The “Irish Born” One American Citizenship Amendment

Our Constitution has a deferred maintenance problem because we have fallen out of the habit of tending to its upkeep ourselves. The silver lining is a double benefit from any constitutional maintenance projects that we undertake now. These projects are good not only for what they do to our Constitution, but also for making us exercise self-government muscles that have atrophied from civic sloth. Fortunately, the time has never been better to repeal one of our Constitution’s most pointlessly exclusionary provisions. The President of the United States is married to a naturalized citizen. And nobody can legitimately question the patriotism of the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump. She flies on Air Force One with the President and represents our country both at home and abroad. As an American citizen, she is as much an American as the President himself. This fortuitous circumstance is just one reason it might be possible to eliminate what the Supreme Court has identified as the only legal difference between naturalized and natural born citizens— eligibility for the presidency

Makers: Women Who Make America [film review]

The three-hour documentary MAKERS: WOMEN WHO MADE AMERICA, promises to tell “how women have helped shape America over the last fifty years…in pursuit of their rights to a full and fair share of political power, economic opportunity, and personal autonomy.” However, rather than provide a historical analysis of the reemergence of feminism as produced by social movements and social change, MAKERS, according to the film’s press release, focuses on “unforgettable moments in history” told through stories of “exceptional women whose pioneering contributions continue to shape the world in which we live… stories of women who led the fight, those who opposed it, and those-- both famous and unfamous -- who were caught in its wake.” There may be much to praise in MAKERS as television, but it offers very little as a historical teaching resource at the college or high school level

Framing the Future of Fanfiction: How The New York Times’ Portrayal of a Youth Media Subculture Influences Beliefs about Media Literacy Education

This article discusses how online fanfiction communities, their members, and their literacy practices are portrayed within popular and news media discourses. Many media literacy scholars believe these youth media subcultures practice complex and sophisticated forms of “new media” literacy. However, when educators attempt to incorporate these practices into K-12 literacy programs, the public’s reactions may be heavily influenced by the media’s documented patterns of marginalizing, dismissing, and denouncing youth subcultures. This study employs frame and critical discourse analysis in order to examine how the news media’s portrayal of fanfiction shapes and reflects the beliefs of teachers, students, and parents

Getting Comfortable with Discomfort, Diversity & Repair

The topic of this year\u27s conference, diversity, pluralism, and repair, gives us so much to talk about, that for me, it was hard to know where we were to begin. Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig focused on judicial appointments and the importance of a diverse bench for the legal profession, and in our society. She also discussed becoming comfortable with discomfort and I wanted to pick up on that thread. When I think about discomfort, I think about my own journey in the legal profession

What Does it Mean to Belong in San Antonio? How the Battle of the Alamo and the Cart Wars Shaped What it Means to be American through the Institutionalization of Discrimination and Violence Toward Those of Mexican Descent

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College