Democracy

An Experiment in the (Re)Distribution of Grades: UPDATE (2026)

September 5, 2026 Leigh M. Johnson Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Blog, Capitalism, citizenship, Codifying Civility and Collegiality, critical thinking, Democracy, ERG, Ethics, Internet, Marx, Media, Open Source Pedagogy, Pedagogy, Philosophy, Social Media, Teaching Comments Off on An Experiment in the (Re)Distribution of Grades: UPDATE (2026)

Do “grades” even matter anymore?

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An Experiment in the (Re)distribution of Grades (Part 3)

September 5, 2026 Leigh M. Johnson Blog, citizenship, Codifying Civility and Collegiality, Democracy, ERG, Ethics, Justice, Labor Issues, Pedagogy, Politics, Professional Academy, Public Philosophy Comments Off on An Experiment in the (Re)distribution of Grades (Part 3)

Why don’t we give students space to critically reflect upon the way they are assessed?

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An Experiment in the (Re)Distribution of Grades (Part 2)

September 4, 2026 Leigh M. Johnson Blog, Capitalism, Codifying Civility and Collegiality, Democracy, ERG, Ethics, Justice, Public Philosophy Comments Off on An Experiment in the (Re)Distribution of Grades (Part 2)

Pearl clutch! Turns out Gen Z is socialist!

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Comradeship in Crisis: Climate Change vs. the Posthuman Threat

October 24, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Artificial Intelligence, Blog2024+, Capitalism, Climate Crisis, Democracy, Emergent Tech, Environmental concerns, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, Technology and Human Values, Trump Comments Off on Comradeship in Crisis: Climate Change vs. the Posthuman Threat

Could the posthuman—rather than climate catastrophe—be the unifying force that calls us to arms?

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Humanity vs. Technology (in 5 minutes)

July 31, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Aesthetics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Biotech, Blog2024+, critical thinking, Democracy, Digital Humanities, Emergent Tech, Ethics, Internet, Justice, Labor Issues, Machine Learning, Open Source Pedagogy, Philosophy, Politics, Posthuman, Public Philosophy, Social Media, Surveillance, Teaching, Technology, Technology and Human Values, Uncanny Valley Comments Off on Humanity vs. Technology (in 5 minutes)

Dr. Leigh M. Johnson summarizes the challenges technology poses to humanity (and the humanities) in 5-minute PowerPoint.

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BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS, Ep2: “White Christmas” with Chris Gilliard

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Artificial Intelligence, Black Mirror, Black Mirror Reflections, Blog, Blog 2023+, Democracy, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Race and Racism, RMWMTMBM Archive, Technology, Technology and Human Values, Television Comments Off on BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS, Ep2: “White Christmas” with Chris Gilliard

  In Episode 2 of BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS, I am joined by Dr. Chris Gilliard to discuss the first Black Mirror holiday special, first aired in 2014, “White Christmas.” Again, I strongly recommend that you watch (or re-watch) the episode before listening to this podcase episode. Even though Chris and I spend waaayyyy more time talking about…

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BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS, Ep 15: “Hated in the Nation” with Ammon Allred

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Black Mirror, Black Mirror Reflections, Blog, Blog 2023+, Democracy, Emergent Tech, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, RMWMTMBM Archive, Social Media, Technology, Technology and Human Values Comments Off on BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS, Ep 15: “Hated in the Nation” with Ammon Allred

  For Episode 15, I am re-joined by Dr. Ammon Allred to talk about social media cesspools, climate change, the unwritten rules of hashtags, so-called “cancel culture,” the Capitol insurrection, and “Hated in the Nation” (Season 3, Episode 6 of Black Mirror), which originally premiered in 2016. (Of course, we also talk about Derrida.) Listen/Download BLACK MIRROR…

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Feminism and the F-bomb

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Democracy, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Women and Gender Issues Comments Off on Feminism and the F-bomb

I’ve observed a deeply problematic trend on social media of late, one that has been amplified amidst Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and the several concurrent allegations of sexual assault leveled against Kavanaugh that have been made public in the past several days. Many people—who are (rightfully) outraged by…

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On Snitches: Silence and Secrecy in the Information Age

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Democracy, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Technology Comments Off on On Snitches: Silence and Secrecy in the Information Age

Recently, I took part in an excellent interdisciplinary symposium (hosted by Ted George and Kristi Sweet of the Texas A&M Philosophy Department) focused on “Hermeneutics, the Humanities, and the Future of Interpretation.” All of the presentations were great, but the one that has stuck in my craw, and which I suspect I will not be able to pry loose for quite some…

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Why They Run

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Capitalism, Codifying Civility and Collegiality, Democracy, Ethics, Politics, RMWMTMBM Archive Comments Off on Why They Run

There’s an old dad-joke that goes something like this: A bear jumps out of the woods, in a rage, and starts chasing two hikers. They both start running for their lives, but then one of them stops to put on his running shoes. “What are you doing?!,” the other hiker exclaims, “You can’t outrun a…

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