I am in Atlanta, Georgia for the 2016 Southern Sociological Society conference. I’ll be doing a couple of talks while here. The first is a discussion of Kishonna L. Gray’s “Race, Gender and Deviance in Xbox Live”. Kishonna’s book contributes to what I hope is a growing literature that bridges sociology of race and digitalRead More “Discussing “Race, Gender and Deviance in Xbox Live” at #SSS2016”
Maybe God Is A (Wonder) Woman?
I saw Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Bless its heart. Cultural critique isn’t my wheelhouse but I am a fan of superhero movies. I don’t follow the comic books because I don’t like pictures. They get in the way of my imagination. Despite this, I am drawn to comics on the big screen where IRead More “Maybe God Is A (Wonder) Woman?”
On Sanders and HBCUs
When I spoke with the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign about recent political chatter about historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) I had three points I hoped someone important might listen to: Private and public HBCUs are not in competition with each other. The rhetoric from Hillary Clinton and Clinton surrogates suggesting that free tuition at publicRead More “On Sanders and HBCUs”
A Few Notes On Kelly Price and Honorary PhDs
This will be fast. Kelly Price is a powerhouse singer. Today, black Twitter announced that Kelly Price had graduated valedictorian with an honorary doctorate in philosophy. If you know anything about black Twitter you can imagine what ensued. It was jokes, comedy and shade. I was late because of the j-o-b. But here’s how myRead More “A Few Notes On Kelly Price and Honorary PhDs”
The Limits of Education Reform: A Road Paved With the “Best Intentions”?
There is one question that animates the sociology of education more than any other: how do we explain and predict the difference in outcomes among black and white students in the post Civil Rights era of greater equality of opportunity? Sure, we talk about Hispanic and Asian students but really they are often deployedRead More “The Limits of Education Reform: A Road Paved With the “Best Intentions”?”
Sportsball and For-Profit Legitimacy
My colleague Jon Becker sent me a story today about for-profit Grand Canyon’s (GCU) run in college sports. In it, Michael Reinrab, summarizes a recent GCU tournament run and the controversy around a for-profit college playing in a traditional not-for-profit sports league: Maybe that’s true, and maybe it isn’t, because what makes Grand Canyon suchRead More “Sportsball and For-Profit Legitimacy”
Upcoming Events: D.C. Bound
If you are in the D.C. area, I will be to this week. On Wednesday Jan. 20th, I am at a White House convening to discuss community college research. And on Saturday Jan. 23 I am delivering a morning keynote on e-portfolios and diverse learners at the annual AAC&U conference. I’m super honored on bothRead More “Upcoming Events: D.C. Bound”
When Your Curriculum Has Been Tumblrized
I teach three core courses: an undergraduate seminar in race, a graduate seminar in race, and a graduate seminar in digital sociology. This post is about my experience teaching the first. My academic training is in political economies and inequalities. My intellectual training has always emerged from and been filtered through an intersectional framework. That’s how I endRead More “When Your Curriculum Has Been Tumblrized”
The Three Rs in 2015: Reading, ‘Riting and Researching
This is the obligatory end-of-year essay. In 2015, I finished a seven-year-long research project called my doctoral dissertation. The study analyzes why for-profit colleges were the singular form of higher education expansion in the late 20th and early 21st century in the U.S. Data are from: interviews with for-profit college executives, students enrolled in the fastest-growing sub-sectorRead More “The Three Rs in 2015: Reading, ‘Riting and Researching”
The Great Mismatch
The painful truth about hand-wringing over whether Affirmative Action “harms” racial minorities is that no one cares if Affirmative Action harms racial minorities. The faux concern for the well-being of poor put-upon non-white students who are promoted beyond their ability never extends to concern for the many more white students who are surely promoted beyondRead More “The Great Mismatch”