Webinar “Freedom to teach: A conversation on Black and Queer/Trans Studies now”
Jaida Clouden 11/25/23
After attending this webinar, I learned the discriminative truth about Universities and the LGBTQ community.
The guest speakers helped educate me about the lack of recognition for LGBTQ students and their climate of fear.
A safe space and a welcoming community are needed on campuses. Without a safe space or recognition, LGBTQ students are inclined to face institutional traumas that affect the way they live and learn.
Overall, the webinar made me feel empowered to want to help students.
City Tech’s 8th Annual Science Fiction Symposium
Jaida Clouden 12/1/23
The City Tech’s Science Fiction Symposium was a very interesting experience to be a part of. While Emily Hockaday was speaking, her reviews about how pop culture’s thoughts about the representation of nonbinary people/characters in books/films aren’t specifically sought. She states that due to the lack of representation or disheartening views of non-binaries, many people view them as robots and not humans.
In a conversation that occurred between Emily Hockaday and Marie Vibbert, they talk about the criticism being faced by humans being non-binary or gender fluid. They talk about the loss of depiction that comes with the custom. Marie states that there are a lot of depictions of robots to be nonbinary but not human beings.
The highlight of this event was when Marie Vibbert talked about the cartoon television series Steven Universe. She explains how there are several characters in this comic adaptation that are non-binary characters in it. The reason why this stood out to me the most is because Steven Universe was one of my favorite shows while growing up. Every character is unique in its own way, and it differentiates from common characters used in TV shows. Steven Universe exemplifies Gender and Sexuality and is an ally. Overall, being a part of the City Tech’s Science Fiction Symposium was influential.
