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More Than Just Vegetables

By Reina Ackerberg High on the Hog – How African American Cuisine Transformed America, written by Jessica B. Harris, starring Stephan Satterfield, and directed by Tony Walsh, works to tell the story of many different African American dishes that have now come to establish American food. This documentary works to highlight innovative aspects of pastContinue reading “More Than Just Vegetables”

Tommy Pico and the Kumeyaay Nation: A Brief Historical and Cultural Context

While reading Homegoing, I found myself repeatedly feeling like something was missing from my understanding of the book. It was difficult to answer questions concerning homophobic culture in Ghana versus Britain when I didn’t have any initial cultural background about Asante and Fante culture, geography, language, and dynamics. While in class, I watched as weContinue reading “Tommy Pico and the Kumeyaay Nation: A Brief Historical and Cultural Context”

Why Making Assumptions is Dangerous: An Example From Class

By: Roy Chebaclo Today in class, my classmates and I had a large group discussion where we shared our writing from the weekend. The writing was from an assignment where we had the opportunity to engage with a character from Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, the novel we are currently reading, on a personal/first-person basis. ThisContinue reading “Why Making Assumptions is Dangerous: An Example From Class”

Homegoing: viewing through different lenses

By Ella Deignan In Gyasi’s novel titled Homegoing, Gyasi offers stories from individuals and intertwines each of the stories to create a more complex tree of relationships. Through these relationships, we as the reader can see the story through a window, viewing these new ideas, cultures, and individuals through literature. However, we can also useContinue reading “Homegoing: viewing through different lenses”

Straight Men Are So Gay!

By Frederick Loew After reading Tom Maude-Griffin’s 2013 senior speech, “Balls, Balls, and More Balls!” I was left with not only a lasting impression of the hilarity of his speech, but also a deep feeling of connection with his words. His message was something I had been trying to put into words for years, “theContinue reading “Straight Men Are So Gay!”

The Importance of Names in Homegoing

By Reina Ackerberg Homegoing, written by Yaa Gyasi, includes a vast variety of names, varying from extremely short to long, and common to unique. What are names? And why are they important? According to the Equity and Inclusion Office of British Columbia, “Our names are an incredibly important part of our identity. They carry deepContinue reading “The Importance of Names in Homegoing”

From Courtier to Modern Man: Snapshots of Gender Roles throughout Time

By Daria Haner We can all agree that Western gender roles have changed vastly from generation to generation– from the proper Victorian lady of the house, to the stereotypical 1950s housewife, to the working woman today. However, I would like to explore how masculinity has developed over the generations, specifically in Europe and the UnitedContinue reading “From Courtier to Modern Man: Snapshots of Gender Roles throughout Time”

Using gender as a weapon

By Ella Deignan Lysistrata is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It’s a comic account of a woman’s extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city-states by denying all the men of the land any sex, which was the only thing they truly and deeplyContinue reading “Using gender as a weapon”

“Family Is Like the Forest”

by Sage Marmet Yaa Gyasi’s epigraph in Homegoing, an Akan proverb, rings so undeniably true about families and each of their respective dynamics. The epigraph reads, “Abusua te sε kwaε: sε wo wↄ akyire a wo hunu sε εbom; sε wo bεn ho a na wo hunu sε nnua no bia sisi ne baabi nko”Continue reading ““Family Is Like the Forest””

The Modern Faces of Lysistrata

An art piece of Lysistrata By: Catherine Zhang Lysistrata, an Ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, accounts for Lysistrata (an Ancient Greek woman) trying to stop the Peloponnesian War by uniting all the Greek women under the oath that they deny all men the right to have sex with them unless they create a peace treaty.Continue reading “The Modern Faces of Lysistrata”