The Political Hat

     Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.

     The focus this time: When stupidity and fantasy collide.

     First, a little mood music:

     Carrying on…

     Watermelons: Green on the outside and red on the inside. Case in point: “Critical Political Ecology/Economy: From Extraction Regeneration”.

“A private university in New York City is offering a course titled ‘Critical Political Ecology/Economy: From Extraction Regeneration’ that puts forward ‘(eco)feminism’ and ‘(eco)Marxism’ as ‘viable alternatives’ to current political structures.

“According to The New School’s website description, the fall course’s premise examines capitalism’s alleged failures from an ecological and economic perspective. Students will study what is ‘necessary’ to ‘substantiate viable alternatives’ to the system.

“The course’s subject matter uses several disciplines to examine how capitalism supposedly “disrupts Earth system processes.”

“‘. . . in analyzing the making of the world-system economy/ecology of Euroamerican colonial capitalist modernity, [the course] also charts the histories of alternative social ecologies,’ the description says.

“The ‘living history’ course seeks to ‘substantiate viable alternatives and transformative paradigms like (eco)feminism,(eco)Marxism; postcolonialism, decolonialism, Indigenous, post-development, degrowth, post-extractivism, and environmental/climate justice.’”

     Magical healing of the planet is something that education is intended to dispel from students minds. Harvard, on the other hand, thinks saving Gaia requires confronting “structural racism”.

“The planet is sick, so says the environmentalists, but here comes Harvard University heal it.

“The Ivy League university, where freshmen need refresher courses on algebra, will now offer a concentration (fancy word for “major”) in ‘Climate Change and Planetary Health.’

“‘The idea is that we move from an understanding of planetary health to training planetary healers,’ Professor Christopher Golden told The Crimson.

“‘We see climate change as one of the most important existential threats that is affecting public health,’ the faculty co-director also told the student newspaper.

“Healing the planet includes confronting ‘structural racism,’ too.

“‘Students in this concentration will also learn about the health inequity born out of environmental degradation,’ the Chan School of Public Health description states.

“‘Structural racism and international economic policy have exacerbated the climate crisis, with communities of color, poor communities, and the Global South being disproportionately impacted,’ the website states. ‘You will be equipped to use research, leadership, advocacy, and policy to implement solutions that better serve these populations.’”

     Nothing says academic rigor like the “trans history” of “radical faeries”…

“Columbia University is offering a course titled ‘A Trans History of the United States.’

“The class covers ‘the diversity of gendered experiences across the history of the United States with an emphasis on the individuals, communities, and movements that have been interpreted as trans,’ and aims to “offer an in-depth survey of the history of trans and gender nonconforming experiences across the history of the United States.”

“The ‘key themes’ to be examined include the ‘experiences of trans/gender in relation to race and colonialism, labor, migration, medicine, kinship and sexuality, legal and carceral systems, activism, performance, media, and technology,’ as well as ‘the political stakes of trans history during times of backlash and hostility towards trans communities.’

“The class instructor, Nikita Shephard, who goes by ‘they/them’ pronouns, is currently working on a doctoral dissertation that ‘documents a political history of the public bathroom in modern America.’ His work focuses on ‘histories of LGBTQ communities, gender/sexuality and race, social movements, data and surveillance, and radical politics in the twentieth century United States and beyond.’

“His past work included research on ‘Radical Faeries,’ a group that includes ‘drag queens, leatherfolk, political activists, witches, [and] magicians,’ who get together to ‘do drag,’ ‘make love,’ ‘dance naked,’ ‘cry, sing, laugh, argue,’ ‘sew,’ ‘commit heresies,’ and ‘cover each other with mud.’”

     TTFN.