Autumn Fluetsch
Articles
History professor finds success in art and Instagram
A year and a half ago, if you asked history professor Brad Franco about art, he would have said that he was bad at it. Though he is talented at playing and writing music, drawing and painting were never for him. Fast forward to today, and his art Instagram account, which is devoted to sharing his psychedelic-style drawings and paintings, has over ten thousand followers. He even sells some of his artwork through his account.
PODCAST: Mental health Mondays
The Beacon’s new podcast, Mental Health Mondays, will aim to further the conversation about mental health on campus. There are many professors and other members of the UP community that are passionate and dedicated to creating more mental health awareness. This podcast aims to educate the UP community about different mental health concerns, as well as open up a dialogue for something that affects so many students in college. In this first episode, we sat down with psychology professor and neuroscientist Mark Pitzer. Pitzer unpacked what anxiety and depression mean on a neurological level and discussed what happens in the brain when anxious feelings roll in or when depression hits.
You’re registered to vote. Now what?
If you’ve been paying any attention to the news lately, you know it is midterm season. No, not those pesky midterm exams - midterm elections. Midterm elections are on Tuesday, Nov. 6 and the voting process is already underway, with voter turnout predicted to make history. The right to vote is the foundation democracy. This right has been the source of struggle throughout the history of the United States. Women were granted the right less than 100 years ago, and African-Americans continue to face voter discrimination today despite the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Moreau Center offers new Tanzania Immersion focusing on social justice
It may feel like the school year has just begun, but it’s never too early to start planning for next summer. For students wanting to venture far beyond the UP bubble, the Moreau Center for Service and Justice is offering a new three-week long Social Justice Immersion to Tanzania, in Eastern Africa. The Tanzania Social Justice Immersion is the first of the Moreau Center’s immersions to take place in Africa. It was added after the removal of the Nicaragua Immersion program last year. The Tanzania Immersion will focus on learning about environmental sustainability, women’s empowerment and education and other social issues in Tanzania. UP partnered with instructors at Mwenge Catholic University in Moshi, Tanzania to teach lessons about the history of the country to a group of about twelve UP students.
Students face realities of racism on Civil Rights Immersion
More than 2,000 miles from The Bluff, the group walked into a room in Birmingham, Alabama. They heard shouts of racial slurs, including the N-word, through overhead speakers. They saw an illuminated Klu Klux Klan robe in the corner. Further along, a display showed two water fountains. One fountain, labeled “white,” stood tall, clean and properly functioning, while the other, labeled “colored,” was rust-stained. These were the sights and sounds of exhibits in the Civil Rights Institute that a group of University of Portland students visited while on the Civil Rights Immersion, sponsored by UP’s Moreau Center for Service and Justice.
