An event I didn’t expect was when a student claimed that the lights hanging in the Radnor common room made her uncomfortable. I was not expecting this because I come from a town that consists of a majority of Jewish people and I’ve never encountered someone who was offended by the presence of lights. Also, I see lights everywhere around the holiday season so I assume that everyone was okay with it. Reading this part opened my mind a bit. It goes to show that we must be sensitive to every issue no matter how trivial the issue may seem although many times people slip as as Nkechi did as she was trying to make the space as homey as possible.  

I was deeply conflicted/moved throughout the experience of reading the text.  Particularly the experience with the Confederate flag both reading about it and the pictures seen in the beginning. The Confedarate flag, may be a symbol for Southern culture, but its roots stem from something uglier in American history. I am somewhat new to the idea of trying explain why something so seemingly obvious would offend so many. This thought helped to guide me through the experience of someone wanting the Christmas lights turned off.  I was confused at first how it would offend someone especially because Christmas makes me think of family and happiness.  Then I realized that just like I would have been offended by the flag, this person was offended by the lights.

What I found most interesting while I read Slipping was the fact that there are various groups who believe "the original non-disabled body has never existed". This argument brings varying complications as well as insights in the eyes of one who may be considered less privledged than what able-bodied people may see. 

By imagining what the original non-disabled body would have been, we as a society begin to view people in terms of their utility. Those who cannot work as considered "disabled" while those who could would be considered "normal". Having this separation between people creates a viewpoint that is inherently damaging towards people who may not be seen as normal. 

A part of the essay that really stood out to me was the story of Nkechi and the villager that she was assigned to. The instance where Nkechi walked away was viewed as a lost opportunity for she was unable to create a connection that she had gone there to create. In contrast, it was also an instance of someone acknowledging their uncomfortableness with a subject and choosing to walk away. There always seems to be a gray area between trying to form new connections between different identities and protecting the integrity of one’s own identity. This story in particular really touches upon that difficult interaction. People always value their own identities and values over others’.

As I read “Slipping”, the idea that resonated the most with me was the essay’s view on how we should think of these slips. Instead of vilifying people for their political incorrectness or ignoring it on the grounds that it’s an honest mistake, the best course of action is to treat the slip as a signal that there is still work to be done. I have written in my previous essays for this course about how social injustice does not disappear if we just ignore our differences, as those who advocate for “colorblindness” seem to suggest. Likewise, in this essay, it is clear that ignoring slips creates missed opportunities to effect positive change.

 I really enjoyed reading "Slipping" and hearing about the recent incident involoving the Confederate Flag on campus and how it was resolved. Living in Bryn Mawr amonst many people of various beliefs and ideas, things like this are bound to happen but it is good we are able resovle these issues peacefully. I liked this quote from page 255 that reads "We cannot learn the truth about what we think or the truth about how others feel about what we think" without open discussion, without a "slip". I really appreciate how Bryn Mawr fosters healthy discussions through our seminars, providing  a place for people to speak openly and learn about other cultures, beliefs, and values.

After reading Slipping, I realized that our society is interrelated and composed of so many different cultures and identities; which makes it hard for people to find a place called “home.” Like the Confederate flag incident and how Nkechi perceives the Christmas lights in her dormitory, one person’s “home” can be viewed as something foreign from others. This realization brought me back to Platt’s classroom in the Arts of the Contact Zone, where “no one was excluded, and no one was safe.” Similarly, no one was at home in Slipping, which I believe reiterated the need to acknowledge different “homes” by accepting the “contact zones” that exist everywhere. 

I absolutely loved reading "Slipping"! I thought it was very well written. My favorite part of the chapter was on page 225 when you stated, "...the importance of attending to the gaps that open up when we mis-step, mis-speak". I found it very thought provoking. Through the chapter, I was thinking about how if we do not allow ourselves to "slip", then how can we truly know what others think. 

I also really enjoyed reading your personal experiences with "slippage" in your previous classes. I loved reading the difference experiences you had with your students in the class room. 

I read the beginning because I felt that was a good place to start and also I was very unsure of how much I was supposed to read. I really liked how I could hear Jody's voice in the text. It was kind of like she was reading it to me in class. Which reminded me of our meeting where she told me that I need to write to my audience and make my papers more reader accessible. The content of the first chapter was also very interesting. The concept of "slipping" was introduced and it gave a name to something that I've experienced a lot back home. I'm from Texas, so like Jody I came up north and expected a whole new world. What I got was definitely different but not as foreign as I had originally anticipated.

Hearing about Bryn Mawr from the authentic and various perspectives (students, professors, faculty) included in “Slipping” makes this school feel so much more real to me. While I wasn’t happy to learn that recent challenges on campus hurt community members and made people feel unsafe, I was glad to hear that there are challenges on this campus being grappled with. My first two weeks here have been pretty idyllic; the students are friendly, the professors are accommodating, the events are welcoming, the parties are fun. And I am certainly grateful for all of that. But I was starting to worry that things here are too perfect, or that things get covered up or ignored in order to keep it that way.