Analytical Essays
Chair's Introduction:
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic exploded in March 2020, political and cultural observers spoke of a globalized civilization in crisis, where traditional institutions of knowledge and power--schools, universities, government bureaucracies, nonprofit foundations, media, corporations, police forces, militaries, the courts--had come under destabilizing pressure from a variety of directions, frequently populist (both left- and right-wing) ones. In this category, our writers examine a variety of texts, objects, events, debates, and discourses. And while their specific topics vary, their work is united by a shared attention to how structures of knowledge, interpretation, and narrative help us to interrogate historical sites of public and private power.By Ryan Boyd, Assistant Professor (Teaching) in the Writing Program.