I am a professor at a small Catholic university on the edge of Chicago. We have an extremely diverse population of students, a teaching-centered institution, a social justice mission, and I go to work feeling extremely lucky in many ways. But especially today. Today we are holding our Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Investigations (URSCI)…
Over the last week, I twice wrote (and tweeted) about Joshua Kim and an essay that I found to be sexist. More importantly, the women he wrote about found it to be sexist, and in the ensuing discussion, Kim spent a lot of time talking about what he thought and he felt, rather than acknowledging…
I’ve been away over the weekend, so am a bit behind on stories to write. I try not to write when spending family time on vacation! Ahead this week – apologies, deaths by taser, death by gunfire, thoughts on undergraduate achievement. I’m also writing about the Middle Ages, the local Zoo, public intellectuals, and the…
There is a standard horrible argument out there that people with low IQ are protected from trauma because they don’t understand what happened to them. It’s used in sexual assault cases (read here if you must. It’s upsetting) sometimes and must be confronted at every turn. It’s been on my mind as part of a…
In Fresno County Jail, in California, a for-profit prison doctor is accused of taking away an inmate’s wheelchair as retaliation for complaints. The details are not proven, but here’s the story (via TPM): Daniel Trebas hasn’t had an easy time in the Fresno County jail. The convicted sex offender has served his punishment, plus about…
Like many people, I spent some time watching great video clips of Trevor Noah’s standup routines (compiled here by Vox) and laughing. I certainly enjoyed his first appearance on the Daily Show, which I happened to catch live (I don’t watch the show routinely, but like many people consume clips via the internet the next…
Premise #1: There is no way for a powerful white man to critique the public voice of women on the grounds of tone without replicating patriarchal “silencing” discourse. Premise #2: There is no appropriate way for a powerful white man to question why someone invokes the race of another powerful white man. Premise #3: Sometimes, holding to these…
A month or so ago, UIUC professor Susan Koshy wrote a piece on being the target of a boycott. She supports the candidacy of Steven Salaita. She’s angry at the administration for their conduct. She writes (behind the paywall. I will quote as extensively as seems reasonable): For someone like me, who is inside the…
Principal forces student with Down syndrome to remove high school letter jacket: http://t.co/9dsd9hxZNC pic.twitter.com/WxLdUQjyaa — USA TODAY Sports (@USATODAYsports) March 27, 2015 USA Today Sports has a new piece on a boy with Down syndrome forced to remove a letter jacket. His mother had bought him the jacket, he loved it, but because he’s not…
Preamble: I make mistakes Sometimes, I make mistakes. Often, those mistakes emerge from my privilege – straight, white, tenured, able-bodied, neurotypical, married, etc. I say something or do something that is exclusionary, hurtful, or simply wrong. If I’m lucky, someone calls me on it. If I’m very lucky, after I apologize and try to make…