A Blog on McConnell Center Life

By Austin Dillon    “For there are no villains in this story. There’s just a ragtag band of hillbillies struggling to find their way—both for their sake and, by the grace of God, for mine.” - J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy My Appalachian home has once again found itself in the national spotlight, this time for a rehashing of old debates over J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy, prompted by Ron Howard’s new film adaptation of the bestselling memoir. Vance’s story is one of trial and triumph, but its critical reception has been anything but cordial. Despite the book’s initial popularity, a number of Appalachians have spoken out against Vance for using his personal experiences to prescribe solutions to what he views as regional problems. Such critiques were revitalized in 2020 when Netflix brought Vance’s Elegy to television sets across the nation, with some prominent Appalachian voices discouraging Appalachians from even watching the film. Such visceral response to Vance’s narrative is...

 FOR YOUR BOOKSHELF | Dorothy L. Sayers's Gaudy Night My favorite novels are those that provide a mix of entertainment and reflection as to what it means to be human. Among the select group that successfully do both is, for me, Dorothy Sayers’s  Gaudy Night .  Gaudy Night  is part of Sayers’s fictional detective series centered on Lord Peter Wimsey, but to leave it at that would be a blatant disservice.   Gaudy Night   is more than mere (though pleasurable) detective fiction; it is a personal and scholarly exploration of a woman’s “place” in the early 20 th  century.   The book is set in Shrewsbury College, a fictional women’s college at the University of Oxford. Harriet Vane (originally introduced as Lord Peter Wimsey’s love interest but becomes a protagonist in her own right) visits Shrewsbury, her alma mater, for a reunion (known as a “Gaudy”). When mysterious happenings start to occur at the college, she stays in residence at Oxford to at...

 By Grayson Ford   Last semester I was enrolled in my senior seminar course for my economics degree. It was centered on “the economics of happiness." I walked away from this course with something unexpected. More than gaining economic insights about normal topics such as demand equilibrium, the course completely changed the way I go about every day. One of the first things I was asked to do was to read an article centered around the science of what actually influences happiness in human beings. It turns out that among economists and behavioral psychologists there is actually a pretty uniform consensus among the areas that influence happiness and well as the level of each aspect’s impact. The first factor was the role of genetics. Though every person is different to some degree regarding their genetic influence on their happiness, the consensus is that on average one can expect their genetics to be responsible for roughly 50% of their experienced happiness. Perhaps this is the ...

By Dennis Mashindi    At the ripe age of twenty-one, my thought processes on my future are different from many my age. As my collegiate career comes to a close, it is scary to witness many of my peers fail to understand their role and relationship to humanity. As I mature and develop, I know that my purpose is to serve communities locally and globally. The past four years, I have been blessed to travel and understand where it is my talents and passions are needed. Consequently, I envision using medicine as the foundation where health is seen through all aspects of life, giving my African community a chance to be able to build itself back up from the ground.   The field of Global Health is more than a career path; but a long journey of servitude to global communities. As one trains to become a public servant, they must learn to put others' needs first and look to make servitude a lifestyle. From Medicine to African Development, I look to lead my work with the will, co...

 By Emma Lawson  At the conclusion of my senior year of college, and for my last blog as a collegiate McConnell Scholar, I have decided to write on a topic that I have been wrestling with but never knew how to articulate properly. I am thankful that I now have some grasp as to explain this conception that I hope resonates with some of you.  This semester, I began the accelerated master’s program for political science at the University of Louisville. This decision did not come lightly and was a decision that I knew would put the next few years of my life into a specific trajectory. As I “zoomed” into the first graduate course I was enrolled in this semester, my professor made this short statement before we began with content, “In this course, I am going to assume you know nothing…” (in relation to the content of data analysis). While a very general statement, I found myself writing this comment down at the top of my notebook, and after reflection, knew this to be exactly w...

 By George Nalbandian   Being part of the first generation of fluent internet users has its benefits. I feel properly equipped for challenges with technology, I can utilize the internet to make my daily life simpler, and I can consume entertainment at a rate never thought possible in the past. Listening to music, for example, has never been easier. I can cover years of music in single afternoons whereas it might’ve taken days or weeks to track down LPs, CDs, or cassettes before streaming. In many ways, life with the internet is easier.  However, growing up with the internet has led to a fracturing of identities. The ability to interact with others on the internet has led to a process of individuation completely separate from the real world in which individuals and subjects develop identities that are significantly different from their real-world counterparts. This has become complicated even more by the COVID-19 crisis and the idea of “plague subjectivity.” In this brief ...

 By Jasmyne Post   Jameela Jamil is a social advocate and celebrity personality that has accomplished a lot in her career. From speaking on the Senate floor to hosting and starring in several tv shows, the star has built a platform for herself that she uses to further discussions on many social issues. Most prominently, she is the CEO of the iWeigh movement which promotes cultural wellness through preaching a message of body neutrality. Body neutrality is the concept that one can move through life without having to focus on their body. It allows individuals to value themselves outside of their physical being and the movement specifically encourages people to weigh themselves according to their accomplishments, life experiences, and values. The iWeigh movement started as an Instagram page that sought to provide a safe space that promoted radical inclusivity of all body types. The Instagram is still live and thriving. It promotes ideas of self-acceptance and love through empower...