By Julliana BravonPublished in The Daily CampusnMay 11, 2023nnhttps://twitter.com/FionaVernal/status/1629572928168681472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1629572928168681472%7Ctwgr%5E07be111e5945226aba5d355b7ecfe02ef160024d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdailycampus.com%2F2023%2F03%2F07%2Fepoch-and-connecticut-humanities-address-the-history-of-housing-insecurity%2FnnEPOCH partners with Connecticut Humanities to address Hartford’s history of housing insecurity while providing history majors a research space. nnFiona Vernal, associate professor at the University of Connecticut, has recently partnered with Connecticut Humanities to continue her work with Engaged, Public, Oral and Community Histories, or EPOCH. nnEPOCH is a program in the history department at the University of Connecticut that connects undergraduate and graduate students, K-12 schools and museums to create a new way of teaching, learning and presenting history. nn“EPOCH is the formalization of work that I have been doing for a long time and very much inspired by undergraduate classes,” Vernal said. nnVernal said her work began in 2008 while she was a professor at UConn teaching South African history. During the Recession, she said her students became worried about their future job prospects as history majors. This worry created an ongoing conversation about how marketable their degrees would be once they pursued careers. nn“Students were also completely bored with lectures and Socratic methods,” Vernal said. nnVernal also questioned the functionality of an end-of-semester paper that would be graded and eventually thrown away. She said she believed this was not a way to engage with history. nnWith the help of her students, Vernal said she created a new syllabus for the class in one day. She said she reworked it so students could engage with history instead of just hearing about it. She said she wanted her students to know that they too could be a part of producing original research. More specifically, they would go to archives and listen to 10 oral histories. At the end of the semester, instead of a term paper, they would produce an exhibition named “Children of the Soil: Generations of South Africans.” nnFive exhibitions later, Vernal said she has much more experience with engagingly telling history. She said the Connecticut Humanities grant will allow Vernal and EPOCH to ensure that historians tell oral histories correctly and with the proper resources. nn“These exhibitions are meant to be iterative. They’re not one and done,” Vernal said. nnVernal and her team incorporated the history of public housing, housing reform, urban renewal and slum clearances. Although each exhibition focuses on a different part of history, she said they can coexist. nnAfter her first exhibition, Vernal said she received feedback that people wanted the incorporation of contemporary and modern housing issues. So, she and her students dug further. She said they followed the ongoing “No More Slumlords!” campaign in Hartford and captured it in real-time. Here, Vernal and her team interviewed tenant activists. nn“We worked on the history of housing and wanted to focus on contemporary activism that resonated with what was going on in the community,” Vernal said in an email. nnHousing issues persist today with an ongoing debate in the Connecticut General Assembly about incorporating public testimonies, Vernal said. Last year, the CGA discussed a right to housing and the right to counsel during an eviction. This year, the CGA discussed laws about municipalities contributing their fair share. nn“Connecticut cities share a disproportionate burden of affordable housing. Notions of home rule and NIMBYism [Not in my Back Yard] undermine efforts to create affordable housing, accessory dwelling units, multi-family properties and other forms of housing that maximize density and affordability.” Vernal said in an email. nnWith the help of Connecticut Humanities, Vernal said, EPOCH will continue to answer these questions, and the exhibition will continue to add panels. nnVernal said she doesn’t believe one person should own a piece of history. EPOCH also partners with K-12 schools to introduce exhibition work. They partner with other museums and exhibitions to share the panels as well. nn“It’s reused again and again, and we need to promote the effort to continue use beyond the original programs,” Vernal said. nnVernal said she wants the exhibition to have an afterlife. For Vernal, inclusive teaching and being able to work with communities have been central to how EPOCH operates.
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