Race, public education, maps, and ravioli

Annie Hoffman here, Student Journalist for the Libraries. Here’s what I’ve been up to this week!

I am about to start a podcast from the New York Times called Nice White Parents, which was recommended to me by a friend. We are both future educators, and the podcast examines how race and specifically whiteness operate in public education.

I look forward to expanding explorations that began in courses I have taken as part of the DirecTrack to Teaching program. DirecTrack is an exploratory program that offers undergraduate students early exposure to the culture of schools through coursework and service learning. It has been a powerful element of my own undergraduate experience.

I also explored the online components of the John R. Borchert Map Library, which is housed in Wilson Library and features an extensive collection of maps and aerial photographs. I found aerial images of my hometown from as early as 1936! Alphabetized by county, the Libraries’ aerial photography holdings are available online.

Finally, I have been experimenting with making pasta from scratch. My latest project was ravioli, which was time-consuming but absolutely worth it.

As we enter August, I will continue to seek out opportunities to learn about my community and my role within it.

—Annie Hoffman