Anthropology Department at Washburn University has a Multimodal Exhibit on "Truth"
Article - 7 minute read
In the spring of 2022, students of Assistant Professor of Anthropology Dr. Jason Miller's AN322/HN302 Visual Anthropology course created a multimodal exhibit on "truth" as part of WUmester 2022. WUmester was all about the topic of "truth". In an article about WUmester 2022 by the Washburn Review, they state,
"And who decides what’s true? Former Black Panther Party member Albert Woodfox will address that and recall his co-conviction in the murder case of a prison officer, and the unimaginable amount of solitary confinement he was sentenced to."
The Black Panther Party was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded in 1966. Woodfox was invited to speak on March 1, 2022 at the Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center as part of the "key WUmester events".
The multimodal exhibit is still up at the time of this publishing. It is located on the second floor of the Henderson Learning Resources Center at Washburn University where the anthropology/sociology department is located. In this hallway is a board that has a boarder that says, "We are a RAINBOW of possibilities". The rest of the boarder is a rainbow of colors with cartoons of different races of people. The board also displays the nine professors and lecturers. Eight of the nine are White with the ninth, Associate Professor of Sociology Sangyoub Park, being Asian.
A poster about the exhibit is also in the hall. It says,
"This exhibit is the culmination of our work this semester exploring the theme of Truth through multimodal anthropology. We grappled with questions such as: What is truth? What is the influence of media on how we perceive truth? How do anthropologists document truth? Whose truth is documented? How can we chart the disciplinary trajectory from positivists and postmodern approaches to visual anthropology? Why are participatory and community-based approaches valuable? Student projects dialogued with these and other questions as they explore the theme."
Below that poster, another poster explains what "multimodal anthropology," an emerging subfield in anthropology, is,
"noun A subfield of cultural anthropology that 'seeks to include traditional forms of visual anthropology while simultaneously broadening the purview of the discipline to engage in variety of media forms that exist today."
Beside these posters is another poster that gives three definitions of "truth".
Definition 1: noun The quality or state of being true.
Definition 2: noun The truth. That which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.
Definition 3: noun Truths. A fact or belief that is accepted as true.
The Winston Dictionary for Schools Copyrighted in 1958 also gives three definitions for "truth".
Definition 1: noun The quality of being according to fact; agreement with facts; as, his testimony has the ring of truth; also, correctness; accuracy.
Definition 2: noun Sincerity of speech and action; as, there is no truth in him.
Definition 3: noun A generally accepted or proved fact; as, the truths of science.
In the New Webster's Dictionary Copyrighted 1995, it gives the definition, "facts corresponding with actual events or happenings; sincerity or honesty."
In both twentieth century dictionaries "truth" was defined as something founded on the principle of facts. However, in the third definition that the Washburn poster provides, "truth" can be a fact or a belief. In the first definition they provide, all it says is, "The quality or state of being true." Simple enough, but what do Washburn University students think that means? We don't actually have to guess too hard as the multimodal exhibit answers that question for us.
The exhibit provided two large sheets of paper for students to write on. Above the sheets of paper, there is a poster that says, "Join the conversation: What does truth mean to you? Write or draw your response on the paper below"
One student wrote, "People don't like the truth! :( The truth is, You're on Native Land"
Another student said truth is "subjective" while another said it's "Your own personal feelings"
One student wrote, "Truth means not having to hide who you are" while another wrote, "Truth means acceptance"
Another student wrote "Truth is the universally accepted "law". However truth is one's own "laws"/values (which is a lot more common) - There are universes where 1+1=3"
Student projects looked at things like gender in horror movies, a day in my life through pictures, and one by Alex Griffiths explored 'LGBT History of Topeka'. A web timeline was provided. In it, information is presented in a biased light such as in 2018 where it notes, "SB 284 allows adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT parents." What SB 284 actually does, and I say this as a man who happens to be gay, is it protects child placement agencies (CPAs) first amendment right to freedom of religion. It does not ban LGBT people from adopting in Kansas.
What it lists for 2022 is also presented in a biased light. On the web timeline, it states, "Washburn Trans Visibility Rally organized in counter to a speaker invited on campus." However, Griffiths put, "Washburn Trans Visibility Rally organized in counter to an anti-trans speaker invited on campus on trans visibility day." Neither Griffiths or the web timeline name this person, but it was right-wing political commentator Michael J. Knowles who was invited by the Washburn University College Republicans to give a speech titled, "Banning Transgenderism." This was something that the university president Jerry Farley opposed according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.
"While I am strongly in the support of First Amendment rights, I am disappointed when those rights are used to make others feel unwelcome and even unsafe in our community," Farley wrote. "While we support the right to speak freely, Washburn University does not condone the hate and misinformation spread by the speaker and his supporters."
Knowles went after Farley in his podcast, accusing the university president of defamation and slander and challenging him to cite specific examples of "hate and misinformation."
In another bullet point for 2022, Griffiths writes, "A wave of discriminatory legislation related to trans youth such as Bill 484 (sports) and Bill 58 (censoring school texts) are pushed. However, as of this month they have been vetoed. For now."
SB 484 would make it so biological females would not have to compete against biological males unless teams were coed. SB 58 is called the Parents' Bill of Rights and does not "censor school texts," but does do quite a few things, including,
Establishes the following parental rights to be reserved for every parent of a child in the state of Kansas, including the right to (Sec. 1):
Direct the education and care of their child;
Direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of their child;
Request, access, and inspect all written and electronic records maintained by the school relating to their child;
Be informed of and inspect the curriculum, instructional materials, and any other materials that are made available or taught to their child in school;
Attend publicly designated meeting of the local school board and the right to question and address school officials during designated public comment periods or through letters, electronic communications, or in-person meetings;
Make healthcare and medical decisions for their child;
Expect their child and each teacher and educator of their child from being compelled to affirm, believe, profess, or adhere to any idea that violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964;
Expect their child’s school from contracting with teacher professional development providers that promote racially essentialist doctrines or practices that have been held to violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964;
Expect their child’s teacher or educator to present facts without distortion, bias, or personal prejudice;
Expect their child’s teacher or educator to eliminate coercion that forces teachers and educators to support actions and ideologies that violate individual professional integrity; and
Assert any other inalienable or constitutional right that is reserved to the parent and the child pursuant to state or federal law.
Specifies that this bill shall take effect after its publication into the statute book (Sec. 2).
Visual Anthropology (AN322) at Washburn University is a 3 credit hour class. The cost of a 3 credit hour class at Washburn University is $927 for Kansas residents and $2,106 for out of state residents.