Boardman Lecture

After my psychology class today, I decided to go to the Boardman Lecture that Grant told us about last week. I walked in and there weren't any students there. Granted I was a little early, but there were a handful of adults. I sat waiting and waiting for it to start and more people to come. As time passed, more adults came into the room and only about a couple students. I definately felt out of place. There were professors there from Penn and other Ivy League institutions who all seemed to have a clear understanding of what was about to happen. Finally, after a 20 minute delay, it started. A woman by the name of Dr. Emily Towns was the speaker, and this year's lecture was about the cultural production of evil in the lives of black people and christian ethics. I'm not going to lie; I didn't really understand a lot of what she was saying, although everyone else in the room seemed to have a pretty good idea. But one of the main concepts of the lecture was her belief that our identities are transformed into commodities. To explain this, she used the example of Aunt Jemima. She was a former slave from the south, and producers of pancake flour decided to use her as the coverwoman for their product. Over the years, her image had changed. She went from having a plump face with big eyes to a pleasant looking, old woman wearing pearls. Her transformation had drastically changed, and I believe that that specific example really proved her point. Now that I come to think of it, identities are not just changed to satisify consumer products, but to satisfy everyday situations. Even if I didn't really have a great understanding of all the material being discussed, I was able to take away an important concept, so I feel like my time was well spent today.