I am pleased to present the second issue of The Black Mirror. I received many positive comments on the first issue and our readership is growing with more people asking to be added to the mailing list. Our readers seemed to have enjoyed knowing about the good work of many in our community and appreciated the incorporation of different voices in the newsletter. Continue reading
Category Archives: Issue 2
MIIS Speaks – Poverty Appropriation
By Jacob Dwyer and Pushpa Iyer
Thank you to everyone who participated in the first “MIIS Speaks” poll on the topic of poverty appropriation. Sixty-eight MIIS students, faculty, staff, and alumni filled out this survey. We were encouraged by the level of participation and especially the number of comments that were left at the end of the survey. Continue reading
A Piece of Inspiration
An individual has not started living
until he can rise above the narrow
confines of his individualistic concerns
to the broader concerns of all humanity.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Community Spotlight
In this issue, we highlight the experiences and plans of those who participated in a Decolonizing Knowledge workshop in Washington DC, Prof. Anne Campbell’s approach to assigning readings for her courses, and brief reports of the events organized and hosted by our student clubs. Continue reading
My Experience as ___________ at MIIS
This section presents personal stories and experiences of some of our community members. In this issue we highlight Gina Pham, Kyrstie Lane, Toni M. Thomas, and Lyuba Zarsky.
Allies at MIIS
The Fall 2018 student core group of Allies at MIIS, an initiative of the Center for Conflict Studies, has four students – Jacob Dwyer, Gina Pham, Óscar Cejudo Corbalán, and Emily Hoang. I continue to lead the group in my capacity as the Director of the Center, and we have spent many hours this semester reflecting on issues related to identity-related discrimination. Continue reading
Food for Thought – How Not to be a White Savior
Originally, the term white savior was used to define a white person who acts to help non-white person/s in a self-serving way. Later, the term involved to include those who began to embody this whiteness by placing their experience above the experiences of the individual or community they were “helping.”
Continue reading
Reflection and Response – Trigger Warnings
Should universities be required to provide trigger warnings to their students when dealing with “distressing” subject matters in the classroom? A debate has been raging in many higher education campuses on whether trigger warnings should be mandatory. After reading, please fill out this brief survey and tell us what you think. Continue reading
News from other Higher Education Institutions
News coming out of other Higher Education Campuses is very interesting to our work on diversity and inclusion. In this section, we highlight the efforts of Rice University, USC, and UCSD in promoting racial equity on their campuses as examples for MIIS in moving forward. Continue reading
You might enjoy…
Here are some books and films community members think you might enjoy! Continue reading