Week 7

We did our presentations this week and I learned about so many interesting museums in Philadelphia that I hadn't visited before. I have heard of a lot of them before but I haven't had the opportunity to visit any of them. This class has been really eye opening to me because it's helping me to realize the importance of critically thinking about everything that is presented to the public, regardless of the medium. My undergraduate university did teach me to critically think about everything, however, I never realized how unfortunate it is that other people don't critically think about what they see, especially in the media. I think that's something that we're seeing a lot in the current political discourse in this country, especially in regards to Trump and Carson.
My group visited the Constitution Center, which was truly a surreal experience. The way America's history is presented at the center is such a glorified and sugarcoated version of what actually happened in our history. For me, it all culminated in the multimedia presentation called "Freedom Rising" (video below). The Constitution Center claims that Freedom Rising is the story of "We the people", which they loudly proclaim multiple times throughout the performance. This "version" of history that is presented pervades our entire society and is so damaging to the minds of children and students.
Freedom Rising Video
When researching "Freedom Rising" after our visit, I found an interview with the CEO of the Constitution Center who stated "“I defy you to find a roller coaster that when people get off it, they feel as good as they feel at the end of Freedom Rising.” That truly does describe how the constitution "teaches" America's history to school groups and tourists. You'd think that a $185 million dollar building would be a huge institution in Philadelphia, but that's not really the case. The staff at the Center told our group that the majority of people who visit the Center are either school groups or foreign tourists. 
One of the main things that my group discussed while at the Constitution Center was the lack of acknowledgement of diversity issues. There was one very small plaque acknowledging that the constitution was not created to include African-Americans and there was another small plaque regarding the lack of women in both the Constitution and the Declaration. It worries me that children visiting this museum (and being taught in the US school system) only get this one view of America's early history. The US school system does not, for the most part, teach students to critically think, so I fear that the students who see this information take it as 100% truth, without realizing how this information is presented in such a biased manner.