By Trey

For my Kentucky Kitchen Table, I had the meal at my home in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I was excited to host this meal because I enjoy learning about new things, hearing new perspectives, and seeing what others believe in. The meal took place after church on November 11, 2018. Including myself, there were six people at the meal. I was joined by my mom, Amanda, my dad, Robert, my brother, Chase, and Ricky and Debbie, a couple a couple that we met at our church. I invited Ricky and Debbie because, other than sitting next to them at church, I know very little about them. I thought that they could bring a different perspective since they are older and from a different part of town. I figured that they would bring wise ideas to the conversation. They are also very funny and great at telling stories. For dinner, my dad grilled steaks, and my mom made baked potatoes, rolls, and a salad. We had sweet tea and lemonade to drink. Debbie also brought a banana pudding and a blackberry cobbler for dessert.  

Before I describe some of the conversations that took place over dinner, I will describe the others that I ate with. To begin, my mom, Amanda, is a perfect example of the stereotypes surrounding moms. She is an amazing cook. She cleans up the physical and mental messes of everyone. She is ruthless when it comes to protecting me and my brother. She works very hard at everything she does. Her favorite hobbies are reading and watching Hallmark movies. Next, I will describe my dad, Robert. Where my mom tends to be more intense and involved, he is usually more light-hearted around us. He is not a person that expresses his opinions on controversial topics very often. Although, he is very passionate about driving his race car. My brother, Chase, is like almost any other fifteen year old. He spends about 90% of his time on Youtube and Fortnite. He is very fiery and intense, especially when people disagree with him. Ricky and Debbie are people that I did not know very much about. However, they are very intriguing. They are both in their early sixties and retired. They will be married 45 years next July. They wanted me to point out that they grew up in a very different time. They are from Bowling Green, as is everyone else at the table. Ricky’s favorite activities are hunting and fishing. Debbie’s favorite activities are talking on the phone and working on word searches. Their favorite thing to do together is spend time with their grandkids. Everyone at this table is capable of bringing something unique to the discussions.   

I began the conversation by asking, “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?”. I’m not really sure how I expected everyone to answer, but I was mildly surprised at the wide range of answers from the table. Ricky gave the most simple answer by saying that citizenship is just living in America. Debbie took it a small step further by saying that all citizens should support and be proud of America. Amanda said that good citizens should have active roles in their communities. Instead of doing the minimum to get through the day, they should take it to the next level. When I asked what she thought the next level was, she said that it was standing up for your beliefs in a public way. Robert and Chase both felt that they were not sure how to answer the question. I’m not sure what belief that I agree with. In a way, I can see the simplistic stance that Ricky and Debbie have, but I also feel that it is important to be active in the community.

Moving on, the next topic that came up in our discussion was about the change of neighborhoods over time. For me and Chase, we have never known very much about our neighbors. I always thought that this was because most of the houses in our neighborhood are separated by large fields and wooded areas. However, when listening to Ricky and Debbie talk about each of their neighbors, most of which live farther away than our neighbors do to us, i realized that this was deeper than distance. Ricky and Debbie could write biographies about the people that live near them. It almost made me feel bad for not knowing more about my neighbors. Although, as Robert pointed out, interaction is a two-way street. He said that if people are not willing to open up to you, there was nothing you could do to build a relationship with them. Debbie said that she thought that if younger people would be as friendly to each other as they have been to their neighbors for nearly forty years in the same area, divisiveness may decrease in our country. To me, this discussion fit in with one of the three essential questions in our class. ‘How can we live better together?’ is very important when it comes to living in neighborhoods and communities. I think that it knowing your neighbors is something that is often overlooked, but can be very beneficial when it comes to building goodwill and morale between people.

Debbie’s statement led us to our next major conversation point. This point was about divisiveness in America. Everyone at the table agreed that political parties play a major role. Amanda also placed emphasis on how the ways people talk. Chase agreed that for people to progress together, they can not resort to name calling every time that they have a disagreement. I brought up the point that some of this could have to deal with politics and the media. If all of the public role models that we see on television or online are screaming at each other and calling each other names, regular people are more inclined to take that approach when they have disagreements. Amanda said that she felt that people have to take their own prerogative to treat each other with kindness. I thought that these statements were relatable to many of the things that we discuss in class. When we have discussions, they are always more productive when everyone is heard, and no one is tearing down others. This is a sharp contrast to what we all see in many debates today, especially recently with all of the election hoopla.  

When we were talking about neighborhoods and knowing our neighbors, I couldn’t help but think back to the three chapters that we read from Love Thy Neighbor by Peter Maass. Would things be different in the Bosnian Civil War if the Serb population and the Muslim population could find commonalities instead of differences? After reading the disturbing account from Maass, a journalist who covered the war firsthand, the concept of community always stood out to me. How could neighbors kill each other ruthlessly in their own homes and streets? A possible explanation for these events could have something to do with a disconnect between different groups of neighbors. While it is mostly unlikely that an event of these proportions could occur in America today, it is very concerning to read accounts like the ones present in Love Thy Neighbor. It gives me an initiative to be more active in building lasting relationships with my neighbors. It is truly devastating to see people die over racial and ethnic differences that may have been able to be worked out with dialogue between people.

Another reading that came to mind for me during the dinner conversation was the “How We Talk Matters” reading from week three of our class. A major emphasis of this article was on deliberation and how it can prove beneficial. The overarching argument of the author is that when people get together to have positive and constructive conversations, problems become easier to solve. I found it interesting that everyone at the table was able to recognize the ultimate importance of communication when it comes to solving problems. I know this importance due to multiple discussions and deliberations in our class, but only one other person that was at the table with me had a college degree. Nearly every point that someone made at our dinner could relate back to communication. This is similar to how many points that are brought up in our class discussions fall back to the same topic.

To sum up, I felt that my Kentucky Kitchen Table meal was very productive. I was not quite sure what to expect when this all came together. I did not know what my own family members would bring to the conversation, and the addition of two people that I do not know very well added to my intrigue. However, it was a pleasant surprise that everyone contributed so well to our shared dialogue. The biggest thing that I am going to take away from this project was that people have different upbringings, lifestyles, and beliefs, but their are some things that people shared. While six people is a small sample size, I feel that the shared emphasis on communication is a trend that may apply to the rest of the world. Beginning this conversation gave me a lot of the same feelings that I had when I walked into Honors 251 for the first class. I was not quite sure what to make of the situation, but there were plenty of positives to take away once it got going. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my Kentucky Kitchen Table, and it is something that I would like to do again with another group of people.

By Elizabeth

My Kentucky Kitchen Table was hosted in Bowling Green on November 7^th with attendees Kate, Tatum, Bailey, Olivia, Maggie, Elizabeth (myself) and Lauren. Kate is a sophomore, who is a religious studies major and political science minor. She is from Erlanger, a small city in northern Kentucky. Tatum is also a sophomore who is a biochemistry major, and she is from Todd County, from a very small rural town in southern Kentucky. Maggie is a high school student who is also from Erlanger in Northern Kentucky. Lauren is a sophomore from urban Lexington. Bailey, Olivia, and I hosted this dinner together. This group of women is diverse in their age, backgrounds, and hometowns, each bringing a unique perspective to the topic of citizenship because of these differences.

The first question we discussed was “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?”. Tatum voiced that activism is a large part of citizenship, specifically taking action in causes that are important to you rather than being stagnant or passive and merely reaping the benefits from society. She also discussed being a good person in general, embracing what it means to possess human decency. She also mentioned that while she personally values her faith, that even outside of religion, being a good citizen means treating each other with love and kindness despite our differences. Kate also mentioned the implications religion has on her view of citizenship, bringing up the point that she considers herself to have dual citizenship, being a citizen of Heaven but also on Earth of America. She discussed how her allegiance is first to God and furthering His will and then to her country and supporting its ideals. Maggie had an interesting take on this question because she is a minor and can’t yet vote. However, she still believes she can be an active citizen in other ways, such as being active in her school and community and using her voice to fight for those who can’t. Overall, their consensus on what citizenship means differed between them but held the common ideal of action. Whether that was through a letter-writing campaign at a high school or using religion to love fellow citizens and fight for their protection, each member seemed to value activism as an important aspect of citizenship.

We next posed the question “What social issue is closest to your heart and why?”. Kate had many issues she is passionate about, especially since she is studying political science. A few she mentioned were abortion, political polarization, and being an informed citizen who votes in local elections. Racial reconciliation sparked an interest with all members of the dinner, and we spent a substantial amount of time discussion this issue, which is discussed later. Maggie discussed how her experience of going on a mission trip to Guatemala gave her a passion for international poverty, and she wants to work towards aiding other countries in addressing the issues poverty causes. Lauren discussed her heart for homelessness, specifically the large issue this is in urban areas as she has witnessed growing up in Lexington. Each member had a different issue they were passionate about due to their upbringing or an experience that caused them to see the severity of a problem and be inspired to take action.

Another question members discussed is “Have you ever had a conversation with someone from a really different background than yourself?”. Tatum discussed that there are a lot of Amish where she is from and how she has had many interactions with them. She noted how interesting it is that they outwardly express their religion and interpret the commandment to be “in the world but not of it” as abstaining from modern technologies. Kate discussed her conversation with a CSF staff member named Conny who is the daughter of illegal immigrants who are trying to gain citizenship and how radically different Conny’s upbringing and perspective are due to this battle her family has been facing her whole life. Kate is also a member of a local church called Christ Fellowship, which has members from multiple other countries, and the church sings worship songs in Swahili. Lauren shared a similar experience through her church, Journey, which is an international church where she has many interactions with diverse people from other countries. Specifically, she interacts with many people from the Congo and their services have Bible verses in multiple languages on the screen so that members who can’t read English can follow along. These experiences gave each person a unique look into other people’s lives who may differ on aspects such as language, ethnicity, upbringing, etc.

We also discussed the question “Does your religious or spiritual identity relate to how you think we should treat other people? Does it relate to how you see yourself as a citizen?” which I mentioned earlier. The group in general said religion compels you to treat every citizen with love and kindness, as Christianity’s belief is that Jesus died for every person and followers should then love everyone as He did. We discussed how the church is often misrepresented and portrayed as vengeful or condemning; however, this is the opposite of Christianity’s true message which is to love and forgive everyone because we are all sinners.  Since Jesus also fought for the oppressed and those who were being treated unfairly, as Tatum mentioned, activism is also an important aspect of religion for Christians.

Along with these specific questions, our kitchen table discussion also highlighted a theme. One popular topic was the social issue of racial reconciliation. Kate brought up the need for racial reconciliation specifically in the church, as she pointed out that “white” and “black” churches still exist. Olivia added to this point that true reconciliation would be all nations worshiping together. Another aspect to this theme was the discussion of interracial marriage. Kate discussed the prejudices still held in society that create a taboo around this, even discussing how she would feel nervous bringing a black person home. One of their friends named Bailey, who wasn’t a technical part of this dinner but did add points to our conversation, discussed the difficulties she faced when dating a black man. She spoke about the blatant public hatred when her and her boyfriend would go out in public, mainly in the form of judgmental looks and occasional comments, mostly given by white women. This is just one example of the broader issue of discrimination that overflows into many aspects of politics even today when this is technically “illegal.”

Through this project, I learned the importance of face-to-face communication and the inspiration that comes from collaborating with others. Personally, a large part of my life is consumed by either a busy schedule or technology. This dinner was an opportunity to put both of those things aside and have a real discussion with active community members. I also learned through the diverse perspectives about each topic how different individuals perceive citizenship. Yet even among the differing viewpoints, each member was respectful of others’ opinions and could peaceably disagree. Overall, the dinner taught me that no matter your political stance, personal background, or individual interests, you can still be an active citizen by engaging in your passions and treating others with human decency. Though each member of the dinner valued different things, we could all agree on certain aspects of citizenship and the activism that should be associated with it.

The concepts discussed during the dinner reinforced the ideas present in our class discussion that intelligent people can reasonably disagree. The conversation around the table mirrored in many ways the discussions we have in class. Similar to how each person in class comes into every discussion with a unique background and perspective, each member of the dinner approached the conversation with a specific viewpoint due to their life experiences. This also means, both in class and at our dinner, that people will inevitable disagree due to their differing perspectives. But disagreement is not inherently bad as we have discovered in class and deliberating on these differing opinions is actually healthy and necessary for social change. Our dinner discussions also relate to the reading “How We Talk Matters.” The article discusses the importance of and need for conversation, even casual conversation with our neighbors. It also reinforces my previous point regarding disagreement, stating “Disagreement lives at the heart of good decision-making and democracy because both processes depend on diversity”. The article explains why discussions like the one at our kitchen table, with everyday citizens coming together despite their differences and talking about issues happening today, are so important to democracy and public action. Our kitchen table discussion also highlighted the wicked problem of racial reconciliation. This problem could be considered wicked first because it is dynamic, policies and public perception regarding race have changed over time, is complicated, many people must change their minds to disregard the deeply rooted racism that affects many aspects of politics and everyday life, and is value-laden, with people who are both open and accepting as well as blatantly racist and discriminatory. Our kitchen table reinforced concepts discussed in class such as the importance of peaceable disagreement and the discussion of wicked problems.

Overall, my Kentucky Kitchen Table was an enriching learning experience that provided a unique opportunity to hear from community members about issues important to them. We discussed many topics including the meaning of citizenship, social issues members were passionate about, interacting with people different from you, the impact religion has on citizenship, and racial reconciliation. These ideas reinforced themes present in class as well as the reading “How We Talk Matters” by emphasizing the importance of civil communication and disagreement to progress democracy.

 

 

By: Hope

On Saturday, November 10th I got together with Madeleine’s family at their home in Bowling Green, Kentucky to experience intellectual conversation and diversity amongst a group of people I’d mostly never met before over dinner. They cooked an amazing meal of lasagna with green beans, garlic knots, and the best desert I have ever had, no exaggeration, a Mud Pie.  Having a home cooked meal after being away from my home so long was extremely satisfying and heart warming.

Madeleine and Scott from our class were in attendance.  I know both of them pretty well, but we had not had any deep discussions about the topics from Honors 251 outside of class until this project. Madeleine is from Bowling Green so she had inside perspective on the community as a teenager.  We have a lot in common, actually. We both enjoy listening to Musical Theatre and like Disney. She is high energy and so much fun to be around. Madeleine is also good at keeping the conversation going, which came in handy sometimes at the dinner in between topics. Scott is from Vine Grove, Kentucky, and is new to the area, like me.  It was interesting to see perspective from a community I’ve never even visited. Scott is quieter than Madeleine, but very insightful.

As far as the new people I met go, Ron and Jennifer, Madeleine’s parents, hosted the dinner at their home.  They were very kind, supportive people, and I would even argue that they are a power couple. They both work for Western Kentucky University and seem to be very upstanding citizens.  Jennifer works for the library at WKU and is originally from Nebraska. Ron works to fundraise for the school and is originally from Logan County, Kentucky. They seem to be very happy living in Bowling Green and talked highly of the community in general.  

The other three people at the table were Luke, Abby, and Jason.  They all attend Greenwood High School here in Bowling Green as sophomores.  Luke is Madeleine’s brother and the son of Ron and Jennifer. Abby and Jason are the friends he brought to join us.  They were quieter than the rest of us and seemed to have the same ideas and agree with each other more. Luke and Jason were much more low energy compared to Abby who was hyper and eager to discuss.  They all seem to be very involved in their school. Luke swims, Abby performs in the theatre department, and Jason is involved academically, even talking about considering applying for Gatton Academy.  From my perspective, their school seems like their own condensed community, which I pointed out in the conversation.

After getting to know each other a little bit, we introduced the purpose of the dinner and talked a bit about what Honors 251 is.  We told them our three central questions and some of the interesting readings we have done for class. Madeleine and I also invited them to our upcoming deliberation for “Trust in the Media” and told them about some of our options.  They agreed that there has been a significant decline in the trust in media over recent years because of reasons we touched on in our deliberation such as The President naming the media the public enemy or fake news becoming trendy and hard to recognize.  We asked Luke, Abby, and Jason about their experiences with the news on social media and whether they checked the facts through other sources or just read and continued on with their days. The common answer was that they asked their parents what was true and what wasn’t, which is interesting because a lot of students said the same thing in our deliberation, as well.  

When asked “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?”, the table had very synonymous answers.  Overall, people thought that citizenship was about being kind to others in the community, helping them out when needed. To the younger people at the table, that meant maybe volunteering when needed or participating in community events.  To the adults, Madeleine’s mom and dad who are working members of the community, it meant maybe helping through the jobs they already do on a daily basis. Something I thought was particularly interesting is that Jennifer helped run her friend’s political campaign in her spare time.  Her friend’s name is Jeanie Smith and she was running for Senate. Jennifer helped by going to different neighborhoods and rallies and talking to people to spread Jeanie’s message. Although her friend did lose, she mentioned she thought she still did great things for the community sharing her enlightening and positive message and doing her best to make a strong impact on the state for the better.  In my opinion, Jennifer’s sacrifice of her time and energy for the betterment of the community and to help her friend make a difference is an excellent example of citizenship. For me, citizenship encompasses a wide variety of aspects in which community members are overall invested in what is going on in their area and wants to contribute to it in any way they can. I think things like voting, paying taxes, and following the law are just the minimum requirements for even truly being a citizen and it is clear that Jennifer goes above and beyond, exceeding the expectations of citizenship in this instance.  

Because Jennifer and Ron talked so highly of Bowling Green, we wanted to ask them what they love most about living here.  Ron began to say that he would absolutely recommend living in a college town for several reasons. First off, the spirit that Bowling Green has because of Western Kentucky University is enlightening.  The community has a mutual support and love for the school and even I can see that after being here for only a few months. I believe Western encourages people to be good citizens, as well, because they see college kids needing assistance whether it be in study or extra food, and they provide opportunities for those in need.  They rally behind the school and attend their events faithfully and donate to the causes they deem important, which Ron sees on a daily basis as he works in fundraising. Economically, the city is also pretty well-developed, too, with lots of restaurants and shops for citizens and students to partake in. Bowling Green in particular, though is not a big city.  It is not necessarily too small or too big, which is very appealing to Ron and Jennifer. That’s also one aspect of Bowling Green I really appreciate. A college town offers a variety of jobs opportunities for all ages and really rounds out citizens and encourages contribution and involvement in the society in a positive way.

This topic made us consider maybe where we, the students at the table, might want to live someday.  Obviously, it’s impossible to truly say where we might end up because anything could happen, but pondering what we wanted in a community was interesting.  For Luke, Abby, and Jason, they all agreed that they would like to like in a city of some sort like Chicago or New York City. They wanted the busyness and excitement of the streets, and not only that, but they wanted the diversity in culture, too.  They wanted to be around people different from the spectrum they see in Bowling Green and they wanted the enormous amount of opportunity for exploration a big city like that offers. For me, I feel like I would survive and enjoy the city or the suburb life, so it’s hard to say until my career path is final; however, I do enjoy the excitement, yet simplicity that a town in the medium offers.  All I know is that I want to have pride for where I live. I want to be proud to call my town my home because of its upstanding, kind, developed community.

Before we ended dinner, I wanted to mention one of my favorite readings from class to gather their opinions or insight on it and see if they’d ever heard of it before.  The reading was about the elephant and the rider and how typically people make decisions with their emotions and then justify their actions with logic. I wanted to know if they thought this rule applied to them and everyone agreed that they see themselves make decisions with their emotions more often than not, even if they don’t realize it at first.  Even so, we all try to make the right decisions the best we can.

Overall, it seemed when addressing the central ideas such as “How can we live better together?”,  the general consensus was that caring about your community and trying to contribute to it is important.  Beyond voting and other civil duties, being kind and helping people when you can is what makes you stand out as an exemplary citizen.  I really enjoyed the project and had a great time at dinner. I loved learning more about Bowling Green, the high school here, and different jobs at the University and the role they play.  It made me appreciate the town and the school more and I am so glad to be where I am.

 

By Scott

The meal for my Kentucky Kitchen Table project took place on the evening of Saturday, November 10th, 2018. I wanted to be able to host the dinner in my own home, but I live over an hour away and here on campus I just live in a dorm. Thankfully, my classmate Madeleine was nice enough to let me join her and another classmate at her home here in Bowling Green. Although I wish I had gotten to do the Kentucky Kitchen Table project in my own hometown with my own family, I still had a great time at the table surrounded by mostly strangers. I haven’t had a home cooked meal in weeks so the dinner was a much-needed break from all the processed fast food here on campus.

The meal took place around Madeleine’s dining table which seated two of my classmates Madeleine and Hope, as well as Madeleine’s parents Ron and Jennifer, her brother Luke and his friends Abby and Jason. The meal was prepared entirely by Ron and Jennifer and included homemade lasagna, garlic knots, fresh green beans, and a side salad. Not to mention that for dessert we had “Mud Pie”, which I had never even heard of before but was pleasantly surprised by. Despite the lack of physical diversity (as everyone gathered around the table was white and the age gap wasn’t terribly significant), we all brought something unique to the mix. For the most part, we all grew up living different lives and thus brought a wide variety of thoughts and opinions into the dinner.

Madeleine is one of my fellow classmates in Honors 251. Up until a few weeks prior to the meal, I had never spoken to her directly. Currently, she isn’t sure what direction to take in college with her major. She has a very high energy and contagious personality. When things would get stale at the table, Madeleine would always throw in humor and bring up the next topic to keep things running smoothly. She has grown up in this area so she knows the community well. It was interesting to hear about the community I will be calling home for the next couple years spoken about by someone my own age. Hope is also from my Honors 251 class. She is a Musical Theatre major from McCracken County. Like myself, Hope is also new to the area so it was nice to not be the only outsider at this dinner. She is incredibly good at formulating her complex thoughts into words that everyone at the table could understand and draw relation to. Ron, Madeleine’s dad, is a 53-year-old white male from Logan County, KY. He works with Western Kentucky University as a fundraiser for the Health Departments. He was a very well spoken man who put a lot of articulate thought and decision into every word he spoke. His comments were typically very thorough and resulted in others diving deeper into the conversation. Jennifer, Madeleine’s mom, is a 51-year-old white woman from Nebraska. She was very sweet and compassionate with all of her opinions and input. It was a rather interesting dynamic to watch a couple who had been together for years offer their different outlooks on matters. Often times, their given responses were similar. However on occasion, blatant differences in their thoughts sparked conversation between the two and in turn, the rest of the table. Luke and his friends Jason and Abby were quite similar for the most part. All three of them are Sophomores at Greenwood high school here in Bowling Green and are very knowledgeable of the real world for their age. Their younger age brought a different view on citizenship than the rest of us could bring to the table simply due to their differences in exposure to the surrounding environment.

Before we started eating our meal, we explained what we had been learning a bout in the class and how it all relates to aspects of life we could experience daily. Madeleine, Hope, and I all shared information about our own group social issue project and asked each member at the table for their thoughts and inputs on the matter to improve our understanding of the topics even further. The overall consensus on Hope and Madeleine’s issue of “Trust in the Media” was that with the current relationship between the United States Government and the national media, it is safe to say that trust in the media has definitely been spiraling downwards. My issue of “Criminal Justice Reform” was rather complex and no final conclusions could really be drawn off the topic.
Once the eating commenced, we began by asking everyone at the table the question of “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” Everyone at the table generally agreed that being a “citizen” just meant to be active in the running of the world around you. To Luke, Jason and Abby, this meant being active in their school which is reflected by their participation in programs such as swim, theatre and academics. For the adults and college students at the table, citizenship involved taking part in the outside world through their established roles in society. Madeline, Hope and I are act as citizens through our participation in group meetings and education towards a greater purpose. Ron and Jennifer go about this action through a much more direct route. Jennifer told us of how she aided in the campaign of a local Senator by traveling around the area and spreading a good word.

What really stood out to me in the responses to this question was that a good portion of the answer depended on the community one was involved in. For Madeleine and Hope, social interaction and active participation as a citizen seemed to be much easier than it would be for myself or someone growing up where Madeleine’s parents did. The house that dinner was held in was in a neighborhood so getting involved with neighbors and pushing each other to be engaged in civil duties seems more feasible. However since I live on a farm, I have more cows within a 5 mile radius than neighbors. This means that going out and being active in local government and community is as an effort that many would not make. Such a geographical difference also skewed the answers to the many of the questions relating to neighbors as I do not have many. One would think that being a citizen would involve the same efforts and choices no matter the circumstances but our conversation really proved otherwise.

We also talked about how much power an individual can truly have in making social change. One of the strongest tools an individual can have in making change is simply education. So much of our lives are based solely on our own knowledge of our surroundings, leaving a considerably large emptiness created by a lack of knowledge about the rest of the world around us. This ignorance oftentimes leads to the complete dismissal of social issues to a large part of the population. Here, Ron used his white suburban family as an example. He claimed that due to their ignorance of the life of an inner-city kid’s life in somewhere like Chicago, his family could never fully comprehend the social injustices and life struggles that the child would undergo. For me, this really emphasized the importance of education on these social issues. We mentioned how due to the naturally busy lifestyles of most of us, especially college students, we oftentimes struggle to be truly aware of the issues outside of our educational bubble. The widespread lack of student voting in the recent state election was brought up as an example here. We all discussed how scarce the information about voting and registration was for college students to find. Not many people we knew were ever taught how to file for an absentee ballot so most students (myself included) went without voting. This general ignorance and lack of awareness seems to be what holds back a majority of society from being contributing citizens.

Overall, the dinner brought a wide variety of viewpoints and opinions to the table that I hadn’t looked at before. I think it displayed that being a citizen is much more than being someone who can check boxes during an election. A citizen is someone who makes connections with the world around them and make steps to better said world. But also that being a good citizen is not as easy as it seems. Being a good citizen is very dependent upon geography and education. The emphasis on education really reminded me of the “Oak Grove” reading in which the college students rallied to save an “oak grove” which was actually a man-made garden. Without the proper education on citizenship and the world around us, people can’t be expected to behave as proper citizens. Thus answering the central theme question of “How can people live better together?” The answer is to simply educate themselves so a fundamental basis of knowledge is established through everyone and we can all start to work together as citizens to better the world.

By Olivia

On the night of November 5th, 2018, more than six ladies and I cozied up in a campus apartment in Bowling Green, Kentucky, over a homemade dinner. Over chicken casserole, apple pie, garlic bread, and more, we discussed the broad topic of citizenship and social issues, and all of the things in this world that impassion us the most. To begin, let’s meet all of our attendees.

Kate is a sophomore at Western Kentucky University and is a Religious Studies major. This dinner was hosted at her apartment, along with her roommates Tatum and Lauren, and little sister, Maggie. Kate is from Erlanger, Kentucky, which is approximately 15-20 minutes outside of Cincinnati. This gives Kate experience with not only smaller town culture, but also the culture of urban areas. With being a Religious Studies major, Kate is very active in her faith. She leads a community group at WKU’s Christian Student Fellowship and has a deep curiosity for different cultures and religions of the world. She has a fiery passion for the human race and is excited by getting to know others deeply.

Tatum is her roommate and also her co-community group leader and sophomore at WKU. Tatum is originally from Todd County, Kentucky, “…an extremely rural area near Hopkinsville,” she described it. She is very quirky for a biochemistry major and was actually recently accepted to Samford University’s Pharmacy School. Despite her small town background, Tatum has come in contact with a variety of different cultures since coming to WKU and also in her hometown, most notably the Amish community in her area. She is very lighthearted and loves loving on other people. Her mission in life is to just bring joy and laughter to the world.

Lauren is the roommate of Tatum and Kate, and is a sophomore at WKU. She did not disclose what she is studying here at WKU, but she hails from Lexington, KY, giving her an extremely diverse perspective. As a result of growing up in a quite urban city, Lauren has had many interactions with people of different races, cultures, religious backgrounds, etc., especially those who are impoverished. She is also very active within Christian Student Fellowship at WKU and at her church, where she ministers to local refugees. She describes herself as full of curiosity and her favorite thing to do is traveling and seeing new things.

Maggie is the little sister of Kate, and attended the dinner because she had a college visit at WKU that day, and decided to stay with her sister. Maggie is a high school student from Erlanger, KY, giving us again an urban and small town perspective. Her age difference brings a different outlook to the conversations as well. She has a huge heart for serving others, stemming from her experiences of witnessing international poverty in Guatemala.

We began the night by asking the question, “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” We received a variety of different answers, but a common theme of taking action for the causes you are passionate about. Kate and Tatum both were adamant about being an informed citizen, especially with voting. To give some background, the midterm elections were the next day, so the topic and the opinions were very fresh. With being an informed citizen and participating in elections, it means you are taking action in one of its most impactful forms. You are voting towards someone with the chance to change the way things are, and that chance would not have been possible without ordinary people working to make a change. Maggie, who is only 17 years old, had a strong opinion on this topic, stating how she encourages those who can vote to hit the polls to help ensure a good future for the ones who can’t vote. She made it clear it is much better to vote and take action, instead of being stagnant. Not only can you vote, but you can have the ability to change the world and join movements you deem worth fighting for. This means raising awareness, doing marches, and everything that can cause a shift in culture and society.

Everyone at the table came to the conclusion that despite one’s beliefs, everyone should treat everyone with kindness and love. The world is so deprived of the love and simple everyday kindness that could easily make a huge impact on the way our society functions. The root of so many problems in our world is people believing they don’t need to treat others with kindness is a norm. All of the attendees stated their spiritual background has totally changed the way and is the reason why they interact with people with reckless love and kindness. They expressed their religion as a bond to bring humanity together, not a tool of division. Regardless of faith, every human should make the effort to treat everyone around them with kindness and respect.

The topic of courteous love and kindness also brought up political polarization, and how people need to respect others despite of differing beliefs. Politics should not be something that tears friendships or relationships apart; it should be embraced and celebrated as something that makes us different, which is something vital to all of humanity. Differences in beliefs bring multiple approaches to solving a problem, and is a principle that often gets lost amidst the heat of politics. As a society, we should still remain civil despite our political differences, because we are all human and deserved to be treated with love and respect. The bottom line is that you need to be a decent, kind human being in order to contribute to the greater good and solve the problems that keep eating away at our society.  

These group of ladies are very passionate about a variety of different social issues, ranging from international poverty to racism within America. Maggie expressed her compassion for international poverty, after participating in a mission trip to Guatemala and how it widened her global perspective and her heart for service. With her urban background, the issue of homelessness has a special place in Lauren’s heart, and she explained her heartbreaking experiences with homeless and impoverished people. Kate raised the issue of racial reconciliation, which easily became the hot topic of the night; so hot the neighbors who casually entered the apartment quickly became involved in the discussion as well. The topic was first brought up as a social issue Kate is extremely passionate about and became a quite fiery conversation. Racism and broken relations between not only African-Americans and whites, but all racial minorities, is something deeply embedded into our country, that will only heal with more time. It is a difficult fact to confront that as a white person at least, the first thing we see is skin color when seeing a new person. People are so easily labeled and described as “that black guy” or “that asian girl” in situations where race or ethnicity is not an influential factor. Races and ethnicities should definitely maintain their cultural traditions and communities while residing in America, but that can be an excuse to divide the American society if we don’t choose to see each other as equals or fellow Americans at the same time.

The conversation of racism soon bled into interracial relationships and everyone sharing their experiences and scenarios of being involved in an interracial relationship. The idea made us discuss what our families would think if we were involved in an interracial relationship and how unfortunate it is that some family members of older generations, still firmly disagree with the idea of interracial relationships. Bailey, a neighbor who had joined the conversation, shared her experience of dating someone of a different race, and how it was perceived by her and her partner’s family. She enlightened the group on how getting involved in an interracial relationship was an immediate obstacle for her and her partner, and how differently their families accepted their partner.

I contributed to the conversations a healthy amount, but I tried my best to soak up all the knowledge I could on different worldly and spiritual perspectives, and how to casually discuss social issues. With hearing how different people look at the world, it has broadened and perhaps adjusted the way I view certain issues in the world and human nature as a whole. I learned how religion can play a role in how you treat others and that regardless of religion, everyone should strive to be a loving human being and respectful of each other. Political and social issues have never been my strong suit; they have always been topics I have avoided due to my negative connotation to them. This dinner helped me learn how to casually discuss social issues without the fear of being ridiculed and taught me that discussing social issues doesn’t always have to be in a hostile manner.  They can be discussed in a positive light and in a way that we should work together to change the issue, instead of arguing on whose solution is right or wrong.

The conversations of this dinner reminded me of a few different topics we have learned in class and different readings we have read. As far as taking political action and refusing to be stagnant, I was easily reminded of the essay written by the woman who experienced chronic paralyzation. Although she was reduced to utter powerlessness, she still used every ounce of strength she could muster to continue on. She emphasized the importance of putting everything you can into a cause, or nothing at all. Going hand in hand with putting all your efforts into a cause, the discussions reminded me of the continuing idea in class of small acts making a difference. In numerous of the readings and discussions we’ve had in class, we have managed to come back to the idea of impactful small acts that could easily change social issue efforts and the way society works. For example, Rosa Parks had so many years of advocating and getting involved in the Civil Right Movement and the NAACP, building up her courage piece by piece, eventually becoming why she is so admired today. She also had countless ordinary people working with her and although those peoples’ names may not be known, they created one of the biggest movements in history. The environmental discussion relates to this idea as well, in articles and essays discussing the impact little efforts can make on saving our environment; this can be acts as little as reducing your showers by a minute, switching to reusable water bottles, and so forth. Treating others with love and kindness is a simple everyday act, that can go a long way in someone’s life, therefore inclining them to spread the kindness to someone else. It is the idea that a million small acts can make the world of difference and as far as kindness goes, if everyone would be kind and respectful to one another, we could change the whole energy of our society.

To conclude, I will treasure this Kentucky Kitchen Table in my college and life experience. I learned that social issues don’t have to be controversial or tear relationships apart. In fact, they should be discussed civilly, with the common purpose among everyone to solve the problem. Regardless of faith, race, gender, ethnicity, or overall background, society should be held to a standard of being kind to one another, and doing everything in your power to create a world filled to the brim with love.

By: Emily Lancaster

Cast List:

• Kelsey: Psychology Major at Western Kentucky University
  • Originally from Bowling Green, Kentucky.
• Shayla: Biology and Dance Double Major at Western Kentucky University
  • Originally from Lafollette, Tennessee.
• Eliza: Psychological Sciences Major at Western Kentucky University
  • Originally from Duncombe, Iowa
• Emily: English Literature and Spanish Double Major at Western Kentucky University
  • Originally from Evansville, Indiana.
• Brian: Kelsey’s father who is an accountant at Western Kentucky University
• Laura: Kelsey’s mother: a school psychologist in Bowling Green, KY.

Setting:

• Kelsey’s parents’ house in Bowling Green, KY.

Date of Event:

• November 5, 2018 at 6 p.m.

Delicious Food:

• Chicken and Dumplings, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Dinner Rolls, Apple Pie, and Tea Cookies.

ACT I:

Kelsey and her parents were kind enough to open their home to us three students—Eliza, Shayla, and myself—for a home cooked meal that involved both wonderful food and a friendly conversation about citizenship and the society that we are currently living in. It is quite difficult to jump into such a large and complex topic such as citizenship with new people so we spent the first few minutes just chatting about current events on campus and each person’s occupation or major. This was really helpful especially for breaking the ice with Kelsey’s parents because talking about simple things such as our roommates, favorite hobbies, and our classes really allowed everyone to warm up and understand that this was a fun and safe space with a diverse and interesting group of people.

Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you? This question began our discussion about citizenship and society. Laura was the first person to speak up about how things such as religion, politics, status, and other beliefs have effected how humans as a whole treat each other as she believes that citizenship means being kind and loving both to those close to you, but also others. This proved to be the post popular opinion around the table and it spurred others on to speak as well. I loved what Laura was talking about so I jumped in following her comment as I have seen first hand how religion and politics can divide friendships and families. Collectively we all discussed how each human being has different opinions on practically every topic and while something so trivial such as a favorite color would most likely never break up a family, the fight between Democrats and Republicans or Catholicism and being agnostic wins out over the love that people have for each other. Eliza accompanied these comments with a story about how the community that she lived in was so small that these topics would still affect families and friendships, but ultimately she saw that more often that not, people wanted to simply be there for each other during times of need and during those times these prejudices and controversial opinions were put aside. We all shared the thought that that is the kind of care and love that news agencies and social medias portrayed as it shows that there is still a sliver of humanity left in a world swirling with hatred and separation.

Empathy. While we were discussing kindness and how people talk and interact with each other, the topic of empathy came up. We started discussing how kindness was almost directly proportional to empathy and how we can not only treat others well, but do our best to put ourselves in the shoe’s of another person. It was here that I reference one of my favorite readings from the semester: The Empathy Exams and Devil’s Bait by Leslie Jamison. Each excerpt of this reading was really interesting for me as each part discussed different ways that she experienced empathy. The Empathy Exams was how she viewed empathy on one end of the spectrum as a person who wanted empathy and was struggling to receive it both in as a medical trauma actor and in her real live with her boyfriend. Discussing this reading at the dinner table was well received as it added to an already important conversation about kindness and its relationship with being a citizen, but also opened up a safe space for experiences to be shared. Eliza told us a really inspiring story about how her family was willing and ready to open their home to one of Eliza’s best friends when her house had no heat due to unpaid bills. Eliza detailed how this was a turning point both for her and her family, but also some of her community. People began aware of her friend’s situation and after learning more about her and her story, so many families were willing to provide anything from a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to a bed to sleep in for a few nights; Eliza said seeing how everyone came together helped her see some light in a often dark world. This one story led to Laura, Shayla, and myself all sharing stories about how we have seen empathy within our own lives in a hard situation or within the lives of others. As a table we discussed how much the love and help of others really impacted how we felt about the world and how seeing life through someone else’s eyes can be really inspiring.

INTERMISSION

At some point during this discussion, Eliza began talking about how her and her roommate Amy had run out of pretzels to eat with their large bowl of hummus. As we had been on the topic of citizenship and kindness, Laura got up from the table, went to the pantry, grabbed an unopened back of pretzels, and gave it to Eliza as a gift. She said she simply wanted to help Eliza and save her some money as a student and, though this was a simple action, it displayed kindness.

ACT II
Following a few funny, interesting stories and each of us grabbing a dessert of choice, we got back to a deeper level of conversation. We ended up continuing our discussion about empathy as the question “how do we think our jobs/majors relate to our role as a citizen?” was proposed. Kelsey and Eliza, who are both on similar tracks here at WKU had different answers from each other as well as Laura’s whose job as a school psychologist, still corresponded with both Kelsey and Eliza’s majors. Laura, in as much detail as she could, discussed how her job as a school psychologist as helped many children and families, but also helped open her eyes as well. She talked to us about how she sees children from all ways of life and with all kinds of struggles and hardships and what her and her coworkers have to do in order to help them the best way that they can. They work closely with teachers and parents to help the child get the best education under the circumstances possible. Laura was very clearly in love with her job and wanted to see other people succeed even if it meant a few challenges here and there. Kelsey and Eliza both elaborated on what they want to do with their majors and how they want to use their education to help those suffering as well in the future. They each believe that mental health needs to be addressed more than it is and wants to use their experiences and talents to help. Shayla is a dance and biology major and wants to pursue her passions and have a job that she loves, but also having a backup plan that allows her to help people as well. As for me, I have always known I wanted to inspire people while also having a job that I adore so I have decided to become an English literature teacher. I chose this as my English teachers have done so much for me and inspired me both with their teaching and passion, but also with their kindness and compassion. As all of us at this dinner were really passionate about our chosen careers paths and choices, this conversation went super well and it was both entertaining, heartfelt, and fun. Following this conversation, Shayla brought up how this conversation matched with the previous one were very aligned with the three central questions of the class. She related each of these conversations to how we are helping ourselves live the life that we want and making decisions that are great for us while also using our knowledge and abilities to help others live well and to the best of their abilities. It was also noted that by each person being different in their own ways, it helps us as a society live and love better together and work on multiple problems. This was justified by discussing how we all would be similar and nothing would be unique if we all had the same passions and gifts as these are what make us special and make the world hold some beauty even during the darkest of times.

Natalie Duggins

My Kentucky Kitchen Table dinner was held in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on November 5, 2018. We had a spaghetti dinner with mac and cheese and green beans. The participants of this dinner included me, Kelsie, Lily, Caitie, Carlie, Bonzo, and KBram. Caitie is a freshman from Louisville who is majoring in social studies with a teacher concentration in secondary education, identifies as Catholic, and does not identify politically, but has conservative parents. Carlie is a sophomore from Georgetown, Kentucky who is majoring in photojournalism and identifies as a Baptist and Democrat. Bonzo is a senior from Lebanon, Kentucky majoring in broadcast journalism and identifies as Catholic and Republican. KBram is a senior from Nashville who is majoring in hospitality management and identifies as Methodist and Republican. Kelsie, Caitie, Carlie, Bonzo, and KBram are all members of Alpha Omicron Pi and I am a member of Chi Omega.

The topics that we discussed throughout the dinner were: citizenship and the advancements of society, family dinners, the correlation of religious identification and the treatment of others and our obligations to society, homelessness, what kind of people we want to be when we grow up, careers, advice for people running for office and politics, racism within different generations, and the Catholic church.

Citizenship & Advancement in Society

The discussion opened to what citizenship means to us, besides the basics, such as voting, paying taxes, and following laws. Overall, we agreed that it means to contribute economically and socially as citizens continue to build the community, such as volunteering and contributing to the common good of everyone. We further discussed the best advancements in society today, one of which is communication via mass portals, such as the internet. It is amazing how we are able to reach someone across the world, which is something we have not been able to do in the past. Although the media may create problems, it also solves many problems, especially miscommunication, and allows a greater increase in knowledge of ourselves and other cultures.

Family Dinners

A familiar pastime for American families is a gathered family dinner. However, every family is different. Growing up, my mother cooked dinner for my family every night, until high school, those family dinners faded as extracurricular activities increased. Caitie explained how her family ate dinner together every Sunday night at her own house, or her grandparent’s house, with her sister, parents, grandparents, and aunt and uncle and their kids. KBram explained her weekly tradition of getting sushi with her friends and family every Sunday or eating dinner with her neighbors on a random week night. Carlie said that besides Thanksgiving and Christmas, she only had family dinners during the season of the television show, “The Voice,” because her mother and neighbor were best friends and adored the series. They would all dress in their pajamas, cook breakfast for dinner, and watch the voice together. Bonzo’s mother always cooked because they had such a large family, and they never ate out unless she had a volleyball game. Overall, the tradition of family dinners varies with each family. Sadly, they seem to be less and less prevalent with each generation.

Correlation of Religious Identification and the Treatment of Others and Obligations to Society

Overall, there was a consensus that religious affiliation corresponds to how we treat people in society. Carlie explains that without Catholicism, she would not be as conscience about her actions towards others, and she wants to lead her life as someone who acts on those conscience actions. Bonzo was raised on Christianity, and she believes the basis of Christianity is kindness; Therefore, if you do not treat others with kindness, you are not living your life to your best Christian self.

Furthermore, we agreed that as a society, we have an obligation to everybody, or the common good itself, and we should continue to help those around us. Carlie believes that today, everything connects, and it allows for society to be wholly dependent on each other and their actions. She thinks there is no way she could be entirely self-sufficient on her own. She states that no matter what, we contribute to other people through our obligations, actions, and even through our careers. Bonzo believes that on the basis of helping people, it is a moral or ethical obligation. Although you are not required to help others, if you did not contribute, you would ultimately feel guilty. Morals indefinitely reflect your personality and if you were raised on selfish grounds, your morals would lack.

Homelessness

In our discussion, we spoke of homelessness, and how it connected to the overriding idea in Honors 251 of a wicked problem within today’s society. It is a growing problem, especially in places such as Louisville (where Caitie and I are from) and Cincinnati (where Lily’s family is from). However, as citizens, we can transform homelessness and how we approach the impoverished. KBram explained that every day in the summer on the way to her internship, she would pass the same homeless man. She admitted to being scared of him, until she found out that he was a relative of her coworker. After she found this out, she began giving him small things, such as food, to help him out. Caitie presented the idea­–one she learned in high school religion class–of keeping small snacks in her car to hand out to the homeless she would pass on Breckenridge Lane in Louisville. Kelsie presented another idea in which she would give gift cards to the homeless. Overall, it is sad that there is the lingering distrust among citizens and the impoverished. We fear giving them money because as a society, we think they will just use it on drugs or alcohol. KBram mentioned how she gave money to the impoverished who were passing out newspaper, but she does not know what they spent the money on. Carlie furthers the discussion by admitting that as citizens continue to give the impoverished money, we are enabling them to purchase drugs or alcohol. There are numerous homeless shelters available with the viable resources to survive, yet some homeless people choose to not seek out those opportunities.

Who We Want to be When We Grow Up

Further into the dinner, we talked about our futures and who we want to be when we grow up. The majority of responses were a mom, wife, and eventually, a grandma. However, I said I wanted to be self-sufficient so if I am ever in a bind, I can rely on myself. This brought up the topic of divorce and the idea that in this day and age, women want to be solely independent. However, many women are trapped in marriages due to monetary troubles. Carlie mentioned that as she grew up, her mother told her to never rely on anyone else for money but yourself, because you will find yourself in a bind relying on others. Kelsie simply wants to be happy, live in the moment, and always see the positive things in life; 10 years from now, she does not want to look back and regret the decisions she made. This connects to the story in The Impossible Will Take a Little While called, “Mountain Music.” The son gets angry at his father for continually being pessimistic about the world around him and claims, “You’re so worried about the fate of the Earth, you can’t enjoy anything.” The connects to Kelsie’s goal of living in the moment, especially with an optimistic attitude. Ultimately, we never want to look back and realize we lived an unhappy life.

Careers

When considering who we wanted to be when we grow up, we dove into the conversation about our future careers. I want to be a nurse practitioner, Lily wants to be a nurse, Kelsie wants to be a news anchor, Carlie wants to work with photojournalism, but also as a graphic designer for advertising, Bonzo wants to work in broadcast journalism, and KBram wants to work in hospitality management. The conversation really sparked when KBram stated that she is going to live a more comfortable life compared to luxurious in the hospitality management field, especially for the first couple years. Kelsie stated she is going into broadcast journalism, so it will take about five years for her career to take off, and Carlie mentioned how she is going to have to do freelance work for photojournalism. The discussion really took off when Caitie discussed her plans to be a teacher and spoke about teacher salaries. Overall, we agreed that teachers are underpaid for what they do, and the profession as a whole makes barely 90 million a year. Caitie made a good point that teachers are the creators of the future; Without teachers, you would not have doctors or the professions making a great deal of money.

Advice for People Running for Office and Politics

Honors 251 is a course heavily built on politics, so it is no surprise that politics were discussed throughout our dinner. In this generation, we have control over who we want to lead us, and if we get the right person in office, they can do a lot of good. However, the wrong person in office can be detrimental to society. Sadly, a lot of this generation is misinformed or underinformed about politics. At the dinner, we asked, “What advice would you give to people running for office?” All in all, we agreed that if a politician is going to build their campaign on a specific idea, they must stick to the goals of that idea if elected. If they run a campaign and say they are going to do something, they must do it if elected. In other words, we just want politicians to hold integrity, remain authentic, and stick with their initial word.

Racism with Different Generations, the Catholic Church, and the Acceptance of Others

With the increasing conversation, we discussed racism and the Catholic Church. With each generation, there is a certain degree of racism and the acceptance of gay rights. We discussed how our generation is more accepting of all races and sexual identities with the advancement in society. However, we agreed that most of our grandparents tended to be slightly homophobic and racist. Overall, the degree of race and gay right acceptance comes with each generation, and sadly, the older generations we know tend to have little to no acceptance. It is also problematic that the Catholic Church does not accept gay marriage. Furthermore, the Episcopal church just declared their support of gay marriage. Even though this process took a long time, it shows that change is not easy, and it takes time and effort. With the Episcopal church’s acceptance of gay marriage, they were able to open the minds of their numerous followers. This small change created a domino effect by allowing more and more people to accept gay marriage.

Before this dinner, I hardly knew some of the girls sitting at the table. Now, I am confident that I can refer to all these women as a friend, and even a role model. Through KKT, I learned that it is so easy to get to know someone over a shared meal. Not only did I learn their majors, hometowns, and religious and political identifications, I also learned about their morals, beliefs, and got to know each and every one of them personally. In society today, it is difficult to have a sit-down dinner, especially with people you do not know. However, I want to make it my goal to have more intimate conversations with my friends over dinner. Kentucky Kitchen Table taught me the power of a shared meal and engaging in good conversation, and I realized that mealtime is a time to get to know the people you share it with. Ultimately, I am confident that in the future, I will continue to develop connections with others over a shared meal and will continue to learn about those around me.

By Kelsie

On Monday, November 5, 2018, the rain poured down and flooded Bowling Green. In a house, just on the other side of the hill on Western Kentucky University’s campus on college street, known to many as the ten women, a group of 7 girls including myself gathered. Kelsey, a senior in the hospitality management program, lives there and offered her house for our dinner. She is 22 years old and from Nashville, Tennessee. She identifies as a Methodist and republican. Her parents are the main influence in her views, and she looks forward to graduating in May. On the left of Kelsey sat a sophomore advertising and photojournalism major named Carlie. She is from Georgetown, Kentucky and 19 years old. She is also Baptist and a Democrat. Her career goal is to be a graphic designer for advertising. I sat next to her. My name is Kelsie, and I’m 18 years old. I’m Catholic with mixed political views, and I’m a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To my right sat a girl named Caitie who’s a freshman majoring in history with a teacher certification. She is 18 years old and from Louisville, Kentucky. She identifies herself as Catholic but has no political affiliation. She does note that both of her parents are republican and conservative. To the left of Caite sat Natalie, another freshman from Louisville, Kentucky. She is 19 years old and says she identifies as Catholic but isn’t super religious. She adds that she has liberal views. Then next to her sat another freshman girl from Louisville, Kentucky. Her name is Lily, and she is also a nursing major with liberal views. She is 18 years old and identifies as semi-Christian. Last another girl sat around the kitchen table. Her name is Madison, but she goes by Bonzo. She is a senior double majoring in broadcast journalism and criminology from Lebanon. Kentucky. She identifies as a Republican and a Christian.

We started off by stuffing our mouths full of our delicious home-cooked meal. This consisted of none other than spaghetti, mac and cheese, and green beans. The first question I asked to start with was “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” They all seemed to have the same idea and built off what one another said. To summarize it, they all agreed that being a citizen includes participating in the community. This means a person contributes economically, socially, and help builds the community. It’s their job to make the community they live in a better place for everyone. This answer reminds me of one of the overall arching themes in HON 251. The theme is that we must personally do our part to make a change even if we aren’t sure it will pay off in the long run. We all have to take part and stand up for what we believe in. Part of being a good citizen is bettering your community and country. This means bringing change to injustices and raising awareness of important issues. Taking part in solving the problem and exercising the rights you have as a citizen to do so. Hiding, running, and ignoring the problem is not being a good citizen. As I learned in the book The Impossible Will Take a Little While, small actions can add up and make big changes. No one has to be a special person in order to make a change for good, they can simply just be an ordinary citizen. By becoming aware and doing what you can whether it be small or big has an impact on helping to fix the overall problem.

Another theme I came to realize is that no matter what size town or city we come from there is a sense of closeness between the people who live there. Kelsey even mentioned that where she’s from everyone knew each other when she was growing up. This we all agreed upon. It points to the fact that no matter where you grew up or live there is a connectedness between the people. As humans, we are naturally drawn to others and are a social species. I also learned that we all had family meals around the table growing up. We all just had different traditions. Caitie ate with her sister, parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and their kids every Sunday. Kelsey even ate with her neighbors sometimes. Carlie’s family only did this when the TV show “The Voice” was on. She said her mom would cook breakfast food and they’d all get together with her neighbor to watch it. Bonzo said her mom was busy with her and her siblings but she always cooked their meals. Knowing that families still do this and there is still a feeling of closeness between people gives me hope. I’m glad that basic family events still exist, and that the world isn’t too crazy. It also makes me believe in humanity knowing that good down to earth people are out there. I was also drawn to these people because I related to all of them. I found myself understanding their past and thinking we had the same upbringing.

We also had a conversation over whether our religion affects how we treat people. Carlie pointed out that without her religion she would be different and wouldn’t hold her actions as accountable as she does. We all seemed to agree that no matter what level of faith we are at that it still affects our decisions. This led the conversation into talking about morals. Bonzo thought a person’s moral values were constructed by their parents and upbringing. Helping people and giving back to her seems like a moral obligation because if she didn’t then she would end up feeling bad. A lot of us shared our experiences with homeless people and giving back. We all had the idea of giving food and goods to the needy and then donating money to charities and organizations. This came about because the stereotypes that go along with homeless people were brought up. Natalie noted that she hated how there’s a stigma attached to them. But in my opinion, it’s better to give than not to give. This discussion is very much related to the reading “The Intuitive Dog and its Rational Tail.” We all had morals, and some stemmed from what our parents taught us or what we decided upon. We also had them because we knew it was good and society expected it of us. None of us know the true reasoning behind our morals or why they exist, but we still abide and follow them.

At this point, we started eating the brownies and talked about our futures. Everyone but Lily spoke up about wanting to be moms. Some wanted two kids and others wanted five. In all our futures we spoke about being wives and self-efficient. None of us wanted to be super dependent on our husband for money or other needs. We all also realized that none of us were going to make a ton of money getting out of college and starting our dream careers. Then it became more political when talking about the budget. Some made comments on how the military budget is way too big. We have no competition in budgets with other countries. Catie then added that the education budget gets next to nothing in comparison. I said I wanted to be happy and they all agreed. The money talk related to happiness because none of us wanted to be miserable rich. We concluded that living comfortably is the best way to go. I learned that I am not alone in being scared but excited for the future. Even the girls who were going to graduate and enter the workforce soon didn’t have a solid plan for their future. This makes me feel okay about letting things just happen and not get too stressed.

Hon 251 deals with a lot of politics sometimes, but I was kinda happy when I realized this group didn’t get that into it. We shared our views on wanting officials to be more honest and holding true to what they stand for. Often, they switch up after getting into office. We all hoped that at the time with the upcoming elections a lot would change. Some pointed out that people our age need to be more informed. They also need to get involved and show up at the polls. We also brought up some movements like MeToo and the LGBTQ movement. We all ended up saying we supported them and hoped change would come from them. I learned that some hit close to home. For Kelsey her brother is gay and her family learned to accept him and others. I also learned that these girls feel the same way as me and we care about the future of America. We all want to vote someone good into office that will make change for the good.

One thing that was clear in this group of girls was that we all had hope. This is a big theme and maybe the central idea of HON 251. It is definitely the theme in our main reading The Impossible Will Take a Little While. We all had hope for our future whether that be being a mother or a wife or an independent woman. We all had hope for the careers we wanted and living out the American dream. There was even hope for the future of America. We all wanted people to stand up for what they believe in and vote. We wanted them to get informed and become involved. We know that’s how to help get America on track again. There was also hope in equality for all and acceptance throughout society. I could tell throughout this group of girls that the future of America is in good hands. The stereotypes for millennials doesn’t affect all of us. I’m glad to know there are people my age out there who are still down to earth. They were still raised to know right from wrong. I learned we all had more in common than we thought.
Overall this project taught me a lot about the people around me. I became close to those I didn’t know and even closer to those I did. I was amazed by how a simple home cooked meal at a tiny dinner table opened people up and made them feel comfortable. We covered a lot of topics that normally people don’t feel comfortable talking with strangers about. I’m glad the Kentucky Kitchen Table project taught me about the power of sharing a meal and having intimate conversations with people. This is something I will carry with me throughout life.

By Emily

(Picture on the right shows Kathy-Sue’s housewarming gift…a handmade doll from Shanghai made by one of her friends.)

My Kentucky’s Kitchen Table assignment took place in my hometown of Barbourville on Sunday, November 11. This is a small, rural town of about 3,165 people located in Southeastern Kentucky. It is a place where families stay close and dialect is unique. I would say that people from Barbourville and surrounding are a group of distinct tradition and culture. That being said, everyone at my table is currently living in Barbourville, but we each are diverse in our own ways. I began the conversation by describing myself.

 

My name is Emily. I am 19 years old, a dancer, a student, and a family girl. I am a freshman at WKU, and I do not currently have a major nor an idea of what I want to do when I grow up.

 

I then asked how they would describe themselves.

 

Kathy-Sue describes herself as an American ex-patriot who lived overseas (mostly Shanghai, China) for 19 years. She is a world citizen. She’s 52, single, and she adopted 2 kids from China.

 

Jolene, daughter of Kathy-Sue, is 14 and was born in Hunan, China. When she was a baby, she was left outside of a school then put into foster care. She went with a foster family but was adopted at 10 months old, and she lived in China until she was 6.

 

Reagan, classmate of Jolene, is 15. She has a twin brother. At birth, she was neglected of nutrients because “her brother took all of them”. She was then placed in an incubator beside him for two days, and Reagan says he saved her life. She was born in Barbourville and has lived there her whole life.

 

Lydia, who is my next-door neighbor, is 17 and a senior in high school. She is a farmer, is raised in a Christian home, and plans to go away for college.

 

Deborah, who works with my mom, was born in Pittsburg. Despite her Chinese descent, her family is at least 2 generations removed from China. In fact, her dad’s family lived in Jamaica for a while. She lived her younger life for 12 years in Clermont-Ferrand, France. She went to college at Emery University in Georgia and now works for HealthCore (THE Dr.Oz’s nonprofit).

 

Mark, my dad, is white and a Christian. He is a husband and father and ex-coal miner. He is a decent person.

 

Monica, my mom, is 48 and a public school teacher with 2 daughters. She is married to my dad. Both Mark and Monica have lived in Southeastern Kentucky for their whole life.

 

After conversation and questions about the experiences of those at the table, I dove right into discussion.

 

“Aside from voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?”

 

Blatantly speaking, I never really got an answer from my dinner crowd. Instead, we enjoyed many antidotes and tales of world travels and personal experience. Don’t get me wrong, this made great conversation…but I am getting graded after all. I was stumped as to why we weren’t just answering the question outright. Was I missing something?

 

After thinking really hard about my dinner conversation that “answered none of my questions”, a thought popped into my head. Personal experience is welcome. I remember hearing the words from Mrs.Gish in class and that’s when I realized it was the solution to my dinner dilemma.

 

This reminds me of “The Power of Patience” by Jennifer Roberts that we read in class. I really had to take a step back and wait for the answers to come to me, and I couldn’t help but feeling I was a student who has the assignment of staring at a painting for 3 hours. But I really think I get it now.

 

“Do you know your neighbors? Why or why not?”

 

My mom, who knows most people in Barbourville, could tell you all about our neighbors: what church they go to, where they went to high school, their mothers name, etc. She chimed in with a definite YES. She explained that she knows them because she grew up knowing them, but beyond that, she, my dad, and myself have a relationship with our neighbors. We make small talk after pulling in the driveway and would bring an abundance of casserole in times of need.

 

Some had a different story.

 

“Deborah, what were your neighbors like in France?”

 

She explained that she was attending a school for kids whose parents worked for American companies. She also lived next to them, so of course she knew them. An interesting part about her time in France was that her classmates never asked her where she is from. She explained by saying that in America everyone asks her where she is from (presuming she is from China because she does have traditional Chinese features), and she has to explain that she has never lived in China. In fact, she speaks better French than Chinese.

 

“I hate that question,” Deborah said, “People in France knew I was American because of my English.”

 

This was very eye opening to me. I guess I never understood that it is presumptuous to assume your ethnicity equals your personal origins, but there are so many other factors to observe like language/dialect.

 

Part of the conversation was dedicated to appreciating where we are living.

 

Kathy-Sue told us her adoption story while living in China. She was far into the adoption process. They had already sent her pictures to “accept or reject” the kid, and she thought that was nonsense whichever one they presented was going to be ‘her kid’. Later on, they sent the “Chinese UPS” to give her a letter with details about picking up her child. Child in hand she returned back to America. I remember her describing the day she made it back. When she saw the American flag for the first time, she was in awe. Kathy-Sue says she still gets chills when listening to the national anthem being sung or the pledge being recited. I can tell her world travels has brought a much deeper appreciation of what America stands for. She has seen places where “you just take what you get” when it comes to government. She explained how precious and essential it is to take part in government because so many others can’t.

 

My dad added “and you know when you got that adoption letter that was the only version of a mailing company in China…and it was run by the government, whereas we have many.”

 

If I were to use one word to describe what citizenship means to my dinner table, it would be connection. Everyone is connected in society somehow. We are all connected on a large scale, but more tedious are connections we have in daily lives…the relationships we make with those we are living around. Even one connection we make with someone drives us to be good citizens to others. Maybe you helped someone move houses or made dinner after a loved one died or even simply are in good standing with your neighbors. All are key ingredients to daily citizenship.

 

Largescale citizenships requires a bit more soul searching.

 

Close to the end of the dinner I asked, “What does citizenship look like for you personally in this stage of your life?” I explained by saying ‘my citizenship’ is figuring out how I can contribute to society in the long run by choosing a major I not only enjoy but have talents in. For me, that will equal maximum citizenship.

 

Lydia answered that her citizenship looked like farming. If she can farm her whole life, that’ll allow her to connect with people around the country and give back in some way.

 

Jolene said her citizenship was to build her school’s student council program so students will have more of a voice in her school.

 

Reagan’s citizenship looks like living every minute with a smile because it is a miracle that she is alive.

 

Deborah’s citizenship includes going back to school in order to help translate policies to affective programs like school lunch programs.

 

Monica and Mark said their citizenship looks like giving more of their time to community and church events as new empty nesters.

 

Kathy-Sue says citizenship for her is to continue travelling and investing in the world once her kids are out of high school.

 

This is what citizenship on a large scale looks like.

 

A key question we ask in class is “how can we live better together?” and I would say that connection and citizenship is a key factor in living better together. The more we are connected the more we understand each other’s needs and can address them with actions of citizenship.

 

The fact is we all have something to contribute. The choice is whether or not we are going to contribute that into society. The action of doing so is citizenship. Small or large. In daily life or in contributing your whole life to it. As simple as honesty, as widescale as nonprofit organization. As citizens of the world, we ARE obligated to give what we have in order to create a better society.

My dinner took place in an apartment in Bowling Green on November 8^th. I wanted to be able to host the dinner in my own home, but I live two hours away and on campus I just live in a dorm, so my friend Madison was so kind enough to let me use her apartment.  Seven guests were able to attend my dinner. Madison’s roommates Brooke and Lexy came and they invited their friends Callie, Lillie, and another girl named Brooke. While we are all female students at WKU, I think that there are many things about each of us that are very diverse. We all have very different views and we are at different stages in our college careers. Our ages range from 18-22. At the dinner we had pizza, pumpkin pie, chips, bread, etc. Everyone brought a little something and it was a very random assortments of food, but it all worked out! We pulled up chairs around our table and ate our feast.

The only person that I knew really well was Madison. Madison is a senior at Western this year & is majoring in criminal law. I think what makes Madison diverse are her political views; she has a lot of knowledge about politics and really brings some amazing ideas to the table. She is also from South Carolina and has a family of 4: mom, dad, and her younger brother. Brooke is from Chicago and is a junior this year. Brooke has been in and out of school for a while because she had to get major back surgery last year. She comes from a very large family, and family is something that she values a lot. The other Brooke is from Louisville and is a freshman. She comes from an Italian family. She was raised in a catholic home and went to a catholic high school. Brooke and I didn’t know each other before this, but it is really cool because we are both from Louisville. But I went to a public school outside Louisville, so our experiences were very different. Lexy and Lillie are both from Bardstown, KY. Lillie was also raised in a catholic family and she has a big family. Church is something that is very important to her- she participated in many retreats and other church activities. She is majoring in nursing. Lexy is the oldest in her family and has a very close relationship with her family. She is majoring in psychology and plans on being a high school teacher.

I started off at the dinner explaining to them what we have been learning about in class; I told them how we talk about many issues today and what we can do as a society about these issues. I asked what citizenship meant to them, beyond the idea of voting, following laws, etc. We talked about how a huge that that we can do as an individual is to be aware- so many of the issues that go on today could be eased if people just knew what was going on. Brooke said, “I think this goes beyond just being aware with political issues, but I think we just need to be aware of the people around us.” We talked about how our community is so naturally selfish that we often times don’t take the time to understand other people and get to know them. Especially in college, there is so much going on and often times we just think about what we have to do, and we ignore our surroundings. Lillie said, “I feel guilty because I have classes with the same people every day and I don’t even know the names of some of the people that sit near me”.

This kind of got us to the topic of how much technology has affected society. In an elevator its everyone’s natural instinct to pick up their phone because that’s much easier than having to talk to the stranger on the elevator. Lexy talked about how she always tries to stay off of her phone and ask people how their day was. This is something so small, but if more people just tried to talk to people, I think people would be so much closer. If we were closer as a generation, so many problems could be solved. We talked about how depression and suicide if=s often times in result of just feeling out of place, and so often social media and our technology makes us feel this way. Because of how much we have on our phones, it gives us the ability to be so connected and its weird how it can do the opposite effect. We talked a lot about how people try to look picture perfect and have everything together, when in reality this isn’t the case. Nobody has everything together but having the ability to look at people’s profiles comparing yourself to everyone can be so harmful to yourself.

I asked how the how their jobs relate to their role as a citizen. Brooke just got accepted into nursing school and she talked about how she felt like doing her absolute best to bring the best care to people is something that she can do as a citizen. Coincidentally, 4 of us at this dinner are nursing majors, so while talking about this I thought about our discussion in class about empathy in doctors. I explained to them the discussion we had in class whether if doctors should be empathetic (because I feel like this is the same scenario for nurses). In class we got off on kind of a debate trying to distinguish the difference between empathy and sympathy. At the dinner we talked about how it really is important that people in the medical field are empathetic; when you treat people like they are an object rather than see them as an actual person is where so many doctors go wrong. Empathy is being able to imagine yourself in the persons shoes and doing whatever you can for them. In class people said it’s impossible to have empathy for a person if you haven’t been through the exact same thing. At the dinner we all agreed that how someone could even say that is kind of a perfect example how there isn’t enough empathy in today’s society.

Madison wants to go to law school and she explained how being a lawyer would have a huge impact on her role in society. The social issue today of transgender and LGBT is very close to her. She really wants to impact the way that society treats them. We talked about how important it is that every person is treated as a person. No matter how different they are then you, they have every right to this life as you do. People often have very strong political views and they think that we can’t agree on anything, but we can agree that everyone is human and deserves to be treated that way.

All of us at the table come from very different types of family. Madison said that her family always sat down every night and had dinner together, however for Lexy that wasn’t the case. We talked about how coming together and eating really brings a family together, and its actually one of the hard things about being away from home at college. This led to us talking about how at college, one of the really cool things is everyone comes from a different place.

I think that my dinner was very successful. Bringing everyone’s thoughts to the table and just being able to talk about issues going on in society went really well. All in all, we talked about how being a citizen goes way beyond just doing actions like voting- it’s just how you are as a person. Treating people with fairness, being aware of other, and just being kind are simple things, but they often are forgotten. We agreed that we want to be people that are there for others. We want to be people that are loving and caring. In a society that is so caught up in our own needs, we need to remember others.

I learned a lot through this dinner. I didn’t earn a whole lot of stuff I didn’t know before, but I was able to put things in a different perspective. I had never really thought of things like the way that we talked about them; I think hearing other people’s take on something really opens up your mind. After having this dinner, I think I am really going to try to show compassion to others. I need to make that a goal of mine because often times I feel like I get so caught up in myself that I leave out what is really important. I need to put others before myself because when it is all about me, nothing gets built up. I really reflected on how I want to be remembered in society. I don’t want to be remembered for any of the things I accomplished, instead I want to be remembered for how I made people feel. I think I’ve heard that quote before, but it truly is so important- that’s the main goal on a citizen.