Headlines of the Week (Or Whatever)

NYT: There’s a Reason They Call Them ‘Crazy Ants’

The End of the College Essay: An Essay

Do Whales Kill People? Most collisions between boats and whales are accidental. But not all.

10 Illuminating Nonfiction Books About Poverty

The Way It Was: The Beatles ruled. The mini was in. I was seventeen, and pregnant. What happened next is what could happen again.

The Aesthetics of Internalized Racism, As Seen In "The Bluest Eye"

            One of the most striking elements of The Bluest Eye is the sheer number of perspectives; all rounded and fleshed without judgment on the part of the author. As a reader, I am used to a more directed point of view, wherein every character whose point of view we see is either sympathetic or unsympathetic, as guided by the author. Even nuanced characters are ultimately good or bad, and the worse they are, the less we are given to understand them. However, in the case of The Bluest Eye, while the focus is largely on the ‘good’ characters, Claudia MacTeer and Pecola Breedlove, we are also led to understand the ‘worst’ characters, in Cholly Breedlove, Soaphead Church, and the townspeople altogether.

On Privilege

From my Honors Colloquium II term paper:

“What the advocates of our dangerous and deepening social amnesia don’t understand is how deeply the past holds the future in its grip—even, and perhaps especially, when it remains unacknowledged.” ~Timothy B. Tyson, Blood Done Sign My Name

In our society, we are taught that racism, sexism, and classism, inasmuch as they still exist in our modern society, are things that put others at a disadvantage. The interesting corollary to this is for every person put at a disadvantage, someone has an advantage. In an essay on the topic, entitled “The Breeze at My Back”, Dr. Michael Kimmel, esteemed sociologist and author, compared privilege to running in the wind, stating:

“To walk or run with that same wind at your back is to float, to sail effortlessly, expending virtually no energy. You do not feel the wind; it feels you. You do not feel how it pushes you along; you feel only the effortlessness of your movements. You feel like you could go on forever. It is only when you turn around and face that wind that you realize its strength. Being white, or male, or heterosexual in this culture is like running with the wind at your back. It feels like just plain running, and we rarely if ever get a chance to see how we are sustained, supported, and even propelled by that wind.”

Photo of the Day

On the wall of the ladies' restroom in the Honors building at Cameron University.

Banality of Evil

From a writing prompt on our Honors Psychology Discussion Board:

Q: Think of a time when you resisted conformity or obedience.  What were the reasons behind resisting conformity or obedience? If you were a participant in Milgram’s study, would you have obeyed the experimenter? Why or why not?
 
I have resisted conformity and obedience many, many times in this life. Generally, my reasons were a mix of practicality, ethics, and sheer orneriness.

What qualities make a perfect student?

From an in-class writing exercise during a teaching demonstration with an English Education professor candidate:

What qualities make a perfect student?

If perfect  means 'easy' or 'utilitarian', then I think that a perfect student would be bright, or at least neurotypical, from a relatively privileged household, with adequate elementary education. If the student is a person of color, then a higher socioeconomic status would be preferred. The student would be obedient and eager to please or impress.

In reality...

The above was my answer during the teaching demo, because I was trying to answer from a universal perspective. However, I very much enjoy my challenging students and find that they bring a perspective and a sparkle to my classes. I can't imagine a class full of obedient students with cookie cutter experiences, and don't think that I would want to.

Cultural Events, Overview

 From my weekly comments for Honors Colloquium:

During this semester, I have had the opportunity to attend a number of local cultural events, belying the idea that there is nothing to do in Lawton. I began this semester by attending a book reading and signing of One Hundred Years of Marriage by Louise Farmer Smith in the Cameron library. The reading was pleasant, but not particularly remarkable. In February, I took a date to see the Cameron University Theater’s rendition of Nora, which is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’. This play was particularly controversial in its day, existing as a criticism of the institution of marriage as it existed in the nineteenth century, and the Cameron Theater did it justice. I note that it is no less relevant now, as we begin our second century removed. In April, I attended George McCormick’s book reading and signing of his newest work, Salton Sea, which took place at the Leslie Powell Gallery. His reading was powerful, and reminded me that the professors at Cameron do not just teach; they also do. Most recently, I attended the Lawton Philharmonic, and was treated to wonderful Italian classical music, followed by a short reception for the musicians. Each of these events has added to my grasp of the arts, and I’m glad to have had these opportunities.

Better Living Through Chemistry

From a writing prompt on our Honors Psychology Discussion Board:

Why do people first begin using drugs? Because it is easier for teens to buy drugs than alcohol. Ba dum ching! No, not really. While the above is sadly true, there is no one line answer for this question. I believe that a variety of factors play into the decision to use drugs, assuming that illegal intoxicants are what we are focusing on.

Our first exposures to drugs as a concept are as small children. “Take this,” we instruct our children. “It will make you feel better.” Then we gulp a caffeinated, sugary soda to prepare to stay up all night with them. We begin our mornings with coffee and end our evenings with a nightcap. We celebrate with wine and champagne. We step out to smoke a cigarette while the television blares out commercials advertising magical pills to fix all of life’s problems, from depression to erectile dysfunction. We take those pills, and our children see it. We prime our children for 'better living through chemistry'. Is it any surprise that they seek out what we show them?

On the Nature of War

 From my weekly comments for Honors Colloquium:

"War is thus an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will." ~ Carl von Clausewitz

War. Genocide. Engagement. Atrocity. Intentionality. These are topics upon which we have touched. We discussed war as an act of politics, requiring a state-sanctioned entity; as an act of religion, requiring only hate of Other; and as an atrocity, no matter what form it takes. But at the core of all of these things is intentionality. Whether the motivation is political, religious, social, or even personal, war is, as von Clausewitz posits, “an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will”. The intention of force is war. Thus the machinations of divorce attorneys, Congressmen, and nations alike are all acts of war and part of a larger war, in which we all fight for power on multiple levels, every day of our lives. Which frankly sounds exhausting.

Counter Friction

Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience is a famous and well-regarded example of effective rhetoric. In this essay, Thoreau used all three corners of the rhetorical triangle to outline what he saw as the problems with the government of the time, and with government in general, due to their inherent lack of respect for the individual, instead preferring to maintain the status quo of the whole, even with the cost being widespread injustice and corruption, which Thoreau opined were the chief products manufactured thereby. Governments are by their nature, according to Thoreau, generally more harmful than helpful, although he did profess a respect for the concept of government, and wished for a better government that does more to respect the rights of individuals and liberty as a whole. Specifically, Thoreau spoke about the Mexican-American War, poll taxes, slavery, and other laws that he saw as unjust. In regards to these topics specifically and government in general, Thoreau attempted to persuade his audience, which was comprised of students in Concord, Massachusetts, to his point of view with skillful use of the rhetorical triangle, which is to say through the careful application of both logical and emotional arguments, combined with ethos in the form of his academic reputation.

Grand Theft Science

From a writing assignment for Honors Psychology:
 

Does media violence cause aggression? This question is as old as media itself, with medieval priests opining to the people that reading and listening to unholy things would lead to unholy behavior. The common man would do better to stick to the Holy Writ and Passion Plays and to leave the rest alone, lest they be led astray. This question comes from today’s priests in the form of psychiatrists and other medical miracle men holding up or putting down television and video games, with both sides arguing vociferously and with the stakes just as high today as then.

On Language Development

From a writing prompt on our Honors Psychology Discussion Board:

I chose to read about Genie, the ‘wild child’, because I had previously seen the film ‘Mockingbird Don’t Sing’, which was based on her life and case history, from the point of view of her predominant worker, Dr. Susan Curtiss, a trained linguist. As I followed links around the Internet, going everywhere from linguistic case studies to film reviews; I began to wonder how environment affects language acquisition. Everything I read focused on the negative impact of a linguistically lacking environment, but I did not see anything that considered the theoretical positive effects of a linguistically rich environment.

On Adulthood

From a writing prompt on our Honors Psychology Discussion Board:

When we think of adulthood, we first think of chronological age. An 18-year-old is an adult, for civil legal purposes. They may sign contracts, marry, vote, drive without restriction, bring a suit in court, and enjoy most of their majority rights. This is not an encompassing freedom, as the state still holds some rights in abeyance, such as the right to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages, hold certain licenses, and run for certain offices. However, in regards to criminal legal purposes, people under the age of 18 (usually at least 16 but as young as 13 in some states) are frequently 'tried as adults', and sentenced as though they were chronologically older. So legally speaking, an adult can chronologically range from 13 to 35.

On Philosophy

From my Honors Colloquium II mid-term exam, part 2:

1.         In his key piece, Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant posits the idea that all human knowledge falls into two categories: a priori, meaning 'from before', and a posteriori, meaning 'from later'. A priori knowledge is gained independently from experience, is obvious, and requires no real effort to discern. A posteriori knowledge, on the contrary, is gained by experience or empirical evidence. Kant then categorizes our ability to know into two categories: noumena, which are things that can be perceived empirically, and phenomena, which can be discerned only through intuition. 'Real' things, or noumena, are merely representations of unknowns, or phenomena, which are interpreted through our a priori or a posteriori knowledge to reach an understanding, inasmuch as we can understand the universe.

Thoreau's Use of the Rhetorical Triangle in 'Civil Disobedience'

From an in-class writing exercise on rhetoric from Honors Composition II:

Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience seeks to outline the problems with our current mode of government and with government in general due to their inherent lack of respect for the individual, instead preferring to maintain the status quo of the whole, even at the expense of injustice and corruption, which Thoreau opines are the chief products manufactured thereby. Governments are, according to Thoreau, generally more harmful than helpful, although he does profess a respect for the concept of government, and wishes for a better government that does more to respect the rights of individuals and liberty as a whole.

On Education and Language

From my Honors Colloquium II mid-term exam:

“The teacher’s thinking is authenticated only by the authenticity of the students’ thinking. The teacher cannot think for her students, nor can she impose her thoughts on them.”

–Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed: The Banking Concept of Education

Trinity

In the early 1800’s, Ralph Waldo Emerson visited the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France and found himself entranced by what he saw there. Where his fellow patrons observed nature, Emerson perceived Nature. Where we notice only a majuscule letter, Emerson glimpsed God. This visit inspired his seminal essay Nature, in which Emerson expresses his thoughts on the relationship between Nature, Mankind, and God. Within this essay, Emerson famously pronounced, “The whole of nature is a metaphor of the human mind” (17). In this, you can see Emerson beginning to define Nature in relation to Man, as an expansion to the standard definition. The standard definition of Nature, as viewed by both the common man and the Oxford English Dictionary, was anything in the physical world, including the “landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations” (Murray). That distinction, Nature as opposed to Man, is the essence of Emerson’s thoughts on Nature.

Pavlov's Nightmare

            Advertising is pervasive in our culture. In the beginning, advertising was direct. Burma Shave billboards populated roadsides across America and athletes advised parents and children to choose Wheaties, so they could grow big and strong. These ads were successful, but not nearly as much as today’s advertisements. Since these early days, companies have spent billions of dollars to determine exactly how to convince consumers to purchase their products. Those billions of dollars have purchased extremely sophisticated methods of delivering their message to the minds of consumers, including classical and operant conditioning. Using these techniques, companies can easily train consumers to choose or continue to choose their products, and to sway them from their competitor’s products. These companies use both classical and operant conditioning techniques to train us to purchase their products.

Killing Warfare

From my weekly comments for Honors Colloquium:

“Till at last the child's mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child's mind. And not the child's mind only. The adult's mind too - all his life long. The mind that judges and desire and decides - made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions... Suggestions from the State." -Director Malthus, Brave New World

This week’s topic was warfare and evil. Our class exercise on Wednesday focused on a replacement for warfare. All of our own attempts to replace warfare have accepted that warfare is a normal part of our society for which we must account; almost as a force of will, or power, because the tendency to war is seen as a part of human nature. But is it?

On Hobbes and Locke

From my weekly comments for Honors Colloquium II:

“As soon as any man says of the affairs of the State "What does it matter to me?" the State may be given up for lost.”                    ―Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The ideas of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are really very interesting, especially in regards to how different they are, and yet with such similar conclusions. Locke saw Man as a social creature, whereas Hobbes saw Man as a solitary creature. Locke believed in the inherent goodness of man, while Hobbes believes that the natural lives of men would be ‘poor, nasty, brutish, and short’. Locke believed in an intrinsic sense of ethics within the souls of men, while Hobbes saw morality as the will of a ruler, forced upon the people. Most importantly, Locke believed in natural rights, independent of a government, while Hobbes believed that any rights allowed come from the state itself. However different the works of these two men, together they make up makes up one solid set of ideas known as ‘social contract theory’, wherein people implicitly consent to a set of common rules and authority in exchange for protection. Despite the diversity of the ideas of Hobbes and Locke, they are the foundation of our government, which is a very interesting idea.