Presentation Title

Oral Presentations: Social Sciences II

Presenter Information

Sachi Ajmera, Pearl River Community College
MyKayla Williamson, University of Mississippi

Description

Video is provided of MyKayla Williamson's presentation.

Comments

Sachi Ajmera, Pearl River Community College

How Social Media Creates Political Polarization in America

Social media apps and websites are purely programmed to suck in a user for as long as possible by any means necessary. These “means” are primarily based on showing users personally tailored content to create an addiction fueled by a cycle of confirmation bias and dopamine. This bias creates disillusionment of one’s personal views being the extent of reality, and in a society where half the world uses social media, a small percentage of extreme opinions can effortlessly cause disruption in society. Furthermore, many people who oppose America, whether within the country or not, have learned how to manipulate this confirmation bias to cause politically neutral users to have extreme views.

MyKayla Williamson, University of Mississippi

By Her Hands: An Analysis of the Hidden Labor of Black Women at the Hugh Craft House from 1850-1900

This project considers the gap in theorizing the hidden labor of Black women in the seldom-researched setting of urban slavery. The project unearths the hidden labor of Black women by analyzing architectural, primary, and secondary documentary evidence surrounding the urban antebellum Hugh Craft House site in Holly Springs, Mississippi. It draws on household and Black feminist archaeology theories to uncover the hidden labor in the domestic spheres that the enslaved women were actively shaping. Research methods included watching clips of Behind the Big House tour interpretations; taking a Craft House tour in Holly Springs; looking at primary sources like Works Progress Administration narratives and federal census records; and consulting secondary sources on antebellum households, household archaeology, and Black feminist archaeology. This research finds that the layout and architecture of the site were designed to give Black women restricted and hidden access to the main house. It also shows that although the Craft family and descendants still relied on Black labor after the Civil War, the expectations for their labor were different.

Recommended Citation

Ajmera, Sachi and Williamson, MyKayla, "Oral Presentations: Social Sciences II" (2022). Mississippi Undergraduate Honors Conference. 1.
https://athenacommons.muw.edu/muhc/2022/track41015amconcurrentsession1/1