Spark Igniting conversations

September 1, 2021

The Acorn: Food to Some, Inedible to Others

Blog post by Jason Inskeep

As a person who claims to love exploring cultures, traveling, and trying different foods, I failed. I recently realized that as a Native Arizonan I had only tried one food from my home state’s Indigenous culinary tradition—Fry Bread.

June 21, 2021

Street Art in the Plague Years

Blog post by Monica Ruth

Shuttered businesses, deserted streets, and contagion among the people… elements of disarray and decay, signals and signs of the end of – or at least pause from – familiar economic and social patterns. These changes have revealed a wellspring, sparking and spawning of new life and advantageous growth in street art.

June 6, 2021

Fight or Die Trying – Indigenous Resilience and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Blog post by Robin Keagle

Genocide, stolen lands, and broken promises. Indigenous Peoples have a long history of being silenced. Their voices are muted and are often missing from the archives.

May 23, 2021

“Kung Flu,” the Power of Words, and the Impact on AAPI Identity

Blog post by Kathryn Jue

Asian and Pacific Islanders are fighting two pandemics – COVID-19 and anti-Asian racism.[i] The rise of anti-Asian crimes is now a focal point in a pandemic year, but this is not something that came out of nowhere.[ii]

May 20, 2021

History in the Wild podcast: Questions in History

Blog post and podcast by Kayla Phillips

Hello everyone! I’m Kayla Phillips and today I’m going to give you an introduction to my podcast: Questions in History. I created this podcast for the undergraduate class HST 485. My podcast covers all types of history from around the world in a fun, engaging way.

May 10, 2021

“Rural Voices” Pandemic Collection Shares Quiet Stories of Loss and Hope During COVID-19

Blog post by Clinton P. Roberts

As the nightly news rattled off statistical numbers, my grandmother sat quietly in her house, mourning a loss, unable to see her husband’s grave. Her daily visits to the cemetery marked an otherwise unbroken routine for over five years.

June 19, 2020

COVID-19 Archive

From photos of empty store shelves to Facebook memes, the evolving digital and public archive on the Covid-19 pandemic showcases the multitude and diverse responses to this momentous time.   

“I think this quarantine has taught people so much, there are so many factors that are significant to talk about.

June 19, 2020

Beth Hebrew Project

Rescue, Resilience and Renewal. Thestory of Beth Hebrew, Phoenix

The Beth Hebrew is a mid-century synagogue currently located in downtown Phoenix. It was the first Orthodox synagogue in Phoenix when it was established in the 1950s, and it later became home to a Latino Pentecostal Church and an African-American Theater.

May 6, 2020

Climates of Inequality exhibit flows through U.S. highlighting history grad students’ work

The Climates of Inequality project is an international traveling exhibit that launched in New Jersey in October 2019; it will travel to Phoenix in 2022. The exhibition is a collaboration between students and faculty at more than 20 universities worldwide, with each contributing panels to the project.