Blog Post #1

Within the first week of class, I’ve learned a lot more about the 1930s and FDR’s New Deal programs. I remember learning about this topic during 6^thgrade history, but it hasn’t surfaced in my mind since then. I always admired FDR’s New Deal because I was impressed as to how one man could think of so many generally positive programs and pull an entire country out of a Depression. Through the readings, I’ve learned what specifically some of the programs did, as well as the fact that in order to get some of them passed, FDR had to ignore some of the racial inequalities in the South. This hasn’t clouded my views of him and the belief that he was a great and successful president. However, I think I would’ve just admired him even more if he didadvocate for African Americans during that time. One could argue that this advocating was done through the form of his New Deal projects; though, I’m referring more towards civil rights initiatives. Then again, according to the readings, the civil rights movement as we know of today came out of FDR’s lack of action in the 1930s/1940s. So, I suppose, everything worked out positively in the end.

I’ve never taken a class that’s mixed history with technology, so I’m excited for what’s in store for the rest of the semester. Just from this past week, I’m excited to learn more about the 1930s decade and what the country looked like beyond the Great Depression. I’m also not technologically savvy, other than knowing more about social media and my Apple products than my parents, so I’m interested in learning more about the history of technology. How did we get from giant, million-dollar computers to me typing this blog post out on my Mac? More important, why is technology so important to society in general? I think I take for granted going on websites and retrieving information, but it’s rarely that I think about how a website or a technological system is made. Even when I do, I feel like it’s too advanced for me to understand. I hope that through this class, I’ll no longer feel that way and be confident in the fact that I can be a successful, informed creator of technology, too.

The digital project that I analyzed was titled, “Virtual Harlem,” an interactive, visual representation of what Harlem, New York looked like during the Harlem Renaissance. The source is the Harlem Renaissance, “circa 1920 – 1934.” The process included sorting information using radial, index, path, and media visualizations to show connections between prominent figures and their works. Dr. Bryan Carter and students at the University of Arizona presented the website by numbering artists, musicians, and writers vertically down the left-hand sidebar, and providing biographical information, pictures, and/or videos when clicked on their names. They also created the “Virtual Harlem” demo using the Virtual World Web. Additionally, all the website was created using Scalar. I think this was a creative way to show this research because it creates a digital environment that lets students who have no connection or knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance really imagine themselves there, interacting with the times, in a way that I don’t believe a textbook, lecture, or movie can.

Johnston, Jessica. “Virtual Harlem.” An Archive for Virtual Harlem, Scalar, 29 Apr. 2015, scalar.usc.edu/works/harlem-renaissance/title-page. Accessed 2 Sep. 2019.

Boyle, Kevin. “The President Proposes . . .” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Apr. 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/books/review/fear-itself-by-ira-katznelson.html. Accessed 2 Sep. 2019.