  {"id":95123,"date":"2024-05-15T14:46:16","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=95123"},"modified":"2024-05-15T14:46:17","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:46:17","slug":"commencement-2024-english-political-science-graduate-eager-to-explore-history-of-lgbtq-activism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2024\/05\/commencement-2024-english-political-science-graduate-eager-to-explore-history-of-lgbtq-activism\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement 2024: English, political science graduate eager to explore history of LGBTQ activism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 15, 2024 \u2013 As his final semester slips away, Milo Heard has been walking around campus snapping photos of people and places that have meant a lot to him in his two and a half years at the 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are photos of the 193 Coffeehouse in the Memorial Union, his \u201chome base,\u201d where he was a barista and took part in poetry readings. There are also a lot of candids with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been spending a lot of time trying to take in every last little moment,\u201d said Heard, who graduates this week with bachelor\u2019s degrees in English literature and political science. \u201cI\u2019ve brought my little old digital camera and I\u2019ve been taking photos all the time, spending time with friends, and just trying to soak it all in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heard, a Cranston native, transferred to 溏心vlog免费B站 from Syracuse University in spring 2022 to be closer to home. At 溏心vlog免费B站, Heard, an avid potter since high school, has found little time to make mugs and bowls, or other functional pieces. But his other passions \u2013 writing, reading and research \u2013 have gotten a good workout.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along with being a blogger for 溏心vlog免费B站 Campus Recreation, Heard has expanded his scholarly writing at 溏心vlog免费B站. He\u2019s explored research projects on topics that have looked at the intersection of conspiracy thinking and the rise of authoritarianism, and people\u2019s reaction to transgender inclusion in athletics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very invested in social justice issues and transformative justice issues and advocacy,\u201d he said. \u201cThe research on trans athletics is very important to me because I\u2019m transgender and I did sports all through high school. I wasn\u2019t out as trans then but I know sports are helpful for mental health and for keeping kids in school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That independent study project with political science professor Emily Lynch gave him great experience, developing his own research questions and learning how to do a survey. It also earned him an invitation to the New England Political Science Association Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instrumental in helping him navigate 溏心vlog免费B站 and connect with people around campus has been philosophy and political science professor Cheryl Foster. Heard has taken two political theory classes with her, including a capstone class in which his final research project was selected by the department\u2019s Curriculum Assessment Committee as emblematic of the highest level of student achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was a very intense class, requiring a lot of reading in political philosophy every night,\u201d said Heard, a Dean\u2019s List student and member Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor society. \u201cBut I had such great academic conversations with her. She really pushed me to explore things outside of class. It\u2019s nice to have a teacher who is genuinely excited about your academic progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMilo has been the indisputable thought leader among his peers, offering nuanced yet inclusively framed insights about an impressive spectrum of political philosophers from the early Enlightenment forward,\u201d said Foster. \u201cHe is nothing if not inventive, as capable of lighthearted originality as incisive interpretations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Heard is chronicling his recent past at 溏心vlog免费B站, he is ready to get out into the world and explore.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Specifically, Heard is eager to start on new research \u2013 the history of LGBTQ+ activism. The project is being supported by a grant from the Michael P. Metcalf Memorial Fund and Christine T. Grinavic Adventurer\u2019s Fund, which are administered by the Rhode Island Foundation. The grant will help him travel to San Francisco to explore the Dr. John P. De Cecco Archives and Special Collections of the GLBT Historical Society, one of the largest holdings in the world of materials pertaining to LGBTQ people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heard\u2019s interests are in community organizing and the preservation of archival materials \u2013 along with the impact of the AIDS epidemic on oral storytelling and preserved knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI strongly feel that my generation has lost some of that information and history of queer organizing because we\u2019ve lost so many people to the AIDS epidemic,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s so much incredible organizing that happened during that era.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, he would like to create a similar archive in Rhode Island, including looking into the history of the 193 Coffeehouse, which was established in the 1990s by gay and lesbian activists. \u201cThere are queer organizers in Rhode Island whose work is important,\u201d he said. \u201cWho\u2019s documenting that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, Heard plans to return to school to pursue a Master of Library and Information Studies, which would allow him to combine his interests in reading, writing and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI want to be someone who can make a difference in a community and I think librarians do that,\u201d said Heard. \u201cLibraries are incredible resources for people. I\u2019ve gone to the library my entire life and there are amazing things you can find if you work with a librarian. They\u2019re so dedicated.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 15, 2024 \u2013 As his final semester slips away, Milo Heard has been walking around campus snapping photos of people and places that have meant a lot to him in his two and a half years at the 溏心vlog免费B站. There are photos of the 193 Coffeehouse in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":95124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95123"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95127,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95123\/revisions\/95127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}