LeaderShape: Fall 2019LeaderShape is a national organization that runs a week-long leadership training camp called the "Institute". I participated with a group of around 75 other Honors students, freshmen through seniors, from the University of Cincinnati. The Institute approached leadership from several angles to equip the participants with the tools to be effective leaders in the world. We played challenging games to practice teamwork. We listened to firsthand accounts from the instructors about their experiences with oppression, and discussed how we can actively fight oppressive systems. Each day covered a different aspect of leadership in the world today.
The biggest thing I took away from my experience with LeaderShape was the Breakthrough Blueprint, pictured here. We spent an entire day of the Institute coming up with visions of change that we hoped to see in the world. We broke each vision down into long-term stretch goals, then we broke the stretch goals down into manageable goals to start working on now. I have already taken real steps toward one of my manageable goals. I am excited to see how these principles continue to guide my future! |
Ethics in Criminal Justice: Spring 2021
UC offers several unique seminar classes as Honors experiences each semester. These classes are open to honors students from any major and often cover topics that touch several fields of study. This Ethics in Criminal Justice course was taught by a psychology professor in the criminal justice department. My classmates included criminal justice students, active student government officers, and crime victims with firsthand experience of the criminal justice system. This variety of perspectives fostered engaging discussion every time we met.
At the beginning of the semester each student was assigned a portion of the criminal justice system to research and present on. Our research and class discussions culminated in an essay explaining our topic and suggesting meaningful ideas for reform. My essay focused on the collateral consequences that convicts, particularly felons, face even after they leave the prison system. These consequences can include restrictions on work, ineligibility for government welfare, and even deportation. I learned a ton about the United States' criminal justice system through my research and other student's presentations. But perhaps more importantly, this class was an exercise in hearing diverse opinions, having meaningful discussions about difficult topics, and producing concrete steps for improvement. |
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Dinosaurs, Dragons, and Dogma: Spring 2022
This Honors experience, like the previous one, took the form of a seminar class. Taught by a paleontology professor and a philosophy professor, the class examined how scientific conclusions can be influenced by the people involved. We looked specifically at the different ways dinosaur bones have been interpreted throughout time and how the people at that time applied their existing understanding of the world to the fossils. For example, the ancient Greeks often interpreted fossils as the corpses of giants and legendary heroes from their mythology. In the present day, many specimens of dinosaur feather imprints may have been lost simply because no one thought these creatures could possibly have feathers. What other discoveries might we be passing over, even now, because our assumptions have blinded us to the unexpected reality?
This class took several field trips, most notably to the Cincinnati Museum Center and the Creation Museum. Both of these institutions use paleontology to explain past circumstances and events, but they arrive at very different conclusions. Our final project for the semester compared these two museums and their scientific sources, methods of delivering information, and assumptions about scientific authority. This analysis opened my eyes to the dramatic effect that unspoken assumptions and subtle presentation methods can have on the conclusions drawn by an information consumer. I will now be more conscious about my own assumptions and intentions while writing, and take greater care to avoid twisting facts in my own favor. |
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Home Server: October 2021 - October 2022
Beginning in October of 2021, I set out on a self-designed honors experience to build a home server network that would host a website and some game servers for myself and my friends. The main goal of the project as a whole was to push the limits of what I had learned in my degree thus far and gain new knowledge through my own exploration outside the classroom. The specific goal behind the website was to create a place where other people could learn to do what I had done and be inspired to take on their own similar projects. The intention behind the game server was a place for my friends to gather and hang out, despite limitations on in-person meetings imposed by physical distance and the pandemic.
Throughout the year, I worked bringing the project to life. I ran into some expected problems and many unexpected ones. I occasionally suffered major setbacks, but I persevered to the end. After 7 months of work, the game servers went live in May 2022. I continued to test and tweak things on the servers while I started work on the website. The first version of my site went public a few months later, and the final version went up in October 2022. I have no way of knowing whether other people have found my site useful, but I definitely met my other two goals. I learned an enormous amount about the technologies involved, and got better at finding reliable information on the internet. Dozens of my friends, from as far away as Australia, joined my game servers to spend time together over the summer. I ultimately found this project to be extremely educational, enjoyable, and fulfilling. |
The image above is a network diagram that shows the layout of my physical and virtual hardware. You can visit my site for yourself at msdumford.tplinkdns.com.
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Human Condition: Spring 2023
For my final honors experience, I took a seminar class that examined what it means to be human. Organized around the three main axes: mind, body, and soul. Each week we read sections from the works of famous thinkers, philosophers, and theologians: Plato, Thomas Aquinas, Homer, C.S. Lewis, Kass. Through group discussions about the texts, we examined life from many angles. We considered the importance of dining with others. We discussed what it means to be free, or to have liberty. We contemplated whether higher truths might exist. In every discussion, we offered up our own interpretations of the world to compare with each other.
One of the very first things we read was a "letter to the editor" by a woman who referred to herself as Haunted. Haunted is struggling with a number of deep questions regarding her identity and worth. We often referred back to this letter as a reminder of the importance of our discussions. Finding meaning and purpose in life is significant, and the questions will eventually come find you if you never answer them. At the end of the course, our final assignment was to write a response to Haunted, as if we were the original recipient of her letter. I drew on a variety of the specific texts and general concepts that I had picked up in class, as well as my personal experience wrestling with these questions, to craft my response. The result is a sincere and personal recommendation for how to live well. I am extremely grateful for the discussion and introspection that was fostered in this seminar. I know I will take many lessons from this class with me for a long time. |
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