“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 …

Comedy and crossing borders: Eddie Izzard and standup’s post-Westphalian potential

Let's start with the $5 word in the title of this post: "post-Westphalian." Westphalian thinking refers to the notion that each nation-state has sovereignty over everything that happens within its borders. The term comes from the Peace of Westphalia, ending religious wars in Europe in the 17th century. It tends to show up with political scientists …

“Zines as creative resistance”: authoring the world, authoring ourselves

The Graduate Center library and first-floor hallways have spaces for exhibitions of art by artists with a variety of commitments and visions, some of which are beautiful, raw, terrifying, playful, and sometimes – in my favorite cases – all of the above. Below I've collected a group of images of zines which explore topics of race, queer …

The struggle to define who is worthy: mass incarceration and mass deportation

I just finished watching an interview with Susan Burton, author of "Becoming Ms. Burton" and founder of A New Way of Life, a re-entry program for women of color who are adjusting to their new lives after prison, and Michelle Alexander, author of "The New Jim Crow," on Democracy Now!. Alexander wrote the introduction to Burton's book, in …

Hip hop dance as rupture, aesthetic rising

I've been obsessed with hip hop videos since 2014, when I discovered Tricia Miranda, LA-based choreographer for stars including Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Missy Elliott. I took one hip hop dance class in Boston and can barely shake it in salsa or bachata outings (#cudjatellimwhite), but that doesn't seem to matter when I tune in on the newest …

Capturing, captivated by the feminine mystique

Spoiler alert: I will not reference Betty Friedan's book in this post (click here for free PDF) though it's on my short list for the week. I am listening to Satellite by Guster while I write this as well. More on this... I was walking on Newbury Street in Boston, MA last week, a good spot for …

Being seen: re-humanizing aging

NPR this morning had a story about the overmedication of older people living in nursing homes, a scary but evidently not uncommon practice called “chemical restraint” in which antipsychotic drugs are used to pacify people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. As you might expect, the drugs are not approved for such use and are recommended …

Shame and the case of Cosby

Amid accusations by 15 women of sexual violence, Bill Cosby is now the subject of news reports and editorials across the country. Surreal that he is reported to have done a stand-up show in Florida just last night, to the applause and supportive cheers from audience members eager to hear his classic take on family. It …

Developing daughters

I went out with a few friends tonight, who brought their significant others who are now new friends. I love my cohort at CUNY and feel very close to them even though we’ve only been studying together for about 2 ½ months. It’s a blessing considering how lonely doing a PhD can be. One of …

Race, class, gender, disability,…and younger-ish

I got my nails done today. Dark blue. I struggle with color choice on the rare occasions when I get a manicure, and I usually end up choosing something conservative – “classic”/“what people in Paris would wear” often goes through my head as I select the bottle of medium muted red – even though I …