Going to Lawrence means there are certain classes that you need to take to graduate. For some this may seem like a burden, when in reality it is an eye opening experience, immersing you in different subjects you wouldn’t normally be learning about. As a math major, I don’t feel like I’m just swimming in math because every term I have had the chance to take another class not required for my major, but many are indeed required for my degree. I’ve taken philosophy, theater, history, english, geology classes and more… but this term was something different.
I needed to fulfill my dimensions of diversity credit, and I was very excited to find a class… but it was proving to be a difficult task finding one. I saw a flyer in my dorm of ETST 300: Strong Women, Strong Nations: Perspectives of Contemporary Native American Women. I saw it was a brand new class and I readily signed up for it, not knowing what to expect.
Our wonderful Professor, Brigetta Miller.
I walked in the first day and saw over 20 women sitting in a circle with my new Professor Brigetta Miller, a member of Stockbridge-Munsee, who also teaches in the Conservatory. I think we were all in shock to see just so many beautiful and unique women in the room with so many diverse backgrounds of so many different ages and majors of all sorts. The diversity in that room was eye–opening, and I learned so much in just 10 weeks from all of these incredible women who all had something new to teach me. The class was based around discussion of books that we read, written by Native American women. It was enriching and eye opening; I had rarely been taught about Native American history, so it was even more interesting to learn about Contemporary Native American’s. We also had many Native American speakers that we got to hear as a class; they were incredible and really showed us the contemporary Native American culture.
This is Wade Fernandez, he performs all around the world, and we got to listen to him speak when he came to Lawrence!
The books we read all touched my heart, and the conversations we had were so deep. I usually am very quiet in classes, but this class I knew was a safe space, one where I wouldn’t be judged for any input I made. I saw classmates share their deepest secrets with us, and I could not admire them more for being so brave and courageous. I learned from my peers as well as the readings, we all learned from each other and I ended up learning about many cultures rather than just the Native American tribes. This class changed me as a student; I felt more engaged in the discussions and always made sure I was caught up on all the reading, simply because I was excited to participate, and to be engaged in this class that opened my mind so much every time.
I learned from the incredibly strong women that I was surrounded by. During 10th week we presented our final projects. There was no real criteria, it was just to go off something we had learned in the class, and potentially relate it to something in your life. The projects proved to be more than just interesting, it was an opening into each of the women’s very different lives, and how Native American culture resonated with them in unique ways — no two presentations were alike. It was such a safe space to discuss really tough topics, many topics that I would avoid simply because they were difficult to talk about, but it was a place where we could discuss anything. We knew we all had different opinions and rather than judging each other for it, we respected each other and learned from everyone.
A couple of my amazing classmates, along with other students, standing against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
I think this is just one example of how great Lawrence University is; we learn from our diverse culture here. We are able to learn from our peers who come from all different backgrounds. I took this class expecting to just learn about Native American culture, which I was very excited about, but instead I learned about even more cultures than just one. If it was not for the requirement I may not have taken this class, or even found it for that matter. This liberal arts college allows me to open my eyes to other topics, cultures and subjects that I wouldn’t have seen if I just stuck strictly to mathematics, and was unable to branch out and learn about other cultures and what they have to teach me. I would suggest this class to anyone; it was an amazing experience about a topic we rarely are taught about. I will cherish all that I learned this term from my class, my peers and my wonderful professor. It was a experience unlike any other, just another reason I am thankful to go to Lawrence University and have opportunities such as this one.