Narrative Box 1

In his video essay, How Life Looks Through My ‘Whale Eyes,’ which was recently published in the New York Times, James Robinson gives viewers a poignant glimpse into what it’s like to navigate the world as part of the “sea of difference,” on which the “USS Normal” sails. Robinson, who graduated from Duke in 2020, deals with three different eye conditions that cause an array of challenges with how he sees — and how he is seen.

“We put so much time and effort into making sure that people who are perceived as different understand what it would be like if they were normal,” he says. “But we rarely ever do the opposite. Pushing those who perceive themselves as normal to understand what it would be like if they were different.”