As a first-generation college student, I’m also the only member in my biological family to have attended and graduated high school. I see the promise of education very differently than my family. Knowledge is my sanctuary–it’s my safe place. I grew up witnessing both of my parents struggle with addiction, unemployment, and incarceration. Their relaxed […]
Being a First-Generation College Student Read More »
A couple of years ago I read about the seed packages at Hudson Valley See Library designed by a number of local artists. I visited the site at once, and it was there that I first saw Sheryl Humphrey’s work, on an Art Pack design for Rainbow Chard. I was wowed. I remember happily whiling away a
Sheryl Humphrey and the Sisterhood of Flora Read More »
Zebulon Pike was an idiot. At least that’s what I was taught in school. More than one of my teachers portrayed Pike as an example of how getting lost while blundering through the wilderness can land a person in the history books. For example, Pikes Peak wasn’t named for Pike because he climbed it. It
Zebulon Pike: Icon or Idiot? Read More »
The phrase 52 Blue sounds like a card game or the name of a jazz tune by Miles Davis. In fact, the story of 52 Blue is a sad, fascinating phenomenon from the natural world. The popular press resurrects the story every couple of years because of its emotional appeal. For those unfamiliar with 52
52 Blue: A Whale Song Read More »
The inexplicable loneliness we sometimes feel might be due to the fact that self-expression fails to capture the complexity of our actual neurological states. Paul Churchland, for example, suggests that the two hemispheres of our brains communicate with a much more intricate and intimate “language” than we do with each other. On the other hand,
Confronting the Limits of Self-Expression Read More »
Hours after Battleship Row’s ruins smoldered in Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces attacked the Philippines and Guam. Historians have written extensively about Hawaii’s “day of infamy” and General MacArthur’s 1942 retreat from Corregidor. However, the story of Guam’s heroic resistance to Japanese occupation from 1941-1944 remains unknown in U.S. history. The Chamorros, Guam’s indigenous people, governed
World War II Stories: The Heroic Resistance of Guam Read More »