Student displays honor notable women
Published 11:30 am Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Art: Women who have contributed to art are featured in a student display.
Authors: Female writers were highlighted in the Women's History Month display.
Bailey Arant looks at the history displays as a part of Women's History Month at the Jefferson State Community College Chilton-Clanton Campus.
Women from a range of backgrounds and professions are featured in the Women's History Month display. (Photos by JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)
By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer
CLANTON —Women’s History Month is being recognized on the Jefferson State Community College Chilton-Clanton Campus through student displays open to the public.
History, literature and art appreciation students developed displays about notable women. Their work is displayed this week in the front lobby and hallways at the college.
“This is the third semester our literature, history and art classes have collaborated on a themed project,” Associate Dean Ashley Kitchens said. “I, as the literature instructor involved, am honored and grateful for coworkers like David McRae (history) and SueAnne Hoyt (art) that see the value in cross-curricular activities that expand students’ understanding base by making them transform learned information into a visual representation.”
The literature portion of the display features posters and brochures about female writers.
McRae’s students worked on their projects throughout the semester after being assigned a person to research. Students were divided into small groups to complete the project.
“We wanted to give our students an opportunity to do something that helps the public at large learn more about important areas in history and literature,” McRae said. “I saw this as a tremendous opportunity to have students do high level collegiate research without sort of the pressure of writing a paper.”
McRae said his students already do a lot of writing in his classes. Women throughout western and U.S. history were featured.
“They’ve gone above and beyond my expectations,” McRae said.
McRae asked students to include information on what influenced this person and why they are significant in history. Students developed a display board and a visual element to sit on the table.
“The idea is to mimic a museum,” McRae said. “In a museum, you have something on the wall and then you have the artifact. They created the artifact and the information up on the wall.”
Hoyt offered extra credit for students who chose to create something for the display. “They surprised me,” Hoyt said of the detail students included about the female artists they chose to feature. “I think some of them really enjoyed it.”
The students’ projects will be on display until Friday. The Clanton campus is located at 1850 Lay Dam Road.
