Broadway's take on Islamophobia

What do you call a trio of bumbling jihadists, a suicide bomber, a scheming small-time mastermind and a humorless terror-war widow? The answer may surprise you, a new Broadway play, called: Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want to Kill Us and How We Learn to Love Them. 

(really? this is the image they use to highlight the play?)

                                       
This play addresses Islamofacism and Islamophobia and not in a dry academic nature rather it turn to comedy. It appears that this play tries to humanize the characters by showing how their struggles and life experiences are just the same as everyone else. 

For Modern Terrorism, a review describes it as: "a cartoon capped with a Jacobean conclusion, one so badly miscalculated it reveals the foregoing hijinks as cheap and naïve." 

I think it's great that a cultural venue has taken on such a relevant and controversial issue. But, it is disheartening to hear that it makes light of the issue and only highlights common stereotypes. Why is it that the plot has to revolve around a group of terrorists? Is it so outrageous to have a play that addresses Islam with normal, everyday people?

Nonetheless, after further research, starting price of tickets for this show is over $75!  Although unique, personally I wouldn't want to spend that amount of money on a show that capitalizes on negative stereotypes to draw people in. 

To read more about this startling new play, click here (Vulture article) or here (NYT). 

The Time Has Come...

The time has come- to stop being idle bystanders and begin actively making change within our educational institutions. I recently came across an article from the CEO of Chegg, Daniel Rosensweig about the need to disrupt education in America. Although we have talked extensively on this issue in class and on our blogs- I can not begin to stress the importance of our country really needing to transform the current educational system that is set in place. Instead of advancing with time, especially our K-12 educational system, has continued to remain stagnant. Sure our classrooms are now outfitted with computers, e-readers, and iPad's but most of the actual academic content has remained the same. So much so that students are only being taught what to know on standardized tests and not having the opportunity to be creative or artistic. 

Although America's institutions of higher learning continue to be highly regarded by many around the world, even this level of learning is facing stumbling blocks. 

The CEO of Chegg, Daniel had his company do a recent study to asses the current jobs that were available and at the same time examined the majors of the most recent college graduates. This is just a brief and troubling summary of the findings from this study:

"Fifty-four percent of jobs in San Jose, California fall within the area of IT, but only 2 percent of students in the area are graduating with IT degrees.  Thirty-nine percent of the jobs in Columbus, Ohio also fall within the area of IT, but only 2 percent of students are graduating with IT degrees.  And, in Miami, Florida, 36 percent of the open jobs are in the accounting/finance field and just 4 percent of students in the area are graduating with accounting/finance degrees."

As an undergraduate who graduated with a double major of German & Political Science, I am actually not that surprised by these results. For me I'm simply not interested in pursuing a career in IT but I do know of so many who could truly excel and clearly who could find jobs if they had the necessary academic qualifications. Yet at the same time, the cost of getting this one piece of paper has become astronomically high. There are so many challenges that America's education system (both K-12 and even higher education) are facing and although not everything can be solved immediately, we should at least begin baby stepping to a solution. 

In closing, once again I think Daniel Rosensweig, makes a very valid point with this statement: "The time is now to fix our failing education system. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue, this is an American and economic issue." 

To read more of Daniel Rosensweig' illuminating article, click here. 

The Current State of America's Education System

When it comes to America’s education system, Kumarshiro’s assessment is spot on. I myself wonder why there is such a disparity of quality education across our country. How is that we can take a brief drive and encounter both a failing school and at the complete opposite end of the spectrum- an exceptionally well performing school? Instead of helping out the schools that are in the most need- it’s often those schools who those who can help, turn their backs to it and feign ignorance.

Yet these administrators and for that matter, teachers shouldn’t be the only ones to affix blame onto—a significant part of the blame goes to top executive leaders like the President and Congress as well. It’s obvious to most in America that the current state of education in America isn’t working and needs reform so why is this not an even bigger deal in the current presidential debates that have been occurring? Romney went so far to say that he would just eliminate the Department of Education altogether which if anything, may even exacerbate the problem even further. America’s school are in desperate need of fixing and reforms yet our government continues to push for Defense funding and continue to pull and eliminate critical funding from schools that are in desperate need of it. We have clearly taken a turn for the worse and this is an incredible graphic from the Huffington Post that highlights this.

I certainly don’t have all of the answers, but I don’t think it would be a bad thing at all to model failing schools based on successful, elite institutions. Although it would be a significant investment upfront, in the long term this won’t be better for the next generation of leaders but for our country as a whole. As a nation, stimulus funding was made available to help private corporations bounce back into fighting shape- perhaps this could be an option for bringing life back into America’s public school system. I am no expert though as to how we could truly finance this but I do know- we have no choice but to find a way to begin making changes immediately. We need to invest in our nations teachers ensuring they have the tools to be successful so in turn our children can be as well. What is clear is that spending more on students (see graph below) clearly has not helped us in improving our educational system. Countries like Finland and South Korea rank at the top for their educational systems, yet ironically invest the least ironically. 

We will be able to successfully compete against other nations, if we take the necessary steps now and begin reforming our schools. It’s clear that a large majority of the students who do attend elite schools like Benet Academy and the U. of Chicago Lab schools will become successful adults that are able to contribute to the betterment of our society. Why not give that chance to all American students? 

Powerful Women & Pregnancy

Seven months pregnant and the opportunity to show the world on a national magazine cover your soon to be baby girl or boy. I would think that many women would jump at this chance to bask in the limelight and show off their baby to the world. Yet Marissa Mayer, the newly appointed CEO of Yahoo decided not to pose on the cover of Fortune magazine which was highlighting her as one of the 50 most powerful women. In the book Great Divergence, it references as to how women’s roles have changed in the workplace and I couldn’t agree more. Although women have certainly advanced and taken on positions that they couldn’t have even dreamed of holding years ago (like Marissa Mayer) there are still significant limitations that continue to face.

When Marissa Mayer was asked to pose on the cover of Fortune magazine she actually declined to pose while seven months pregnant and instead sent them a picture of herself when she was not pregnant. Now I ask, what does this show other working mothers that a female CEO chooses not to show her pregnancy while being acknowledged as a powerful woman? Would Marissa’s baby bump have made her look less powerful? I certainly don’t think so. 

Interested in learning a little more, here's a video highlighting this recent story

Not Ready for College

84%. At a previous institution I worked at, over 84% of our incoming students were not ready for college level math. I was shocked. I believe the amount of students who were placed into remedial levels to prep for college level reading  and writing were above 50% as well. 

After reading the participant guides for Waiting for Superman- the particular one from Bill and Melinda Gates were all too familiar for me. The students we had coming into my former institution were clear examples of how their high schools did not prepare them for a career or a degree upon graduation. 

Upon advising these students that yes although they are in college and taking classes- some were signed up for an entire term of remedial classes that actually were giving them zero college credit. These students were upset which is absolutely understandable. Although America is ranked as having world quality higher education -- it is important that we address and step up in reforming K-12. We will continue to have students who are excited to enter into college only to find they face a year of classes without any credit before their official college career even begins. 

Of course it's important that students take the necessary pre-requisite courses so they are successful as college students, to have over 3/4 of an incoming student body not be college level math, reading, and writing is unacceptable. Has anyone ever heard of similar experiences with students being un-prepared and let down by their schools?

Another Day, Another Test

Recently on our campus a documentary was shown entitled the Race to Nowhere. Check out the trailer for it here. As a side note, even for those who don't like documentaries- this film was amazing and truly eye opening. 

At this recent film showing at NCC- a variety of different departments, staff and students came together to talk about this movie. Race to Nowhere addressed America’s obsession with school children being perfect to get into the best school. A 4.0 GPA is no longer good enough because students need to be in every and all AP class offered, be a state champion athlete, have a job, be in many different student organizations, have service and volunteer experience, and of course  a top standardized test score.

                                                           

Race to Nowhere begins talking about the suicide of a13 year old girl. Why did she kill herself? She got a bad grade on a math test and thought that was the end of her future. How sad and disheartening is that? We as Americans have become utterly obsessed over this idea of perfection and having the perfect ACT or SAT score. I think that JD’s blog post also highlighted this issue perfectly.

Instead of providing enriching subject matter and actively engaging students, challenging them even- teachers are now being forced to teach for the standardized test. I’m thankful that I finished school at a time when the hype (or at least I didn’t feel it) on standardized tests where not nearly this intense. I now hear stories from family members in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL who are stressed over tests mandated by the state. My little brother in 8^th grade had a nightmare over an upcoming standardized test! What does this say about our nation that we assess the value of a child’s education by one exam?  

Déjà vu?

Midway through the Bad Teacher text- I began to do a double take. All of a sudden the reading opened up to provide a viewpoint that echoed the one made in Deepa’s Islamophobia text. An example that displays the parallel of Deepa’s viewpoint of Islamophobia in America is shared in the Bad Teacher text: “within the United States, more and more individuals seemed to this this war was against anyone who “looked Muslim” or “looked Arab.”

Shortly thereafter, another similar point in the Bad Teacher text is expressed: “the media constantly reminded us that the “terrorists” were still out there, planning their next attacks.”

I found it quite interesting to be reading a book about the plight of America’s public education system and to then encounter ideas that were shared in Deepa’s book. In a sense, it was an analogy made by Kumashiro that this “Muslim terrorist” that is created by political leaders and are used as the scapegoat- are essentially what Kumashiro argues to be America’s teachers. Everyone blames teachers and say that if the school is failing well then it must be the teacher’s fault. Blame them! Yet as the case with the “Muslim terrorist” this is once again an accusation that has been blown out of proportion. Of course just like in every profession there truly are bad teachers (and also bad movies, case in point ironically Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz) but there are also many devoted, passionate, and hardworking teachers as well.

I think that instead of blaming the teacher or in Deepa’s novel, the “Muslim terrorist” – we as Americans must continue to educate ourselves and learn more about a particular issue rather than immediately placing the blame on someone who is undeserving of such negativity. We need to stop playing the blame game and be held more accountable for our own actions. 

STOP THE BLAME GAME!

And the Winner Is.... Big Bird?

With the first presidential debate of this campaign season done – I think it is fair to say that the media has clearly scrutinized every last word of that campaign. It has gone so far that there the media was up in arms over the Big Bird comment made by Mitt Romney that internet campaigns were created, calling to “Save Big Bird!” Politics aside, why is it that despite the important topics covered in that debate the biggest sensation to come out of this was something (insert sarcastic quotes) we should all be concerned about- the fate of big bird? Now don’t get me wrong, during my childhood I was a definite big bird fan but to scrutinize Romney over a small side comment rather his views on taxes and our economy is mind blowing.

Take a look for yourself at just a handful of images posted after the debate—mind you ¾ of these images were found by typing presidential debate 2012. Instead of images of Romney and Obama dueling it out with one another… big bird popped out. I think now is the time to start worrying about the future of our nation. 

Let the Games Begin!

Tonight the first 2012 presidential debate is well under and all I know is that commentators are eagerly awaiting the ending of it. Come tomorrow morning- one would think they can just look to the morning news to find out what they missed, right? There was a good point made this morning on The Today Show. They had said that, commentators, analysts, academics, journalists, etc.  (Public Intellectuals) will interpret and come to their own conclusions about tonight’s debate. Essentially, both Obama’s & Romney’s rhetoric will get so twisted and re-interpreted that entirely new ideas are likely to emerge.  I believe it is fair to say that the news will take it upon themselves to present to viewer’s what THEY (as the network) think the nominees meant rather than what the nominees themselves said.

                

As a society, I think it is also important to consider the very nature of these political debates. Both candidates limited their campaign time today and yesterday, to merely practice their responses and throughout the debate it was clear that when asked to answer a question- their response was often not responding to that question but merely a pre-programmed response that their campaign team had helped to create. Although this is a valuable and necessary venue for both contenders to voice their concerns and present their issues- we need to take their rhetoric with a grain of salt and do our own fact checking. Learn about the issues and what the candidates really stand for and to not by swayed by the flowery and eloquent language used.

This looks to be a great source to learn more about where candidates stand and where your values match up: https://electnext.com/