I was half-listening to the radio last week when I heard an interviewer ask a question that made me pause in my work to listen. “So”, the interviewer warmly asked, “You knew even as a small child that you wanted to be a concert cellist?” “Oh yes”, the woman answered. “Since I was eight.”
Being Indebted Is My Real Wealth
Thursday, April 5th, 2012I’m distressed that academic conventions seem to preclude, or at least discourage, acknowledgment that the work I will present to my dissertation committee is not, properly speaking, mine.
Going on Trial to Prove I Belong
Thursday, March 8th, 2012Soon after arriving on campus as a freshman I found myself navigating the long hallways of college almost furtively, quietly darting between the large archways of the turn-of-the-century building, afraid to cause a stir lest I be told that my acceptance to this institution had all been a mistake and could at any point be revoked. I carried with me a constant fear of being found out, believing that revealing my secret would result in the loss of my newfound status as part of the privileged elite – someone considered worthy of educating.
Overlooking luck
Monday, January 23rd, 2012Can someone please explain to Newt Gingrich that people not wanting a job typically doesn’t cause poverty; being unable to get a job causes poverty. I would strongly assert that very few people want to be unable to provide for themselves and their families. People who have only experienced privilege often do not recognize the parts of their lives that others are not lucky enough to have.
Socializing with Ivy League elitists
Thursday, October 6th, 2011“But you don’t seem poor” — five words that I’ll never forget. In the fall of 2009 I arrived at Wellesley College after having spent my entire life in a small town in Ohio. Most of the kids that I had dated in high school were the same kids I played with on the playground. Our families knew each other and we all grew up relatively the same way. Flash forward to my first fall semester at Wellesley, and the story gets really interesting.
How working at a community college is like working retail
Thursday, October 6th, 2011Expectations are a pain in the ass. There’s an old saying, “plant an expectation, reap a disappointment.” Yep I did it, planted and am now disappointed. I teach Sociology at a rural community college; I love teaching, but I don’t love that adjunct teachers like me are temporary, at-will employees.
Schooling the system of privilege
Saturday, October 1st, 2011This “back to school” season got me to thinking about my own formal education, and the teachers and professors I’ve known who have or have not used their positions of academic influence to challenge the status quo, especially the economic status quo.
A Dubious Milestone
Thursday, July 28th, 2011Well, a goal of Class Action’s just took a step forward, though not exactly in the way we envisioned. The professional cheaters have recognized our cause!
Misconception of debt
Thursday, July 21st, 2011Like many college students, I recently took out my first loan for college. Although not a significant amount, it was still more than I’ve ever had in my own personal bank account. My loan was the first money I’ve ever borrowed; I don’t even own a credit card. Unlike my mother, who is already worried about paying it back, I’m not as concerned with repayment. It’s not that I’m irresponsible; I just think that by the time I have to make payments it won’t be that big of a deal. I had assumed that I was alone in this feeling until I stumbled across a study conducted at Ohio State University based on a survey indicating that the more debt individuals age 18 to 27 have, the more empowered they feel.
Felice’s mission of making classism a diversity issue
Monday, January 17th, 2011When Felice Yeskel started graduate school in the 1980s, she was outraged that the Social Issues Training Project at the UMass Education School omitted classism from its curriculum. Every aspiring diversity trainer had to practice facilitating two-day workshops on sexism, racism, heterosexism, ageism, ableism and anti-Semitism – but not classism.
25 Reasons why working at McDonald’s is better than being a graduate student
Wednesday, October 27th, 201025. In order to get promoted at McDonald’s, there is no need to invent an original sandwich and defend it.
Special Delivery: Mexican-in-a-Box
Thursday, January 27th, 2011I found myself an unprepared witness to a classist/racist “joke” where and when I least expected it. Should I have intervened? Is there a way to turn such ugliness into a “teachable moment”?
Tags: classism, classist comments, Conflict-avoidance, racism, service workers
Posted in Class in Higher Education, Classism in Everyday Life, Race and Class | 6 Comments »