(2022). "Play with Me or I'll Break Your Arm": Giant Babies, Philosophy, and Images. Global Studies of Childhood, v12 n3 p224-234 Sep. With the "Donald Trump Baby Balloon" as a provocation, this work utilizes philosophy as a method and cinema-as/in-philosophy to multi-modally interrogate the particular images of giant babies. Deleuze and Guattari's conceptions of molarity and molecularity and Bakhtin's conception of grotesque bodily images are put to work alongside several cinematic portrayals of giant babies and their social material contexts, including the animated fantasy "Spirited Away," the family comedy "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid," the independent short "Las Palmas," and the Disney-Pixar superhero franchise "Incredibles." Within this constellation of images and texts, the giant baby emerges as a specific entanglement of developmentalism, humanism, and neoliberalism. Furthermore, the ways in which images of giant babies materialize particular notions of monstrosity, consumption, and destruction might disrupt some commonsense notions of time and bodies. This kind… [Direct]
(2019). The 'Culture Wars' Reloaded: Trump, Anti-Political Correctness and the Right's 'Free Speech' Hypocrisy. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, v17 n1 p69-119 Apr. This article explores how Donald Trump capitalized on the right's decades-long, carefully choreographed and well-financed campaign against political correctness in relation to the broader strategy of 'cultural conservatism.' It provides an historical overview of various iterations of this campaign, discusses the mainstream media's complicity in promulgating conservative talking points about higher education at the height of the 1990s 'culture wars,' examines the reconfigured anti-PC/pro-free speech crusade of recent years, its contemporary currency in the Trump era and the implications for academia and educational policy…. [PDF]
(2019). Conversations with Kids about Race. Phi Delta Kappan, v100 n7 p17-21 Apr. Social science research has shown us for decades that young children notice racial differences at very young ages and learn societal rules about race throughout childhood. Margaret Hagerman reviews some of the research into children's understandings of race and shares her own observations from conversations with children across racial and class groups. Although their attitudes about race and racism varied, they were aware of the role race plays in contemporary debates related to such issues as police shootings, immigration, and the election of Donald Trump…. [Direct]
(2022). Unsettling the Trump Baby: Learning from Values and Pedagogy in the Early Childhood Nursery. Global Studies of Childhood, v12 n3 p288-296 Sep. The 2018 anti-Trump protest in London is dominated by an effigy, in the form of a balloon, that morphs President Donald Trump and childhood. Whilst this can be interpreted as a humorous act to ridicule Trump, a critical reading of the scene through a postmodern lens suggests that the image is an appropriation and manipulation of childhood. Trump masquerading as a baby becomes the 'vagabond' who is denied citizenship; she is a focus for negativity and fears, symbolising the values of hate and intolerance. The Trump Baby is vexing in the way it obscures knowledge of the agentic and competent child known within the nursery. The protesters exercise power as they mock and humiliate the Trump Baby in the protest and on social media. Such actions legitimatise hostile acts against children and prompt questions about the interdependency between children and adults in the both the construction of values and the realisation of children's citizenship. This paper considers a range of positions… [Direct]
(2022). "We Shall Take Their Children Away and Rear Them to the Fatherland": A Critical Discourse Analysis of a "Parent Advocacy" Group. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, v18 n2 Fall. The rise of right-wing populism, embodied in the figure of Donald Trump, has been characterized by conspiracy theories, "fake news," and other forms of mis- and disinformation in what has been described as a "post-truth" era. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this problem, and national conflicts around appropriate content, methods, and modes of schooling often involved disinformation circulated in school board meetings and other local contexts during the 2021-2022 school year. In this study, we adopt a critical literacy lens and take up the tools of discourse analysis to examine the rhetoric of post-truth, conspiracy-oriented groups opposed to public health mandates, critical race theory (CRT), and social emotional learning (SEL) in public schools. Our discourse analysis of Purple for Parents Indiana (P4PI), a local advocacy group, suggests that P4PI and similar groups are engaging in "cosmetic criticality," a project superficially resembling critical… [PDF]
(2021). Teaching Black Lives amidst Black Death: Reflections from a Black Visiting Professor. Journal of Effective Teaching in Higher Education, v4 n2 p99-117. In this essay the author addresses the struggles of teaching a special topics course, Black Freedom Movement Education, in the midst of a global pandemic and Donald Trump's proposed ban on anti-racist training and critical race theory. The educator framed the course under the conceptual lens of stealin' the meetin'–a Black Antebellum practice of creating otherwise literacy practices under repressive circumstances. This form of educational resistance continued beyond enslavement as Black communities used the resources available to educate each other by any means necessary (Robinson, 2020). On a smaller scale, this class carried on the resistance through critical metacognitive engagement with Black education history. The author discusses how he navigated the course when, less than halfway through the quarter, a Black man was killed and burned in a trench. Using emails, lecture notes, student evaluations, texts, and reflections, the author shares vignettes of tension, Black affinity,… [PDF]
(2024). How the Changes in Title IX Guidance Shape Higher Education Institutions' Liability in Federal Court Cases, 2000-2022: A Content Analysis. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Florida Atlantic University. In this qualitative study, 21 Title IX federal court cases between 2000-2022 were examined. The purpose of this analysis was to explore how the changes in Title IX guidance across President George W. Bush (R), President Barack Obama (D), and President Donald Trump (R) administrations have impacted higher education institutional liability lawsuits. Guided by content analysis and the power-conscious framework, three research questions were asked: (1) How have the Title IX policy changes under the Bush, Obama, and Trump U.S. presidential administrations impacted higher education institutional liability lawsuits? (2) What specific Title IX requirements within the Bush, Obama, and Trump U.S. presidential administrations are higher education institutions being held liable for violating? (3) How effective is the Title IX guidance under the Bush, Obama, and Trump U.S. presidential administrations at reducing institutional liability? Four themes emerged from this study: (1) Increase in Title… [Direct]
(2021). A Critical Discourse Analysis of Institutional Responses to the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, v14 n1 p1-11 Mar. The 2016 U.S. presidential election brought to light longstanding tensions and bigotry across the country that were further exacerbated when Donald Trump won the presidency on November 8th. While college and university leaders have traditionally refrained from commenting on election results, looming concerns of possible campus protests and external pressures sparked institutional responses. This study considers an analysis of these responses including 48 statements from 28 public and private colleges and universities throughout the nation. Using critical discourse analysis, the authors find that despite seemingly inclusive language, most higher education leaders used symbolic discourse that preserved existing power structures rather than employing transformative language that could lead to materialized, actionable support for the students most impacted by divisive campaign rhetoric as well as the laws and policies that have followed. As politically marginalized students are impacted… [Direct]
(2021). Educating Adolescent Newcomers in the Superdiverse Midwest: Multilingual Students in English-Centric Contexts. Multilingual Matters This book juxtaposes superdiversity with the reality of English-centricity in the United States, set against the long-standing challenges regarding migration and language policy in the US, most recently underlined by Donald Trump's 2016 election win and subsequent aggressive and partially successful attempts to limit migration. The book explores the history, policies, and practices of an adolescent newcomer program in Central Ohio, in the US Midwest, that seeks to provide an equitable and engaging education to its students. It addresses, on the one hand, positive, progressive institutional responses, including an embrace of translanguaging and a willingness to acknowledge and build on students' languacultural backgrounds. On the other hand, the book explores the effects of inconsistent, inefficient and sometimes nonsensical patterns in these responses. The book analyzes student outcomes and argues that, although some students are well-served by the program, tensions in the program… [Direct]
(2021). Education at the End of History: A Response to Francis Fukuyama. Educational Philosophy and Theory, v53 n2 p160-170. By 1989, fascism had long been defeated in Europe, and reforms in the Soviet Union appeared to signify the collapse of communist ideology, prompting Francis Fukuyama to famously declare the 'end of history'. Since then, neoliberalism has been rolled out globally. This paper argues that, with regard to higher education, Fukuyama's claim that the pursuit of knowledge will be replaced by the 'satisfaction of sophisticated consumer demands' is prescient. What, then, prompted Fukuyama to qualify his predictions in 2018? Citing both the turmoil of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, Fukuyama blames identity politics for the breakdown of consensus over what the nation is, or should be, and suggests that the promotion of creedal identity might rescue Western democracy from populism. This paper disagrees: using the examples of Brexit and the promotion of Fundamental British Values in schools, it argues that creedal identity has become another expression of populism. Rejecting the claim… [Direct]
(2018). Power to Influence Leadership Perceptions and Innovatively Challenge the Status Quo: President Donald Trump and Social Activism. Journal of Leadership Education, v17 n2 p92-113 Apr. Daring to challenge the status quo impacts innovation. Yet, successful outcomes depend on individual risk-taking and choice to influence others to support new ideas. This "Challenging the Status Quo" exercise illustrates how leaders use power and influencing tactics to challenge norms by analyzing Donald Trump's journey as the 45th U.S. President to defy experts and successfully influence followers to support his non-traditional candidacy: businessman lacking political experience becoming leader of the free world. Through integrating videoclips and polls, instructors make power visible, relevant, and thought-provoking as students apply power theory and influencing tactics perspectives to analyze (a) how leaders impact followers' perceptions, (b) students mutual-influencing strategies, (c) power's relationship with social identity and privilege, and (d) social impact on innovation via activism and free speech…. [PDF]
(2024). Centering Racial Equity in a BSW Program: What We've Learned in Five Years. Journal of Social Work Education, v60 n1 p27-42. In response to the 2016 election of Donald J. Trump and calls for antiracist action from activists and communities of color, our Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program embarked on a process of curriculum revision. In this article, we describe our efforts to center critical and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) scholarship and to better align our curriculum with the experiences of students of color. While we have drawn from feminist and critical race theories, we have also borrowed concepts from literatures not typically associated with antiracism work, such as policy implementation and leadership/management. We present our ongoing work as a case study of, and methodology for, systematic social work curriculum change to promote racial equity and justice…. [Direct]
(2022). Higher Education for American Democracy and the Channels of Student Activism. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, v54 n1 p33-40. Released in the wake of postwar concerns over European totalitarianism, "Higher Education for American Democracy" offered a blueprint for a more socially inclusive college experience–one that could help bolster informed and thoughtful civic participation throughout the nation. Much of the six-volume report commissioned by President Harry Truman proved prescient in transforming colleges and universities in the United States over the second half of the 20th century. Taking the massification envisioned by Higher Education for American Democracy as the backdrop, Jeffrey Kidder and Amy Binder reveal how collegiate activism is shaped through two broadly opposing channels (progressive vs. conservatism) that steer students into divergent types of political mobilization and bring them into contact with different social and organizational networks. Their analysis relies primarily on semistructured interviews with 77 politically engaged college students conducted in the fall of 2017… [Direct]
(2020). Early Adolescent Critical Consciousness Development in the Age of Trump. Journal of Adolescent Research, v35 n3 p279-308 May. Political elections have been shown to influence youth civic development. The election of Donald Trump is historic and has elevated precarity for people of color and immigrants, yet we know little about how young people with these identities experienced this potentially catalytic event. Using ethnographic methods, we examined youth and adult discussions that occurred during youth participatory action research in four sites of one after-school program between October 2016 and May 2017, to investigate how the development of critical consciousness occurs among early adolescent youth of color in the context of catalyzing political events. We identified emergent patterns in how young people (a) engaged in critical reflection, (b) weighed political efficacy, and (c) considered engagement in critical action in the wake of Trump's election. The data revealed that young people's critical consciousness development ranged from basic to advanced levels. This research highlights the ways that… [Direct]
(2017). Much to Lose: Black Mother Educators Respond to Donald Trump's Comments about Schools. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v30 n10 p994-998. In this essay, we specifically focus our attention on Donald Trump's perspective of the conditions of schools that Black children attend. The fact remains that as a presidential candidate, he verbalized stereotypical notions that many people hold about the conditions of schools that Black children attend. Thus, the purpose of this essay is to interrupt dangerous stereotypes that often go unchallenged because they are the unspoken norm for mainstream America. Our response is framed by our positionality as Black mother educators. The complex intersection of these identities require us to think deeply about the implications of a Trump administration on the lives of Black children…. [Direct]