{"id":9406,"date":"2021-06-04T17:40:28","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T17:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2021\/08\/06\/mayx-snapshots\/"},"modified":"2023-10-09T11:28:57","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T15:28:57","slug":"mayx-snapshots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/mayx-snapshots\/","title":{"rendered":"MayX Snapshots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Presenting some highlights from the 2021 May Experience<\/a> \u2013 a chance for students to explore topics beyond the typical academic year.<\/em><\/p>\n

The truth behind true crime<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"Local<\/a>

Podcaster Brad Wills chats during a MayX course.<\/p><\/div>\n

Margaret Oakes\u2019 lesson is straightforward: True crime happens to real people.<\/p>\n

The students who signed up for her MayX class are \u201ccrime junkies,\u201d she says \u2013 fans of podcasts like \u201cSerial\u201d and \u201cMy Favorite Murder\u201d and streaming miniseries like \u201cMaking a Murderer\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t F**k with Cats.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to explore why we\u2019re so interested in this and what it says about us,\u201d Oakes says. \u201cIt isn\u2019t because we are evil people; it\u2019s because we are following a story that is based in fact but has been created by someone else.\u201d Read more…<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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A deep dive into swimming \u2013 and culture, psychology and literature<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Professor Melinda Menzer.<\/p><\/div>\n

In the segregated South in the mid-20th<\/sup> century, where a city chose to put a swimming pool could literally be a life-or-death decision.<\/p>\n

Black people, of course, could not swim in pools reserved for whites only \u2013 and \u201cthe response to the need to desegregate public pools was to shut them down,\u201d says Melinda Menzer, professor of English at Furman. \u201cThe city pools were shut down or privatized rather than integrate them.\u201d<\/p>\n

No access to public pools meant less chance to learn to swim, which likely led to higher rates of drowning among Black children, Menzer says. Read more…<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

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Making humans central to the process with design thinking<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"Adhesive<\/a>

Mapping a problem in a class on design thinking.<\/p><\/div>\n

Problem 1: How can a nonprofit agency use social media to increase its reach to those in Greenville\u2019s Spanish-speaking population who may need domestic violence services?<\/p>\n

Problem 2: How can an elementary school teach its students in kindergarten through fifth grade a novel approach to problem-solving?<\/p>\n

Both problems are different challenges with different ecosystems and stakeholders \u2013 but a MayX class is taking them both on with one toolbox: design thinking. Read more…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Through the looking glass with \u2018Black Mirror\u2019<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

A MayX class discussion of “Black Mirror.”<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cDark and twisted.\u201d \u201cMostly horrifying.\u201d \u201cUnsettling.\u201d \u201cBleak.\u201d \u201cA feel-bad hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are phrases you come across when you Google for the critics\u2019 opinions of \u201cBlack Mirror,\u201d a British anthology series streaming on Netflix that has been described as a \u201cmodern-day \u2018Twilight Zone.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Those phrases are from the rave reviews, by the way.<\/p>\n

And you can add computer science professor Kevin Treu and mathematics professor Thomas Lewis to the list of fans. Read more…<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Public art goes up against the wall<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"A<\/a>

A dog sits in front of a mural painted by MayX students.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Ross McClain looks at a wall, he\u2019s silently judging it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to get high visibility,\u201d says the art professor. \u201cThere are some walls that are too tucked away. And some are really complicated. The bricks can be very deep-grooved, and that would be very challenging to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s hoping his MayX students will begin to think the same way after spending the month painting a mural on the side of\u00a0D\u2019Allesandro\u2019s Pizza<\/a> near downtown Greenville. The artists \u2013 some of whom have never picked up a brush before, McClain says \u2013 aren\u2019t just learning how to put paint on brick; they\u2019re also awakening dormant creativity. Read more…<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n