By: Pam Lau on March 6, 2024
In 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year was post-truth: “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”[1] In that same year, the people around the world from all political and religious beliefs watched with mourning as unbelievable stories were…
By: Kally Elliott on March 5, 2024
I am ever so guilty of throwing around the word, “post-modern” without fully understanding how deeply ingrained this philosophy is in how I think and live. As I slogged through Stephen R.C. Hicks’ book, Explaining Postmodernism Skepticism from Rosseau to Foucault, and more willingly listened to some podcasts with Hicks as a guest, I began…
By: Scott Dickie on March 4, 2024
In his book, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (1), author Stephen Hicks attempts to…well…explain postmodernism! I suppose that’s relatively self-evident (Although I will argue a little later that he actually seeks to dismantle it and not simply explain it). Hicks begins his book with a few chapters introducing the topic and…
By: Tim Clark on March 4, 2024
I spent my formative teenage and young adult years in 1980’s/90’s Los Angeles, which seemed to be a ground zero for postmodernism in the United States at the time. In fact, I remember in college hearing a lecture on emerging postmodernity and thinking “that’s not emerging, it’s what I grew up with” (now I would…
By: Kim Sanford on March 4, 2024
“Conflict and contradiction are the deepest truths of reality.”[1] I certainly grappled with inner conflict and contradiction as I read Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault by Stephen Hicks. Plowing through chapter after chapter was laborious, but (to my own great surprise) when I closed the book, I actually felt like I…
By: John Fehlen on March 4, 2024
U2 is a rock band from the north side of Dublin, that was formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), the Edge (lead guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen Jr.(drums and percussion). Each of these members were teenagers at Mount Temple Comprehensive School…
By: Travis Vaughn on March 4, 2024
Postmodernism is “skepticism toward metanarratives.”[1] In an interview with clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson, Stephen Hicks attributed this perspective to the French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard. I recall a seminary professor once describing a metanarrative as a “grand and expansive account of truth and meaning,” something postmodernism rejects. In Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to…
By: Russell Chun on March 3, 2024
ܙܒܢܐ ܡܬܚܠܦܢܐ، ܣܟܢܐ ܕܟܠ ܓܒܪܐ” (zevna methhalphana, sekana dkul gavra) Aramaic, Shifting Sands, Everyman’s Peril Introduction – Shifting sands, Everyman’s peril Part 1 Post Modern Impact on Christianity Part 2 Focus on Chapter 6 Epilogue – Not a modernist or a post-modernist. Introduction Post modernism is not a topic that excites “everyman.”[1] To even begin…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on March 2, 2024
“Race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth to race.”[1] I was apprehensive about this week’s reading. The idea of discussing race with my cohort was not one that I was looking forward to. I have had many discussions over the years about race, and they almost always end with someone triggered or…
By: Jana Dluehosh on March 2, 2024
Sankofa is an African word from the Akan tribe in Ghana. The literal translation of the word and the symbol is “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.” The word is derived from the words: SAN (return) KO (go) FA (look, seek and take)[1] In my early career, at North Park University in Chicago, IL,…
By: Mathieu Yuill on March 2, 2024
As I sat down with a steaming cup of Joe this morning, the sun barely peeking over the horizon, I found myself deep-diving into the mesmerizing world where neuroscience meets leadership. Picture this: David Rock, with his groundbreaking exploration into the neural pathways of leadership[1], Jim Wilder and Marcus Warner, who seem to have cracked…
By: Dinka Utomo on March 1, 2024
“To believe in social transformation is to be an optimist. It has to have an element of utopianism about it. I live in hope that we can create such a movement again.” -Kenan Malik- (cited from https://tribunemag.co.uk/2023/05/not-so-black-and-white) To be honest, I have never directly experienced racism regarding my ethnic or racial identity. However, I had…
By: Jenny Dooley on February 29, 2024
“To tell the story of one, we also must tell the story of the other.”[1] I began reading Kenan Malik’s book, Not so Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics as a fascinating history and social science text tracing the invention of equality, race, and white identity. I immediately…
By: Russell Chun on February 29, 2024
龍爭虎鬥” (Lung jing fu dau) Cantonese = Enter the Dragon Introduction Part 1 How Malik defines the debate Part 2 What my peers are saying Epilogue – Enter the Dragon Introduction About three hours of Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI) training are required every semester for teachers at Pikes Peak State College. DEI…
By: Adam Harris on February 29, 2024
The person I’m about to talk about I’ve mentioned before, but this subject of identity politics calls for another mention. A little over ten years ago I sat at Skyline Chili, which is a chain restaurant in Ohio, and listened to one of the most fascinating stories I had ever heard. I had a notebook,…
By: Kally Elliott on February 29, 2024
During our syntopical meetings we were asked if we had more time into what we might dig more deeply (I am paraphrasing the question). To answer, I would like to spend more time with this book, Not So Black and White by Kenan Malik. I am intrigued by the history he provides about how the…
By: Todd E Henley on February 28, 2024
History is not the past, it is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history.1 ~ James Baldwin 1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?…
By: Cathy Glei on February 28, 2024
“It is not racial differences that have led to unequal treatment but the persistence of social inequalities in societies with a commitment to equality that has led many to view such inequalities as eradicable, and hence natural, and to place people into different racial categories. Race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth…
By: Scott Dickie on February 28, 2024
“Race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth to race” (1). This is quite likely the statement that will be most often quoted from Malik’s comprehensive examination of the history and politics of race over the last two centuries. The pithy and memorable statement challenges the current notion of race as ‘fixed’ and…
By: Mathieu Yuill on February 28, 2024
Have you ever found yourself puzzled by discussions on race feeling like they’re going nowhere? It’s a sentiment many share, and Kenan Malik, a prominent thinker who delves into society’s complex issues, sheds light on a crucial aspect often overlooked. He suggests that our conversations about race are incomplete without also addressing class[1]. Imagine them…
