Being less silent: exceeding the safe confines of U.S. academic rightness

I try to listen to various podcasts, read blogs, and watch YouTube channels and vlogs in order to supplement, and sometimes to correct or exceed, the reading I do in my doctoral studies as much as possible. The best work, I think, includes collaborations led by immigrant and immigration-focused creators and activists, like Chat It …

Flipping It Horizontal

By Baxito - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 In 2018, I wrote a piece in Left Voice about the ecological nature of CUNY education: “I believe that CUNY is an educational ecology with relations flowing in many directions, meaning that what affects us as adjunct professors affects our students, which in turn affects their engagement …

Hip hop(-as-)pedagogy

I recently saw a posting for a workshop on hip hop pedagogy at my university, which I unfortunately won't be able to attend. I'm not familiar with hip hop pedagogy—which is why I'm disappointed I can't make it—but I like the idea of connecting hip hop as an expressive political force with education and social …

Crying us a river: the New York Times’ lament of the poor education of detained migrant children

The expression "cry someone a river" according to Wiktionary has two definitions: (idiomatic, often sarcastic) To weep profusely or excessively in the presence of another person. (idiomatic, usually sarcastic, by extension) To try to obtain the sympathy of another person by complaining or sniveling. I'll focus on the first definition. The New York Times published an …

The threat of blindness: the problems with merging education and labor

Something that has gotten little attention in the news lately is the fact that under discussion is the merging of the U.S. Department of Labor and the Department of Education at the federal level, a conversation that was apparently inspired by businesswoman and First Daughter Ivanka Trump. The fact that this momentous change is under …

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”: Mr. Rogers, the separation of immigrant families, and the complicated notion of “love”

Last night I watched Won't You Be My Neighbor?, a biopic about the life and work of Fred Rogers, a Presbyterian minister and TV personality known to people of my generation as the host of PBS show Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Rogers donned his iconic cardigan sweaters and talked to the audience through the camera in every …

“Adjuncts: Underpaid, Overworked and Mobilizing on International Women’s Day” (article for Left Voice)

I just published an article for Left Voice, a progressive news source where several of my friends and colleagues from the GC collaborate to dig in to news that affects us as workers, students, citizens, and human beings. So proud to offer my services again! Here's the link, and here's the text below... In “Living …

Our educational ecology: adjunct professors and our role within our communities

I was invited by Left Voice to publish a version of a speech I gave yesterday at the Graduate Center's rally for better compensation and conditions for adjunct professors (like myself) who struggle with precarious labor conditions yet comprise the majority of labor in higher education across the country. The link to the story, entitled …

Protesting the GOP tax bill: yet another attack on public higher education

Today I and my classmates at the Grad Center are joining forces with students from NYU and Columbia in a Walkout to protest the Republican text bill, which will tax tuition waivers and reduce our already small incomes as graduate assistants and teaching fellows. (For those of you who don't know, adjunct professors like myself …

Daring to be dumb in educational practice and scholarship

Like some of my other posts, I decided to leave this post title without a clarifying subheading. It refers to a suggestion made by Brad Heckman, an educator and specialist in conflict resolution with a background in international peacemaking who now leads an organization that provides conflict mediation training for police working in urban communities. …