Welcome! My name is Rachael Devecka and I am a Bonner Scholar and prospective Latin American Studies/Arab Studies double major in the Davidson College class of 2023. I grew up in both small farm-town Pennsylvania and Baltimore (‘Balmer’), Maryland, where I’ve learned to value many different identities and life experiences. I spend my time thinking about social justice, backpacking, what I can learn from the people around me, and (above all) baby foxes.
The Humanities program allowed me to explore a wide variety of seemingly disparate issues from all over the globe. We looked at Rwanda, Russia, the United States, and Germany just to name a few. And in every society there was some form of discrimination. This was the biggest connection that I saw between societies: they all formed hierarchies based on social factors such as race, gender, or sexuality, and these hierarchies inevitably led to discrimination. I started off the year trying to answer the question: why do humans feel this need to create hierarchies? And per my definition of revolution: how do we shift our paradigm away from a hierarchical one based on fear of difference? I haven’t been able to fully answer this question, but I chose to analyze different forms discrimination in my portfolio with the goal of finding ways to combat them. My primary theme is feminism because it is both the subject of my research paper and the most personal form of discrimination for me. However, I believe that feminism MUST be intersectional. Not only because of the abstract “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” but also because women fall into literally every social category. Issues of racism, religious prejudice, anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and more directly impact women. Therefore my Thoughts and Writings tab is dedicated to this broader array of issues, while On Women and A Call for Femicide Justice at Davidson are focused on discrimination against women.
I hope you enjoy my portfolio! Please do not share or reproduce my work for commercial purposes or without attribution. Feel free to email me at radevecka@davidson.edu with any reactions or questions!
How to approach this portfolio in three easy steps:
- Find it. You have successfully accomplished this first step. Congratulations and welcome!
- Read promiscuously. Shop around for what interests you and read a little here and a little there. There is no right or wrong order. See what connections you make for yourself and how it ties into your own interests. If you’d like, contact me and let me know what you find! (radevecka@davidson.edu)
- Take breaks. Don’t overwork yourself or read too much at once. Make a cup of your favorite tea (chai is the best), take it slow, and enjoy.
