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If These Walls Could Talk, What Would They Say about Reproductive Justice Today?
Full text linkThis article critically examines the lives of the three women in the television film If These Walls Could Talk (Cher & Savoca, 1996). The three protagonists, all White American women, live in the same house and are all faced with the decision of whether to terminate their unplanned, unwanted pregnancies in 1952, 1974, and 1996. Notably, three Black women were included as minor characters in the film. These foundational questions guide this film analysis: (1) What were the societal norms for US women who considered either abortion or giving birth in 1952, 1974, and 1996? (2) What barriers did women face who considered either abortion or giving birth in 1952, 1974, and 1996? and (3) In what ways does this film highlight or fail to highlight the realities that Black women faced in 1952, 1974, and 1996? This analysis not only examines the social norms and barriers experienced by these fictional White and Black women but also the potential consequences women will face today because of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade (1973) on June 24, 2022
Reimagining Imperfection: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Women Characters in Studio Ghibli Animated Films
Full text linkThis study aims to explore the representation of flawed women characters in Studio Ghibli animated films, focusing on the themes of environmentalism, anti-war sentiments, and personal growth. Utilizing a qualitative approach and multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA), the research examines five selected films—Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away—with some additional attention to Howl’s Moving Castle. The analysis employs Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, visual grammar, and feminist film theory to scrutinize the visual and verbal elements used to represent these characters. The findings reveal that Studio Ghibli’s women protagonists are depicted with a balance of positive and negative traits, highlighting their complexity and realism. Themes of environmentalism are portrayed through the characters’ deep connections to nature and their roles in protecting it. Anti-war sentiments are explored through the critique of conflict and its moral complexities, emphasizing peace and moral integrity. Personal growth is depicted through the transformative journeys of young protagonists, showcasing resilience and self-discovery. These representations challenge traditional gender stereotypes and offer rich, multifaceted portrayals of women. The study underscores the significance of Studio Ghibli’s films in promoting nuanced character development and addressing profound social and ethical issues, contributing to a deeper understanding of gender, environment, and peace
Beginning a New Department in an Established University
No full textNear Buzzards Bay, during a drizzly morning cycling conversation with Maggie Lowe, we talked about my work as chair for an entirely new department. I said, “You’re making me think I should write about how we moved through the liminal space from a major to a Department.” I often listen to colleagues describe the politics and challenges in academic departments, and since I had the rare opportunity to form something new, I wanted a positive, productive, and enjoyable place to finish out my career. Instead of inheriting a departmental culture, I was responsible for creating one in a 185-year-old public institution
Beyond the Syllabus: Inclusive Teaching for Real-World Classrooms
No full textMany students, whether in elementary or college classrooms, face overlapping challenges related to disability, trauma, poverty, and systemic inequity, and many teachers feel unprepared to provide meaningful support. A ninth-grade Boston charter area teacher once confided to me, “I am aware that my students require assistance, yet I am at a loss as to how to effectively teach them, particularly in regard to students from diverse backgrounds.” This teacher’s statement was not unusual. In my social work roles in several schools, I observed students’ needs and teachers’ uncertainties about how to meet them, which led to my own dedication to addressing these discrepancies
Cultural Representations of Obstetric Violence in Contemporary Italy
Full text linkThis article is the first examination of a hybrid corpus of cultural narratives of obstetric violence in contemporary Italy. Adopting a reproductive justice approach, the paper considers obstetric violence as gendered, intersectional, and ontological violence against reproductive subjects over the course of their lived reproductive experiences. Combining personal and cultural narratives, the article examines the 2022 comic “Da Che Mondo È Mondo,” written by Irene Caselli and illustrated by Rita Petruccioli, Alberto Basaluzzo’s 2018 short film Si È Sempre Fatto così, and Antonella Lattanzi’s 2023 novel Cose Che Non Si Raccontano to assess how and to what extent they contribute to creating a transformative discourse for women and reproductive subjects. By framing obstetric violence as a concept of struggle within the Italian institutionalized social imaginary, where it still remains a divisive and barely visible subject to be avoided, the texts examined reveal the ways in which obstetric violence damages the complex relationality inherent in the human reproductive experience. These texts highlight the role of medical personnel as unconscious perpetrators of obstetric violence, and they explore how reproductive experiences such as medically assisted reproduction and pregnancy loss are equally vulnerable to violent practices and toxic narratives
US-Mexico-Canada Trade Policy in a Second Trump Administration: Can the US Maintain Leadership in the World Economy?
Full text linkIn April of 2018 in this outlet, I looked at the prospects for NAFTA one year into the first Trump presidency. Trump had campaigned on the premise that NAFTA was the worst trade agreement ever negotiated and vowed to eliminate it. In arguing the merits of a renegotiated NAFTA, I concluded that the net impact of NAFTA had been positive but that the safety net of training and assistance for displaced workers was insufficient to quell populist nationalistic sentiments. In the end, the Trump administration renegotiated NAFTA, creating USMCA (US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement) which is up for renegotiation in 2026
Dickens Among the Irish and Its Joycean Legacy
Full text linkCharles Dickens’s relationship with Ireland and the Irish forms an important context for an understanding of James Joyce’s somewhat ambivalent estimation of his great predecessor in the English novel. Critics have generally taken Joyce at his word that Dickens and the Victorian novelists are negligible factors in his fiction. The evidence, however, suggests otherwise. If Shakespeare was Joyce’s ultimate role model for artistic vision, Dickens is the English novelist that was equally inescapable, a forerunner to imitate and to reject. What complicated Joyce’s estimation of Dickens was the latter’s views on the Irish. Dickens visited Ireland three times on public reading tours: in August-September 1858, March 1867, and January 1869. Before these firsthand opportunities to observe Ireland and the Irish, Dickens’s notion of the Irish would have come from several literary sources and eventually from Dickens’s direct observation of the London Irish
The Pedagogy of Keeping Things Simple: The Benefits of Breaking a Task Down into Doable Chunks and Value-Focused Learning Tools
Full text linkAfter listening to specific needs and fears of our students as writers, I have adopted two teaching styles that are effective and simple. Common student fears include not being a good writer or not having anything to write about. The first tool is to break down a particular writing strategy into chunks and the second is to focus on a specific value or habit of mind that I want students to adopt. In doing so, I have simplified my teaching style with a more hands-on, less theoretical approach because I believe that it is imperative to maintain a strong focus on the “why” and the “how” in relation to our students
From the Margins to the Center: A Discourse Analysis of Vietnamese Feminism on Facebook Confession Pages
No full textThis study investigates how feminist ideas are taking shape in contemporary Vietnam, focusing on how young women engage with social media—particularly university confession pages—as sites for emotional expression, identity negotiation, and resistance to traditional gender norms. In a society marked by rapid modernization, increased digital connectivity, and the enduring influence of Confucian values, online platforms have emerged as significant cultural spaces where new meanings of femininity, desire, and agency are constructed and contested. Using a qualitative approach, this study combines semi-structured interviews with discourse analysis to explore how university-aged women express themselves in digital spaces that are anonymous, performative, and highly interactive. These online confession pages offer participants a sense of emotional safety and freedom, enabling them to disclose romantic feelings, challenge stereotypes, and articulate perspectives that might be suppressed in offline settings. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s theory of discourse and power, the research examines how language—through posts, comments, and narrative framing—reflects and reproduces broader systems of social control, gender hierarchy, and moral regulation. Key Foucauldian concepts such as biopower, subjectivity, and heterotopia are used to analyze how digital interactions function not only as personal acts but also as sites where dominant discourses are reinforced, negotiated, or disrupted. The findings suggest that while social media platforms offer new opportunities for women to assert agency and form supportive communities, these spaces are not free from surveillance, judgment, or internalized patriarchy. Cultural biases and moral expectations continue to shape what can be said, how it is received, and by whom. This study contributes to broader academic conversations on feminism, online activism, and cultural transformation in Vietnam and the wider Southeast Asian region, where tradition and digital modernity intersect in increasingly complex ways