To Fight the 'War on Woke,' We Need Poetry and Poets

[niyad]

To Fight the ‘War on Woke,’ We Need Poetry and Poets
10/12/2023 by Emily Carr

Ms. Classroom wants to hear from educators and students being impacted by legislation attacking public education, higher education, gender, race and sexuality studies, activism and social justice in education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Cue: a new series from Ms., ‘Banned! Voices from the Classroom.’ Submit pitches and/or op-eds and reflections (between 500-800 words) to Ms. contributing editor Aviva Dove-Viebahn at [e-mail]. Posts will be accepted on a rolling basis.

I’m a former professor at the New College of Florida—I resigned the end of July. In 2019, I was hired as the first and only professor of creative writing at the New College. I am trained as an ecofeminist poet and was affiliated with gender studies and environmental studies. I taught courses like “The Sexual Politics of Meat,” “Poetry Recess” and “How a Woman Becomes A Lake, and Other Unheroic Acts: a Seminar in Gender and Genre Bending.”

On July 19, 2023, Robert Allen published an opinion piece in the Sarasota Herald Tribune criticizing the lack of ideological balance in the New College faculty and listing myself, faculty chair Amy Reid and gender studies professor Nick Clarkson as “pedagogical aberrations” that exemplified his point. Shortly thereafter, I resigned—which would have happened regardless of Allen’s piece. However, Allen’s piece has invited me to speak up and, after much deliberation and careful wordsmithing, I’ve decided I want to share my story, below. I hope it helps to raise awareness on the plight of education in this country—because New College isn’t an anomaly, it’s the future of the “war on woke.”

Because so many voices are lost or silenced in this battle.

Because we need to share our personal, intimate, vulnerable and authentic experiences of the American culture wars.

Because we are more than just collateral damage.

Because—particularly in the midst of this massive cultural dysfunction—we need poetry and poets, too.

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About Emily Carr
Dr. Emily Carr is a beach witch, love poet, eco-feminist professor and author of four collections of poetry. Carr was the founding director of the MFA in creative writing at Oregon State University–Cascades and creator of the B.A. in creative writing at the New College of Florida. These days she’s the first poetry professor on faculty at the Southern Illinois School of Medicine, with a mission of injecting healthy doses of awe, creativity, zest, hope and perspective into the problem-based learning curriculum.

https://msmagazine.com/2023/10/12/new-college-of-florida-poetry-gender-studies-women/