SPOTLIGHT

  • The African Union and its Reactions to Three Types of Coups in Guinea, Mali, and Chad

    Three different types of coups have occurred in Guinea, Mali, and Chad, and they are worth identifying. These are opportunistic, oligarchic, and sultanistic coups. Opportunistic in the case of Guinea, oligarchic in the case of Mali, and sultanistic in the case of Chad. All of the coups were staged as military takeovers of civilian government, but in different contexts.  

  • Bard vs. Bullet

    Good news for a change—but bad news, as usual. According to the Associated Press (July 31), there’s a shortage of ammunition all over the United States, as major manufacturers are unable to keep up with high demand. Only the military is unaffected, since the Army supplies its own ammo, for all branches of the armed forces.

  • The Critical Importance of Wildlife Conservation

    Many scientists believe that we are in the midst of a 6th mass extinction, one that is almost entirely caused by human involvement. While this is a grim reality, it also means that we have the power to do something to stop the future loss of species. From purchasing a shark bracelet that helps fund marine conservation to eco-friendly shoes, there are endless ways to make conscious purchases that make a big difference. 

  • The Abortion Wars

    The Texas law is an abomination, not just because it violates women's rights, but because the egregious manner in which it does so also betrays any who might be troubled by abortion on truly moral grounds. It is a law rooted in culture war politics, not moral concerns, and its effect will be the promotion of a more sinister and corrupt society, not a more morally sensitive one. And yet it is just such moral sensitivity that we require if we are going to caringly address abortion and other morally relevant issues.

  • African American Existentialism: DuBois, Locke, Thurman, and King

    Race today is often presented as a social construct. But social constructions, as Black people know all too well, can create real existential crises. Philosophers of the Black Experience writing during the Modern Era of the African American Freedom Struggle (1896-1975) engaged questions of freedom, existence, and the struggles associated with the experiences of being Black in America.

  • Surviving the City of Arts

    How do we teach humanities to STEM students in a time of increasing suspicion about the goodness of technology?

THEORY

PRACTICE

Falling Stars and Lined Pockets

By |May 14th, 2021|0 Comments

There is no analogy between a “pocket pardon” and an actual (or proposed) one, any more than there is between a forged passport and a valid one, except that both documents appear to say the same thing—and thus might fool someone into mistaking one for the other. Indeed, a “pocket pardon” is a contradiction in terms, just as a forged passport isn’t a passport, but a seductive imitation: a fake, like its author.

Villagers & Pillagers: Who Will Survive the Collapse?

By |April 30th, 2021|2 Comments

Green survivalists hope humans will wake up to their universal peril, overcome their addiction to fossil fuels, and ditch the ecocidal economy that pursues profit at the expense of people and the planet. To create a sustainable alternative, these “bioneers” are committed to healing humanity’s toxic relationship with the Earth by integrating the wisdom of indigenous cultures with the most useful insights of science and ecology. Unfortunately, ecovillagers are oblivious to, and woefully unprepared for, a looming threat to the future they hope to create. While they hone their abilities to live peacefully with each other and the planet, other survivalists intend to stay alive through plunder and pillage.

JUSTICE

Long Walk to Freedom: Xenophobia Continues Against African Migrants in Johannesburg, South Africa

By |October 4th, 2019|0 Comments

South Africans need to have a national dialogue about what it means to have immigrants in their midst and what part of this falls outside the country’s earlier vision of being a Rainbow Nation. South African cannot continue to preach the gospel of African Renaissance while it practices the talk of xenophobia

ARTS & LETTERS

Collectivism & Consensus in a Post Covid-19 World

By |July 10th, 2020|0 Comments

Death is a great leveler and, a virus that strikes at individuals indiscriminately, a potent reminder of just how precarious life can be and why, much like the pioneers, it might be in humankind’s best interest to re-invest in a philosophy that acknowledges man’s ability to understand the real world around him. Ayn Rand’s maxim that “nature to be commanded, must be obeyed” seems particularly appropriate (9). The question is, do we have the courage and the humility to subject ourselves to the laws of nature and identity?