Wicked Problems
Have you ever been on a safari? If so, did it change how you think about zoos? The contrast of life in the wild Serengeti versus life in a cage felt utterly unbearable afterwards.
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Archives and Doodles
Do you doodle? Ever wonder what your doodles mean? Recently, I edited an academic article by a couple of Chinese historians. Due to some translation difficulties and unfamiliar formatting of archival citations, I had to find various “Top Secret” correspondences…
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Degenerate Art
Ever had a “brilliant” plan backfire? Hitler once had a “brilliant” (aka horrible) plan to kill modern art… it failed spectacularly…
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A Rap Feud and a Renaissance
In the 1920s and 30s, Harlem was home to an explosion of Black American artistic expression. Fast forward to 2016—in his iconic performance at the Grammys, Kendrick Lamar….
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So Unsisterly!
Did you know that San Francisco used to have a sister city? I learned that in March while there for the Superfine Art Show.
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Deskaheh, the “Great Trouble Maker”
Secret: I used to think history wasn’t relevant. That’s why I try hard to show my students how history unfolds around us every day. It’s simple pedagogy, but I have so much fun with it! You may already know this story….let me know if you do!
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Chromophobia
Are you a chromophobe? Or perhaps a chromophiliac? You know how things and spaces in the West tend to be saturated with neutrals, earthy tones, and a minimalist aesthetic? Why? Why do wardrobes (guilty!), homes, streets, and other spaces in Western societies exclude colour? Might be the result of centuries of anti-colour conditioning, a.k.a. chromophobia…
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Cheetahs in the Desert
In my Cross-Cultural Perspectives course this summer, I asked my entirely international class, “What’s a cultural norm that you found strange when you first came to Canada?” A student from Saudi Arabia replied, “Everyone in Canada has cats or dogs as pets. In Saudi, we have cheetahs and tigers.”…
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We Don’t Do Choirs and Football Clubs
Recently, I spent a class discussing the 1990s wars in the Balkans. This got me reading up on peacebuilding. Ongoing criticism in the field argues that liberal models of peacebuilding and civil society reject local avenues of peacebuilding—especially when it comes to cultural stuff. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, for example, …
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Social Disorganization Theory
In my Deviance and Social Control course, I was recently reminded of my family’s summer road trips to Detroit (my mom’s hometown). After one such trip, I returned home to PEI in this t-shirt (below): “DETROIT. where the weak are killed and eaten.” I loved that shirt. (Although, I now realize how insensitive it was. Yikes.) Social disorganization theory reminded me of this shirt. You see, for a time in the 70s and 80s, Detroit was the murder capital of the world. How did it go from…
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