This video begins the discussion about whether or not CrossFit is inclusive by looking at Poughkeepsie CrossFit. The answer to this question is clear from the personal perspective of each of the interviewees but from a broader perspective the answer becomes more complicated.

This story was a very difficult one to tell and I was not able to discuss all the topics I wanted to bring up so I will mention them here: the dogs are scary to newcomers, and that Poughkeepsie CrossFit is predominantly white. I believe that both of these topics would be good to discuss after the video is presented.

This video ethnography seeks to explore the culture of Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs), asking questions about what these facilities offer and what types of people choose to live there. Through the study of one CCRC, this video tries to ascertain to what extent the community is influenced by the residents, versus the facility itself. As the population ages, issues of elder care are becoming increasingly important, and CCRCs can be seen as a mechanism by which individuals, perhaps facing declining physical and mental health, can take control of their lives.

Bibliography is separate.

Let us look into education inequity in the very place we are currently situated. We reside at Vassar- prestigious. We give aid to the Poughkeepsie District. Why are these systems in place and are they successful? Critique on the stock photo idea of outreach education, our society, and more. But also a discussion of the pros. Not all is negative.

How can art be used? What does art from Haiti look like? What’s the connection between Vassar College and art galleries in Port-au-Prince, Haiti?

These questions and many more are addressed in this short video: “Vassar Haiti Project – A Dialogue”

The Vassar Haiti Project is a registered 501c3 nonprofit or­ganization that doubles as a student organization at Vassar College. It educates stu­dents in global citizenship, fosters sustainable devel­opment in Haiti, and promotes Haitian art. This video takes a look at one aspect of this multifaceted organization: the art. Through various visuals and narratives, “Vassar Haiti Project – A Dialogue” introduces the organization and its work, and raises broader questions of art’s role in international NGO’s.

This is a blurb about my project.

In her essay, The Elusive Inclusive: Black Food Geographies and Racialized Food Spaces, Margaret Ramirez asks, “Is the form of “justice” that food and other social justice activists practice simply a politics of inclusion that upholds power asymmetries stemming from the plantation?” This video explores the importance of considering how the differing subjectivities of “food justice activists” manifest in different understandings of, and approaches to their work. Looking at The Food Project (TFP)– a white urban agriculture organization situated in Boston’s primarily black neighborhood of Dudley– and calling on interviews conducted with Food Project staff and volunteers, as well as the staff of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI), a community controlled development nonprofit, I seek to understand how power asymmetries produced through historical legacies of domination and subjugation are being reproduced through the work of TFP despite their best efforts to create an inclusive and transformative space.