A Xicana Maestra on Politics, Education, y mas
The Myth of Meritocracy By Irene Sanchez The scandal Operation Varsity Blues has many talking about corruption in higher education recently, but it exposes something many of us already knew was there. The unchecked privilege reserved for the wealthy of this country is nothing new. There are front doors many of them walk through such … Continue reading The Myth of Meritocracy
3 P's of Graduate School Applications By: Xicana Ph.D. I know I have a lot of my critiques of the academy and elitists and will continue to have them and write about them, but that is precisely why I wanted to go to graduate school to begin with. I wanted to subvert the system. I … Continue reading 3 P’s of Graduate School Applications
Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia By Xicana Ph.D. The ivory tower as a whole doesn’t uplift anything, but those who reinforce it. It reinforces existing power. The status quo. A lot of folks within it do too. A lot of people who preach social justice do it every single day. Let’s … Continue reading Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia
Your Brilliance Can’t Be Measured by Degrees: A Xicana Writer's Reflections on Two Years Since Finishing a Ph.D. By Xicana Ph.D. "You don't build bridges to safe and familiar territories, you have to risk making un mundo nuevo, you have to risk uncertainty of change. And nepantla is the only space change happens. Change requires … Continue reading Your Brilliance Can’t Be Measured By Degrees: A Xicana Writer’s Reflection on Two Years Since Finishing a Ph.D.
It doesn’t matter how long it takes you. I told this to my students recently. I often give extra words of encouragement to the students who don’t even think they can go to college because they find themselves short on credits, in a continuation school, or in general feel as if they are incapable of … Continue reading From Community College to Ph.D., It Doesn’t Matter How Long it Takes You
If it's Inaccessible to the Poor, Then What Is It? By: Xicana Ph.D. I have seen the quote many times, “If it's accessible to the poor, it is neither radical nor revolutionary”. I agreed with this phrase, but then something happened that made me question how easy it is to call something out as not … Continue reading If it’s Inaccessible to the Poor, Then What Is It?
"You can't sit with us" There is a long list of reasons some people in academia will make up for justification as to why they won’t let you “sit” (interact) with them. For example, You can’t sit with them unless: You went to this elite school like they are all alums from (oh you didn’t … Continue reading Creating Places to Stand: On Dismantling Oppressive Behaviors in Academia
Dear Academic Mama, I am here. I am still here. I said this today after thinking about how hard life has been after finishing the Ph.D. I emailed you to ask you for a letter of recommendation again today and remembered how many times for many years, I would come to your office for a … Continue reading A Letter to my “Academic Mama”
Xicana Ph.D. 