Before coming to Venice and taking a class about citizenship, I rarely—if ever—reflected on my role as a citizen or what it means to be a good citizen. I focused on other roles such as student, sorority member, daughter, friend, and intern. My former measurement of good citizenship honestly only correlated with how much I watched the news and stayed up to date on current events. Mostly, this semester has added substance and theory to aspects of citizenship that were arguably natural—like good stewardship—but I’ve also learned theories that told me more about myself and challenged my thinking.
The theory from which I learned the most was Hannah Arendt’s “public vs. private space.” Other than becoming exceptionally interested and moved by her personal story, I was challenged by her idea that change and discussion among equals occurs in the public sphere. The private sphere is my comfort zone, and most of my areas of engagement are labeled as the private sphere by Arendt—spaces filled with friends, family, and classmates. I recognize that Arendt does not dismiss the importance of the private sphere, but she favors the public sphere as the place where citizenship is practiced.
One of my goals that I established for the semester in our first public speaking exercise emphasized class participation. While the classroom is not part of the public sphere according to Arendt, it is a place where I can practice citizenship on a micro-level. It is easy to automatically apply practices of citizenship to a large, global level; but in order to form good citizenship habits, we should start with small, daily acts of citizenship in the private sphere so that we can act with confidence and accuracy in the public sphere.
The most immediate application of all of the theories of citizenship we have learned about has been to our habitation of Casa Artom. One of the early theories we studied argued that citizenship responsibilities must be assigned; otherwise, everyone assumes the responsibility will be filled by others. Our house kitchen proves this point. If students were not assigned to oversee the cleanliness of the kitchen each week, then everyone would assume it would get done by someone other than themselves. Living in a house with twenty plus people has reminded me to never assume anything. I believe stewardship to be a quality of good citizenship. As citizens, we should always assign ourselves the responsibility of taking care of the spaces in which we inhabit, whether permanently or temporarily.
Life in Casa Artom has also meant engaging in meaningful rhetoric daily. I love the rhetorical opportunities that living and learning in the same space (or place) has created. For example, after discussing Dr. Von Burg’s article in class, Camry and I talked more about our belief (or disbelief) in a universal moral law—challenging each other and the class discussion.
As much as I do not want to leave Casa Artom and life abroad behind, I know that I can move forward and live a richer life on campus because of the lessons I have learned about citizenship. I have grown as a person and in confidence by breaking out of the private sphere. I want to participate in the public sphere at Wake Forest by engaging in campus-wide discussions more. One way in which I can achieve this is by using rhetoric to challenge my own arguments and others’. Lastly, I will never assume anything and always assign myself the responsibility of taking care of the spaces and places I inhabit. Studying abroad has made me a better citizen, and I intend to challenge my peers to critically think about citizenship in order to enrich their own lives.
The theory from which I learned the most was Hannah Arendt’s “public vs. private space.” Other than becoming exceptionally interested and moved by her personal story, I was challenged by her idea that change and discussion among equals occurs in the public sphere. The private sphere is my comfort zone, and most of my areas of engagement are labeled as the private sphere by Arendt—spaces filled with friends, family, and classmates. I recognize that Arendt does not dismiss the importance of the private sphere, but she favors the public sphere as the place where citizenship is practiced.
One of my goals that I established for the semester in our first public speaking exercise emphasized class participation. While the classroom is not part of the public sphere according to Arendt, it is a place where I can practice citizenship on a micro-level. It is easy to automatically apply practices of citizenship to a large, global level; but in order to form good citizenship habits, we should start with small, daily acts of citizenship in the private sphere so that we can act with confidence and accuracy in the public sphere.
The most immediate application of all of the theories of citizenship we have learned about has been to our habitation of Casa Artom. One of the early theories we studied argued that citizenship responsibilities must be assigned; otherwise, everyone assumes the responsibility will be filled by others. Our house kitchen proves this point. If students were not assigned to oversee the cleanliness of the kitchen each week, then everyone would assume it would get done by someone other than themselves. Living in a house with twenty plus people has reminded me to never assume anything. I believe stewardship to be a quality of good citizenship. As citizens, we should always assign ourselves the responsibility of taking care of the spaces in which we inhabit, whether permanently or temporarily.
Life in Casa Artom has also meant engaging in meaningful rhetoric daily. I love the rhetorical opportunities that living and learning in the same space (or place) has created. For example, after discussing Dr. Von Burg’s article in class, Camry and I talked more about our belief (or disbelief) in a universal moral law—challenging each other and the class discussion.
As much as I do not want to leave Casa Artom and life abroad behind, I know that I can move forward and live a richer life on campus because of the lessons I have learned about citizenship. I have grown as a person and in confidence by breaking out of the private sphere. I want to participate in the public sphere at Wake Forest by engaging in campus-wide discussions more. One way in which I can achieve this is by using rhetoric to challenge my own arguments and others’. Lastly, I will never assume anything and always assign myself the responsibility of taking care of the spaces and places I inhabit. Studying abroad has made me a better citizen, and I intend to challenge my peers to critically think about citizenship in order to enrich their own lives.