“This star I am wearing is for my husband, a member of the great Sioux Nation, who is a volunteer in Uncle Sam’s Army.” From Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala-Ša), writing in The American Indian Magazine, in an article on WWI Choctaw Code Talkers from WWI Veterans Day—a day to honor all the women and men who …

Continue reading Extending Veterans Day and Spotlighting Native Americans Who Have Served

One story offers a compare-contrast parallel between a student’s move from an out-of-state home to the TCU campus and her grandmother’s mixed-emotions relocation from a beloved house to assisted living.  Another student author draws on an extended conversation with his father, describing episodes of the family’s extended period of homelessness during that dad’s growing-up years; …

Continue reading Family Ties: College Students’ Writing Connecting the Classroom to Home

Toni Morrison died last night—August 5, 2019—and her family shared news of her passing today, August 6. In the wake of more mass killings in America, we need her presence now. Even in her absence, her written wisdom can speak to us. Morrison and her writing have been much on my mind recently. In a …

Continue reading Toni Morrison Can Still Teach Us

Soon after When They See Us began streaming on Netflix, I saw an article by Doug Criss on CNN’s website. The lead grabbed me right away: “I tried to watch ‘When They See Us,’” Criss declared. “I couldn’t even get past the trailer.” Criss attributed his feeling overcome to a cluster of related causes: “the …

Continue reading When They See Us, The Dark Fantastic and The Origin of Others: Why and How White People Need to Watch, Read, and Self-critically Reflect

“Office Hour” is a devastating play. But it’s a play whose questions about race, gender, and social class we should be willing to examine. This one-act drama—at Circle Theatre in Fort Worth through May 11—may resonate especially strongly with those of us who have already been “schooled” to think about intersectional identities in classrooms. And …

Continue reading An “Office Hour” Appointment to Keep

It’s springtime in academe. Walking across campus is less a shivering ordeal and more an opportunity to savor the warmer air, the seasonal blooms—and the lively, post-spring-break energy our students are bringing to the classroom. But this is also a season of anxiety for “contingent” faculty. For part-time adjuncts and short-term, contracted-for-a-year teachers, the stress …

Continue reading Supporting “Contingent” Colleagues in Higher Education: What Tenure-Stream Faculty Can Do