Julia sat in the basement of the Student Union at the University of Iowa engulfed in a circle of women college students wearing flannel shirts, jeans, and work boots, drinking coffee to power them through a study night at the university library. It was 1976. I was a...
Traveling outside of the country poses great privileges and special challenges for Americans, given the influence that the U.S. has over the global economic and political order. It comes with responsibilities, which all Americans should take seriously but,...
While land acknowledgements at events in Australia and Canada can often sound pro forma, they serve an important symbolic function. They remind everyone that the land upon which these events are held belonged to someone else and was often stolen. Land acknowledgements...
In September 2022, “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial” (“Space Opera Theater”) by Jason M. Allen won a blue ribbon at the Colorado State Fair. Outrage ensued. The involvement of an AI software called Midjourney offended many critics. Allen never wielded a paintbrush or mixed...
Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, the U.S., Ukraine, South Africa, and… I started writing this before the latest decree by the Taliban banning women from education post-puberty. And while Iranian women were leading their revolution despite new tortuous rapes and...
Not only does Ukraine suffer from Russian metallurgical products in the form of shells, tanks, and missiles, but also through European manufacturers. The flow of cheap imports of Russian metallurgical semi-finished products, along with astronomical energy prices, is...
Harry and Meghan are royals, or were royals, but this Netflix docudrama is not really about the monarchy. It’s a story about them, their love, their new family. They want to be seen and heard (and they deserve to be). They feel abused and misrepresented by the British...
As I walked through an academic building on the Ithaca College campus a few weeks ago, I peeked into a class and saw something that surprised me. This image is now so pervasive, I should not have been at all surprised. The professor stood at the head of the room...
Of course it is a joy that Chantal Akerman's “Jeanne Dielman 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” (1975) has been chosen as the best film ever by the 1,639 critics, programmers, archivists, and academics who answered this year's survey. The British magazine Sight and...
In 2010, three major events happened in my life. I moved to Doha to work in Education City. The Arab Spring exploded in Tunisia. And Qatar won the World Cup bid. Since then, I have witnessed massive changes in the Gulf region, and none more than in Qatar. When I first...
