akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko
@akotanko.bsky.social
76 followers 100 following 42 posts
PhD candidate at Purdue Sociology / Studying how people work together to (de)humanize others & make world more/less inclusive
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · 8d
Original footage from Pete Hegseth's speech today
a cartoon character from futurama is waving at the camera
ALT: a cartoon character from futurama is waving at the camera
media.tenor.com
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Reposted by Adam Kotanko
sociusjournal.bsky.social
Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World @sociusjournal.bsky.social · 29d
What's the collective in this #collectiveaction?

A. Kotanko’s (@akotanko.bsky.social) #Socius study of an #immigration clinic demonstrates how #socialmovement organizations draw on #personalidentity to encourage collective action participation.

Read: doi.org/10.1177/2378...
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Reposted by Adam Kotanko
bishopofwestsaxons.bsky.social
Daniel Winchester @bishopofwestsaxons.bsky.social · Jun 23
NEW ARTICLE/OPEN ACCESS
Proud to share my PhD advisee, @akotanko.bsky.social's, recent publication in Qualitative Soc. Adam and I worked on this one together, which was a great collaborative experience, but he is very much the lead author.

The first of many to come from the future Dr. Kotanko!
Making a Martyr?: Scandal, Symbolic Power, and the Controversial Death of Evangelical Missionary John Chau - Qualitative Sociology
How do groups respond to accusations of scandal? Because scandals pose significant risks of moral stigma and loss of status to those associated with them, sociologists have analyzed how actors within ...
link.springer.com
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Reposted by Adam Kotanko
jessicacalarco.com
Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · May 12
They want more MOMS at home. And not just because they hate women.

Their *economic* model depends on unpaid labor. And the most effective way to coerce unpaid labor is to create a second class of people and teach them that they're only "naturally" suited for labor they're forced to do for free.
From the NYT: Not Just More Babies: These Republicans Want More Parents at Home As the Trump administration shrinks federal child care programs, Republicans are backing policies they hope will allow more parents to scale back at work.
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 17
So contrary to many post-election analyses, Dems don't need to move rightward to win. Rather, they need to figure out what those nearly 40% of nonvoters want & how to help them vote. A good place to start: protect voting rights, make election-day a federal holiday, fight disenfranchisement, etc.
iansociologo.bsky.social
Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · Dec 17
A visualization of the razor thin margin of this election.

Of the 244+ million voting-eligible population:

31.5% voted for Trump
30.6% voted for Harris
37.7% did not vote

Popular is not a word that would accurately describe Trump or the MAGA movement.
A pie chart showing the distribution of votes 38 percent of the voting population did not vote. 31 percent voted for Trump. 31 percent voted for Harris.
Reposted by Adam Kotanko
victorerikray.bsky.social
Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · Dec 16
Seeing someone use “woke” as a derrogatory descriptor is useful in that it lets me know I don’t need to take whatever they say next seriously.
sethcotlar.bsky.social
Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · Dec 16
Judith Butler is 100% correct. The word "woke" is pure reactionary bullshit. Its contemporary meaning also distorts history by making it seem as if every positive cultural change of the past 200 years has happened naturally, without agitation by people considered, at the time, dangerously "woke."
Q. Does the election result mean that woke is broke? A. I don't even know what the woke is. It's just a slur that the right wing uses.
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Reposted by Adam Kotanko
58george.bsky.social
58george.bsky.social @58george.bsky.social · Dec 15
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 15
Btw, substitute #healthcare for learning & the post is just as valid. Commodifying some things ruins them
akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 15
AI, MOOCS, etc. = tech solutions for symptoms, not the disease. #Learning is a messy, inefficient, personal, relational process. It’ll never be rational (in the Weberian sense). We need to embrace the messy, costly process bc it’s good in itself, not instrumentally (eg for profit, jobs, etc.)
vasabjit.bsky.social
Vasabjit Banerjee @vasabjit.bsky.social · Dec 15
It was MOOCs 15 years ago. Now, it's AI. Wonder what silver bullet the higher-ed consultants and tech set will offer next that will simultaneously lower standards for students and increase workloads for instructors.
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Reposted by Adam Kotanko
alanbaxter.bsky.social
Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · Dec 14
When I was a young writer, I received a LOT of rejections. Now, after decades of hard work, I am no longer young.
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 15
Tonight is a work night, as I try to finish giving students feedback on final projects--which is why I'm on Bluesky, bc staying focused in the middle of the night is difficult
akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 15
I regularly wake up in the middle of the night. If I can't get back to sleep & don't start working, I often listen to a couple eps of Star Talk w/ @neildegrassetyson.com. It's perfect, bc it's fascinating/fun & not tied to my work. I'll usually understand the 1st ep & fall asleep during the 2nd
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 15
We're never going to catch everyone, or even a majority, who "cheat," esp given AI capabilities, & trying to do so is emblematic of a bigger problem in education: a focus on what students do wrong over over an emphasis on intrinsic reasons to care about learning even when it's difficult
akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 14
My extroverted wife: My sister’s graduation party went until 4am

Introverted me: That sounds horrible

Wife: Everyone had fun
akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 14
Kid: I’m hungry

Me: You just ate

Kid: I just ate FIRST bfreakfast. What abt second breakfast? Elevensies? Lunch? Tea time? Dinner? Supper? Once? Midnight snack? Pre-bfast snack? Random treats?

My kids are basically hobbits
akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 13
This post captures so much post-election analysis: some voters don't like reality, so Dems need to better embrace fantasy in order to win their votes. Oh, and throw some minoritized folks under the bus while you're at it
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 10
Finally, I started No Homework Mondays last year bc students deserve weekends free from homework. We do activities on Mondays based on the previous week's content (e.g., "create your own religion" after a module on solidarity, or "create McPurdue" after a section on rationality)
akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 10
some groups complete a module on implicit bias, while others focus on weathering. They discuss their module in groups, & we conclude the class sharing between groups that did different modules or discussing each module as a full class
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 10
I'm also experimenting with what I call "choose-your-own-adventure" modules. We all do the same prep work/discussion on Wednesdays, but for Fridays, students choose from bt similar modules. For instance, on a Friday focusing on how stereotypes get inside of us...
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 10
There's no final exam, but students do complete & share w/ classmates an open-ended self-learning project, where they choose both the topic and medium of presentation (paper, presentation, board game, sociological short story, musical analysis, podcast, etc.).
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 10
Instead of exams, students watch doc films at the end of each section, & we talk about them in light of theory/empirical stuff that we've covered in that section (e.g., Merchants of Doubt -> cultural hegemony, social identity theory, etc.). Students collaborate in turning in group responses
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 10
A few more thoughts on how the class runs: we spend most of our time in small groups discussing readings/podcasts/videos. I check in with as many groups as possible during each class period, after a brief intro/preview of next class period. In the last 10 mins, we share big takeaways as full class
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 10
Also, during the 1st week of classes, we critique the artificiality of "industrial education," reading @susandblum.bsky.social, watching a Ken Robinson talk, & discussing what a better learning system would look like. I do this to prime students for why our class is different from other courses
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 10
Here's what works 4 me instead: I (mostly) give students credit for completing activities (bc the U requires a grade), & I give individualized (or group, depending on class size) written feedback for most assignments. It takes a lot of time (about 2hrs after every class period), but it's worth it
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akotanko.bsky.social
Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · Dec 10
To distract you from end-of-term #grading, here's @alfiekohn.bsky.social's wonderful essay (which I have my students read in a module on Foucault & discipline) laying out reasons why u should stop (or at least minimize) grading www.alfiekohn.org/article/case...

Big spoiler: grading impedes learning
The Case Against Grades (##)
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP November 2011 The Case Against Grades By Alfie Kohn [This is a slightly expanded version of the published article.] “I remember the first time that a grading rubric was attached...
www.alfiekohn.org
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