“By looking at their lives and sharing their stories, students are asked to question our system of values. When we look at things from this perspective, we might ask ourselves: ‘Are we as important as we think?'”
“In the end, the question raised by autofiction begs to be asked of the selfie as well: is it truth or is it fiction?”
“As it turns out, mirror self-recognition is fairly rare. Aside from us, great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans), dolphins, and elephants demonstrate self-recognition.”
“I know that someday I have to regain my ‘self’ and express it with brush and ink so that my calligraphy works can eventually become a mediated or alternative “selfie” of me, without me being present in the picture. It will be a long process, and I might not succeed.”
“Selfies seek an accurate depiction at a particular moment in time, and Velázquez’s canvas does the same thing. It is easy to see how the royal couple or the painter himself is the subject of this selfie, but the real subject is you, me… us.”
“The ancient Romans were very concerned about self-image, perhaps as much or more than we are today in this country.”
“Rather than seeing them as an expression of rampant individualism and selfishness, however, I think they seem to express a deep uncertainty of belonging, of future, of relationship, and of historical, personal, and social narrative.”
An important first skill for a language learners is being able to express themselves. Try it out!
Senior Dillon Bechtol has had his fair share of international experiences; a summer at “Russian Boot Camp” and a run in with the Russian government and exploring Eastern Europe, Dillon is ready to take on his next challenge: the Peace Corps. Read on for the interview!
“I think the act of taking a selfie lends itself to a similar ‘plus sign’ analysis; it is the photographers’ desire to show what ‘+’ they identify with or of which collective groups he, she or they imagine themselves a part.”