Tag: Author features

Climate change, carbon-heavy masculinity, and the politics of exposure

October 27, 2016

BY STACY ALAIMOUniversity of Texas at Arlington The final weeks of the 2016 U.S. presidential election have become a lewd circus. Complex, urgent issues such as climate change have been upstaged by rude outbursts—“you’re a puppet!,”“such a nasty woman.” It is difficult to imagine these scenes could have anything at all to do with climate … More Climate change, carbon-heavy masculinity, and the politics of exposure

Nostalgia for a lost nation in diasporic Iranian memoir.

September 22, 2016

BY NIMA NAGHIBIAssociate professor of English at Ryerson University, Toronto In this first decade and a half of the twenty-first century, diasporic Iranians, many of them women, are deploying the autobiographical form to narrate their personal experiences of life in post-revolutionary Iran and in the diaspora. The explosion of life writing in North America since … More Nostalgia for a lost nation in diasporic Iranian memoir.

The U.S. custom of tipping at restaurants, from the 1800s to now

September 16, 2016

Prior to the late nineteenth century, the practice of tipping in the United States was consideredhumiliating to waiters.Image source: An 1899 edition of Their Wedding Journey by William Dean Howells. BY KELLY ERBYAssistant professor of history at Washburn University Today, when Americans go out to eat at a restaurant that provides table service, it is … More The U.S. custom of tipping at restaurants, from the 1800s to now

René Magritte’s Selected Writings: On Jane Graverol

September 7, 2016

Jane Graverol’s Le Cortège d’Orpheé. BY KATHLEEN ROONEY Though the artist René Magritte (1898–1967) wrote extensively throughout his life and career—from aspirations of being a detective novelist to crafting genre-jumping essays, prose poems, lectures, reviews, and more—it’s hard to say why exactly it has taken so long for Magritte’s writings to become available in English. His Ecrits … More René Magritte’s Selected Writings: On Jane Graverol

When Homeland Security goes to school

August 25, 2016

BY NICOLE NGUYENAssistant professor of social foundations of education at the University of Illinois-Chicago In 2015, the FBI launched the controversial website Don’t Be a Puppet: Pull Back the Curtain on Violent Extremism. Through interactive games, the playful website intends to prevent young people from embracing extremist beliefs. Don’t Be a Puppet also offers resources … More When Homeland Security goes to school

Aliens, monsters, and revolution in the Dark Deleuze

August 19, 2016

BY ANDREW CULPVisiting assistant professor of emerging media and communication at the University of Texas at Dallas French philosopher Gilles Deleuze is usually characterized as a thinker of positivity. Consider two of his major contributions: the rhizome as an image for the tangled connections of networks, and the molecular revolution as transform spurred by unexpected … More Aliens, monsters, and revolution in the Dark Deleuze

Turning from political extremes to new forms of collective action

August 18, 2016

BY GERDA ROELVINKSenior lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at Western Sydney University While those from the political extremes seem to be excited and increasingly agitated about their participation in democracies across the globe, with the US and Australia being good recent examples, a larger majority of perhaps more moderate people appear … More Turning from political extremes to new forms of collective action

The global implications of RNC support for gay “conversion therapy”

August 11, 2016

BY TOM WAIDZUNASAssistant professor of sociology at Temple University Last week, police in Uganda raided an LGBT pride event. Witnesses described police brutality, especially toward transgender women. Among those arrested were Pepe Julian Onziema and Frank Mugisha, leaders of Sexual Minorities Uganda. The Anti-Homosexuality Act, which passed there in 2014, has since been overturned by … More The global implications of RNC support for gay “conversion therapy”

How tourism is deeply implicated in the antagonistic global structures that lead to war.

August 9, 2016

BY DEBBIE LISLESchool of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy at Queen’s University Belfast After the emergence of organized mass tourism in the mid-19th century, billions of people have indulged their desires to visit cultures, landscapes, and experiences different from their own. No place on the planet is immune to the tourist gaze: alongside familiar visits … More How tourism is deeply implicated in the antagonistic global structures that lead to war.