Epistemological Analysis of a Personal Experience in Essay

Epistemological Analysis of a Personal Experience

In people's most ordinary encounters with new information, and in their most refined knowledge pursuits, as human beings our beliefs regarding knowing and knowledge affect us. Human beings personal epistemologies, epistemic cognition, mean of knowing or epistemological theories get activated during the process of knowing and learning. For instance, when we read newspapers, we usually make judgment concerning the trustworthiness made in the newspapers. Similarly, in people professional and personal lives, they face up to the learning of new ideas and skills besides making determinations as regards their worth and value. Notably, in classrooms, students habitually encounter new information and perhaps view the learning procedure in different ways, and depending on whether they view knowledge as integrated constructs set or accumulated facts. In this regard, learners can view themselves as active knowledge constructors or passive receptors. I view myself as a knowledge constructor given that I normally develop knowledge conceptions and use them in creating understanding of the world. After the visit to Charles H. Wright Museum, I realized that I am a knowledge constructor. Particularly, the visit to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History assisted me in immersing myself into the careers and lives of black Americans. This paper, therefore, highlights my personal experience during my visit to Charles H. Wright Museum in Michigan.

The museum of African-American history location is in the United State cultural center, in the city of Detroit, Michigan, 315 Warren at Brush Street (Dagbovie, 2010). It is the largest museum in the world that deals with the history of African and American culture. The Museum got its name from a confined doctor and activist who established it. Its location is on square feet of 120,000, which gives a warm and ample space for exhibition. The remarkable building initially opened in 1997 (Dagbovie, 2010). The Charles Wright museum is a home to quite a number of exhibitions as well as the research library, galleries, museum store and classrooms. The museum secures a number of extremely powerful exhibits. These exhibits include the exhibits of people from African-American experiences. The portraits exhibited in the museum highlight the history of the experiences of black people in the states of America.

On 10 August 2011, I embarked on a journey, a journey in quest of knowledge regarding the history of the black American and their freedom expedition. The trip to the museum started quite early in the morning, and it involved my fellow classmates. Our class teacher decided that we needed to visit the museum for educational purpose. This was a terrific idea since it increased our bonds as students besides being a form of research that added to our knowledge regarding African-American history. The journey was exciting, and experience in the museum was satisfactory although, at some point, we found ourselves, witnessing some of the more shocking and dehumanizing abuse that the black Americans suffered. Notably, in the olden times, Detroit was a locus of Civil Rights Movement, hence the location of the Charles, H. Wright Museum. Among the principal attractions the museum holds is the center exhibition, And Still We Rise, Ring of Genealogy, Detroit Performs and Stories in Stained Glass.

However, the most outstanding exhibit in the museum is And Still We Rise (Dagbovie, 2010). This exhibit covers a wide range of experiences of black people through time. More so, the exhibit underlines the foundation of civilization of black people to the present time, and crosses geographic boundaries. The experience of travelling through the themes and times of the exhibit, And Still We Rise, added to my knowledge of the suffering that black people underwent. Evidently, the And We Still Rise exhibit adds value to the interior design of the museum. Particularly, the interior of the museum is more remarkable because of the displays and artifacts impressively exhibited in the museum.Exhibits showing the transportation of African slaves to America and other countries create understanding of the slave trade practiced in earlier centuries. There are also notable motion picture and audio clips that present events and congenial personality.

The central exhibit of the museum" And still I Rise" is one of key exhibits in the It makes use of artifacts; pictures and multimedia, which helps in making the visitors, have an experience of the African trials and temptations in slavery as well as take them through a journey that the African took to date. The central exhibit mounted on 22,000 square foot that lightens up the interior of the building (Dagbovie, 2010).

The most transformative experience in the museum was when I traversed the seventy-foot replica of the transatlantic slave ship that holds forty life-sized, humanlike bodies confined in fetal positions. The experience symbolically brought us to the depths of slavery, bringing to mind sincere sorrows. We could see historical figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X and other leading civil rights activist. Their images were larger and appeared inspiringly real.

The visit to selected places in the museum helped us in delving into careers and lives of historical and modern black pioneers. We particularly became emotionally stirred and motivated by the contributions and accomplishments as well as the stamp of their success. Besides exemplifying considerable insight and intelligence, most of the black pioneers were highly gifted in leading people and organizations. The struggles of the black people in the white society, as highlighted in leading exhibits, in the museum, draw attention to a quest for complex knowledge not only for us as students and researchers but also for the black African community in efforts of seeking for their freedom. According to Tsoukas (2005), complex knowledge is a thought-provoking, insightful and profoundly involving exploration of mature knowledge. Notwithstanding the dominant society that heartened the failure of the black people, the research discloses that powerful parental inspiration and support enhances the success of people (Tsoukas, 2005). Through the black pioneers, the black people gained their freedom. It is not surprising that many of the black pioneers although long gone, their success, contribution and strong will constantly inspires more generations in the contemporary world. The overriding objectives of the courageous black Americans did not only open doors and development to various career fields and professions for black people in the white society but also benefited the humankind (Moser & Nat, 2003). Their legacies and lives as depicted in the exhibits and artifacts continue to inspire many people to achieve greater heights. Fueled with passion and engineered with lots of love for black American's history and culture, we went far and wide to meet the black pioneers, precedent and current, besides helping us explore and be inspired to seek for more knowledge regarding humanity.

My experience at Charles H. Wright museum was educational, professionally fulfilling and productive. Before the intensive visit, I held shallow comprehension of the black struggle to freedom, but after the visit to the museum, I gained deeper comprehension of the black history. From the experience, I realized that, gaining knowledge of something is valuable. Knowledge is a source of sustainable competitive advantage in people's lives, careers and profession. However, creating and managing knowledge becomes hard especially when people remain locked up in the phase of understanding, events and people (Moser & Nat, 2003).

With respect, to my experience, my understanding will constantly evolve because I will continuously evaluate my core values as well as the definition of knowledge through out my education, personal and professional life. More importantly, the experience I got from Charles H. Wright museum is a clear indication that knowledge is of more value than mere true belief (Cooper, 1999). While it is a true belief that the black American under went severe suffering in the.....