In the late 1980s, there was a popular television show called 21 Jump Street. Johnny Depp and friends portrayed cops in their twenties. Because they were too young looking to be taken seriously, they went undercover in high schools to take down drug dealers, gangs, etc. By today’s standards, the show was painfully bad—a guilty pleasure which few people will admit to having watched. (Personally I, um… only heard about it from a friend.) Still, it raised some interesting questions about the importance we place on outward appearance and first impressions. [Read more…] about People of Color, Outward Appearances, and Academia: Lessons from 80s Pop Culture
misjudged
Re-Interpreting Our Explanation Systems (Scholar’s Compass)
Drawing on her experience as lecturer and head of the Mission department at West Africa Theological Seminary in Lagos, Nigeria, Chinyere Priest contributes to our Lent justice series with further reflections on how our explanation systems can be just or unjust, empathetic or lacking empathy. Read Chinyere’s previous ESN reflections on pursuing justice as a Christian academic here.
If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,  then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear. Job 11:14-15, NIV
In many societies when misfortune occurs many do not just stand and fold their hands in despair; rather they endeavor to overcome the crisis by searching for the right explanation system to explain the situation. Some use moral causal ontology in which misfortune is interpreted as one’s own sin, or interpersonal causal ontology in which a malevolent person must be responsible, or scientific causal ontology in which the problem is caused by either biology or psychology, or spiritual causal ontology in which demonic powers are causing the misfortune. The choice of explanation is a personal and community choice. [Read more…] about Re-Interpreting Our Explanation Systems (Scholar’s Compass)