Duke Recruits Men For Program To Fight "Toxic Masculinity"

Authored by Tori Airaksinen via CampusReform.org,

Duke University is recruiting male students for a nine-week program that pledges to “destabilize masculine privilege” and “interrogate masculinity.”

The program, known as the Duke University Men’s Project, seeks to help men examine how their masculinities exist “often in toxic ways” while beginning “the work of unlearning violence.”

“There is a misinformed narrative that gender equity and feminism hurts men,” a description for the program suggests, adding that “through conversations on the limits of masculinity and healthy alternatives we demonstrate that men have much to gain.”

Over the course of the nine-week program, men will participate in weekly discussion groups conducted through an “intersectional feminist lens,” with the hope of helping male students learn an “intersectional understanding of masculinity” and creating “spaces to destabilize masculine privilege.”

Organizers warn that the program isn’t for the faint of heart, explaining that the discussion groups will make men feel “vulnerable” and “will be challenging,” and should thus be “taken seriously.”

Notably, the application for the program, which closes Wednesday, asks students to describe how “privilege...operates to create inequality on Duke’s campus” and list their preferred gender.

While the project was founded last year with a single group of fifteen students, it has added an additional discussion group this year to accommodate increased student interest.

Upon successful completion of the program, participants will be dispatched across campus to host events for other students on topics such as “pornography and rape culture, male privilege and taking up space, and gender disparities in emotional labor.”

Although the men’s project specifically targets men, it appears that at least some female students are involved with leadership of the program, though when Campus Reform reached out to some of its organizers, all declined to comment, citing “university policy.”  

Participants will not be paid for the program, though the school did recently hire a Men’s Engagement Intern who will earn $9 per hour to help lead the program and foster “collective buy-in on the part of men.”

Additionally, the weekly discussion groups will be held at the university’s Women’s Center, which formed in 1987 after students submitted a 76-page proposal for its creation, now with a mission of helping both men and women “resist patriarchal oppression.”

Campus Reform reached out to Duke University for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Professor Teaches Students About "The Problem That Is Whiteness"

Authored by Nathan Rubbelke via TheCollegeFix.com,

Serious explorations into race should focus on the problem of whiteness and be grounded in the claim that it’s a hegemonic “power apparatus,” a Fairfield University professor suggested at a recent conference aimed at pushing “radical social change” in higher education.

The remarks from associate professor of philosophy Dr. Kris Sealey, who spoke about her strategies for discussing race in the classroom, were presented at a diversity conference for employees of Jesuit colleges.

“So more and more, the courses that I teach on race have become courses in which I expect my students to engage in the hegemonic power of whiteness,” said Sealey, who’s taught courses such as “Black Lives Matter” and “Critical Race Theory.”

Sealey, a scholar of color, said her approach toward teaching race has much to do with teaching at Fairfield University, a predominately white institution, and requires difficult conversations that force students to reevaluate how they understand themselves.

“Hence, part of what makes pedagogies of racial justice particularly difficult are the stakes that they invariably include for all parties involved,” she said.

Sealey’s comments were based in the book “Black Bodies, White Gazes: The Continuing Significance of Race” by Emory University philosopher George Yancy.

Discussing Yancy’s work, the professor said she’s moved by his premise that “any inquiry into the experience of blackness must include some genealogy or some history of the white gaze.”

Taking the thesis seriously, Sealey said, means “to acknowledge that any critical investigation of race should devote some time to the problem that is whiteness.”

While saying there’s no single strategy on discussing race that works best for all students, Sealey touted what she called the “proven advantages” of her approach. Those advantages, she said, establish “objectively grounded claims” that she listed as the following:

Whiteness means a specific power apparatus that exists at the expense of the disempowerment of black people.

To be white in the U.S. is to be a perpetuator of the power apparatus unless one actively and consistently resists.

It is possible, perhaps necessary, to acknowledge one’s personal implications in the white power apparatus.

Sealey said it’s helpful for her students to see that their time in the classroom isn’t about existential conversion or evaluation of one’s character, but rather “the goal is to understand the role of the white gaze in the confiscation of the black body.”

In a 2013 op-ed published by The New York Times, Yancy described the white gaze as “hegemonic” and wrote that it includes “poisonous assumptions and bodily perceptual practices.” Recalling an experience he had with a white police officer in the late 1970s, he said the white gaze includes seeing “the black male body as different, deviant, ersatz.”

Drawing on Yancy’s work and speaking in philosophical terms, Sealey said she frames her class toward the concept of “un-suturing” — an idea she described as opening one’s self to what is other.

Expanding on the concept, Sealey said that “if to suture is to keep closed,” then to un-suture means being able to be influenced by sensibilities or attitudes that run counter to one’s worldview.

Sealey said Yancy applied this approach to suggest when white people engage in un-suturing, there’s an “undoing of a white-centric universe.”

UofA Hires "Social Justice Advocates" To Police Fellow Students For "Bias Incidents"

Submitted by Ian Miles Cheong via HeatSt.com,

Administrators at the University of Arizona are now accepting applications for “social justice advocates,” whose job it is to snitch on other students accused of bias. They’re also expected to hold educational programs about “the mosaic of diversity, multiculturalism and inclusivity” and maintain “social justice bulletin boards” in student residence halls.

The job, which officially calls (archived link) for the advocates to “report any bias incidents or claims to appropriate Residence Life staff,” pays the student workers $10 an hour. They’re expected to work 15 hours a week, which means they could be making as much as $600 a month to police their fellow students.

Part of the job description reads:

“The position also aims to increase understanding of one’s own self through critical reflection of power and privilege, identity and intersectionality, systems of socialization, cultural competency and allyship as they pertain to the acknowledgement, understanding and acceptance of differences. Finally, this position intends to increase a student staff member’s ability to openly lead conversations, discuss differences and confront diversely insensitive behavior.”

The core responsibility, however, is to report bias claims. Bias incidents, which in recent years are increasingly being policed on college campuses, can range from outright acts of racism to far more subtle “microaggressions” such as referring to someone as a “guy” or wearing dreadlocks while white.

The social justice advocate’s job will also be, according to the job posting, to foster dialogue “related to diversity, multiculturalism and social justice”. Furthermore, the advocates will be tasked with “increasing awareness of diverse identities” and are expected to “promote inclusive communities.”

Lastly, these wildcats are expected to “be punctual in all position-related functions and tasks”.

The University of Arizona is a public school, and so these positions are funded with taxpayer dollars. At least until the state legislature reads about it.

Ohio State Offers Class On How To Detect Microaggressions And Be "Self-Aware Of White Privilege"

This spring, Ohio State University will launch a new course entitled "Crossing Identity Boundaries" which will empower America"s precious snowflakes with all of the tools they need to detect microaggressions and become "self-aware" of their inherent "white privilege."  Unfortunately, this isn"t a joke.

According to the class homepage, at the end of the course, students should be able to "identify micro-aggressions within their daily lives and within society as a whole" and "identify ways in which they can challenge or address systems of power and privilege."

Moreover, although it seems a little off topic for this particular course, students will also apparently be taught whether or not it"s appropriate for guys to always pay on a date.  And even though it"s not explicitly addressed on the course syllabus, we presume it"s a given that such a question would only be asked after determining one"s preferred pronoun because otherwise we"re just not sure how young people would go about confirming they"re actually on a date with a "guy."  It"s also very unclear whether the mere discussion of stereotypical gender roles, like who should pay for a date, might be a "micro-aggression" in and of itself...dicey territory for sure.

For those of you who may want to do some personal, private study, here is a list of a couple of books/articles from the course"s required reading list:

• Waking up White: What it means to accept your legacy, for better and worse


• White privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack


• Here’s the perfect explanation for why White people need to stop saying #AllLivesMatter


• 3 examples of everyday cissexism


• The science behind why people fear refugees


• Creating identity-safe spaces on college campuses for Muslim students


• Christian privilege: Breaking a sacred taboo

Meanwhile, per College Fix, homework assignments include, among other things, taking two "implicit bias tests" and finding at least 12 example of micro-aggressions on social media.

Taking the course, offered through the Department of Educational Studies, is one way students can fulfill the university’s mandatory diversity requirement, and many sections are offered throughout the school year.

Part of the homework includes taking two “implicit bias tests,” and writing journals on prompts such as “power/privilege in your life” or calling on Christians to write about what it might feel like to be Muslim, or males on what it’s like to be female, and “reflecting on how this new identity would have impacted your day.”

One big part of the class is a microaggressions group presentation and reflective paper.

The assignment, according to a syllabus, calls on students to “find at least 12 examples of microaggressions using at least 3 different types of social media (e.g., Yik Yak, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest). Explain who the target of the microaggression is and why your group believes it is an example of a negative remark. Provide an example of how you might respond to such a comment.”

The assignment’s goal is for students to “evaluate the impact that power and privilege have within social media,” a syllabus states. Students are graded on the “quality of microaggresion chosen (do they clearly articulate why they are microaggressions and which group is targeted” and “quality of response (did they address the microaggression in an appropriate and meaningful way?)”

Amazingly, American parents can get all of this for the bargain basement price of just $44,784 per year.  Just an amazing value.