1763: The Palmetto Journal

Cooperative Education, Ethnomusicology, and Teaching for Freedom: Ethnomusicology as a method for creating equitable education spaces in the pursuit of freedom

Elena Keogh

This paper explores the role of cooperative education and public-facing ethnomusicology as tools for democratizing learning and resisting hegemonic structures in both traditional and community-based educational spaces. Drawing on bell hooks’ theory of engaged pedagogy, it reflects on personal, lived experience as a student at the Educational Center for the Arts (ECA) to illustrate how democratic, student-centered models can challenge the neoliberal classroom. Through case studies such as the Social Science Center in England and Heavy Sound in Scotland, the paper highlights how collaborative, trauma-informed, and arts-integrated practices foster meaningful student engagement and reframe education as a community-oriented process. Public-facing ethnomusicology emerges as a method of “Everyday Learning,” both inside and outside the classroom, by using music to build collective identity, support diverse learners, and create inclusive, culturally responsive environments. The paper concludes by advocating for interdisciplinary applications of these principles—across humanities and STEM fields alike—and calls for grading models and pedagogical frameworks that prioritize student agency, intrinsic motivation, and the shared pursuit of knowledge for the purpose of social change. 

YouTube, Copyright, and Demonetization: An In-Depth Collection and Analysis of YouTube’s Content Management Policies

Emily Shoemaker 

YouTube’s content management policies are systemically flawed. The site’s copyright enforcement and demonetization practices are nearly incomprehensible to their creators, and even more so to their average user. YouTube’s faulty and exploited copyright and demonetization systems often result in false claims and strikes, leaving creators vulnerable to harassment, loss of income, and channel termination—effectively leaving them unemployed. Through the analysis of multiple cross-genre case studies, this paper illustrates how opaque policies and inconsistent policy enforcement disproportionately harm independent content creators who rely on the platform as a livelihood. As YouTube becomes a dominant source of news for younger audiences, the company’s practices raise serious ethical and political concerns regarding censorship, corporate accountability, and the integrity of online journalism. This paper collects information about YouTube’s content management policies and synthesizes it into a comprehensible summary. Afterwards, the implications for digital journalism and freedom of expression are discussed with the overarching message that reform and meaningful legal protections are necessary in the immediate future.

Broadway vs. History: Evaluating Hamilton as a Tool for Civic Understanding

Mallory Venezia

This essay offers a critical review of Hamilton: An American Musical, examining its effectiveness as a tool for civic education in the United States. While the musical has become a cultural phenomenon, it simplifies the complexities in America’s founding. This essay explores the musical’s historical accuracies, such as the ideological divides between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Through close analysis of songs like “Cabinet Battle #1” and “Washington on Your Side,” the essay shows how Hamilton reflects real historical tensions surrounding federalism and the formation of political parties. However, this essay also critiques the musical for its reinforcement of the “great man” theory of history, coined by Thomas Carlyle, and for overlooking systemic injustices, such as the history of slavery in the founding of the American Regime. While Hamilton can spark political interest in American politics and history, without being coupled with critical historical analysis, its romanticized portrayal of founding fathers risks perpetuating a narrative that is not representative of our nation’s founding.