To Receive Well—It's Critical

This essay explores a non-negationist approach to the “critical” by recounting cultural studies's recent articulation of intellectual work to social movement practice. The academicization of cultural studies is evaluated not as cooptation of criticality, but as subsumption, which creates new platforms for action. Ultimately, Cultural Studies would benefit from its own “reception study” in which its powers to be affected could be enhanced to reconnect it with ongoing popular struggles.     

From Embedded to Machinic Intellectuals: Communication Studies and General Intellect

This essay examines how the increasing dependence of the academy, specifically communication studies, on corporate and federal funding is creating a sector of embedded intellectuals. Using the theoretical lens of what is loosely called “autonomism,” I argue that the concept of General Intellect forces us to reconsider traditional notions of intellectual work. The significance of communication, as both a growing academic field and infrastructure for this General Intellect, puts the discipline in the spotlight. After summarizing Gramscian and Foucauldian conceptions of the engaged intellectual, I sketch out a figure of the intellectual adequate to these conditions, what I call the machinic intellectual.     

试着入睡

远处牧场里放羊的女孩已经辍学今年她十二岁,她的生活完了。夏天里我给聪明的弟弟找了份工厂里的工作他一辈子都呆在那儿。我曾和一个女人同住了四年后来她疯了,从医院里逃出来,搭车走遍全美各地,在惊吓中,在)地中一丝不挂,几乎每个让她搭车的男人都强暴过她。我的心辗转愤怒。     

Alternative approaches to the definition and identification of learning disabilities: Some questions and answers

Recent consensus reports concur in suggesting major changes in the federal regulatory approach to the identification of learning disabilities (LD). These reports recommend abandoning the IQ-discrepancy model and the use of IQ tests for identification, and also recommend incorporation of response to instruction (RTI) as one of the identification criteria. These changes are also recommended to states in the current reauthorization of the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). While not mandatory, states that follow these recommendations will experience major changes in identification and treatment of students served under the LD category. This paper reviews the basis for these recommendations, summarizing four recent consensus group reports on special education that concur in suggesting these changes. Seventeen commonly asked questions about these changes are presented, with responses. In order to ensure adequate instruction for students with LD, it is essential that identification practices focus on assessments that are directly related to instruction, that any services for students who are struggling prioritize intervention over eligibility, and that special education be permitted to focus more on results and outcomes and less on eligibility and process. Identification models that incorporate RTI represent a shift in special education toward the goals of better achievement and behavioral outcomes for students identified with LD, as well as those students at risk for LD. Supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, HD25802-13, “Center for the Study of Learning and Attention Disorders” (JMF); and the Office of Special Education Programs: H326Y02002, National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring (WAC); H324U010004, National Research Center for Learning Disabilities (DJR), and H324X010013, Preventing Reading Difficulties: A Three-Tiered Intervention Model (SRC). The National Center for Learning Disabilities also provided support for the development of this paper. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be viewed as necessarily representative of others associated with the centers listed or the funding agencies supporting these centers.