November 2005 Archives

Ivory Tower Intrigues - The pseudo-meritocracy of the Ivy League. By James Traub

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One way to define racial stereotypes is as the ascription of a limited set of social behaviors to a limited set of physical characteristics. The result obscures individual differences and often denigrates a particular group of people. One example is the stereotype that "they all look alike." J-A, commenting on an episode of Without a Trace, muses:

It was a much more thorough presentation than the 007 film set in North Korea where the extras were all talking in Chinese, which to me implied that from a non-Asian point of view, Asians all sound the same and it doesn't matter that there are all these different countries and cultures in that region.

On blackprof.com, Paul Butler cites examples of the phenomenon in reverse. He describes television portrayals of African Americans in embarrassing conflicts portrayed for entertainment value in a two-part post (part 1 and part 2). What cultural assumptions make the conflict between a black quarterback and a black receiver fodder for television drama? What cultural assumptions induce an African American talk show host to broadcast a show about an African American woman and her gay African American husband? Professor Butler's point seems to be that cultural stereotypes define these individuals for the mass media, blurring their individuality and reinforcing the stereotypes.

The New York Times gives a glowing review to the new movie of Pride of Prejudice.

A good friend of mine remarked over dinner the other night that you have read everything you need to read if you have read Moby Dick and the Brothers Karamazov. Guess that means that I am halfway there.

Supreme Court to Hear Tribunals Challenge

The Supreme Court agreed today to rule on the legality of the Bush administration's planned military commissions for accused terrorists, setting the stage for what could be one of the most significant rulings on presidential war powers since the end of World War II.

I feel very conflicted about the Court's decision to hear this case. On the one hand, I am dismayed that the question of whether such tribunals might be legal has ever been raised; clearly they ought not to be. However, I hope, though I do not expect, that the Court will see the light and rule that the tribunals are illegal, and that prisoners may sue in U.S. Court's to enforce the Geneva Conventions.

Publishers Marketplace: Susan Henderson

Susan Henderson quizzed fifty writers about their personal tastes, and published the responses. I especially liked Daniel Gregory on Bob Dylan.

'The Chosen': Getting In - New York Times

In 1904, the Yale yearbook boasted of having "more gentlemen and fewer scholars than any other class in the memory of man."

David Brooks describes the rise of meritocracy in Ivy League admissions.

The Complete List | TIME Magazine - ALL-TIME 100 Novels

Time Magazine picks the 100 best English language novels since 1923, when Time started publishing. (Ulysses was published in 1922, so it does not make the list.) The list may say more about Time than about the novels. (What is Judy Blume doing there?) However, it is quite entertaining to read the mini-reviews of the critics, and there are several intriguing titles previously unknown to me.

I heard Keith Ferrazzi speak at a conference this past weekend, and he made the point that relationships are like muscles; they grow stronger when you exercise them and atrophy when you do not.