Week 10 - Vy Nguyen - A02

The Time To Fight Is Now shines a different light on understanding higher education. This reading sums up everything we have learned thus far as it touches upon issues such as: systematic oppressions dealt by women of color, labor and civil rights issues, consequences to those who voices structural injustice, structural failures intended for accomplished individuals, and so on. Personally, the most interesting part of the reading was the conclusion, specifically the analogy Professor Valverde and Professor Dariotis made about the need to be ‘woke’ and destroy the ‘death star’ that is the “academic culture that breeds corruption, sexism, and other forms of oppression" (Valverde & Dariotis, n.d., pg. 37). First of all, I am a huge fan of Star Wars so I thought that was very clever. Second of all, I felt really empowered reading this conclusion. When I first came into Professor Valverde's class at the beginning of the quarter, I came in with the mindset of wanting to join academia, but after hearing Professor Valverde's personal story, it made me question myself. I started seeing higher education as less of an ivory tower, but more of “a high stress environment leading to dysfunction and illness in both the metaphorical, physical and psychological sense” (pg. 2). But despite all of that, Professor Valverde and her colleagues are still fighting, resisting and providing practical solutions to help academia “re-member' itself” (pg. 38). I thought that was very empowering to read. I truly believe that we need scholars and experts like Professor Valverde and Professor Dariotis so that they can lead this movement and steer us in the right direction. However, in order for this to become a reality, it is ultimately up to our generation to ensure that changes are implemented.

Question: How can we raise more awareness about this corporate nature of universities and inspire younger generations to take action?

"Organizing to Resist: Take Action and Make Change"
[Presented by the NYU Center for Multicultural Education & Programs]

Reference:

1. Valverde, K. C., & Dariotis, W. (n.d.). "The Time To Fight Is Now": When Asian American Women in Academia Go Rogue. 1-48.
2. Organizing to Resist: Take Action and Make Change. (2017, February 3). Retrieved from http://apa.nyu.edu/event/organizing-to-resist-take-action-and-make-change/