#5SmartReads - March 11, 2021

Dr. Kate Slater, Ph.D is a regular contributor to #5SmartReads. Please follow her on Instagram. Here are some questions to get to know her better:

Q: What Google alerts do you have turned on?A: anti-racism, White supremacy, White fragility, The Bachelor (I contain multitudes

Q: If you could interview one person, dead or alive, who would it be? (and briefly, why?)A: Gloria Steinem. She's an absolute tour de force.

Q: What was your most recent purchase?A: I bought a tuxedo jacket to wear to my dissertation defense at the end of February! 

Please Go Shelter in Another Place (New York Times)

My partner has spent the past year also being my roommate, my therapist, my coworker, my house cleaner, and my babysitter. This column describes the unraveling of a marriage right when the world shut down. It perfectly encapsulates the tender and brutal moments of love in the time of pandemic.

MIT Offers Financial Lifeline to Graduate Students Seeking Escape From Toxic Advisers (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

When a grad student's relationship with their advisor goes off the rails, the structures of academia (namely tenure) often prevent the students from having recourse. Grad students suffer hazing and abuse at the hands of their advisors, but because their funding is dependent on their research, calling out this abuse means they lose their income and can't pay the bills. MIT is doing something unique here to address this toxicity - but many would argue it's just a Band-Aid over the bigger problem.

Black Women Are In The Midst Of A Burnout Epidemic (ELLE)

Rachel Ricketts writes "The oppressive systems we live and work under have created a burnout epidemic, and this is all the worse for Black women and femmes who have a long legacy of exhaustion at the hands of white supremacist heteropatriarchy." The country is in the midst of a burnout academic, and this burnout is augmented for Black women and femmes for whom the "trauma... and impacts on health are never-ending."

Massive investment in social studies and civics education proposed to address eroding trust in democratic institutions (Washington Post)

The Educating for American Democracy initiative reports that “The relative neglect of civic education in the past ­half-century—a period of wrenching change—is one important cause of our civic and political dysfunction.” This article describes the massive proposed overhaul of civics and social studies education to help students become engaged, critical, & humanistic citizens.

‘It has to be ongoing’: Brands’ social support for racial justice has tapered off (Glossy)

Danny Parisi is referring to the phenomenon of "woke-washing" where organizations signal their progressiveness by supporting social justice movements, but they continue to protect racist policies, organizational cultures, and hiring practices. This Glossy article describes how many fashion brands have lapsed in their commitment to social justice since June 2020.