BY AANCHAL MODANI When I started grad school here at TC, in one of the most happening cities in the world; leaving behind one part of the world for another, I was struck by a line someone wrote to me: “Stay away from people who are the prisoners of their own stereotypes.” This line got… Read More Looking Beyond
BY SARA HARDMAN, TCPS My name is Sara, but I also go by colleague, friend, daughter, sister, aunt, and student. We all have different titles that we go by in addition to our names. Though I am called “Sara” in all of these roles (except for in my aunt role, where I go by “Sasa”),… Read More Letter from the Editor: Beyond Titles
BY ALLISON VICTORIA MILBY My name means “truth.” Or at least, I always thought it did. When I was six or so, my mom gave me a little laminated card in my Christmas stocking that described the heritage of my name and its meaning. I was really proud of that name; as a kid, I… Read More What’s in a Name?
BY DREW X COLES What is a name but a title—an implicit series of guidelines and loose restrictions by which we must abide? Our given and family names stimulate reactions from readers or listeners, as if we are telling a short story about our history and where we come from. Even if the information… Read More Rising to One’s Own Name
BY MARIA MENGLIN GUO One of the first things that I learned, upon stepping onto this campus, was to never say the full phrase, “Teachers College.” Rather, I was instructed to always use “TC.” The phrase “Teachers College” was, somehow, almost exclusively reserved for outsiders. Upon taking my first classes, I quickly learned another acronym… Read More The Art of Acronym
BY JOSHUA SM WEINER America is an immigrant nation state. If you are new to NYC, it is worth the trip to visit Ellis Island. For generations, tired, poor huddled masses passed through the processing center and joined the United States with changed surnames. Many adopted names from place memories. Names from old country provinces,… Read More Multicultural Connections or Re-read your bible and get to work
BY MATTHEW GONZALES, TCPS Over the past two years here at Teachers College, a growing group of students have been having discussions, holding meetings, planning, and organizing around diversity issues at TC. While the term “diversity” at this point, has been somewhat diluted, this group of students has focused directly on issues of racial and… Read More The Group Without A Name: A Letter To All TC Students
BY JALIZ ALBANESE In early January, I returned to the middle school I taught at for two years to reconnect with many of my former students. As I walked through the halls I observed the newly decorated walls and murals adorned with Xhosa and Zulu words painted in an effort to connect the school to… Read More Renaming
BY KATHERINE CHO In Korean tradition, at least in my family, generations of kids tend to have the same first syllable. It’s a complex process weaved with bargaining and claiming “pretty names” so that your child does not have a name most closely associated with a former dictator. Each of the syllables has a meaning,… Read More So what do you go by?
What’s in a Name? We raised the question on our Facebook page. Here are some of our responses! Julie Fitz: “A name separates individuals from an array of like objects. There are many humans, but I am not just any human. I am Julie. I have a set of associations that go along with that… Read More Facebook Question: What’s in a name?
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