lose everything. When Orumila stressed Ima, she left him. With her leaving, all of the values, treasures, and respect that he once had also vanished. Iwa was more than the beautiful granddaughter of the Supreme Being, Iwa was character. From Dr. Gbadegesin’s story, I learned that no matter what pressures were presented, I must remain within myself. Many obstacles will counter my persistence in becoming the best man that I can be. However, my ethics in handling circumstances should prove consistent and favorable to the improvement of mankind. Following the story, Dr. Gbadegesin preached the importance of self-improvement. We must continue to polish our abilities, our strengths, our weaknesses, and ourselves. I took this message to heart because my father always tells me to never be satisfied. “Even when you are commended with compliments,” he claims, “know that your job is not done and your objective is not completed.” At Howard University, we compete on an international scale, so average conduct will not earn recognition. My favorite part of Dr. Gbadegesin’s presentation was the respect that he exhibited before he even greeted his audience. He gave countless salutes to the visionaries before him, our ancestors, and those who would continue his journey after him. He stressed the importance for all of us to pay homage in all of our endeavors. I have plenty people, here and back home, to thank for what I have accomplished. Therefore, I take this opportunity to salute my family, mentors, and inspirations.

Dr. Carr

Blog Post #1

Dr. Carr

Dr. Carr’s lecture discussed learning, wisdom, and the African world experience. Learning and wisdom always starts with remembering your past. For a foundation we start at Egypt. In Egypt the African origin, humanity, intellectual work, and cultural unity begins. With intellectual work and learning there are four pathways which include: excellent reading and writing, excellent counting and measuring, excellent reflecting in order to contribute, and excellent service. In the pathway of Djehuti it is all about memory and inscription; reading and writing. The pathway of Seshat is about counting and measuring. Following the Seshat is the pathway of ma’at. Ma’at is about order, balance, truth, and justice. From this we learn how to bring good into the world. Therefore to put our paths in action we rewind, rewrite, reflect, and improvise. Our paths all conclude to the meaning of Sancofa and with this we are able to move forward into the future. Overall we learn what learning is, the significance of memory, and the importance of intellectual work. He did a great job presenting the information and I followed his lecture well.

Dr.Georgia Dunston

Blog Post #2

Dr. Gerogia Dunston

Dr. Georgia Dunston focus for her lecture was the age of the human genome and the pursuit of wisdom in the 21^st century. To begin she addressed the question “in what ways is knowledge generated by various fields of study used to develop solutions to human social problems and challenges?” This is not only a question I ask myself when I think about goals in life and my major in college. Dr. Dunston then went on to answer this question by saying that it reveals our human identity and it shows the nature of life. She then begins to explain the genomic text and how it shows biologically the mapping of genes, diseases, and health differentiation. Along with this it explains the population history and the human origins. After this explanation of the genomic text she lost my focus due to a confusion of what she was talking about. However to conclude she left us with a great quote from T.S. Elliot stating that “at the end of all our exploring we shall arrive where we began, and know the place for the first time.” I would have thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Dunston’s lecture however it was a little difficult to follow.

Ten Malone's Dr. Williams Summary

Research Methodology: Inscription as a Liberating Practice
Dr. Dana Williams’ presentation of the final freshman seminar filled the initial expectations of the lectures that I expected to receive in the class. Throughout the lecture, Dr. Williams brought all of the five previous lectures together, explaining how they fit into the main objectives of the class, which was to develop our research and listening skills. The Primary objective of this specific lecture however was to identify the principle components of research, and then related those components to the group project.
The purpose of the research project is to consider the purpose of research, explore the reasonableness of your research question, and too inquire about the question at hand. When considering the purpose of research, Dr. Williams suggest considering what has already been said about the subject, asking ourselves whether our research will reveal something new or different, and knowing what information we have access to. When exploring the reasonableness of our research question, we must ask whether the question is specific enough, if we have time to answer it, and what skills are required to answer the proposed question. When one inquires about the question at hand, Dr. Williams gave the topic a separate name, calling it methodology, or knowing how we will address our problem. In order to know our problem, we must conceptualize a research design by studying various designs, determine the method of date collection by using secondary sources and interviews, and must consider which disciplinary approach to use by deciding whether or not the question is discipline specific or if it can be considered multi- or inter-disciplinary.

Ten Malone's Dr. Segun Gbadegesin

Omoluabi: Self Actualization and Communal Responsibility
In contrast to previous lectures throughout this semester, this particular presentation began with an African folklore. It centered on a character named Iwa, who was not only a beautiful woman, but hailed from a powerful pedigree. She was the daughter of the god of patience, Suru, who in turn was the first son of the supreme deity. Perhaps searching for a spouse of equal standing as her commanding family, Iwa was married to Orunmila, the god of wisdom. Iwa was a good and faithful wife, promising that she would not leave unless he began to stress her. Orunmila swore that he would never cause his beautiful wife any stress, but as their marriage progressed, he went back on his word, and Iwa left. Soon after she was gone, Orunmila’s fortune began to dwindle, and he visited various priests and priestess in order to solve his problem. All of them told him that he would have to make a sacrifice. Orunmila did as he was told, and soon after, his beautiful wife Iwa returned to him. In the tale, Iwa represented one’s character, and the lesson learned from the story is that if you lose your character, you will lose everything, with the journey to getting it back being not half as easy as it was to lose it.
The story of Iwa and Orunmila opened up the lecture for a discussion on the ancient applications of morality. Egyptian texts such as the Ma’at and the instructions of Ptahhotep acted as the moral compass for citizens of the ancient civilizations, giving readers a defined set of rules to follow, as well as providing daily anecdotes for the everyday problem.
While the lecture did not bring forth any unique concepts, the way in which the material was presented was the most engaging given of the class thus far. The drummer beating throughout the duration of the story helped pull me into the fabric of the folktale, coloring the world of Iwa so that it became easier to pull the lesson from the story.