A Blog on McConnell Center Life

by  Allison Boarman In 1922, a civil war over the Anglo-Irish Treaty broke out in Ireland. Over 100 years later, The Banshees of Inisherin (directed and written by Martin McDonagh) premiered in theaters. A beautifully made movie, both in production and script, has received overwhelming love and support from viewers. Here’s the film’s logline: Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them. The logline might seem like a typical period drama, but Banshees is so much more than an average film. Set on an island off the coast of Ireland during the Irish Civil War, Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), formerly good friends, are embroiled in their fight over the loss of their friendship. The movie continues to escalate as the two formerly close friends fight one another, leading to an unresolved conflict between two men who will never be able to heal and find peace again.  The fi...

 by Abigail Cheek      There is plenty of wisdom to be found in Taylor Swift’s seminal work, Midnights. Perhaps the most profound lyric comes from the eleventh track which peaked at number nine on the U.S hot 100- Karma. Taylor spoke the truth when she sang: “Chatbot is my boyfriend, Chatbot is a god,” or something like that, I’m not really sure, but I think she definitely would have if she knew Chatbot as well as I do. My newfound love for ChatGPT gave me the idea for a blog about the future of AI. I’ll save my lowly human perspective for the end, in the meantime I’ve asked Chatbot to write a little blog post about the way AI works:      Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a buzzword in recent years, but many people are still unsure about what it actually means and how it works. In its simplest form, AI refers to the ability of machines to perform tasks that would typically require human intelligence, such as...

 by Thomas Hulse My mom’s favorite painting is American Gothic. Even if you don’t know the name, I’m sure you can recognize it at a glance. A man gripping a pitchfork stands beside a woman, both posing in front of a white Midwestern house, glum looks on their face. As a kid, I was baffled at how my graphic designer of a mother could find such a boring painting interesting. What about Napoleon Crossing the Alps? The Great Wave Off Kanagawa? The Scream? When there’s so many exciting paintings out there, I could never understand why she enjoyed American Gothic. American Gothic by Grant Wood Who creates culture? A lot of people—possibly even most—would say the elite do. Artists, intellectuals, politicians, celebrities, and the media create the culture that everyone else passively consumes and regurgitates. According to this mythos, the elite dictate everything from politics to style to tradition. However, if there’s one thing that political science research has...

 by Tanner Morrow At the end of 2022, NASA launched Artemis I, the first flight of the Space Launch System (SLS)—the most powerful rocket ever—with the Orion capsule on-board, on an unmanned journey around the moon and back. Sometime in the next few weeks, Space X will already surpass SLS’s record by test-launching a fully assembled Starship for the first time ever. And by the end of the year, NASA will begin work on the first missions to construct the Lunar Gateway, a next-generation space station that will orbit the moon and serve as a way station for missions to the moon and beyond. Clearly, a new era of space exploration is dawning with these missions, and the new day they all strive to bring forth is a permanent human presence on other worlds. I’ve discussed the benefits and dangers of space colonization from the perspective of a late 2010s and early 2020s college student extensively in my previous blogs. However, the rapid advancement i...

  by Claire Harmon            Portia Munson’s work,  The Garden , is an immersive mixed media installation that, at first glance, appears to be a densely packed, chaotic explosion of feminine colors, textures, and patterns taking the form of a woman’s bedroom.  The Garden  is filled to the brim with bright, floral-patterned fabrics covering every inch of the space’s walls, floor, and ceiling. Found items are carefully layered on every possible surface. The bed is an altar overflowing with stuffed animals, and chairs are swathed in layers upon layers of old dresses and faded fabrics with busy patterns. Lamps draped in lace and adorned with artificial flowers bring warm, diffused light to the cramped space as hundreds of plastic and silk flowers spill out of every crack and crevice. Most of the objects in  The Garden  are pink, delicate, and covered in lace or other soft materials. One arrangement of brightly dyed flowers sp...

by Jakob Sherrard   The first of these poems was one that I wrote as a freshman. Deciding that my tone was rather self-righteous, I determined that I needed to supply a response to my jaded younger-self, and provide some insight that I feel I have since learned. Calm down little man, the world is not as bleak as you once believed.      The Ghost of Your Lack of Purpose Walking in fields of light, Surrounded by illusions of grandeur The pale face of the ghost enveloping your spirit. Do your folly acts impress you? Can you feel the truth behind being alive? Perhaps not. Maybe you live through these seeping lies, Searching for an inkling of purpose you’ll never find. Maybe you live to be folly. Maybe you live to die.      A Reminder that the Holy Ghost is a ‘Ghost’ Too Why do we tell ourselves ghosts are scary? Perhaps the best one can do is fall head-on into the illusions. Rather than lies, we tell ourselves what we need to hear. It’s a ne...

By Katie Hayden Many who know me will attest to the fact that I may have been born in the wrong  generation. I am fairly certain that I should have been born in an age when technology was  nearly non-existent or at least in its early stages. Being a STEM major, I have always struggled  with the big “T” that stands for technology because I struggle so much in that area; however, I  am so grateful for the many things and abilities that technology gives us. I am thankful for the  microwave to warm up my food, the curling iron I use to curl my hair, the laptop I am using to  type this blog. I am thankful for the TV that allows me to watch movies with my roommates and  the car I use to drive to work. I am thankful for each of the inventions I use daily, and I definitely  could not pick a favorite; however, some are higher on my list than others. One of my very favorite technological devices is the tiny little camera on the front of my iPhone. I lo...

 By Jakob Sherrard In mid September I attended one of the greatest cultural events of my young life. Louisville’s Bourbon and Beyond is a celebration of good food, good music, and, of course, good bourbon. A festival rooted in the identity of Louisville, Bourbon and Beyond brought together people from numerous backgrounds into an epicenter of culture from which connection could be made: a miracle in its own right in this day and age. After weeks of preparation: who was I going with? How much gatorade and bottled water do I need to buy? And how much school work do I need to complete in order to spend four days in the Kentucky Expo Center Fairgrounds with minimal service surrounded by a sea of strangers? The time was finally coming. I was thrilled to be seeing some of my favorite acts there: Jack White, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Brandi Carlisle, Lukas Nelson, and most importantly, Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam. For those who aren’t familiar with the 90s grunge legends, they’re one of the...

 By Sawyer Depp Walking, Wading, Searching, For Something I don’t know. Doing, Hoping, Loving, For Something long ago. A weed in my mind entrenched Itself among forgotten things, There it sat growing strength As my mind slowly erased. Is it a weed? Or is it meant to stay? Why does it linger so long? If it’s to go, then let it go today. It has bothered me for far too long. But if it is meant to stay, Let it be a dandelion. Let it flower. Let it gray. And when the time is right, Let the Western Wind bring Spring And blow it all away. Sawyer Depp is a McConnell Scholar in the class of 2024. He is studying political science, history, and creative writing at the University of Louisville.

By Jacob Banta  2 Corinthians 6:4-10 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. Trials and hardships can engulf your life in suffering. Sometimes that suffering seems like a storm that does not let up until it beats you into despair. A dark despair in which the mere thought of hope feels like foolishness. This past year I have experienced un...