What I've Been Up To

Reading

As anyone who knows me could tell you, I read voraciously.  (It's much easier now that I'm not working two jobs.)  In fact, at a past place of employment, one of the favorite office activities was to find out what Jason was reading today.  Almost needless to say, I made sure from time to time to bring in things that would shock people.  Anyway, (not counting rereads or material assigned for my courses) here's what I've been reading recently.
Rating System: *=I wasted my time reading this; **=disappointing; ***=worth reading; ****=work of superlative quality, worth recommending; *****=exceptional

Non-Fiction
Baruch Spinoza; Ethics**
Baruch Spinoza; Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect**
Baruch Spinoza; Tractatus Theologico-Philosophicus****
G. A. Cohen; If You're An Egalitarian, How Come You're So Rich?***
Jaime Clarke, ed.; Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes***
David P. Barash & Judith Eve Lipton; The Myth of Monogamy: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People***
Susannah Gora; You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation***
Karen Sternheimer; Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture: Why Media is Not the Answer*****
G. A. Cohen; Why Not Socialism?***
Martha C. Nussbaum; From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law*****

Fiction
Kurt Vonnegut; Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction***
Kurt Vonnegut; Look at the Birdie: Unpublished Short Fiction***
Jose Saramago; The Gospel According to Jesus Christ***
Jose Saramago; Death with Interruptions****
Chuck Palahniuk; Snuff***
Oscar Wilde; The Ballad of Reading Gaol****
Charles Carrington; The Memoirs of Dolly Morton***
Moises Kaufman; Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde***
Philip Roth; The Humbling***
Toni Morrison; The Bluest Eye****

Comic Book Trade Paperbacks, Graphic Novels, Art Collections, etc.
Jeff Parker; X-Men First Class: Finals***
Geoff Johns; Justice Society of America: Thy Kingdom Come***
Michael Turner & Jeph Loeb; Soulfire***
Jimmy Palmiotti; Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom***
Brian Michael Bendis; Alias: The Secret Origins of Jessica Jones***
Brian Michael Bendis; Alias: The Underneath***
Brian Michael Benids; Alias: Come Home****
Brian Michael Bendis; Alias***
Sean McKeever & Marv Wolfman; Teen Titans: Deathtrap***
Paul Dini; Batman: Heart of Hush***

Documentary Films
James Miller & Saira Shah; Death in Gaza****
Larry Charles & Bill Maher; Religulous****
Elaine Pagels; The Origin of Satan***
Andrew Goldberg; Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence***
Jonathan Miller; Shadows of Doubt: The Roots of Religious Disbelief**
James Van Der Pool; A War on Science: Intelligent Design in the Classroom***
Jay Rosenstein; In Whose Honor?: American Indian Mascots in Sports***
Daniel Karslake; For the Bible Tells Me So****
Spike Lee; Four Little Girls****
Michael Moore; Roger and Me****

 

Planned Research Projects

I have plans to develop several research articles in the near future (though I've been saying this for several years, so we'll see if they ever come to fruition).  They are:
    "Triangulating Same-Sex Marriage", in which I will be arguing that considerations of rights, liberty and fulfillment all point in the direction of allowing same-sex marriage.  Both traditional opponents and proponents of same-sex marriage have typically neglected important elements in the area of rights, and have altogether neglected considerations of living a fulfilling life, especially when it comes to addressing 'the meaning' of marriage.  (BTW, yes, the pun in the title is intentional.)
    "Language Rights for Immigrants", in which I will use the insights of Michel Foucault and the anti-colonial writers (esp. Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, and Chinua Achebe) on the connection between language and power to argue for the right of immigrants to maintain their native language.  Along with this, I plan to address what kinds of accommodations need to be made to maintain these rights.
    "Can a Darwinian Explain Intelligence?", in which I will attempt to refute attempts to argue that a purely evolutionary approach to life cannot explain the origin of intelligence, especially those forms of intelligence that (allegedly) lack survival value and may even threaten our continued survival.  I will argue (1) that the challenge itself rests on a false assumption about the requirements of an evolutionary explanation of intelligence; and (2) that even if one grants the assumption, evolutionary biology has the resources to explain the development and maintenance of non-adaptive features.

In addition, I am considering expanding what I did in my portion of the 2006 Constitution Day presentation into something longer (a long essay or short monograph) tentatively titled "Religion and Democratic Inclusion".

I.V.C.C. Projects

I am currently involved in the effort to develop a campus L.G.B.T. Safe Zone/Ally program and recently participated in several summer multicultural institutes focused on developing an integrated multicultural curriculum.  In addition, I am working on a presentation for next National Coming Out Day, tentatively titled "Sexual (Dis)Orientation: From Kinsey to Klein and Beyond".

I am also helping to put together a discussion series on religious diversity for the spring and fall 2010 semesters on behalf of the Diversity Team.

Other Projects

last revised 3/17/10