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mea culpa
I wanted to provide some comments on the purpose of this blog, and an apology for any misunderstanding or misrepresentation of my alma mater, or, more importantly, my faith. A little history might be in order to precisely understand my perspective and goals. I originally began this blog after deciding to apply for and subsequently attend SCAD for a master of fine arts program in graphic design. I had grown up in an academic environment at Bob Jones University, and had a desire to relate my changing academic experience and graphic design work for a personal documentary as well as a dialog and liaison for former professors and friends at BJU.
This personal journalistic perspective in mind, my comments on my courses and professors relate my individual feelings and experiences in this vital stage of my educational process. My comments do not necessarily reflect the feelings of my alma mater, my professors, or my family and friends. Although some comments may appear harsh or denying personal responsibility, I have generally taken every effort to resolve the issue before it appears in a summarized statement. I have made every attempt to give the professor the benefit of the doubt, and in the majority of cases, I learn much through the educational process. Unfortunately, this quarter has been exceptionally difficult, both intellectually and academically. Through the course of this quarter, I have sought opinions from several trusted friends, and, in combination with the criticism of the professor, have attempted to refine my graphic design work. I have received helpful comments from my professors this quarter, but, in the case of social awareness, these comments were sometimes overshadowed by personal bias. Although I had not shared these classroom experiences (since my blog was not pursuant to those goals), they have shaped my perceptions of professors and their criticism. To reject the shaping effect of personal bias on classroom teaching and criticism is ludicrous. My personal bias (or worldview) revolves around my relationship with Christ, and every life experience and design problem can only be understood in relation to that primary relationship. The secular classroom is meant to be a neutral exchange of ideas, but often, the personal worldview of the professor has overwhelmed the proposed neutrality of the subject. I do not posit that the Christian classroom is without bias, or that either educational situation provides an excuse for the Christian to mentally disengage, but, rather, it provides an opportunity to engage secular culture within the necessary Christian context. I have been extremely reticent to provide negative educational context, especially because the majority of my courses at SCAD thus far have been extremely helpful. My positive experiences far outweigh the negative, but to ignore the negative critique and conversation would be disingenuous.
In social awareness, the professor made a point of decrying traditional Christianity and moral values, instead inserting her views on the necessity of Transcendental Meditation and Buddhist philosophy to engage a design problem. It became evident following a series of email correspondence and classroom discussion with the professor that the values that I was attempting to communicate were not understood on a cognitive or visual level (our communication was not effective, probably from either direction.) Further, the project was executed on behalf of the client (in this case, International Christian Concern), and in every other case, design solutions were judged based on the client’s needs and audience appropriateness. It became evident, through the suggestions offered by the professor, that she did not understand or acknowledge the audience appropriateness required by this project. I made every effort to satisfy her unstated visual desires, but, because of incompatible visual languages in the area of religion, we could not come to an amicable consensus on this project.
In summary, my faith in Christ dictates my design methodology. To approach any design problem apart from this foundation would deny the efficacy of Christ to mediate any problem in life. Although a Christian should approach any conflict or disagreement with tact and sensitivity, when confronted with a choice between academic (or visual) acceptability and my ultimate responsibility to Christ, I will gladly reject secular favor in exchange for a clear conscience. Although my goal is to pursue higher education, both as a student, and eventually as a professor, I have come to the conclusion that an acceptable grade is never an excuse to forsake my faith.
I wanted to provide some comments on the purpose of this blog, and an apology for any misunderstanding or misrepresentation of my alma mater, or, more importantly, my faith. A little history might be in order to precisely understand my perspective and goals. I originally began this blog after deciding to apply for and subsequently attend SCAD for a master of fine arts program in graphic design. I had grown up in an academic environment at Bob Jones University, and had a desire to relate my changing academic experience and graphic design work for a personal documentary as well as a dialog and liaison for former professors and friends at BJU.
This personal journalistic perspective in mind, my comments on my courses and professors relate my individual feelings and experiences in this vital stage of my educational process. My comments do not necessarily reflect the feelings of my alma mater, my professors, or my family and friends. Although some comments may appear harsh or denying personal responsibility, I have generally taken every effort to resolve the issue before it appears in a summarized statement. I have made every attempt to give the professor the benefit of the doubt, and in the majority of cases, I learn much through the educational process. Unfortunately, this quarter has been exceptionally difficult, both intellectually and academically. Through the course of this quarter, I have sought opinions from several trusted friends, and, in combination with the criticism of the professor, have attempted to refine my graphic design work. I have received helpful comments from my professors this quarter, but, in the case of social awareness, these comments were sometimes overshadowed by personal bias. Although I had not shared these classroom experiences (since my blog was not pursuant to those goals), they have shaped my perceptions of professors and their criticism. To reject the shaping effect of personal bias on classroom teaching and criticism is ludicrous. My personal bias (or worldview) revolves around my relationship with Christ, and every life experience and design problem can only be understood in relation to that primary relationship. The secular classroom is meant to be a neutral exchange of ideas, but often, the personal worldview of the professor has overwhelmed the proposed neutrality of the subject. I do not posit that the Christian classroom is without bias, or that either educational situation provides an excuse for the Christian to mentally disengage, but, rather, it provides an opportunity to engage secular culture within the necessary Christian context. I have been extremely reticent to provide negative educational context, especially because the majority of my courses at SCAD thus far have been extremely helpful. My positive experiences far outweigh the negative, but to ignore the negative critique and conversation would be disingenuous.
In social awareness, the professor made a point of decrying traditional Christianity and moral values, instead inserting her views on the necessity of Transcendental Meditation and Buddhist philosophy to engage a design problem. It became evident following a series of email correspondence and classroom discussion with the professor that the values that I was attempting to communicate were not understood on a cognitive or visual level (our communication was not effective, probably from either direction.) Further, the project was executed on behalf of the client (in this case, International Christian Concern), and in every other case, design solutions were judged based on the client’s needs and audience appropriateness. It became evident, through the suggestions offered by the professor, that she did not understand or acknowledge the audience appropriateness required by this project. I made every effort to satisfy her unstated visual desires, but, because of incompatible visual languages in the area of religion, we could not come to an amicable consensus on this project.
In summary, my faith in Christ dictates my design methodology. To approach any design problem apart from this foundation would deny the efficacy of Christ to mediate any problem in life. Although a Christian should approach any conflict or disagreement with tact and sensitivity, when confronted with a choice between academic (or visual) acceptability and my ultimate responsibility to Christ, I will gladly reject secular favor in exchange for a clear conscience. Although my goal is to pursue higher education, both as a student, and eventually as a professor, I have come to the conclusion that an acceptable grade is never an excuse to forsake my faith.
April 9th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
Wow.
Looks like this has been a demanding trimester for you. Thanks for posting this. We hardly ever get a chance to talk about things, so I’m glad God was helping you through all this.
I like your coffee ones. I mentioned that you were doing some ads on persecuted Christians in other countries and they asked if you knew about some group (it was a different one than the one you picked). Anyway, I was sure you were already finished with those, so I didn’t pass it along.
I’m glad you’re getting a chance to work through this stuff. And post on it, too! I’ll probably be there in a year or so, but I may be on the same page with my major professor, so….we’ll see.