A Xicana Maestra on Politics, Education, y mas
Capitalism is Also the PandemicBy Irene SanchezXicana Ph.D. If you are like me before this era of Coronavirus, quarantines, self-isolation, you may have not heard of a pandemic, but you have heard of Capitalism and its’ ideas. According to the CDC, a pandemic is “an epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents, usually … Continue reading Capitalism is Also the Pandemic
The same year my son began kindergarten was the same year I started teaching high school. After completing a Ph.D. in Education in 2015, instead of working in higher education as I anticipated, I was called to teach Ethnic Studies in high school classrooms to be in schools that sometimes feel like the “Mexican Schools” I teach about from the 1940s. As Teaching Tolerance has documented in these Mexican Schools, “Many Anglo educators did not expect, or encourage, Chicano students to advance beyond the eighth grade. Instead, the curriculum at the Mexican schools was designed, as one district superintendent put it, “to help these children take their place in society.”
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
Teaching May Day Everyday By: Irene Sanchez May Day 2018. I go to work. I'm a high school teacher and have been this past year. I teach Chicana/o/x or Latina/o/x Studies at three different high schools everyday. I never forget everyday the responsibility I have to my community. I never forget the responsibility I have … Continue reading Teaching May Day Everyday
Exceptionalism Can Never Be Radical: On use of sCHOLAr, and other things people think is ok. By Irene Sanchez (Xicana Ph.D.) Resistance is more than our existence. It is the constant challenging of the idea that somehow we got to where we are because we are the good ones, the ones who followed the rules, … Continue reading Exceptionalism Can Never Be Radical: On use of sCHOLAr, and other things people think is ok.
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.
Xicana Ph.D. 