By Adam Katz Last month was a lot. We in the Ivory Tower Boiler Room are justifiably proud of our continuous coverage of Pride Month. And just because the month is over doesn’t mean our queerness and allyship, respectively, are over. This month’s theme at the Ivory Tower Boiler Room is public scholarship, with anContinue reading “Adam’s Big Think #3: What is Teaching?”
Tag Archives: Big Think
Midweek Teaser
July? Already? It’s disconcerting to realize that in some places, people are suffering through the worst heat wave ever in the area, and at the same time, back to school sales are starting. I love back to school sales; fresh notebooks, new pens. It’s so exciting. One day I will find the perfect combination ofContinue reading “Midweek Teaser”
Erika’s Big Think #2, Part 2: Concluding Reflections on Stonewall
By Erika Grumet One Sunday in June, I was folding laundry with my mother. The television was on, tuned into evening news, which was reporting on “gay pride festivities” in New York City. I was a teenager, and as teenagers often do, I held opinions about many things that conflicted with my parents. IContinue reading “Erika’s Big Think #2, Part 2: Concluding Reflections on Stonewall”
Andrew’s Big Think #2, Part 2: “I am not the boy next door”
Reflecting on the end of Pride 2021 By Andrew Rimby In the first part of my Pride month Big Think, I ended with a desire to ponder why Whitman’s “Song of Myself” spoke to my queerness so profoundly, and why it spurred the question “who is picking this text up and finding themselves reflected back?”Continue reading “Andrew’s Big Think #2, Part 2: “I am not the boy next door””
June Wrap Up: The First Pride was a Riot: Looking back at ITBR’s Month of Pride
It’s hard to imagine a more exciting month for our little team. At this time last year, The Ivory Tower Boiler Room was just some idea that Andrew and Adam were batting back and forth. Andrew and Mary had known each other since elementary school, but had not collaborated on anything since high school theater.Continue reading “June Wrap Up: The First Pride was a Riot: Looking back at ITBR’s Month of Pride”
Erika’s Big Think #2: The Orange on the Seder Plate
By Erika Grumet “That’s why her hair is so big. Because it’s full of secrets.” -Damian, Mean GIrls “Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) -Walt Whitman, Song of Myself A hundred and fifty-ish years apart, and we queers are still talking about secrets and contradictions and theContinue reading “Erika’s Big Think #2: The Orange on the Seder Plate”
Blog-posts Lead to Discussion…
By Adam Katz One of my favorite new activities is writing a blog post and having someone I care about bring it up in conversation. I like doing the reverse, as well, not surprisingly. My recent Big Think, about trying to shed the homophobic bias I was invisibly raised with, led to an amazing conversationContinue reading “Blog-posts Lead to Discussion…”
Some Thoughts on The Color Purple: A Postscript to Adam’s Big Think #2
By Adam Katz First of all, what an awesome book. I find it interesting when an author goes all in on accents and dialects, as if to demonstrate that it can be done without compromising the respect the reader owes the characters. As if to say: it’s not how a person speaks that should determineContinue reading “Some Thoughts on The Color Purple: A Postscript to Adam’s Big Think #2”
Adam’s Big Think #2: Performing at the Cringe Festival: Becoming an Ally
By Adam Katz Early on in my relationship with my very first girlfriend, she told me about how she broke the exciting news to her friends that she was dating someone new: this guy who has all these interests: he likes to knit and listen to opera and draw and play piano, and… To whichContinue reading “Adam’s Big Think #2: Performing at the Cringe Festival: Becoming an Ally”
Andrew’s Big Think #2:
“I Don’t Have to Wait for you to Give me the Key.” By Andrew Rimby I spoke those words when working through my writer’s block during a Zoom writing session a few weeks ago. When I said this, Tiffany Sowa (fellow contributor) looked at me and said “Andrew, that’s it. That’s where your writer’s blockContinue reading “Andrew’s Big Think #2:”