If you work in academia you may have heard rumblings in the last few weeks about “the Harvard letter.” It was a shocking scandal that had people all over opining and tweeting and just generally being appalled. If you don’t work in academia, you might not have heard of it. But it was not a good moment for us. Some of the most influential people in their fields made what many saw as some serious mis-steps, and in the process laid bare some of the worst parts of academic culture. We like to think of the ivory tower as a place where we are striving for ideals like justice, equality, and progress, but weeks like the last two remind us that we are just as mired in the muck as anybody else. [Read More]
Episode 81 – It’s Open to Interpretation
As you know, many of my classes deal with politics or political change. So, a couple of weeks ago, I started out a few of them with a brief discussion of the retirement of Stephen Breyer. Not surprisingly, most of my students had never heard of him, and only a few had any idea that there was any news concerning the Supreme Court. Students at my school aren’t particularly politically plugged-in and don’t tend to pay much attention to the news. [Read More]
Episode 80 – Banned Books
By now I am sure you have all heard about the furor surrounding the graphic novel Maus.
The Pulitzer Prize winning work from Art Spiegelman was banned by a school board in Tennessee because it has swear words in it and depicts a “naked character.” [Read More]
Episode 79 – Mitch McConnell and the Third Persona
ou may have heard in the news recently about Mitch McConnell’s unfortunate gaffe about voting rates. In case you missed it, Bruce Schreiner writes,
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is drawing criticism for comments he made shortly before the GOP blocked a federal elections bill, when he said that “African American” voters cast ballots at similar rates to “Americans.” [Read More]
Episode 78 – Day of the Dread
School has started for many higher education professionals, and if it hasn’t it will in the next few days. But this semester is different from previous semesters, and I want to acknowledge that on behalf of educators.
In the last year or two we have been hearing a lot about the mental health of students. We’ve been hearing about how we need to be patient with our students and do everything we can to be helpful and compassionate to them. They are struggling. They need our understanding. They need our support. They need us to be there for them and to be stable for them. Most of all, they need us to understand that this is hard for them. [Read More]