Category Archives: Identity and Identification

584: Weekly Position Paper #6: Why Do White People Claim They Have No Culture?

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Michael

In Chapter 4 of The Ethics of Identity, Appiah notes that while the United States has never been less culturally diverse, there have never been more celebrations of, or demands for, cultural diversity. He questions the values of both culture … Continue reading →

Posted in English 584 Rhetoric Writing and Identity (Fall 2008), Identity and Identification, Race | 4 Comments

challenging gay left orthodoxy

Posted on October 6, 2008 by Michael

I found this book at Webster’s, the local bookstore/coffee shop downtown, and thought it might make me sufficiently angry or challenged. From the Introduction: Queer. Once—and still—an anti-gay slur, it’s been reclaimed by a minority of gay people as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Identity and Identification, Queer issues and theory | 1 Comment

584: Weekly Position Paper #5: The Future of Typified Bodies and Identities

Posted on September 27, 2008 by Michael

In Chapter 3 of The Ethics of Identity, Kwame Anthony Appiah notes that there are two interrelated questions we should ask regarding identities: “how existing identities should be treated; and what sort of identities there should be” (108). According to … Continue reading →

Posted in English 584 Rhetoric Writing and Identity (Fall 2008), Ethics, Identity and Identification | Leave a comment

educated souls and goth makeup in schools

Posted on September 27, 2008 by Michael

I love coincidence — it’s not “mere” as we would like to think, but instead useful. Just after finishing reading Chapter 5 of Kwame Anthony Appiah’s The Ethics of Identity, in which he devotes space to “Educated Souls” — the … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, English 584 Rhetoric Writing and Identity (Fall 2008), Ethics, Identity and Identification | Leave a comment

584: Weekly Position Paper #4: Problematizing Empathy

Posted on September 16, 2008 by Michael

In Where We Stand: Class Matters, bell hooks describes various times in her life when she does not want to be understood, or moments when empathy does not do enough. While not a central focus of her book, these are … Continue reading →

Posted in Empathy, English 584 Rhetoric Writing and Identity (Fall 2008), Ethics, Identity and Identification | 6 Comments