Blog Posts

Black Fans Deserve Space Too: The Battle for Inclusion

4/1/2026

by Janaye Roberts

Photo by Daniel Lombraña González on Unsplash

Fandoms have always been my comfort zone. They are spaces where I could embrace my interests without fear of judgment. When I entered high school and joined the anime club, I thought I had finally found a community where that passion could thrive. It wasn’t just about anime; it was about connecting with people who shared the same enthusiasm.

During my junior year, one of the biggest conversations in the club was about a new animated pilot on YouTube. Everyone was buzzing about it, so naturally, my curiosity kicked in. I went home, watched it, and instantly fell in love. I couldn’t wait to talk about it with my peers, to share my excitement and join the discussion. But when I told them I’d finally watched it, the reaction wasn’t what I expected. Instead of smiles or questions, I was met with confusion and silence, and then a comment that still echoes in my mind to this day:

“Oh. You watched it? But you’re Black."

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Mimetic Armageddon and the Modern Plague of “Bad Readers”

2/1/2026

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by Dimitrius A. DeMarco

Image by Blaz Photo on Unsplash

People who can’t read are ruining the world, and we’re letting them. If I had a dime for every instance of a title, theme, character, or concept getting bastardized by some barely-literate half-wit, I’d be part of the way across the northern sea on a luxury cruise trying to get a good look at aurora borealis. The sad truth of the matter is that we’re in trouble, and it’s permeating into every aspect of our lives: in classrooms, in media, and in government.

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Don’t Take Writing Advice

1/1/2026

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by Adam Buckley

Via Aaron Burden on Unsplash

The irony of this statement is not lost on me. By telling you not to take writing advice, I am, in fact, giving you writing advice—however!—if you follow me where I’m headed, you’ll see where I’m coming from. Age-old axioms like “show, don’t tell,” and “good characters have agency,” have kernels of truth to them; that’s why they’re so often repeated, but what comes after? How do writers really get better? My goal here isn’t to rebuke the institutions of writing criticism or education entirely, more so to make the case against generalized platitudes and advocate for contextual and self-motivated methods of improving one’s work.

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AI in the Composition Classroom: Students Aren’t Stupid, They’re Scared

12/1/2025

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by Megan Nielsen

It’s 2025, and I work in a college writing center. Of course, AI usage has run rampant in recent years. ChatGPT haunts me at work, constantly looming over me. One day, I’m shown a paper in a document with the AI prompt still sitting at the top of the page. The next day, I ask students a question, and many of them pull up ChatGPT right in front of me, with no shame, and robotically plug the question in for a response. ChatGPT is the new Google, except now when I ask students for sources, they can’t point me to a website or journal. They can only refer me to their all-knowing robot god.

Image by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash

Initially, when this phenomenon began a few years ago, I grew angry at my students and the world in general. I’d read all about AI, discussed it in my classes and with peers, and I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to use it. It steals material from artists and writers without their consent or compensation, it’s ruining the environment with its massive amounts of water usage, and worst of all, it isn’t even right most of the time. It makes up both sources and facts, and I wouldn’t stand for it. I knew I had to stop my students from conferring with the evil machine at any cost.

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What's in a Name?

8/1/2025

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by Alexa Diamant

via flickr by Steve Jurvetson

The enemies have taken over the ship! Quick, Captain, we must board our escape pods and find life somewhere else. But before we go, you’ll need to verify your identity to access the pods. What do you mean you don’t know? What’s that you say—the author changed it again? Damn those writers and their incessant need to constantly change our names!

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Black Fans Deserve Space Too: The Battle for Inclusion

Mimetic Armageddon and the Modern Plague of “Bad Readers”

Don’t Take Writing Advice

AI in the Composition Classroom: Students Aren’t Stupid, They’re Scared

What's in a Name?

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