When I was browsing the May 2019 issue of Fashion at the dentist office last week I was surprised to see an article devoted to luxury workwear. I was surprised because I'm used to thinking of workwear, particularly the jumpsuit, as a-fashionable. Jumpsuit love I'm incredibly drawn to the idea of jumpsuits as regular wear. Regular readers of this blog may be able to guess what originally inspired this interest. The Royal Dress Society and the Jumpsuit Project But, this interest took on … [Read more...]
Arendt and outer space
In the span of a month I'll have been to Washington DC, Guelph, Atlanta, and Edmonton. I'm half-way through what I'm jokingly referring to as my "Spring Speaking Tour." Both my rats and my students might forget what I look like. This post is less of a blog and more about what-I've-been-up-to. Mostly I've been thinking about Arendt and science fiction, both separately and together. I wrote about these two together in the first entry to this blog, focusing on the task of philosophy as Arendt … [Read more...]
Science fiction versus history in feminist classrooms
Teaching with science fiction I’m a fan of using science fiction in my teaching, probably because I’m a fan of science fiction. After all, Star Trek: The Next Generation was one of my earliest philosophical influences! Craig B. Jacobsen suggests that science fiction’s “generation of cognitive estrangement makes it perhaps uniquely qualified to provide college students with the critical distance necessary to recognize the complexity of the worlds that they must learn to navigate.” [1] By … [Read more...]
Fashionable ethics
There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. I'm not sure who first uttered this phrase, but I often hear it, usually accompanied by an exasperated or defeated sigh. The internet tells me that social media users are responsible for the phrase. An ad popped up in my email today that elicited a defeated sigh from me. It is for a company that aims to, among other admirable initiatives, use recycled materials and make supply chains transparent. The ad included some kudos the company has … [Read more...]
Are tribbles trivial?
I’m disturbed by the trivial way in which tribbles are treated within the Star Trek universe. The Tribble Handbook describes these creatures as “the most fabulous furballs in the galaxy!” (p. 1). Further, Star Trek supposedly represents a futuristic society that has solved many of the ethical, social, and political challenges we face today. Despite these points, Star Trek’s treatment of tribbles tends to parallel contemporary problems with how we human animals conceptualize and treat … [Read more...]