New Blogger Introduction: Ayman Siraj
By: Ayman Siraj ‘18
It’s funny that in my native mother tongue of Bangla there is no word for ‘Hello!’ When I’m writing in English, my brain is thinking in Bangla while my hands translate to English. On that note, Hello! My name is Ayman and I’m a sophomore majoring in Chemical Engineering with a Nanotechnology emphasis and Cyber Security specialization (I know that is a mouthful). I’m stoked to be blogging for Trojans 360 and would like to thank Andrea & Felicia for giving me the opportunity to do so.
Art as Activism as a Blog Post
By: Michael Boyle ‘18
On the surface, “art” and “activism” feel as if they could conflict with one another. Activism has a specific goal rooted in the real world and often brushes up against the uglier side of humanity. Art, on the other hand, is about boundless creative expression, often depicting beauty. Yet at their cores, the artist and the activist are quite similar people. Both are deeply passionate about their emotionally involving work. So the question becomes, how does someone exist as both an artist and and activist? Last Sunday, at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, I attended a panel that answered this very question.