READING ROOM

their cultural reign...ended?
A few stories friends of mine have contributed in recent days:

In this month's The Atlantic cover story, Hua Hsu discusses "The End of White America". Hua's talking about the end of Whiteness as a normative identity in American culture (but certainly not the end of White racial privilege). An interesting idea to ponder in the days leading up to Barack Obama's inauguration.

Speaking of which, Ta-Nehisi Coates profiles Michelle Obama, also in The Atlantic and he and Hua chop it up, blog-style.

Kai Ma reports on the (in)value of having a PhD in today's current academic market. This hits too close to home! (She did interview a few friends of mine though - and boy, are they salty!)

Ok, this one wasn't written by someone I know, but it's still interesting: Christopher Shea on how sociology is confronting the genetics of human behavior. Does this mean I should have listened to my mother and gone into medical sciences instead?

--O.W.