A joint resolution of Congress in 1973 declared August 26 “Women’s Equality Day,” an annual commemoration of the passage of the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote. In retrospect, the official recognition seems remarkably progressive, considering only 3 percent of congressional seats were held by women at the time. The president gave his … Continue reading »
On statues, and what can and cannot be said
I’ve been loath to write about what’s happening with Confederate statues, but a few sleepless nights cured my diffidence. As an architectural historian who works on memorials and has dabbled in the history of historic preservation, I’ve vacillated over the years between a Ruskinian position (“let it moulder”) and a Rieglian position, trying to establish … Continue reading »
Losing the past or changing the future? Archaeologists and modern monuments
As images of white supremacists rallying to protest the planned removal of monuments to the confederate past filled the news, some people on social media began to argue that archaeology– my discipline, my profession— should oppose the destruction of these things. The argument goes that archaeologists have a responsibility to oppose any destruction of potential … Continue reading »
Lessons from the movement for marriage in a fractious age
The jury is still out with regard to what the Trump administration will mean for hard-won protections for lesbians, gay men and transgender people. Surely no one is anticipating an expansion of protections, such as the passage of the long-proposed Employment Nondiscrimination Act, so the question is asked in terms of how much retrenchment can … Continue reading »
Sincerely, Niccolo Machiavelli: an open letter to Donald Trump
“I must commend you on your masterful victory over your opponents. But some of my lessons you’ve failed to learn.” So wrote Liam Frölund, a freshman at Berkeley, using Machiavelli’s voice and texts, in a masterly fulfillment of his class assignment, published last week in Salon Magazine. I’ve been teaching History 5, “Western Civilization Since … Continue reading »
‘I have nothing to hide. Why should I care about privacy?’
(with co-contributor Professor Ken Goldberg) In celebration of Data Privacy Day (Jan. 28), we offer three reasons for the university community to care about privacy. 1. Learning is personal As much as we grow through our community, learning is essentially an internal transformation. Keeping grades, letters of recommendation, and evaluations private is not about hiding. It’s … Continue reading »
Mistaken for Muslim, Indian American man beaten in Pittsburg bar
The incident reported in Indian-American media reminds me of this story I penned sometime back, from which I excerpted this blog. http://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/mistaken-for-muslim-indian-american-man-beaten-in-pittsburg-bar/article_602c19ee-b35c-11e6-b5e9-ff7a1c0c208c.html An itinerant Indian nationalist activist, Pandit Totaram Sanadhya, found himself in the impoverished islands of British-colonized Fiji quite by accident, being deceptively recruited in 1893 as a girmitiya, a Hindiised term for indentured “coloured” … Continue reading »
Why has America elected a president adapted to a Stone Age way of life?
There are a lot of unhappy, surprised people in Berkeley today. I am in the minority who are deeply unhappy but in no way surprised. The interpretation we make of yesterday’s events depends upon the paradigm we adopt for understanding human nature. The majority of my colleagues are still influence by the 19th century standard social-science … Continue reading »
The impact of advisers of color in the UC
At UC Berkeley, the overall population of staff of color has remained flat over the past 10 years. The more senior the position, the less likely a person of color will occupy it. In Sid Reel’s Wisdom Cafe article (http://wisdomcafe.berkeley.edu/2015/11/how-campus-staff-play-a-role-in-advancing-equity-diversity-and-inclusion/), “The 2013 campus climate survey identified that staff members experience a higher level of exclusionary … Continue reading »
Emma Goldman Papers sounds the alarm for Nasty Women – past and present – to unite
Among the most frightening aspects of the specter of a Trump presidency would be the arbitrary use of power, including his threat to “lock up” his “nasty woman” opponent, enact racist policies of massive deportations from, and restricted entry into, the United States, all while bypassing any semblance of the democratic process. This scenario was … Continue reading »
Obama’s people and the African Americans: the language of Othering
Names used to refer to the “black” community have changed, and continue to change. I sometimes say I was born a colored boy, then I became a Negro, then black, then African American, and still we are not done. To the list of identities black people in America have assumed or been asked to, we … Continue reading »
Dylan in Stockholm; Dylan in Berkeley
The recent decision by the Swedish Nobel Committee to award the 2016 prize for literature to Bob Dylan has not been uncontroversial. Cries of anguish have come from all sides, lamenting generally that this decision is one more nail in the coffin of a literary culture that demands quiet, thoughtful attention but is now mortally … Continue reading »
Michelle Obama: ‘It’s about basic human decency’
“It has shaken me to my core….” Yes. This resonates. Michelle Obama has just delivered the speech of her life — of the lives of many women who watched events in the presidential election since Friday with an increasing sense of disbelief. How could we possibly, in 2016, have a major party candidate for president who spoke … Continue reading »
Video: How 2016 is changing political speech — forever
For someone who works on political language, this is a puzzling election, as it is for just about everybody else. Is it a one-off or does it signal a sea-change—is this a black crow or just a gray one? But I think it’s clear that whatever happens in November, we won’t be returning to the … Continue reading »
Insights from Standing Rock: as school begins
In January this year I moved to Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to take a position at Sitting Bull College teaching Native American Studies, including the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ language. Standing Rock is where I wanted to be because of its incredible work with indigenous language revitalization, particularly its growing PK-2nd grade immersion school. The Sacred Stone … Continue reading »
The science of the story
This essay is based on a talk for the Berkeley Communications Conference, delivered on June 1, 2016. It was originally published in Greater Good Magazine. Stories are told in the body. It doesn’t seem that way. We tend to think of stories as emerging from consciousness — from dreams or fantasies — and traveling through … Continue reading »
The two Jesuit-educated in the presidential ticket
When the news broke ten days ago announcing Tim Kaine as the Democrat party V.P. nominee, now candidate, one of the things that was highlighted about his biography was that he was Jesuit-educated in a high school in Kansas City and also that he volunteered at a Jesuit mission in Honduras in the 1980s. The … Continue reading »
Periscope, Congress and the aliveness of video
A group of people sitting on the floor, many holding signs. One after another making speeches. People milling about. Some looking at their phones. On and off, chanting, call and response. But this time the men are in suits the women mostly in skirts and heels. (No doubt some wishing they had worn pants that … Continue reading »
Radical evil: A reflection on the Orlando massacre
It’s Saturday night a week after a non-entity coolly took the lives of 49 carefree revelers — having a good time, hanging loose, drinking, singing, dancing to the pulse, flirting, romancing, teasing, playing. To have the weekend fiesta cut short by the rat-a-tat-tat of an assault rifle meant for mud-splattered soldiers in foxholes (bad enough … Continue reading »
After Orlando: Let’s keep the focus on anti-LGBT violence
Like many Americans, I was energized and grateful for the senators who spent over half a day yesterday speaking from the heart about their dismay at our national inability to enact even the simplest reforms on gun ownership. Motivated by the deaths of 49 people, and the wounding of dozens more, in Orlando this weekend, … Continue reading »