Hello and welcome to Sarah’s Magic, a little corner of the web where I’ll feature the multimedia products I create for my course, COM561 Professional Multimedia Content Creation. First, let’s get acquainted; I’m Sarah Bunch. I grew up in rural Georgia and Alabama, surrounded by my large, working-class family. There, I learned the value of hard work, community, and service to others. This inspired me to spend most of my career in the nonprofit sector, helping organizations achieve their fundraising budgets and managing their marketing, communications, and public relations efforts.

Like many others, when COVID-19 struck, I experienced a profound shift in my perspective on humanity. I was working for Habitat for Humanity, addressing the issue of affordable housing, but I began to explore much wider humanitarian topics and at the same time, my husband and I began exploring the skies with a telescope. Combined, these led me to read about the “Overview Effect”.

So, what is the Overview Effect? The Overview Effect is a cognitive and emotional shift in awareness experienced by astronauts when they see the Earth from space. This perspective often leads to a profound realization of the planet’s fragility, the interconnectedness of all life, and the insignificance of national borders and conflicts. The term was coined by space philosopher and author Frank White in his 1987 book, The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution.

I believe a major silver lining of COVID-19 was that it gave us all a more global perspective and hopefully stimulated more empathy throughout the world. I’m convinced that space exploration and visitation can achieve the same, and potentially even more, in transforming our understanding of humanity and our small, fragile place among the vastness of the cosmos. I’m excited to explore this topic more throughout the course and hope to perhaps one day work in a nonprofit that provides space visitation for the common man. That’s why throughout the course I’ll create content that explores how the Overview Effect can transform our human perspective.

Learn more about me.