Joining a New Family

I've always been fascinated by researching my family history, but until this class, I had never considered the concept of ideological ancestry. My connection to a broader legacy through the books I read, the classes I take and teach, and even the informal conversations I have with students, professors and co-workers puts a lot of things into perspective. Over the past several weeks, my research for this project has led me to discover the deep connections and profound complexity that exists in our discipline. I'm just now starting to see a pattern emerge within this tangled, messy network.

Marilyn, Michaela, and I interviewed Dr. Trujillo, who told us about a host of diverse people who had influenced her. We then began the process of researching these people and their many influences; I focused on Barbara Harlow and Ben Olguin. Dr. Olguin responded to my inquiry by writing, "I have had many influences in my life: my mother, who taught me to read, Karl Marx, who taught me to critique, and Mao Tse-Tung, who taught me to fight." Dr. Olguin credits both his biological family and his ideological family with making him who he is today. That's the biggest lesson I've taken away from this project so far: entering a field of study is like joining a family. As you listen to arguments, form ideas, and eventually enter the conversation, you are actually becoming part of a rich legacy of thought.

One idea I had for the board was some kind of "ripples in a pond" aesthetic. Each figure is the center of his/her own ripples. Some of the ripples overlap, and some are far removed from each other, but all of them are in the same pond. Whatever the result, I hope that our creation reflects both the order and the messiness of our rich rhetorical legacy.