We’re approaching the final weeks of the semester/quarter and that means summer is just around the corner! The trees are finally coming to life, the birds signing, the flowers blooming, and everywhere everybody in higher ed is just trying to survive the last bit of obligation. We’re all feeling the exhaustion, no doubt. This week, Nic and James stray from their regular format and discuss the pandemic and its ongoing effects on student participation this term. It’s not all doom, though. Turns out there’s this pretty great federal program (what they’re call in an “experiment”) that makes funds, specially Pell Grants, available to incarcerated and formally integrated people looking to pursue a degree. *In best Oprah voice* Well, hey, let’s celebrate that!

Drop us a line sometime! We want to hear from you. [email protected]

Further Reading:

“Dozens More Colleges Can Now Enroll Incarcerated Students With Pell Grants,” The Chronicle of Higher Education

“Education Department Announces Expansion of Second Chance Pell Grants,” U.S. Department of Education

“A Proclamation on Second Chance Month, 2022,” The White House

“The Pieces of a New Deal for CUNY,” CUNY Rising Alliance 

What We're Reading:

Sean Strub, Body Counts: A Memoir of Activism, Sex, and Survival

Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

Spring means cleaning, taking stock, and reflecting. And that, dear listeners, is exactly what we're doing this week. We get a bit meta as we think through this show, its audience, purpose, and future. (Heads up, an exciting Young Adult book podcast is coming your way soon!). From there we think about the limits of pitting disability politics against expanded online access and James tests out the beginnings of a theory of city organizing. Books you need, thoughts you need to hear, time well spent if you ask us!

Further Reading:

"Some Colleges Are Ending Hybrid Learning, Students Are Pushing Back," The Chronicle of Higher Education

What We're Reading:

Johnathan David Katz and Rock Hushka, Art AIDS America

Carla Lalli Music, That Sounds So Good

This week Nic and James take a different approach to the issues and bring things a bit closer to home. The two use the segment "Failing Better," to share their small wins and victories as junior faculty and acknowledge how far they've come. Nic confesses his love of spreadsheets (send him your tips and tricks!) and James hits his stride with administrative work. Truly, they're learning and learning good! (Don't burst their bubble, please.)

Then, in an absolutely sobering fashion, the duo discusses the massive coordinated effort across the U.S. to ban books at every level. The children's books first, then the young adult fiction, and finally the adult romance novel you've tucked away under your bed out of fear of being found out that you do, in fact, love a trashy scene. Who doesn't?! But, seriously, we should all be concerned. Ideas are dangerous, but banning books is even more dangerous.

We recommend you urge your local library to not ban books or, if possible, buy a banned book. Need recommendations? The links below should help you out.

Further Reading:

Schools have become the latest culture war battleground. Are public libraries next?, Deseret News

The librarians uniting to battle school book ban laws, ABC News

LGBTQ Books Removed from Target.com, Publisher’s Weekly

Black Authors Are Being Pulled From School Libraries Over Critical Race Theory Fears, Newsweek

Division over Critical Race Theory's Meaning Has Spurred A Rise in Book Bans, The Takeaway

YA Author Ashley Hope Pérez Responds to Viral Video that Calls for the Banning of Her “Out of Darkness,” SLJ Staff

Ashley Hope Pérez, Out of Darkness

What We're Reading:

Alvin J. Henry, Black Queer Flesh: Rejecting Subjectivity in the African American Novel

Robb Hernández, Archiving an Epidemic: Art, AIDS, and the Queer Chicanx Avant-Garde

Other Things:

How MacKenzie Scott’s $12 billion in gifts to charity reflect an uncommon trust in the groups she supports, The Conversation

Conman Syndrome

This week spring is springing, birds are chirping, and Florida is...Florida-ing. We spend a bit of time on some potentially hopeful news about the perceived value of a college degree, and that is good. Hold on to that feeling, because from there it's pretty much straight downhill.

This week's Disingenuous Arguments segment is really just a rundown of sunshine state shenanigans, from fired tenured faculty with 20 years of service to undermining the very notion of accreditation. And that's before we get to "don't say gay". What is in the water down there? Can we help? Florida, blink twice if you need help.

Cleanse the pallet with a book. People will think you're smart.

Further Reading

"Public's Impression of Higher Ed Improves (Somewhat)", Inside Higher Ed

"Florida Memorial University Lays Off Four Tenured Professors, Discontinues 16 Degree Programs", Miami New Times

"Education Department Warns Florida: Forcing Colleges to Change Accreditors Jeopardizes Financial Aid", Chronicle of Higher Ed

"Florida Lawmaker Puts a Conservative Stamp on Higher Ed", Chronicle of Higher Ed

What We're Reading

Han C. Winter, Racial Erotics: Gay Men of Color, Sexual Racism, and the Politics of Desire

Karen Sands-O'Connor, Children's Publishing and Black Britain, 1965 - 2015

Happy March! Spring, sprang, sprung...We just want the weather to be consistent! Speaking of the opposite of consistent, ain't it wild to be a human being at this particular moment in time?

This week the duo begin with the blue and yellow elephant in the room and attempt to make sense of how we – as educators – approach and handle situations that are beyond our scope yet affect us all directly. If anyone has figured out how to address global catastrophe with poise and collectivity, then please message us! It isn't all dread, though. The duo acknowledges the sliver of silver lining in U.S. higher education happening across institutions, like U of Chicago, where departments dedicated to actual people's lives are popping up with the potential for real promise. We'll wait and see...

Did you hear about what's going on down in Texas regarding tenure and Critical Race Theory? An absolute mess, really. CRT is (unsurprisingly) the phrase among far-right and conservative groups aimed at keeping white feelings from being stirred too much. The duo sit with the disingenuous arguments being launched in Texas and think through the other, equally valid arguments that might be made against tenure. To be clear, we're NOT advocating against tenure...

Drop us a line sometime! [email protected]

Further Reading:

“Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity established at the University of Chicago,” University of Chicago

Jennifer Ruth, The Increasingly Authoritarian War on Tenure, The Chronicle

Colleen Flaherty, ‘A New Low’ in Attacks on Academic Freedom, Inside Higher Education

Kate McGee, UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell defends faculty tenure after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick proposes to end it at all public universities, The Texas Tribune

Texas lieutenant gov. seeks tenure changes at colleges to stop critical race theory lessons, The Grio

Christina Valhouli, These college dorms have infinity pools and tanning rooms, Fortune

What We're Reading:

Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre, Curious about George: Curious George, Cultural Icons, Colonialism, and US Exceptionalism

Natalie Lira, Laboratory of Deficiency: Sterilization and Confinement in California, 1900–1950s

Untamed, unfettered, unrestrained, un...likely to be pleasant. 

It's a jungle out there, and this week the duo dive into the thick of a harassment scandal over at ::ahem:: that one school...But in all fairness, they are certainly not the only ones. And moments like these only seem to add to the conversation about tenure, its future viability, and what becomes of this thing called higher education without it. 

Not to be outdone, Florida is Florida-ing again. It's Don't Ask, Don't Tell for the gen z set and we're decidedly not here for it. What even is this place anymore?

Read a book that doesn't suck and call your friends. It's probably gonna get worse before it gets better.

Further Reading:

"A Lawsuit Accuses Harvard of Ignoring Sexual Harrassment by a Professor," NY Times

"38 Harvard Faculty Sign Open Letter Questioning Results of Misconduct Investigations into Prof. John Comaroff," Harvard Crimson

"'Don't Say Gay' bill would limit discussions of sexuality and gender in Florida schools," NPR 

"Florida Senate committee passes 'Don't Say Gay' bill that would bar LGBTQ discussions in schools," CBS News

"Of Academic Hierarchies and Harassment," Paula Chakravartty

"Tenure without Teeth," Chronicle of Higher Education

What We're Reading:

Eric C. Watt, Love Your Asian Body: AIDS Activism in Los Angeles

Sarah Schulman, Conflict is Not Abuse: Overstating Responsibility and the Duty of Repair

Happy new year! We're back. The students are back. The cold and snow are back. The virus hasn't gone anywhere. We continue on in our learning journey. Woot. Nic and James lean back into podcasting life by reflecting on their way-too-short breaks away and all the stuff that did (and didn't) do. The duo talk conferences, spring semester hopes and challenges, and pedagogy. It's only a matter of time before they put the microchips in and we go full Matrix! Nic and James also discuss the latest "rankings" that throw the other "rankings" under the bus by showing that all "rankings" are arbitrary and mean nothing if you're not paying for your place in them. You know what we're talking about. *takes deep, deep breath*

Drop us a line sometime! [email protected]

Further Reading:

Emma Whitford, Evaluating Colleges by Economic Mobility Upends Rankings, Inside Higher Education

What We're Reading:

Frank Bonham, Burmah Riffles: A Story of Merril’s Maurauders

Brittney Cooper, How Free Speech Works for White Academics, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Looks like we made it! The end of the year brings a few last lessons. First of all, never, and we mean NEVER, underestimate the popularity of Omarion. That man is getting around these days, whew! We begin by touching base on what this latest round of madness feels like on the ground. From there, we spend some time unpacking the recent renewed debate around "Latinx" as a term, a concept, a political dog whistle, what have you. There's some genuinely enlightening stuff to be encountered. 

And then we end the year with some celebration and some reflection. It wasn't all doom and gloom dear listeners. There were some great books along the way! And we've got a few thoughts about how to grow going forward. It has certainly been an interesting year. Congrats to you for hanging in there. We see you!

And of course, RIP to a true icon: bell hooks.

Further Reading:

"LULAC No Longer Using 'Latinx'", KHOU 11 News

"Many Latinos Say 'Latinx' Offends of Bothers Them. Here's Why", NBC News Opinion

"West Side Story is Not for Puerto Ricans Like Me", Andrea González-Ramírez

What We Loved Reading This Year:

Andrew Jolivette, Indian Blood: HIV and Colonial Trauma in San Francisco's Two-Spirit Community

Darius Bost, Evidence of Being: The Black Gay Cultural Renaissance and the Politics of Violence

Natashia Deón, The Perishing

Bryant Terry, Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora

Marilisa Jiménez García, Side by Side: US Empire, Puerto Rico, and the Roots of American Youth Culture

Happy December! The end of the term is finally upon us and we. are. EXHAUSTED! Y'all feel that, too, right? The world of higher education continues on in the U.S. and we remain skeptical of the trajectory laid out. This week, Nic and James take an ever-so-needed walk down memory lane (a.k.a. High St. in C-bus) to reflect on the exploitative conditions of grad school. The smell of fried chicken, generic fabric softener, and malt liquors will really make you appreciate the places you've been. The duo also addresses the rise in enrollment of online graduate education, the role of Hispanic Serving Institutions, and the absurdity of mask reversals on campuses today. The realities we collectively live in are, to say the very least, exhausting. James offers some cruel, cruel optimism in light of the bizarre world. Stick around to the end to hear Nic and James' final thoughts and a stellar book rec!

Further Reading:

Where Graduate Enrollments Are Booming, The Chronicle

Everyone Wants to Be a Hispanic-Serving Institution, The Chronicle

Universities Flip-Flop on Mask and Vaccine Mandates as New Covid Variant Raises Concerns, The Chronicle 

What We're Reading:

Farah Jasmine Griffin, Who Set You Flowin?: The African American Migration Narrative

With apologies for the holiday delay, this week we're back with some thoughts about the state of adjunct labor (shout out to the UC lecturers!) and the future of this thing called higher education. We celebrate some hard fought victories for unionized labor (we should all be unionized!) while remaining a bit skeptical about the future of adjunct teaching per se. We have some words for Joe Biden, who apparently wants to continue being President despite some pretty aggressively mounting evidence to the contrary. 

But that's all prelude to the main event. Did y'all here about this lame-ass scam-ass white grievance-ass website calling itself a college? The fact that it exists alone is shocking, but then you see who put their names on this and...oh girl. It's equal parts embarrassing and terrifying. Worry not, we cleanse the pallet with some great books and some promising thoughts about the season of sweater weather. Stay warm out there!

Further Reading:

U. of California Lecturers Call Off Strike, Celebrate Tentative Agreement, Chronicle of Higher Education

Student Loan Forgiveness is Excluded from Democrats' $2 Trillion Spending Bill, NBC News

Gee: My Commitment to WVU is Unwavering and Unequivocal, WVU Today

'Free speech warriors' founded an anti-woke college. But they're keeping their day jobs, The Guardian

That Hot Ass Mess of a Website 

What We're Reading:

Sami Schalk, Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women's Speculative Fiction

Peter Staley, Never Silent: ACT UP and My Life in Activism