Ericka

Gossiping for Connection

If we want to feel connected, we need to break up with gossiping. One of the things I’ve noticed is that as we feel more disconnected, we grasp for connection through unhealthy information sharing (i.e. gossiping). Unhealthy information sharing is all the ways we share information about other people that may or not be true.Continue reading “Gossiping for Connection”

Community Connections

I think a lot about community connection as a form of informal social support. Since the start of the Covid pandemic, I’ve been thinking about it more intensely. Specifically, I’m thinking about our different levels of connection which I’m writing about now and later, I’ll write about grasping for connection. Many of us have differentContinue reading “Community Connections”

Letter to the Editor: Complexity in Care

I submitted this letter to the editor and the Star Tribune chose not to publish it but I think the information is important so I’m placing it here. I am writing in response to the article published in the Sunday, September 11th edition of the Star Tribune titled, Troubled Twin Cities nursing home ordered toContinue reading “Letter to the Editor: Complexity in Care”

No one is free while others are oppressed

I’ve been struggling for the last several months with the intersectionality and hierarchy created around race, gender, and sexual orientation. I’ve experienced some personal, professional, and public challenges in these areas. One example is that I’ve been watching and waiting for people to react to the George Zimmerman verdict for the last few weeks. I’ve beenContinue reading “No one is free while others are oppressed”

Supporting students from a class perspective

An interesting article in today’s NY Times: Poor Students Struggle as Class Plays a Greater Role in Success (alternatively titled as “For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in Hard Fall”) I write about class a lot because it’s one of the few things I feel secure in my knowledge. When we think about classContinue reading “Supporting students from a class perspective”

Poverty Tourism

I read this article the other day over at Mother Jones. It’s one person’s tale of working as a picker in a warehouse. She spend five days as a picker and writes an expose on the working conditions in the warehouse. I’ll say this once: I am an advocate for human rights which includes laborContinue reading “Poverty Tourism”

Education accessibility

As I enter the academic job market, I’ve been doing a lot of reflection trying to understand what I want to do and where I want to be. I am quite green and naive about what it means to work in academia. I’m a first generation college graduate. I was lucky enough to have anContinue reading “Education accessibility”

Leave your ego at the door

Great article in The Chronicle of Higher Education: Being Mean in Academe I too have been thinking a lot about meanness in academia. I think this recent post in The Chronicle of Higher Education gets at one point of meanness in terms of the ways in which we provide critique and feedback to others, butContinue reading “Leave your ego at the door”

Informal supports for children exposed to domestic violence

Yesterday, at the conference presentation I did, they began with by reading my bio. Basically it states my education and my research interests. I was presenting on ethical considerations with social media in social work. As usual, after the presentation, attendees will come talk to me about the presentation and seek resources. However, yesterday wasContinue reading “Informal supports for children exposed to domestic violence”

Privilege of learning

The new term of classes starts on Saturday. I’m going to begin class with a reminder about the privilege of education and learning. I want to remind students that they have the privilege of coming to class on time, giving presentations, taking part in discussion, writing papers, reading articles, completing 500 practicum hours, having opportunitiesContinue reading “Privilege of learning”