A Column and Short Films About Us
WhoWeAm is a series of short films and articles exploring the notion that the world we create reflects a tangle of our biology, and the deeply embedded—often hidden stories that make us who we are. WhoWeAm, quite simply, is about Culture. Picture it as a huge octopus with a billion arms that reach out and touch each of our minds.
Perhaps you imagine culture differently. Comment—let us know. You can even contribute ideas and images to this material as it is forming at whoweam.com.
When you see two politicians going at each other, you don’t expect one to suddenly say, “Geez John, I never thought of it that way. I suppose you’re right. I’ll abandon my position and support yours.” You know, for example, that no amount of scientific evidence will cause the political right to become passionate about slowing climate change. They are working from a different script.
Similarly, we hear education leaders talk about the importance of innovation, creativity, and fostering a lifelong love of learning for all children, but decade after decade, education experiences remain largely uninspiring and produce winners and losers just as they always have. Further, we all tout the national aspirations of equality, liberty and justice, while continuing to drive past those on the median strip holding cardboard signs.
So if our choices aren’t aligned with our aspirations and they ignore reliable information, what does guide us? Why is what we say so different from what we do?
Those bringing you WhoWeAm include Lee Boot, Eric Smallwood and Abbey Salvo of the Imaging Research Center at UMBC, and Stacy Arnold of InfoCulture, LLC. Partial funding comes from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation. We are excited to be part of the cultural renaissance that is What Weekly.
-Lee Boot
