culture

Halloween is coming up in a couple of weeks, so student affairs offices around the country are gearing up warnings about offensive Halloween costumes. I really like Wesleyan U’s poster campaign:

My college has a tradition of holding a lunch hour Halloween party. I’m not worried about anyone showing up in inappropriate gear. I’ll go as Darth Vader, and a few others will dress up in Star Wars costumes. I expect Boba Fett to make an appearance, along with at least two stormtroopers. Should be a fun event!

The Atlantic‘s CityLab website has an interesting article: “Why Are Little Kids in Japan So Independent?” Here in the Unites States some call children who are allowed to travel and/or play without much adult supervision “free-range kids.” As a child growing up in the 1970s I remember a time when “free-range kids” were just “kids.” I wonder if the U.S. can ever return to that state…

In a blog post from my first year as a new dean I referenced technorealism:

“In this heady age of rapid technological change, we all struggle to maintain our bearings. The developments that unfold each day in communications and computing can be thrilling and disorienting. One understandable reaction is to wonder: Are these changes good or bad? Should we welcome or fear them? The answer is both.”

My technorealism post popped into mind today while reading an online article by the chair of the Political Science department here at SJSU, “Our love of technology risks becoming a quiet conspiracy against ourselves.” Lawrence Quill wonders “why so many people outside the charmed circle of technology innovators in Silicon Valley seem willing to embrace its vision – especially when it undermines something as fundamental as the liberal democratic right to personal privacy,” and muses about how elements of the dystopian vision in Dave Eggers’ book The Circle are viewed as inevitable by some current politicians. We need to have a more critical engagement with technology innovation.

The Circle is the 2015 common reading selection at SJSU, and activities include talks by faculty members in Psychology and Communication Studies. Maybe a student will be motivated to launch technorealism 2.0!

This week the news has been filed with reports about Ahmed Mohamed, a high school student arrested when his teacher mistook his home-made clock for a bomb.  Social media has been ablaze with the #IStandWithAhmed hashtag. Today the college student who started the hashtag is profiled in a USA Today article. She argues that the response to the hashtag shows the power of social media to give voice to the voiceless. Let’s hope that this will contribute to lasting social change to reduce the racism and Islamaphobia that the arrest illustrate.

Today I came across an example of how a Twitter post led to action, as Netflix changed its description of the movie Pochontas after a critical tweet. The author of the tweet concludes the article by noting, “sometimes I’m still amazed by the power of the internet.” Indeed!

Yesterday was the 14th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks in the United States. On that day I was in my third year as an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota. When the actual attacks happened I was having breakfast, but did not learn about them until I got to campus about an hour later. When I walked into Appleby Hall the first person who broke the news to me was a student, but I thought that he must have been misinformed, as the news sounded impossible. I walked to my office and said hello to my next door neighbor, who had her door open but was glued to her computer screen. She ignored me, which signaled that something really horrific was happening. After 10 minutes of unsuccessful attempts to connect to the websites of U.S. news providers, I was able to reach the BBC’s website, and spent the rest of the day checking news, and talking with colleagues, friends, and family.

About a month ago I asked my Associate Dean if the college did anything for 9/11 anniversaries, and was told that we do not. Next year will be the 15th anniversary of the attacks, so that may be a good time to start. Perhaps one event can be a screening and discussion of the film Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath. One IMDb synopsis:

When a turbaned Sikh man is brutally murdered in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, a college student journeys across America to discover who counts as “one of us” in a world divided into “us” and “them.” Armed with only a camera, Valarie Kaur encounters hundreds of stories never before told — stories of fear and unspeakable loss, but also of resilience and hope — until she finally finds the heart of America, halfway around the world, in the words of a widow. Weaving expert analysis into a personal journey and cross-country road trip, the film confronts the forces dividing a nation.

I was just informed about the movie by a colleague, and it sounds powerful. I’ll have to check it out as the first step of thinking about a September 11, 2016 commemoration.

A former colleague at the University of Minnesota informed me about “I Was Almost Another Dead Black Male,” a short article and video. On his Facebook page Psychology Professor Rich Lee writes, “in the context of the recent string of violence against African Americans by police, here is another tale. This StoryCorps animation is about a young African American man, transracially adopted. It’s another perspective and reminder on the importance of talking about race/racism with our children at a young age to prepare them for the racial violence in the world.” Indeed!

On July 6, 2015 I became Dean of the College of Social Sciences at San José State University. I’m writing this post at the end of my whirlwind first week. I expected many changes, such as having to learn a slew of new acronyms, and struggling to remember new names. Other items were unexpected, such as discovering that SJSU was featured in the San Jose Rose, White, and Blue parade [I learned this towards the end when the SJSU contingent came through, following a banner that announced that SJSU was the theme], and seeing very few African Americans on campus. A further note about diversity: although I love the wonderful mosaic of people here in San José — at the parade I discovered that a troup of Sikh Scouts exists here — it will take some getting used to having so few African Americans in the area; during an hour at today’s San Jose Obon festival, for example, in a crowd of hundreds I saw only three other African Americans. I’ll have to be on the lookout for larger pockets elsewhere…

I had an interesting experience recently on a flight from Atlanta to Milwaukee. I was in First Class, and my seat-mate was a young African American male (in his 20s). “This is so awesome,” he said to the flight attendant as he came down the aisle. “It’s my first time in First Class!” When he sat next to me he said, “we get blankets? And pillows too?” “We also receive free bottles of water,” I informed him. “Awesome!” At the end of the flight he told the flight attendants that he enjoyed his first time in First Class. It was nice to see someone so excited about a new experience!

For months I’ve known that tomorrow (April 15) is Tax Day in the United States, when federal and state tax returns are due. I just learned that it’s the one day when Google Glass will be available to the general public. Back in May I wrote a post about trying to become a Google Glass early adopter. While it’s cool that a wider range of people will have temporary access to Google Glass, I think I’ll sit out tomorrow’s inevitable purchase rush, however, and wait for the price to come WAY down before trying them. $1500 is a steep price to pay for a fancy toy (at this stage of development)…