- Allen, Margaret. 2017. “Answers to Frequently Asked Questions.” Bowdoin College Office of Instituional Research, December 15. http://www.bowdoin.edu/ir/data/faqs.shtml
This document contains the most recent data on Bowdoin students. Statistics include breakdowns by gender, race, international status, Maine locals, and financial aid status. There is also some data on faculty members (only 14.5% are faculty of color). Fees and expenses are also listed.
2. Brunsma, David L., Eric S. Brown, Peggy Placier, 2012. “Teaching Race At Historically White Colleges and Universities: Identifying and Dismantling the Walls of Whiteness.”
The authors describe the spatial, ideological, and curricular walls of whiteness that inhibit radical re-education on race for white students at historically white colleges and universities. They caution that a lack of intervention by institutions can result in a lack of critical thinking and a perpetuation of privilege.
3. Cowen, Sophie, Sydney Avitia-Jacques, Hannah Berman, and Kayli Weiss. 2018. “Long Division: Polarizing Parties, Formulaic Discussions & Their Confusing Remainders.” The Bowdoin Orient, April 13.
This article is the third installment of the Diversity Matters series, written by students from the Diversity in Higher Education seminar. The authors present how students on the whole are reluctant to talk about racial controversies. “Bowdoin structures” in general were overwhelmingly seen as a factor that made students opt out of conversations about race.
4. Drumm, Sarah. 2017. “New methods to supplement judicial process.” The Bowdoin Orient. September 22. https://bowdoinorient.com/2017/09/22/new-methods-to-supplement-judicial-process/
This article gives a brief overview of Alternative Dispute Resolution and how the administration plans to implement it into different punitive processes, including cases of sexual assault and plagiarism. Dean Tim Foster mentions that ADR was successfully used following Cracksgiving and the Gangster Party, though anecdotal evidence from students seems to refute this.
5. Greene, Theodore. 2008. “Fighting the Hand That Feeds Them: Institutionalization and the Contemporary Student Movement.” Masters Thesis, Northwestern University.
The author studied the effects of institutionalization on a student anti-sweatshop movement in order to weigh the benefits and costs of being co-opted by a dominant power such as a college or university. The author concludes that student movements are influenced by the policies established by the administration, but student groups will still directly resist co-optation.
6. Hernandez, Kevin. 2018. “A desire for reconciliation with minimal reciprocity: revisiting the ‘tequila’ party.” The Bowdoin Orient, February 23. https://bowdoinorient.com/2018/02/23/a-desire-for-reconciliation-with-minimal-reciprocity-revisiting-the-tequila-party/
This was the first in a series of op-eds by the members of the canceled panel. The panel was intended to bring together multiple viewpoints to discuss and reconcile the events in 2015-16, including the Gangster and Tequila Parties. The author is featured in our podcast.
7. Osei, Safiya. 2018. “Dear seniors: will you condemn us to repeat history?” The Bowdoin Orient, March 30. https://bowdoinorient.com/2018/03/30/dear-seniors-will-you-condemn-us-to-repeat-history/
The author is a first-year who expresses frustration with the lack of communication between upper- and underclassmen in regards to the events of 2015-16. Osei is also featured on the podcast reiterating her question to senior students.
8. Polletta, Francesca. 2006. It was Like a Fever: Storytelling in Protest and Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
The author presents a brief history of narrative in activism, including the civil rights movement. Her conclusion focuses on the potential for a sociology of narrative and the necessary elements to create a rigorous discipline on the subject.
9. Tolentino, Jia. 2016. “Lionel Shriver Puts on a Sombrero.” The New Yorker, September 14. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/lionel-shriver-puts-on-a-sombrero
At the 2016 Brisbane Festival, author Lionel Shriver delivered a controversial speech on cultural appropriation, PC culture, and the entitlement of white writers to imagine characters of color. Shriver wore a sombrero during her speech to mock the Tequila Party at Bowdoin.
10. Zabala, Pamela. 2017. “Cooperate with Others for Common Ends?”: Students as Gatekeepers of Culture and Tradition on College Campuses. Honors thesis, Bowdoin College.
The author rigorously researched the history of cultural appropriation at Bowdoin leading through the most recent parties. She found that an incident of racial bias occurs every 3.5 years on average. The research consists of an extensive literature review as well as interviews from students during the events in 2015-16.
11. Zerubavel, Eviatar. 1996. “Social Memories: Steps to a Sociology of the Past”. Qualitative Sociology. 19(3): 283-297.
The author explores the phenomenon of denial on a societal level, as well as the formation of collective memories. This research tied in neatly to the intent of our project, which is to preserve a collective retelling of an event so that it can be remembered and retold through the institution.