A selection of recent mentions of Bates faculty in the news, from a glowing review of a new poetry collection to economic analysis of a big move by Samsung and an exploration of what The New York Times describes as still “taboo” for many women.
Therí Pickens
‘A powerful exploration of storytelling and Black experiences’ — Library Journal
What Had Happened Was, the debut poetry collection by Charles A. Dana Professor of English and Africana Therí Alyce Pickens, received a glowing pre-publication review from Library Journal in February, which described the book as a “powerful exploration of storytelling and Black experiences.”
What Had Happened Was is due out March 25 from Duke University Press, which also published Pickens’ 2019 book Black Madness :: Mad Blackness, an examination of Blackness and disability.
Her poetry collection addresses topics ranging from Black life, popular culture, and history to individual encounters with emotional, love, and chronic disability. Pickens weaves in mentions of Li’l Kim and memories of the ’90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, then turns to subjects such as Harriet Tubman and Breonna Taylor.
In her review for Library Journal, Jessica Calaway called the poem titled “On March 12, 2020, Breonna Taylor” “striking” and an invitation to readers to “reflect on Taylor’s legacy and broader implications.” The full review is available only to subscribers, but here are some excerpts:
“The collection’s strength lies in its content and form. Through intentional sentence structures —hyphens, periods, or strategic placement of text on the page — the collection encourages readers to pause and absorb the gravity of historical moments. Pickens employs a variety of styles, yet all her poems share a common thread: they create a space for reflection.”
And Library Journal’s “verdict”? Pickens’ poetry is essential:
“This collection demands attention and introspection by offering a raw yet eloquent portrayal of the intersections of history, identity, and systemic oppression. It’s an essential read for people seeking to honor the complexity of the experiences of Black Americans.”
An on-campus reading, Q&A, and book signing for What Had Happened Was is planned for Thursday, April 3.
Rebecca Herzig
Is facial hair the last taboo in women’s beauty? — The New York Times
A story in The New York Times cited research by Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Rebecca Herzig for insights into historical assumptions made about women of color with facial hair.
The Times had asked female readers to respond to a questionnaire about their relationship with their facial hair. Almost 900 people responded and while some described pacts they’d made with friends to pluck each other’s facial hair into their dotage, when they were no longer able to care for themselves, others spoke of embracing what occurs naturally.
Writer Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff described some cultural changes around this “last taboo”:
“This century, a shift of sorts has emerged around the norms of women’s bodies. There have been multiple movements, such as ‘Januhairy,’ which encouraged women to grow their body hair, including facial hair, during the month of January (the community’s official Instagram account has 42,000 followers).”
Brinkhurst-Cuff references Rosalie, a 2023 French film that featured a bearded female protagonist, and quotes its director: “I invented the story of a young woman who frees herself by embracing her beard,” said the film’s director, Stéphanie di Gusto. “With Rosalie’s beard, I wanted to reinvent femininity.”
Brinkhurst-Cuff also draws on Herzig’s research in Plucked: A History of Hair Removal to discuss how women’s facial hair has been associated with “madness, degeneracy, and ‘inferior races.’”
It’s been 10 years since Plucked was published, but Herzig still fields regular inquiries from journalists and students working on related topics. “It’s sort of astonishing,” she says.
Paul Shea
Samsung bought back $2 billion of its own shares. Now it’s canceling them entirely — Marketplace
Why do companies sometimes cancel (and then buy back) their own stock? Dowling Family Professor of Economics Paul Shea was among prominent economists who explain to Marketplace some of the possible motivations for Samsung having done so recently, including being able to avoid higher taxes.
“Investors have a reason to prefer share cancellations to, say, offering a dividend,” Shea said. “You don’t pay a dividend tax rate on it. You pay a capital gains tax rate, which is lower for most people.”
But, Shea said, the billions of dollars that Samsung spent to buy the shares it’s canceling means it’s not spending money on growth, like building new plants or acquiring other companies. “So that could be a negative signal, but it could also just be that this is not a time where there’s great opportunity for expansion,” Shea told Marketplace:
“Shea said the cancellations would make him more nervous for a younger company that’s never turned a profit. With an older, more stable company like Samsung, he said there’s nothing wrong with returning money to shareholders this way.”
Paul Schofield
APA announces Fall 2024 prize winners — American Philosophical Association
Associate Professor of Philosophy Paul Schofield was recently honored by the American Philosophical Association for an oped he published in The Conversation, titled “Being Homeless Means Not Being Free — As Americans Are Supposed to Be.”
Schofield was one of of five philosophers honored by the association’s committee on public philosophy in the Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest, which goes to up to five philosophers who write standout pieces that “successfully blend philosophical argumentation with an op-ed writing style.”
In his prize-winning essay, Schofield discusses how “homelessness compromises a person’s freedom.”
For example, he writes, “a person who is homeless and sleeps on a public bench will often be told by the police to move. Someone who sets up a tent on a sidewalk will usually have it confiscated. Someone who urinates or defecates in a park can be arrested.
“Now you can see why some think that homelessness compromises a person’s freedom. Sleeping and relieving oneself are necessary, life-sustaining tasks…. Given the way society protects private property and regulates public spaces, it seems that people who are homeless are left with no space at all in which they are free to do the things they need to do in order to live.”
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