Symposium: Public Memory & Tampa’s Forgotten Black Cemeteries

Dr. Julie Nelson presented on Tampa’s forgotten cemeteries and public memory in the latest Honors symposium. She focused on Zion, a black cemetery just north of UT’s campus that was paved over to make space for shops, roadways, and Robles Park Village. Although the headstones were removed, the bodies were not.

Dr. Nelson is Assistant Professor of English and Writing at UT. Dr. Nelson’s research focuses on digital publishing, rhetorical theory, and affect and emotion studies. Nelson’s work appears in enculturation, Radical Pedagogy, Composition Forum and several edited collections. In her courses, she frequently creates digital and public writing projects with her students.

Megan Darling at Oxford

Greetings from Oxford! My experience here has been so incredible that it’s hard to put into words! From going to London to tour places like Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament to exploring beautiful areas local to Oxford like Port Meadow and the Ashmolean Museum — it has truly been like living a dream.

While I’m here, I have the honor of studying seventeenth-century British Restoration drama and eighteenth-century literary authors like Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding. Although reading and essay-writing take up a good portion of my time here, I can say that studying in historical libraries like the Radcliffe Camera never gets old. My tutors here never fail to inspire me, and they always encourage me to look at things from a different perspective.

As with every new experience, take time to savor it. There are cafes and restaurants around every corner, accompanied by gorgeous parks and grand buildings to take in, too. My favorite moments here so far have all included getting to know new people, whether that’s at a 5K through Christ Church Meadow, in the cafes down Jericho, or on the tours provided by the Oxford Study Abroad Programme.

I am forever grateful to the University of Tampa’s Honors Program for this opportunity. To anyone reading this who is considering applying: please do! You never know what new path you may get to explore.

Cheers!

Megan Darling

(P.S. In case anyone is wondering, the cinnamon roll is from Barefoot Cafe. Highly recommend it!)