Hijacked! Conference in Bonn, Germany

An image of people sitting around a table for a meeting

Hijacked!: A Critical Treatment of the Public Rhetoric of “Good” and “Bad” Religion was a conference held from June 8-10 in Bonn, Germany, at the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft (FIW) at the University of Bonn.  Three members of Culture on the Edge (Merinda Simmons, Vaia Touna, and Leslie Dorrough Smith) attended as participants.

The conference’s aim was to consider the rhetorical strategies that various social groups use to evaluate the role of religion in public life.  In particular, a group of international scholars focused on four different themes (the classroom, the media, the university, and politics, respectively) considered how rhetorics of good/authentic/”real” religion have been juxtaposed with concepts of bad/illegitimate/”fake” religion, and the sorts of political work such rhetorics have made possible. Continue reading “Hijacked! Conference in Bonn, Germany”

Culture on the Edge is in Bonn!

bonn

Members of Culture on the Edge are in Bonn, Germany, at a conference entitled Hijacked!: A Critical Treatment of the Public Rhetoric of “Good” and “Bad” Religion.  We are thrilled to be working alongside the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft to investigate the politics and social structures that inform our public conversations about religion.

Tune in soon for conference updates and snazzy pics of Culture on the Edge at work!

Follow the conference at #hijacked2017

 

photo credit: http://www.budgetbestemmingen.nl/bestemmingen/duitsland/bonn/

The Nose-Piercing of Destiny

An image of a new nose ring

About six weeks ago, I did something that I’ve been thinking about for a solid fifteen years:  I got my nose pierced.  I can’t tell you that there’s one particular reason why it took me so long to do it; instead, it would be more accurate to describe a million minor discouragements along the way.   But when I  recently found myself admiring a friend’s piercing (framing the compliment within the narrative of my own unfulfilled intentions), it didn’t take much for her to convince me to go for it. Continue reading “The Nose-Piercing of Destiny”

Who Has Been Radicalized?

An image of a train station

People commonly use the term “radicalization” to explain how individuals could commit certain horrific acts of violence. News reports about the person believed to have carried out the Manchester bombing have focused on when he (and possibly his brother) became radicalized, and both the Trump and Obama administrations have discussed how to combat radicalization. In these examples, radicalization refers to a process in which people develop “extreme” commitments to a particular viewpoint and sacrifice many things, even their own lives, to further that viewpoint, often using violence against others. Continue reading “Who Has Been Radicalized?”

Cue the Sparkly Distraction

An image of an older man sitting on a bench

Question: How do you prepare a generation to come to grips with economic realities that are rather different than what their immediate predecessors might have taken for granted?

Like, say…, someone currently in the (dwindling) middle class — you know, someone with enough income to be able to save some of it — and thus someone who assumes that they’ll retire at 65 (or maybe even younger), just like dear old dad did…? Continue reading “Cue the Sparkly Distraction”

Hope and the Politics of Belief: Some Thoughts on a Trip to Prison

An image of a cell door with a key in it

Through a series of interesting circumstances, I recently had the occasion to visit Lansing Correctional Facility, the oldest and largest prison in the state of Kansas. The purpose of my visit was multifaceted, but my part in the process was to bring a group of my own university students to participate in a college-level philosophy class taken by inmate students. The explicit goal was to provide both groups the chance to see how their different experiences might provide more nuanced perspectives on some introductory-level philosophical issues.

Although we did not intend to talk about the criminal justice system as one of our topics, the fact that that was the setting of our engagement was an undeniable part of our time together. Like several others in the group, I was aware of the literature on mass incarceration and the “school to pipeline” process that currently feeds the American prison system. While these models of incarceration are complex, what the evidence demonstrates is that factors largely outside of one’s control play a significant role in whether and how one experiences the corrections system. For instance, things such as race, gender, educational quality, and poverty are all determinants in the likelihood of arrest, the quality of one’s legal representation, whether one will be convicted, the length of one’s sentence, and recidivism rates. Continue reading “Hope and the Politics of Belief: Some Thoughts on a Trip to Prison”

What is a Feminazi?

An image of a woman who looks like Hitler and a nazi symbol

By Nicole Goulet

The term ‘feminazi’ reared its ugly head on my Facebook feed this week.  It showed up innocently, not as an accusation (although it is always an accusation), but as part of a casual conversation about what feminism was.  In this case, it was someone mentioning their distaste for the archetypical feminazi, the imaginary feminist who is outraged by imaginary men opening imaginary doors for her.

The term ‘feminazi’ emerged in the 1990’s, as popularized (and possibly created) by political commentator Rush Limbaugh, to refer to a particular type of “extreme” feminist (namely, pro-choice activists). “Feminazi” has since been used in a variety of ways to give negative value to certain groups of women. Some examples include:  high profile activists like Gloria Steinem; unknown feminists dissatisfied with and critical of the current status of women; and those women who do not conform to the culturally dominant beauty standards (e.g. shaving). In defining the term ‘feminazi,’ it is safe to say that it is used quite liberally depending on the situation. Continue reading “What is a Feminazi?”