i’m not sure how to take the version of “diversity” that focuses on the white/blue-eyed kitten, while nudging the grey kittens off screen or behind the text. but maybe we shouldn’t read too much into a cat food ad. right?

first things first: you can find the copy of the first assignment and the “sample” at this link (“assignments” above)

  • when colleges seek diversity through photoshop
  • stevens, creating a class: college admissions and educating elites chapter 5: race [currently having trouble uploading it, but will fix soon] (update: AAAAAHHHH! the file won’t work, and i doubt i will have time to figure out what the problem is, nor will you have time to read it. but it is available as an e-book in the library, and if you want to know how these things work, it’s a good overview (the study was done at hamilton, but current director of admissions at middlebury says this book’s version is the closest to our own that you might find in all the studies out there.))
  • the above chapter is a quick read but it is 44 pages, so if you don’t want to read so much (you’re busy!) (and now that it’s DOA), this from a different project tells a related story about how talk of diversity undercuts actual efforts to deal with racism. succinctly.

THIS WEEK IS ABOUT REPRESENTING RACE/RACISM/DIVERSITY/ETC. SO YOUR 2ND BATCH OF READINGS ARE AS FOLLOWS: (they are short!)

stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop. stop.

following up on day one discussion of blackface and yearbooks (and in honor of the yearbook fotos being taken right across the hall from class (ps. i bet that is an interesting place/space of identity construction!)), here are a few links:

  • USA today reviews 900 yearbooks for racist images. spoiler alert: they found some!
  • of course, yearbooks also document other issues, such as campus protest and anti-racist progress. “beyond blackface
  • this is not just an issue from yesteryear. blackface at UTennessee. [in an effort to bring this full circle, notice the framing in terms of college/student diversity]
  • protest going on this week at sarah lawrence about racism on campus and failure of “diversity” efforts. follow on tweeter!
  • AND, of course, in this day and age (and all days and all ages), it is not just about photo selection as discussed in class, but also how the photos are manipulated. here’s a classic example of OJ Simpson, while here’s an example that popped up on twitter Monday about Fox News altering an image

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