// \\ By Cleo Mikutta – II – // ‘You remind me of him,’ she said quietly, speaking to him through the flames, saying the words more to herself than to him. He watched her, from the other side of the fire. She had learned from the others that Read more
Art-Work in the Age of Trump By Rachel Alliston Last August, at a Counterpoint conference in Berlin, Anthea Butler gave a keynote speech on the intersection of religious practice, religious freedom, and the secular state. At one point, drawing on France’s burkini debate, Butler spoke about how the “female body Read more
On Fighting Well By John Thatamanil Can we find certain convictions abhorrent without abhorring those who subscribe to them? Put crudely, can we refuse to hate the haters? If it is possible, is it also obligatory? If Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King are to be believed, the answer is Read more
Against Academic Oligarchy By Zairong Xiang As usual, I found myself in a room full of scholars from a variety of demographic backgrounds as well as “ranks” in the academic ladder. The topic was the postcolonial trauma of the world. After the presentations, the “final word” fell to a renowned Read more
The Flint Knapper Who Cried “Snake” By Sarah Pike During the Closing Circle of Rabbitstick Primitive Skills Gathering, a flint knapper (who shapes rocks by hand to make stone tools) asked the participants, “How do you react if someone in a crowd yells snake?” “Food!” said one. “Hide!” answered another, Read more
\\ // By Cleo Mikutta – IV – \\ Her eyes rest on the pins, there on the wooden floor, sharp, metallic bodies, there on the floor, there, in the plastic box, there, with colorful heads. Pink, yellow, green, blue, and red. Violet. Light has entered the room, followed Read more
Our Hitch-Up Culture By Anna Mercedes I teach in an American university culture where there is a lot of concern about the students’ casual hook-up culture—a too-fast coupling without long-term commitment. But I’m worried about another problem, a too-fast acceptance of marriage culture, a “hitch-up Read more
What It Means to Deny Climate Change By Susannah Crockford On 26 August 2018, sixty academics, environmentalists, and politicians released an open letter asserting that they will no longer debate with those who deny anthropogenic climate charge, refusing to enable any false equivalence between the two positions. As happens with Read more
Perception and the Platypus By Jay Johnston I was desperate to see a platypus. Standing on riverbanks I would look out, simultaneously expectant and forlorn, scanning for signs of this notoriously shy monotreme. The platypus eluded me until I was taught how to see platypus. The onus, all along, was Read more
Social media as religion – a tale of unexamined desire and (mis-in)formation by Dion Forster It could be said that social media is the most prevalent religion of our time. Like other faiths, it forms us, and we use it to form our world according to our desires, values, and Read more