August 2007

Gender Protections In Schools: Shows Progress, but Room for Improvement

The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC) today released its 2007 Gender Equality National Index for Universities & Schools (GENIUS Index). The index evaluates how well colleges, universities, and K-12 school districts are doing in ending gender discrimination and raising awareness of gender identity and expression. It looks at non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies as well as […]

Weekend Reading

A few highlights of note from mainstream media: In “A Reason to Take the Early Bus Home,” Michael Winerip of the New York Times last week profiled two gay dads in Montclair, New Jersey. It’s nice to see dads getting coverage—when mainstream media does cover LGBT parenting, it’s most often about us moms. Having said

Weekly Political Update

Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, offered his perspective on Marriage Equality and the Presidential Election. The ultra-conservative Arkansas Family Council has submitted a proposal to the state Attorney General as the first step in placing a measure on the November 2008 ballot to ban adoption by unmarried couples. The group failed earlier

Medieval Civil Unions?

Did the concept of a civil union originate in medieval Europe? That’s the intriguing possibility raised in the respected Journal of Modern History by Allan A. Tulchin of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. (Via Box Turtle Bulletin.) As a recovering academic with a graduate degree in medieval history, I find this fascinating—though I’ve got the usual

From the Ivory Tower to the Family Room

(Originally published in Bay Windows, August 23, 2007.) “I just keep having this desire to do work that seems impossible,” says Dr. Abbie Goldberg of her research on LGBT and other understudied families. The assistant professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester is passionate about delving into these areas few other social scientists have

Science and Poetry

In my last post, I wrote about the very cool new Google Sky and how it could be a fun way to teach kids about astronomy. As an astronomy major myself, and someone who is married to an engineer, I’m all for science education, particularly for girls, who still tend to be overlooked when it

You Want Skies with That?

We always knew Google was planning to take over the universe. They come one step closer with the release of Google Sky, part of an upgrade to their very cool Google Earth software. If you or your children are into astronomy, or have to learn more about it as part of a school science project,

Illegal Elmos and Other Hazards of Children’s Music

Children’s musicians Erin Lee and Marci spoke with me aboard the R Family cruise in July about their inclusive approach to kids’ music. They gave me too much material to include in a single article, so below is a second piece from our conversation. I’m also very pleased to announce they will be regular guest

Book Recommendation: The Science Explorer

Yesterday I mentioned Steven Caney’s Toy Book as a great source of ideas for homemade kids’ toys. Along the same vein, but with an added bonus, is The Science Explorer by Pat Murphy, Ellen Klages, and Linda Shore of the San Francisco Exploratorium Museum. It’s chock-full of quick, craft-like projects aimed at six- to nine-year-olds,

Blogjam

Apologies for the sporadic site outages today. I’m thrashing things out with my Web host. With luck, things will resolve in the next 24 hours or so. As I often say about my son’s behavior, it’s just a phase. Thanks, as always, for stopping by.

Scroll to Top