Over reading period a few of the other religious studies majors, Professor Smith and I drove to Dearborn, Michigan to visit Mosques and other houses of worship. Dearborn has the highest density of both Muslim Americans and Arab Americans. The trip was excellent, but I specifically wanted to share some wisdom that the amazing young…
Masculinity and Rape Culture
The content of this article could potentially be triggering to victims of sexual assault. I do not write about these issues lightly; rape and sexual violence are some of the darkest and most evil things people do to one another. I think it is important to have frank conversations about the rampant violence in our…
Unsustainable Development
This week I wanted to write about my recent visit to Morocco with a Lawrence field experience trip. The visit was my first time in a Muslim majority nation. Even though I have been taking classes about Islam and Islamic art since I came to Lawrence, it was an eye-opening trip. One site we visited…
The Politics of “Us”
On Sunday, far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen vowed to cut off all immigration to France. “I will protect you,” she said. Le Pen was implicitly talking only to white French people. Across the ocean, when Trump first said he wanted to ban all Muslims from coming to the United States, and talked about…
Where Are the Adults?
The realities of the incompetence of our current regime is shocking and upsetting to me as a twenty-year-old wondering where my adult life will take me. Whether it is Spicer’s “Holocaust Centers” gaff or Trump’s total switch on Assad and Syria, what I keep wondering is where are the experts? Where are the grown-ups? Trump’s…
True Patriotism is Pro-Immigration
I think many of the political debates in the forefront of the national and international political discourse are framed with false premises. Over the course of this term, in each of my columns I hope to try to reframe these conversations. This week I hope to tackle perceptions of immigration, namely how disturbing modern “anti-immigration”…
A Plea for Controversial Opinions
It is coming to the end of my time as Opinions and Editorials editor and I am very proud to have been curating and preparing these pages for the past few terms. While I could spend this column talking about what I like about my section, I think it is a better usage of this…
Death, Dying and Why I Went To Sierra Leone
I am never more thankful for my Jewish upbringing then when I need to start processing the death of someone close to me. All religions have their own way of helping people through grief and mourning, and for many people this is one of the biggest ways that religion and spirituality manifest and impact their…
Division or Unity? Welcome to 1861
Obama is my president. As I grew up, I realized I wanted to be like him; pragmatic, careful and smart. He made me believe in the sanctity of our Republic and of the presidency. When he spoke, I believed our country was this great experiment that may stumble, and sometimes stumble big, but at our…
Higher Education As Privilege
Six point seven percent of human beings on earth have some form of degree from an institution of higher education. Only one-third of U.S. citizens have college degrees. In a 2005 National Survey of Undergraduates, of those surveyed, only 16 percent were first-generation college students. Children of college graduates are more likely to go to…