Humanities Portfolio

Welcome welcome!

I’m Lydia Catterall, a student at the fine and fabulous Davidson College. I’m the little sister of two incredible older siblings, and the youngest daughter of parents who encouraged me to assert my voice confidently. At a young age I learned how much power a voice can hold, for my parents pushed me into public speaking as often as possible. My family also encouraged exploration of the arts, so I discovered that singing and dancing offered alternative ways to express my voice.

In this road to discovery, I also discovered the limitations surrounding voice. For instance, I could never seem to get rid of the voice in my head that told me my work was not good enough. I learned that society seems to put volume controls on voice, turning some people far too loud and others far too quiet. I became even more aware of these volume discrepancies throughout the Humanities course, as we discussed voices that were muted in history, people who had to and still have to fight for their voices to be heard. Thus, I made my portfolio about the power and power dynamics of voice.

The items under “A Few Things New” should be read in the order they appear on the drop down menu, from top to bottom. The reader should move outward through the levels of voice: “A Letter to the Voice Inside My Head” deals with the inner voice, “Speaking Up Without Speech” deals with the way we make our voices heard, and “Pandemic Voices” deals with the way the voices of others affect us. The point of this is to show the multitude of ways in which voice appears in our life, and how strongly each level influences us.

Abundant thanks to my friends from BEST who gave me inspiration for this portfolio, as well as a school year full of fun. Your dance moves rock, as do your personalities!