There are many things in my life that I’ve accepted as inevitable: Breaking a bone, teenage heartbreak, and failing a final exam, for example, I have a strange sense that those events are predetermined. This may be symptomatic of a childhood spent in front of a television—each event in my[Read More…]
Tag: identity
Identities should start conversations, not end them
Being Israeli is something that I keep to myself at McGill. After returning to school this September, my peers often asked what I did over the summer. I told them that I had been travelling, but omitted that I had actually staffed a trip that took Jewish-Canadian 17-year-olds to Israel.[Read More…]
Piecing together my McGill puzzle
Growing up, university was the light at the end of my tunnel. My family, friends, and teachers always pushed the idea that at university, I would find a place for myself where I would fit in perfectly—that I was a unique jigsaw piece yet to find the rest of its[Read More…]
National Geographic’s race cover story misconstrues multiraciality
When I first read Patricia Edmonds’ cover story on Millie and Marcia Biggs—half-black, half-white fraternal twins—for National Geographic’s April 2018 Race Issue, I felt conflicted. As a person of mixed race, with a father from Hong Kong and a mother of largely Scottish descent, I was happy for this family’s[Read More…]
The impact of music on identity
Music affects the human brain in endless ways. From experiencing pleasure and joy to sound, to remembering autobiographical events, to communicating through movement, music impacts humans constantly and significantly. In a recent study published in February in Scientific Reports—led by Cognitive Psychologist and Professor Dr. Daniel Levitin—sex, drugs, and music[Read More…]
Canada’s 150th: Reflecting on the past while celebrating the present
As Canadians take 2017 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the year ahead should be a time for celebration. However, party preparations have recently been hindered by disagreement over the meaning of the anniversary. The Parti Québecois (PQ) recently announced that they have planned “L’autre 150ième,” a Quebec-focused celebration[Read More…]
Book Review: “3 or 4 Years an Indian”
The introductory blurb on the back of 3 or 4 Years an Indian describes author Cindy Styles as being “a new author born by obligation.” Of all Styles’ titles—musician, healer, McGill alumna—the only one that she has ever been denied was the one she is owed: Membership to the Qalipu Mi’kmaq[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: A fresh perspective? It’s a boat time
The airing of the show Fresh Off The Boat (FOTB) on ABC was met with much fanfare and hype. The show—based off the life of chef Eddie Huang, as numerous blog sites were quick to note—was the first TV show in American mainstream media starring Asian Americans since All-American Girl[Read More…]
