Gratitude. That word evokes some unsavory associations: a religious zealot insisting you are blessed, a parent lecturing you about their treacherous journey to school, or an out-of-touch celebrity on Thanksgiving. The gut response may be to cite all of the debts, hardships, and frustrations one regularly endures, and/or to point out the many others who […]
Tag: culture
What is Driving the Rise of Anti-Immigration Sentiment in Europe?
As the far-right Sweden Democrats party won 20 percent of the votes in Sweden’s general election this September, many predict the rise of the nationalism and anti-immigration sentiment throughout the country—even in places previously considered safe havens for immigrants. Nativist parties such as Sweden Democrats, who perceive immigrants as a threat to their state’s national […]
To Hear or Not to Hear: The Dilemma of Hearing Parents with Deaf Children
Alice De Gentile first heard her mother’s voice when she was seven; due to a congenital cochlear malformation, she was born deaf in both ears. Her hearing parents had very limited knowledge of the Deaf community. Nevertheless, they faced an important decision: whether or not to get their daughter a cochlear implant. Like Alice, more […]
The Politics of The Yeehaw Agenda
Old Town Road was not born into a void. Lil Nas X’s genre-shattering fusion of trap and country influence was just one of the manifestations of the rising use of cowboy imagery and style on the internet and in popular culture outside of its traditional contexts. The name for this movement, coined by a pop […]
Amber Guyger: A Symptom of White Supremacy in American Policing
By now, almost everyone has heard the infuriating details of the murder of Botham Jean. As off-duty police officer Amber Guyger tells it, she mistakenly walked into Jean’s apartment and shot him dead, thinking him an intruder in her apartment. The idea that an African American man can be sitting idly in his own home, […]
When Universalism Met Culture
As I read the story of Aasia Bibi, the 17-year-old Pakistani girl who unintentionally poisoned and killed 17 members of her family in her attempt to escape the prospect of an arranged marriage, I wonder how many South Asian women have contemplated the same. As a South Indian woman myself, talk of my marriage is […]
Nobels and Whistles in Beijing
Tu Youyou was labeled with “three noes”: no medical degree, no doctorate, and no work overseas. And yet, she became not only the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize, but also the first Chinese citizen to earn a Nobel Prize in science. Tu was honored as one of 2015’s three Nobel laureates in […]
The Nordic Model: No Universal Holy Grail
Nordic countries have become somewhat of an international sensation. In the last decade, they seemed impervious to the economic and social woes that ossified economic growth in Europe and Asia and reflected extreme inequality in the United States. Many attribute their success to the “Nordic model,” a unique political and economic template that has raised […]