By Erika Grumet In college, one of my friends used to say “dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire.” We would go dancing at least once a week, almost every Saturday night was reserved for going to Tracks, a big gay dance club in Washington DC. Some weeks, when money was tighter, we’dContinue reading “The View from the Wheelchair”
Tag Archives: Erika
Erika’s Big Think #3: “I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper and I was free.”
I don’t usually think of myself as a teacher. I love teaching, but I also knew there was no way I could handle classroom politics, and so, in spite of encouragement from my parents to consider teaching as a career, I went in a different direction with my undergraduate and graduate degrees. What I ended upContinue reading “Erika’s Big Think #3: “I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper and I was free.””
(Podcast Release) “Lev Raphael: On Being (and Not Being) a Queer Jewish Writer, Part 1”
Listeners, you are in for a treat. Not only is Lev Raphael the well-known author of lots of books from many different genres (particularly a series about queer sleuths solving crimes at universities) he is also among his interviewers’ favorite writers. We have talked before on the blog about how his work was formative inContinue reading “(Podcast Release) “Lev Raphael: On Being (and Not Being) a Queer Jewish Writer, Part 1””
Podcast Preview
The Boiler Room may be a great place for us to hang out, but it’s not a good place for us to celebrate our first birthday. For that, we’re going out into the world. Our podcast is turning one, and we hope you’ll join us to celebrate on August 3 at an open mic poetryContinue reading “Podcast Preview”
(Podcast Release) Dr. Helana Darwin’s #MeTooPhD Part 2
Content Warning: Sexual Abuse, Grooming, Gaslighting. This week, the second episode of Dr. Helana Darwin’s #MeToo PhD story drops. For those who did not catch the first episode, our guest, Dr. Helana Darwin–author, mother, award-winning scholar, qualitative research specialist–has entrusted us with her story of abuse at the hands of her own dissertation advisor. AsContinue reading “(Podcast Release) Dr. Helana Darwin’s #MeTooPhD Part 2”
Midweek Teaser
Things Some Writers Never Imagine The Boiler Room is awash in excitement right now as we get ready to celebrate a whole year of podcasting with an open mic night at Words Matter Bookstore. Even Andrew did not imagine, when he and Adam started meeting to talk and write, what the Ivory Tower Boiler RoomContinue reading “Midweek Teaser”
Podcast Preview: We Welcome the Weekend
Hey, everyone! Thanks for sticking with us all week. Covering the topics we covered the past few days may not have been pleasant, but watching the numbers tick up as our readers and listeners gravitated to the topic certainly was pleasant. It’s important to see that there are people committed to helping certain buried orContinue reading “Podcast Preview: We Welcome the Weekend”
Special Wednesday Podcast Drop: #MeTooPhD
This week, the Ivory Tower Boiler Room’s special Wednesday podcast-episode deals with the difficult but necessary subject of #MeToo cases at the university. Our guest, Dr. Helana Darwin–author, mother, award-winning scholar, qualitative research specialist–has entrusted us with her story of abuse at the hands of her own dissertation advisor. Dr. Darwin is currently writing aContinue reading “Special Wednesday Podcast Drop: #MeTooPhD”
Finding Myself on the Shelf: Uncovering My Own Identity through Queer Literature
By Erika Grumet “We dance around in a ring and suppose But the Secret sits in the middle and knows” -Robert Frost No one knows what you’re thinking when you’re wandering the library shelves. For me, they were a safe space when I had the kind of questions that no one could answer for me…evenContinue reading “Finding Myself on the Shelf: Uncovering My Own Identity through Queer Literature”
(Podcast Release) What is a teacher, what is a classroom? A Roundtable
Adam moderates our July roundtable, where he begins by having each member of the team provide their response to the questions: “What is a teacher?” and “What is a classroom?” What follows is a discussion on the role education plays in each of the team members’ lives. From Adam’s memories and analysis of his favoriteContinue reading “(Podcast Release) What is a teacher, what is a classroom? A Roundtable”