identity

Learning beyond ourselves: The importance of cultural studies for all students

People have fought for the right to learn about marginalized and minority identities, their cultures, and their histories at WashU. People are also actively fighting against that same right. It is imperative that students from all backgrounds take classes that involve identities other than their own. Unfortunately, this is not nearly as common as it should be.

and | Managing Forum Editor and Senior Forum Editor

A year after Oct. 7: WashU reflects on a changed campus environment

For many WashU community members, the defining political issue on campus in the past year has been the Israel-Hamas war that began on Oct. 7. 

, and | News Editors and Managing News Editor

The Department of Psychology & Brain Sciences holds an inaugural lecture on the psychological role of race in the Black experience

The Washington University Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences hosted Professor Robert Sellers from the University of Michigan as the speaker for the inaugural Robert L. Williams Lecture on Oct. 23. The lecture was a part of the University’s efforts to honor Williams’ legacy after his death on Aug. 12, 2020.

and

AAVE and learning to speak like yourself

Because I was Black, I thought using AAVE was fine. I had as much a claim to these words as anyone else. But that wasn’t my voice.

| Senior Forum Editor

Kishi Bashi’s ‘Omoiyari’ contemplates identity, struggle and connection

For musician Kishi Bashi, American society needs more omoiyari. Although there is no direct translation of omoiyari from Japanese to English, it is often roughly translated as “empathy.” According to Kishi Bashi, however, the word is better characterized as “the idea of creating compassion towards other people by thinking about them.”

| Associate Editor

My identity confession: Don’t tell me who I should be

Racial identity functions on a spectrum and is something that an individual has the power to define independently. It isn’t an absolute concept, so there’s no reason why anyone should have to live up to certain expectations about his or her race. Just because you don’t conform to those expectations also doesn’t mean that you can’t still culturally identify with it.

Rima Parikh | Staff Columnist

‘Close Calls with Brick Walls/Mother of Mankind’ | Andrew W.K

Reemerging from the depths of middle-school playlists with the same unexpected voracity as Ricky Martin, Andrew W.K. recently came out with his long-awaited (or long since forgotten) third album: “Close Calls With Brick Walls/Mother of Mankind.” The album isn’t exactly new material; it was released back in 2006 but for some reason only saw light in Japan and Korea.

| Cadenza Reporter

Reflections on black

My skin tone is a shade in between a raw umber and chocolate brown. On most forms, I am guessing for demographic purposes, I am Black/African American. Since elementary school, I have had this notion that February is a month for Black History. This year, as I grasp at threads to try and understand my identity, I find myself a bit perplexed.

| Staff Columnist

Just add “why”

The conventional wisdom (or something I just came up with the other day—not sure which) is that college (we actually don’t really talk about the relevance of high school anymore—sorry) […]

| Managing Editor

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