To the surprise of many, there is thunderous conversation among the somnolent denizens of Wharton Quint 287. To understand the world in all its treachery, one must spend an evening arguing in this quint. Swarthmore students would do well to take example.
My recent article on the history of the Democratic Party — whose inflammatory name was inserted not by me but by the Phoenix editors — must have struck a nerve. It generated not one but two full-length responses, one from Nate Urban
Here at Swarthmore, Republicans are often called racist. Almost daily, I’m treated to cocky sermons about how the Democratic Party is the “good” party on civil rights. This view ignores the bloody, violent history of Democratic racism. Democrats of all kinds—liberals, too—committed
My recent consumption of deficient print media inspired the following opinion, which will address the verbose nature of contemporary stylistic tendencies in academic literature. Perhaps I’ll start again: after reading some awful prose, I’ve decided to talk about wordy academic writing. We’ve
At the poster sale at the beginning of this semester, I found a picture of Marx, Lenin, Mao and Stalin dancing at a party sipping champagne. There was another nearby of Mao as a DJ in a birthday hat. A facsimile of
Ever since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis in 2014, I have been repeatedly asked at Swarthmore what, as a Russian-American, I think of Vladimir Putin. Usually Americans view him negatively, and rightfully so: he’s a ruthless and uncompromising head of state.
Classical music has seen better days. As a proud lover of this genre, I have had to defend it against some criticism here at Swarthmore. Students have remarked to me that classical music is “elitist” and, accordingly, not worth their time. I’m
“Swarthmore students tend to have a lot more confidence in experts than in society,” a professor of mine commented a few weeks ago. My experience has proven him right: many people I’ve talked to at Swarthmore are inclined to rely on well-educated
Midterm elections are approaching and Swarthmore’s campus is alive with political conversation. One such conversation relates to the issue of voter identification laws: some Swarthmore students I’ve spoken to object to these laws on the assumption that they discriminate against poor and
Fossil fuel divestment crusades are perennial events on college campuses, and Swarthmore students are among the most passionate about the issue. These campaigns are part of a broad environmental movement that advocates the transition from fossil fuel energy to alternative cleaner energy.
