Like many PhD students, I didn't get paid during the summer, so I got a gig advising incoming students on their schedules. Some students brought their parents, so it felt like I was advising a family. Other students brought their siblings or boyfriends or girlfriends, and wanted me to coordinate their schedules or put them in things that their partner felt were more appropriate for them. Some students cried and well...that was awkward. I ... Read the Post...
Imagining Otherwise While Reading
The Default In social sciences, there's a concept called "the default," in which it is widely understood as a given that white straight men are the default person considered in almost every aspect of society. White straight men are the default in medical studies, which is why most people don't know the symptoms of a heart attack in women, among other things. They're the prime people considered in technology, which is why crash test dummies are ... Read the Post...
The Fluent Summer
Here's a little diddy I'm working on this summer: I'm calling it, The Fluent Summer. Essentially, I'm going to be trying to immerse myself in Spanish and Portuguese, and hopefully by the time the next semester begins, I'll be confident enough to embrace a PhD-level course taught in Spanish. In order to do so, here's what I've decided to work on: Changing my cell phone interface into Spanish.Watching an hour or more of tv in Spanish or ... Read the Post...
One Year Down, Many(?) More to Go
If you've been wondering where I've been, it's working or procrastinating. Last week was the week of finals, and for me that meant two big essays that have been driving me crazy. One was on the symbolic power of a dictionary: if your language has one, your language is legit. It's real. If your language has one, but you want to assert your own group identity, you make one. If you have to work with a group of people to make a dictionary, how do you ... Read the Post...
