Evan Gackstetter Loomis Chaffee GESC 2024

Learning Artifacts

GESC Coursework

• The Filipino Immigrant Experience - Final Project in CL Immigration & Ethnicity
• I've selected my final project in CL Immigration as one of the assignments of which I'm most proud of for this webpage. I believe that this presentation truly enhanced my "Seek Knowledge" pillar of our engaged citizenship matrix as I was able to bring myself to a closer understanding of my own heritage as an American citizen. Learning through my own research how some aspect of my cultural identity ended up within American society was a truly special process since this presentation had so many close ties to my Filipino heritage and also allowed me to converse with my grandma about her own experience immigrating to the US.
• Response to The Chair Carrier Short Story - CL Writing from the Arab World Final
• For my second learning artifact, I've selected my final paper for my winter term English class, CL Writing from the Arab World. In this assignment I was tasked with selecting a passage in any of the texts that we had read that I found particularly resonates with me and give a 2-3 page response to the passage. The passage I selected was from a short story called The Chair Carrier written by Yusuf Idris. I found the following dialogue to resonate with a health obstacle that happened to me over the past summer: “Put it down. Aren’t you fed up, man? Aren’t you tired? Throw it away, break it up, burn it... Seeing that it’s wearing you out and breaking your back, you should throw it down – you should have done so ages ago” (The Chair Carrier, 3). I believe that this assignment aligns with the Alvord Center's "Develop Skills" pillar as this assignment was a really cool opportunity for me to bridge my own personal experience with literature based in Arabic culture.

GESC Seminars

• Seminar #2 Reflection: Our first cohort off-campus trip was a great success! Traveling to New Britian to interact with a community of our peers of whose culture I, admittedly, don’t know all that much about was a great privilege. This trip enhanced my understanding of not only the Muslim-American experience but also of the experience of youth immigrants growing up in this country. From the get-go, the leaders of the Mosque, like Maha and their Imam attacked the subject of stereotypes head-on and made clear to us that their communal gathering place could be a safe space to question and confront our preconceived notions of Islam and the Muslim community. Although we came into the trip with questions already in hand, I gained the greatest value in the raw conversations I was able to have with the girls of the mosque who were sitting at my table. As Leah pointed out around when the catered food came in, we could have spent our two hours awkwardly sitting around a table and not interacting, but instead each of us chose to be vulnerable in our own respective ways. My work as a GESC scholar was impacted by this trip because this opportunity let me connect the dots of our “Enhance Understanding” pillar between larger world issues. I linked larger world issues like Islamaphobia, the US immigration crisis, to the ways the Muslim community in our own smaller Connecticut area is striving to make an impact and remedy these issues on a smaller scale. After this experience, I’m eager to become more educated about the Muslim community in the Connecticut area and understand their experience in comparison to the wider nation.
• Seminar #4: Attending Robin Okunowa's climate seminar was a captivating experience that provided a comprehensive understanding of environmental justice for someone like me who isn’t well versed on the subject. Robin headed her presentation through the lens of the five elements: earth, wind, fire, water, and heart. Robin is the director of the Planeteer Alliance Project by the Captain Planet Foundation focused on the importance of youth involvement in environmental efforts. A significant focus was placed on the “earth” element, where Robin delved into the food justice movement, shedding light on the alarming fact that one-third of food is wasted globally, while 10% of the world's population goes to bed hungry, presenting a stifling paradox that I had been unaware even existed. Her discussion on “wind” revolved around the concept of a "circular economy" and the critical examination of our waste's lifecycle, prompting a reflection on the intersection of waste management and social justice. This was particularly impactful, urging attendees to consider the broader implications of their daily waste. “Water” was discussed as a universal human right, declared by the UN in 2010, with her also exploring the theme of water commoditization since colonial times. This segment of the seminar sought to reveal the ongoing struggles and the universal nature of water, pushing for a reevaluation of our relationship with this vital resource. Lastly, the “heart” element emphasized the need for empathy and understanding in environmental justice. Robin highlighted how climate anxiety affects many and underscored the importance of finding personal connections to environmental justice, regardless of one's industry. Reflecting on the seminar, I can establish a clear connection between this seminar and the “Seek Knowledge” portion of our engaged citizenship matrix. Gaining a better understanding of what our world looks like from a social justice-oriented perspective is key to being a more aware and engaged world citizen. Knowing that I can still help build the best version of the world from whatever professional industry of my choice is a very motivating message I gained from this seminar!

GESC Electives

GESC Experiential Education