Journalist – Historian – Speaker
Arizona State University regents (via a committee) rejected a disability studies major (while approving a slate of technical and business majors). Majors get rejected all the time, but this one was telling, because the regent quoted clearly didn’t get the humanities. Amy Silverman wrote about the decision. Here’s the reporting on the actual decision. Searle …
In my latest for The Nation, I zoom in on a little clause in Trump’s latest comments on mental health and gun violence. Trump’s comments on mental health are typical of Republican response to violence. He characterized the killer as a “very deranged individual” who has a “mental health problem at the highest level.” This …
Arkansas is set to execute Jack Greene this Thursday. He is mentally ill, with intense delusions and a long history of self-harm and violent ideation. He committed murder, but there’s reasonable debate about the extent to which he understands reality. The prison director decided he wasn’t sufficiently mentally ill to be spared due to disability. …
In my latest Pacific Standard essay, I talk about the ways that some right-wing schools enforce indoctrination and homogeneity, even as our free speech on campus discourse focuses on left-wing schools. In response to National Football League players protesting state violence against African Americans, the College of the Ozarks, a small, Christian liberal arts institution in …
HELLO @StOlaf we have so much to talk about tomorrow! #UmYahYah pic.twitter.com/nYeCAeCHOp — David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) November 2, 2017 I’m looking forward to going back to Northfield today. I spent a year and a half there while writing my dissertation, a difficult and glorious time in my life. I struggled. I thrived. I wrote. …
University of Chicago’s Open Letter condemns white supremacist abuse toward scholars of color: https://t.co/9WuFYnbNYZ — medievalpoc (@medievalpoc) October 31, 2017 This letter from the English faculty does a nice job of parsing how to talk about free speech while considering how to protect the vulnerable. They write: We wish to reaffirm that our role as …
HOW TO MAKE SHRIMP RISOTTO IN JUST 13 EASY STEPS! 1) sautee the shallot and fennel in olive oil and butter and salt until nice and soft. Clean the shrimp while you wait. Also make dinner for the kids and pour some whiskey. Put a box of pre-bought seafood stock [DO NOT JUDGE ME] on …
NEW at Pacific Standard On the day after the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders responded to questions about gun control legislation by telling reporters that “there will certainly be a time for that policy discussion to take place, but that’s not the place that we’re in …
“Medieval” Madagascar: Plague and Inequality The Current Outbreak of Plague isn’t a Throwback, But a Sign of Modern World A guest post by Monica H. Green. Dr. Green is Professor of History at Arizona State University. Follow her on Twitter @monicaMedHist I see dead people. That’s my job. I’m a historian. But in the past …
I was writing a piece today about gun violence when news broke that the FBI was releasing 1500+ pages of documents about Sandy Hook. They are available here. Experts in the case say there’s nothing especially new here, but I haven’t read them all before. Two things remain clear. 1) There were lots of warning …