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I come from a working-class family and have made class a central part of my scholarly and social work. My parents attended rural primary schools in the early part of the last century, and were not educated beyond the ninth grade. My father left school (in 1924, Taneytown, Maryland) in order to provide financial support for his widowed mother and siblings. His working life began as the nation moved into and through the Great Depression. Over the course of his work life, he was first a laborer in sewing and shoe factories, briefly took a role in management at one of the factories (which he always said he found particularly objectionable), and then spent his last 20 years of employment as a maintenance worker and machinist for a large corporation in Phoenix. My mother also left school at the end of the ninth grade (1933, Littlestown, Pennsylvania)—she said because she didn’t want to do another year of math—so that she could contribute financially to her parents, who because of the Depression had recently lost the farm that our indentured servant ancestors had established in the mid-1700s. My mother worked alongside her parents and sisters in sewing and shoe factories until she had her first child in 1941. She spent the rest of her life providing unpaid domestic and reproductive labor for my family. My siblings and I were the first generation on either side of the family to complete high school and obtain college education.
A native of Arizona, my own educational journey began in Sunnyslope, Arizona with a less than pleasant and less than remarkable primary and secondary experience. As was true for most kids from Sunnyslope, there was little or no encouragement from anyone toward a college education. As is true for most of us raised by parents who lived and worked through the Depression, my siblings and I were advised to obtain a good steady job (in our family the acceptable options were Motorola, Sperry Rand, or Honeywell), a mortgage, and a spouse (not necessarily in that order). The assumption was that once all three were acquired nothing would ever change, as that path ensured the kind of security that my parents had fought hard to gain. I was never able to envision myself on that path. At the age of 25 I decided that I wanted an opportunity to
alter
my multi-generational class consciousness of getting by. I believed that it was possible to do work that I loved; the next step to make that happen was to go to college. I enrolled for my first college course, English 101, on Saturday mornings at the local community college.
Although I started my working life in various service positions such as retail and private daycare, I started working in higher education at the age of 26, when I served as the registrar and co-steering director for Peace Theological Seminary in Los Angeles, which provided continuing education programs for adult learners. This work stirred my interests in working with self-directed adult learners and in becoming a life-long and liberated learner. Around the age of 30 I began a graduate program in spiritual psychology at the University of Santa Monica, where I enrolled as a certificate student since I had not yet completed my bachelor's degree. Although not required of certificate students, I completed every requirement of the Master of Arts degree at a level that merited recognition as an honors graduate student. The faculty of the program made the decision to award me the Master of Arts degree in Applied Psychology (the name of the program was changed to Spiritual Psychology the year after I graduated). I remain the only graduate of USM to be granted this honor from the university faculty since its inception in 1976. Since that time I have gone on to achieve some truly wonderful successes in my life, yet I will always see having earned my master of arts degree from USM as my greatest academic and professional accomplishment. I will also always chuckle a bit at how purely this accomplishment demonstrates my obsessive need as a working-class academic to overcompensate for something I see as lacking (real or imagined).
After earning my master's degree in 1992, I came to Prescott College and joined the staff of the Master of Arts Program at the end of MAP's first year. During my first year with MAP I served as a graduate advisor in our counseling and education programs, as well as in a fulltime staff role, providing admissions counseling and general administrative assistance for the program, which was new and small (MAP had 36 fulltime students when I joined the program staff). Over the years, as the program grew, I served in academic administration roles, including turns as the Director of Academic Affairs, Director of MAP, and I twice served as the interim Dean. In 1997 the program was restructured to our current model, which includes one full faculty member to oversee/chair each of the five degree programs. I was hired to oversee the humanities program and continue today to serve as the chair for humanities in addition to my role as the program director for MAP. These chairs work collectively on the Graduate Program Council to provide academic oversight for MAP and the Ph.D. Program.
In April 2008 I was awarded the Ph.D. with a specialization in Twentieth Century U.S. Literature and Culture through Union Institute & University. My dissertation,
“Who is We?: Toward a Theory of Solidarity; Toward a Future of Sustainability,” develops a critical theory of analysis based on the principles and practice
of solidarity and sustainability. Since my first community college course on that Saturday morning in 1985 I have remained enrolled in one degree program or another, and the first thing I did after I mailed my completed dissertation to my own graduate college dean was to apply to the Prescott College Adult Degree Program where I am now carrying out research courses on topics of interest and making good use of the expertise of some of the exceptional scholars I've met over the years. As a life-long learner I look forward to many more years of working with other passionate scholars in a variety of ways.
I currently define my area of academic interest as class and culture, specifically as it relates to contemporary United States. As is revealed in my personal biography I am interested in the way class works in our daily lives, our scholarship, and most importantly our activism. My teaching and research interests focus on the politics of social constructs such as class, race, nation, sexuality, and gender; issues of oppression and resistance; and the potential created by coalitions and solidarity. These topics and their intersections are considered through the examination of U.S. culture and literature.
Interdisciplinarity
In my role of overseeing the Humanities graduate program, which at Prescott College consists of numerous disciplines within the humanities and social sciences, I have come to be interested in the process of defining and constructing academic disciplines, the concepts of interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity, as well as cross-disciplinary and non-disciplinary approaches to learning. Consider this from Emerson’s essay “Nature” as a metaphor on the concept of interdisciplinarity (forgive the 19th century pseudo-generic use of the masculine): “The charming landscape which I saw this morning, is indubitably made up of some twenty or thirty farms. Miller owns this field, Locke that, and Manning the woodland beyond. But none of them owns the landscape. There is property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all parts, that is, the poet. This is the best part of these men’s farms, yet to this their warranty-deeds give no title.” It is the poet in each of us who can see beyond the constraints of academic as well as agricultural fields, and who will make immeasurable discovery from such diverse, holistic, and inclusive examination.
Social Justice
Issues relating to social justice and the history of resistance and struggle have long been considered as part of a broad and balanced education. In recent years the need has grown for leaders who can take positive action to effect change in the world relating to justice and equity. More adult students are seeking degrees that concentrate specifically on social justice.
MAP students earn a master of arts in humanities with a primary focus in the academic discipline of Social Justice. Generally this is done using the methods and framework of cultural studies or history. Social justice students often direct their work toward some aspect of human social and cultural life, such as the socio-political dimensions and dynamics of culture and power, or the social constructs of race, gender, and class; students also concentrate on social justice relating to the environment and non-human species. Students in MAP may design a program to study the history of social activism, or consider the concept of being in service to social justice, solidarity, and coalition building.
The possibilities for a program in social justice are extensive. Social justice may be the primary concentration for a humanities student, or it may be the specialization included in a program focused on women's or gender studies, economics or global relations, language and literature, or any discipline that would benefit from including an overview of social justice issues and practices. For example, the areas listed below as specific programs can also be completed as part of a program in social justice. In MAP a concentration in social justice can be incorporated into any of the five degree programs.
The need exists for professional, non-profit, education, government, and other leaders who make priorities of justice, equity, and peace. In MAP students can create a plan of study specific to the knowledge needed for that kind of leadership. Check back here for a page that is coming this spring that will include study plans for current MAP students or grads with programs in social justice.
Solidarity Studies
Solidarity Studies is a nascent interdisciplinary program involving the study of social justice movements, coalitions of action, and solidarity as it relates to activism and justice. It has evolved out of my own research in class and culture and my dissertation, which develops a critical theory that incorporates the principles of solidarity and sustainability. I am indebted to Victor Lewis who, after a wonderful conversation about his work with alliance building and my work developing solidarity theory, suggested to the MAP community that the best thing we can do is start a solidarity studies program at Prescott College. I hope this program honors Victor's vision.
Class Studies
It is often said that in the trilogy of race, class, and gender, that class is the piece we don't see or discuss. The fact that other aspects of identity, including race and gender, are used to marginalize people or communities and turn them into second-class citizens, makes class a critically important aspect of identity needing careful consideration. In a nation that wants to see itself as being class-less, yet where the average gap between the highest and lowest paid employees of corporations has grown from 20% to 400% in forty years, an understanding of class has become crucially important to our nation's social and economic sustainability. Like gender or ethnic studies, a program in class studies will focus on the social construction of class and the historical, social, and political context of class in the United States.
Working-Class Studies
“Working-Class Studies is an interdisciplinary field that emphasizes the political and cultural meanings of working-class life, highlights the relationship between class and other kinds of cultural difference, and is committed to bridging the usual gap between the humanities and the community.” Through the limited-residency Master of Arts Program at Prescott College learners can create a program in Working-Class Studies, or a program in an area such as literature, history, or culture, with a working-class emphasis.
The Race, Gender, and Class Project at the Southern University at New Orleans
The annual conference sponsored by the Race, Gender, and Class Project at SUNO (Southern University at New Orleans) is an interdisciplinary gathering of scholars and practitioners in all fields who are interested in the constructs and intersections of race, class, and gender. Since October 2001 I have been presenting my work on the intersections of class with race, gender, and sexuality, at the RGC conference. As a member of the conference organizational committee I invite you to contact me for information about attending, presenting, or organizing a panel at a future RGC Conference.
This is from the 2007 Conference Announcement:
The 2007 Race, Gender & Class Annual Conference will be in New Orleans from Feb 1-4 organized in solidarity with Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) and the SUNO/UNO Race, Gender & Class Project. The theme of the meeting will be RCG Solidarity Across Borders: Natural and Social Catastrophes. We will be putting together plenaries that will focus on natural and social disasters across borders. For example, Hurricane Katrina has been called one of the worst natural disasters on U.S. soil. The aftermath of the storm uncovered human-made disasters of equal magnitude. As the world watched, the economic, political, and social systems of the US were exposed and amid this chaos glaring questions about RGC social inequality arose. This Conference proposes to examine those issues across borders (US, Latin America, Asia….)
Race, Gender & Class Contact Person Jean Ait Belkhir, ASA RGC Chair, Southern University at New Orleans, North Main Campus, Department of Social Sciences, New Orleans, LA 70126 Ph 504 280 5468, Fax: 504 280 6302, email jbelkhir@suno.edu. Please go here for more information about the Race, Gender, and Class Project at the Southern University at New Orleans.
Prescott College Participation
In order to show our community's commitment to RGC, SUNO, and the New Orleans and Gulf Coast areas as they are reclaiming and restoring their community's health, a group of ten graduate students and faculty from Prescott College will be presenting papers/workshops at the February 1-4, 2007 RGC Conference. Please consider attending the conference to learn more about these issues.
Here is information from RGC and SWS ( PDF format) on the conference, including location, registration, and lodging information.
Here is the full schedule for the February 1-3, 2007 RGC Conference in New Orleans (PDF format).
Here are the detailed descriptions of the sessions being offered by graduate faculty and students from Prescott College (PDF format).
Hurricane Katrina Relief
Because of my connection with SUNO and the Race, Gender, and Class Project, I felt called following Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding in New Orleans to get involved with relief efforts. I made two trips to Louisiana to do some direct service in support of those displaced by the hurricane and flooding. This work is ongoing and documented on these web pages, along with information about numerous direct opportunities to provide support to those who were affected by this crisis. In addition there are links you can use to keep your voice heard as it relates to human rights issues, such as access to housing and a living wage for all residents of the United States.
The Diversity Coalition at Prescott College
Every member of the Prescott College community is enthusiastically invited to become part of this college-wide coalition to define, foster, sustain, and celebrate diversity at Prescott College. The Diversity Coalition meets on the first Tuesday of each month between September and April, from 1:00 - 2:30 and again at 6:00 - 7:30 p.m., in room 103 of the Prescott College Crossroads Center. Please come to whichever meeting time fits your schedule. We begin with an open forum to network and brainstorm ideas. The evening meeting is followed at 7:30 by the Celebrate Diversity Film Festival, which each month presents a different film that celebrates and honors living beings.
Reparations Movement and Affirmative Action
My work centers on class and the economic motivation behind hegemony and oppression, and the correlating need to build coalitions of resistance. In addition to such coalitions, individual movements or power bases that are intended to disseminate information, restore justice, and carry out action to eliminate such oppression must always guide our collective work for justice. The early holocaust of genocide committed in the United States against indigenous people of this continent and Africans and their descendents set in motion the legacy of oppression upon which this nation still stands. Manifest Destiny and the transatlantic slave trade are significant not only for their unparalleled levels of atrocity, but for their persistent effects and consequences, and therefore must be addressed with distinction—above and beyond all other justice work that is carried out by activists in the United States. The work being done through the Reparations Movement and Affirmative Action programs addresses these issues directly. Here are resources relating to reparations and affirmation action.
Other Class Focused Conferences and Associations
There are a number of associations and centers that focus on the growing field of working-class studies or that consider class as it relates to many academic disciplines and realities.
Women’s Empowerment Breakthrough! Conference
The WEB! Conference is a weekend conference for high school aged young women in the Prescott tri-city area with a mission of providing “a safe place in which to collectively educate ourselves as young women of the various resources available to us.”
When we commit ourselves to education as the practice of freedom, we participate in the making of an academic community where we can be and become intellectuals in the fullest and deepest sense of the word. We participate in a way of learning and being that makes the world more rather than less real, one that enables us to live life fully and freely. This is the joy in our quest.
bell hooks
Talking Back, p. 72
To acknowledge privilege is the first step in making it available for wider use. Each of us is blessed in some particular way, whether we recognize our blessings or not. And each of us, somewhere in our lives, must clear a space within that blessing where she can call upon whatever resources are available to her in the name of something that must be done.
Audre Lorde
A Burst of Light, p. 130
Everything I write about class is aimed at showing the necessary injuries of class, with the aim of raising class consciousness in order to overthrow capitalism.
Renny Christopher
Women’s Studies Quarterly,
1998 1 & 2, p. 7
Last updated May 5, 2008
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