Week 1 Soul of a Citizen Reading

As an Education Major, I will be influenced by the public sphere and have to structure my classroom to a certain degree around the ever changing public sphere. A big part of my job as a teacher will be relating to other people and trying to understand their perspective. I think that the Soul of Citizen reading really fit into this aspect of my future career, and gave many examples of how people can connect with and better understand other people.

I think that lately we are seeing more and more personal accounts in the public sphere. I think that people are realizing that you can get a message out better if you use a personal account. Like the article said, it is easier for people to relate to one person and their story than to a bunch of statistics. If you are able to put a face or a person with an issue it is easier to feel for that issue because you can feel for the other person. I think the key to this is that these personal accounts make it easier for people to understand an issue and walk in the shoes of that issue, so to speak.

I really liked the examples from the section called “The Story of the Earth”. The examples really showed how giving a face to a problem can make that problem seem more concrete. It talked about how, if we as humans understand how interconnected the Earth and its systems are, and how interconnected we are as a part of that system then we can more easily relate to some of the things that we are doing to the Earth. In other words, if we see ourselves as a part of the Earth, then the things like deforestation that are being done to the Earth will become more personal to us as a part of the Earth. This section really hit home the idea that if you can connect yourself with something whether it is a person or the Earth or whatever else then you are going to be able to empathize with their issue or problem.

Also, I think that as we become increasingly more connected through things like the internet and TV, it easier for people to learn about issues that they otherwise may not have known about. We have more outlets today than we have had in the past, and so we are able to learn more about issues that might not have reached us before. I know that for me personally, in this busy world it is sometimes hard to have time to care and learn about things that do not seem to directly affect me. However, through the use of personal examples, and the public sphere it is easier to see how different issues have an impact on your life.

I think that this article demonstrated the important of our need as humans to feel connected to others and demonstrated how to do this in the most effective way. I really liked this reading and thought it was very understandable and relatable material.