#qsi2k17

Dr. Howell’s lecture this morning helped me realize that in finding the source you sometimes start from nothing. As historians, we sometimes decide to look at the areas or aspects of history that lack substantive sources to examine what we intend to study. Also as historians, we need to understand that in the nothingness that we tend to find when exploring certain aspects of life and history that there is something. Dr. Howell spoke of finding ledgers that seemed to frame his research, and I believe that this is significant in that this one document helped him figure out the path to more sources. Understanding that sometimes you will start with nothing but in that nothingness, there is a something it is up to you and your passion for your research to figure out where that something will come from.

Dr. Jackson’s lecture from the afternoon left me with the notion that backyard study can help those of us in academia figure out what we are passionate enough to study just by looking in the background. Dr. Jackson told us to look at the background to find out what around you inspires and impassions you. For me, I believe that my predetermined area of study and passion comes from the fact that I am a black woman and the fact that I was raised by and around amazing black women and understanding their role in society.

Tonight I will use my blog to give a little insight into how my research design is going. I will use this platform as a means to exhibit my abstract as that is the easiest and shortest part that will not require a lengthy post that everyone will gloss over.

The scholars with whom I will be in conversation with have determined that the mass sterilization of black women during the late twentieth century relied heavily on the fact that this structural violence was grounded in AFDC welfare policies. Many of the scholars who have focused their research on this topic agree that marginalized women --specifically black in this case-- were sterilized as a result of trying to offset the birthrate and some families dependent on the welfare system. What is missing in this conversation is the historicization of black women’s lack of body autonomy and what that historical context brings to the table regarding this part of the discussion. What is also missing from the conversation is the notion that while coerced sterilization grounded in economics and capitalism and how that functioned as a governing factor for the nation. The primary sources I intend to use will mainly be pulled from newspapers as well as scholarly journals. I also plan to conduct at least three interviews to understand the perspectives of women who lived during the time period I am researching. Two articles will inform the manner in which I form my paper, and they will be the governing bodies for the flow of my research...

Today’s visit to the Hill community was a reminder of the significance of interdisciplinary work. Professor Jackson said that looking at things through the lens of a silo is helpful in understanding the topic within your discipline, but it is also important to comprehend that the silo method does not allow a scholar to have a balanced look at the topic they are studying. That made me think about the context in which we have daily dialogue in this program; we discuss things not just within our disciplines, but we also talk across disciplines to understand how other perspectives add to the conversation. What was significant about that for me was understanding how each discipline that had to do with this project that uncovered a considerable part of history.

Driving through the bottom and looking at the destruction of the bottom and understanding the loss of history in that community, in particular, was important as it showed me how as a historian it is important to look into the historical significance of communities and people who may have been erased from history. That brought me to a lesson from Dr. Brimmer’s 352 class that as historians we must take something from nothing to reconstruct history. Driving through the bottom and remembering Dr. Brimmer’s lecture helped me understand the importance of my topic. In the scope of history, black women are often marginalized, and it is important for historians to take the something and reconstruct history in a way that allows people to hear these stories that were previously unknown. Walking through the Hill and driving through the bottom just highlighted the notion that there is so much in history that is unknown and needs to be brought to the forefront. I can personally say that I did not know about the Hill community or its significance and that prompted me to think about why this program is important; yes, we want to get our Ph.D.’s but understanding the why behind it is important. Recognizing that obtaining a Ph.D. and the research that we do in that process will help to influence the conversation on particular topics is what is most significant about this program.