AFAS Book CaseSymbols and Their Impact on Landscapes
All it takes is one walk down the lengthy African and African-American Studies (AFAS) corridor of McMillan Hall to come face-to-face with an ordinary yet intriguing bookcase. Housed in this bookcase is an impressive array of books. These books cover a variety of somewhat provocative or deviant topics: African cultural studies, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, slavery, sex, AIDS, and so forth. The different topics that these books cover is symbolic of the unique and diverse environment that exists not only in the AFAS corridor, but in McMillan Hall as a whole. In addition, the knowledge that some of these books were written by professors in the AFAS department further affirms that these professors are well versed in these fields and are equipped to create and maintain a safe environment that encourages open discussions of these topics. When students see diversity portrayed through this alluring bookcase, they are able to equate this symbol of diversity to understanding and acceptance. This ideal is one of the theoretical pillars of the landscape of Washington University, supported by messages posted on the university homepage such as, “Washington University in St. Louis is dedicated to challenging its faculty and students alike to seek new knowledge and greater understanding of an ever-changing, multicultural world” (wustl.edu). In this way, the bookcase portrays a message of diversification and acceptance that communicates to students that the landscape of both the AFAS corridor as well as McMillan Hall is one in which they can feel supported and accepted irrespective of their personal stances on these topics. Thus, this everyday bookcase is a symbol of the areas of diversification that often intersect in McMillan Hall as well as attitudes of understanding and acceptance that are practiced between faculty/professors and students there. "Washington University in St. Louis." Washington University in St. Louis. Web. 12 Nov. 2015. |