Michael Wayne Harris
Michael Wayne Harris
Recent Stories
Harris: Don’t justify humanities
How to justify the humanities has fueled a popular debate recently. There has been a fad of writing about the topic in newspaper articles, editorial columns and books by prominent (and Yale-affiliated) public intellectuals, such as “Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life,” by former Yale Law School Dean Anthony Kronman; “Save the World on Your Own Time,” by literary critic and former Duke English Department Chair Stanley Fish GRD ’62; and “Cultural Capital: The Problem of Literary Canon Formation,” by John Guillory ’74 GRD’ 79, the chair of NYU’s English Department.
Harris: Better arguments needed
Stephen Silva’s recent column (“A right means we can choose”) contains what has become a typical argumentative move by those advocating one’s right to marry a member of the same sex: the assertion that homosexuals are not granted the “equal” rights that heterosexuals enjoy.
Harris: Bigotry not a mental illness
When the moral is conflated with the medical
Race dialogue stalled when views are ‘delegitimized’
As a community, we don’t know how to express emotions without attacking, affirm one another’s emotions while disagreeing with their opinions, or assert our rights not to be humiliated in ways that do not humiliate others.
Anti-blackface columnists lacked rational argument
These days, argument ad hominim is, unfortunately, how work gets done in the realm of debate.
In pursuit of profit, press censors internally
Patrick Ward (“From Yale to U. Florida, free speech sinking,” Oct. 4) makes two claims: our nation’s commitment to freedom of speech is tenuous, and that’s a shame. He also make two errors: the nation’s commitment to freedom of speech is nonexistent, and that’s the most desirable choice.
Co-op is using flag issue to push for power
This proves that meaning is not located in words themselves but rather in their source (“Yale Gluttony” could be a rallying cry). Understanding the source of meaning is important because we cannot be offended by something until we know what it means.
Choice of words tells much about dialogue
The dialogue Ghaznavi and Saadi call for, then, is not honest, but fixed. Ideas that perceive Muslims negatively are never allowed in the dialogue. If they are allowed, it is only on the condition that they be abandoned in a short while for more civilized ones.
In poster debate, intention is fundamental
That intentions don’t matter is, unfortunately, common belief. Students expressed similar attitudes concerning the Rumpus, Record and NOGAYS incidents. The problem: insisting “intention is irrelevant” is simply untrue.