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Kenny Says…
Culture on the Edge:
theoretical insights so conceptually tight that…
– Kenny Paul Smith sort’a said that
Blind Confidence
Not long ago I posted about a paired example (one scholar in India and one in North America), each debunking what they both called other people’s superstitions. Apart from being curious as to why one of those critics met a tragic fate (the topic of my earlier post), I also find interesting the way in which the side they both share — what shall we call them: Modernists? Rationalists? Empiricists? Scientists? Secularists? — portrays those on the other; for “they,” as indicated just above, are superstitious people who rely on archaic beliefs in black magic, hocus pocus, faith (in fact, it is often called blind faith) whereas “we” boldly rely on our own cool-headed rationality and cold hard facts.
But is it as simple as that? Continue reading “Blind Confidence”
On the Preface
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On Agency
For Foucault, a grid of classification is an application of power that permits action on a subject, perhaps making him or her a subject of disciplinary practices that nudge the subject towards conformity with an ideal posited within the grid at hand. Continue reading “On Agency”
On Reading
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A Character Study
Have you seen this beer new commercial? Continue reading “A Character Study”
“Is it ever OK to use the N-word?”
Monica Miller was recently featured on the front page of The Morning Call in an interview discussing whether it is okay to use the N-Word and its implications for various groups. See what she says in the interview here.
Coming Attractions
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Coloring Columbus: On the Importance of Leaving Out the Details
I am the parent of three children, two of whom are elementary school-aged. As such, I have now twice been handed an image of Christopher Columbus (not unlike the one featured above) that they each have dutifully colored, which appears to be a requisite kindergarten activity at our local public school. Because of the historical evidence that details Columbus’s systematic torture and murder of the peoples whose lands he colonized, I have always found this exercise something akin to coloring a picture of Saddam Hussein or some other such figure. Continue reading “Coloring Columbus: On the Importance of Leaving Out the Details”