US Represented

Creative Writing

The Academic Redneck Fitness Challenge

If the face above couldn’t launch a thousand fitness infomercials, I don’t know what could. I’ll confess at first I was uncertain about having my photo appear on the U.S. Represented grid slider for a week, but then I figured what the hell. Since this is an article about diet and exercise, I’ll just feature […]

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O Say Can You Sing?: Confessions of a Nervous Fourth-Grade School Actor

The beginning of July is here, and it’s almost that time again, when Americans from all walks of life celebrate their dominance by making things explode. I know what you’re thinking. That’s every day in the U.S., and you’re right, but this one also involves hot weather, cooked meats, and lots of emergency room visits.

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Redneck Chic and the Return of Gretchen Wilson

I think I am only slightly exaggerating when I say that being a redneck is sort of fashionable right now. Ever since the white working class proved decisive in the 2016 presidential election, both major parties are re-evaluating their relationship with an “embarrassing” voting bloc they believed they could ignore with impunity.  However, over a

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What Education Really Needs is Industrial Strength Voban

It was my first day of student teaching and I was feeling overwhelmed. I was wearing my only suit, which made me way overdressed and therefore feeling even more out of place. Adding to my discomfort was the fact that my cooperating teacher, as well as two thirds of the school, was out with the

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Shiplap, Lots of Shiplap: On Politics, Comedy, and HGTV

A few months ago, talented, cherubic-faced comedian Tina Fey treated college-educated women like me to yet another celebrity lecture on voting for Trump. Speaking about reproductive rights at an ACLU event, Fey said, “A lot of [the 2016] election was turned by white, college-educated women who now would maybe like to forget about this election

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