Across the Hudson River from the World Trade Center’s twin towers, on the Stevens Institute of Technology campus where he studied engineering, he watched plumes of smoke billow from gaping openings where the planes had just hit. All at once, he was overcome by the realization of life’s fragility. “What if tomorrow’s not promised for [...]

Critically recognized as one of the most abstruse and exasperating books ever written, Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit is arguably the most challenging text in modern philosophy — even for AU’s ace philosophy majors. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, when a course on the book appeared on AU’s Spring 2009 course catalog, its waitlist [...]

It was an unusual winter in Washington, D.C. While the city was buried beneath the area’s largest snowstorm in recorded history, AU students relished a week without classes and witnessed the collapse of the Mary Graydon Center canopy as it succumbed to the weight of over two feet of snow, falling to the ground with [...]

Standing on the National Mall in the midst of President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony, it’s no wonder the crowd’s excitement was visible.

On a normal Friday night, Monica Sindwani is getting ready with her friends for another night at Lotus Lounge, a club near Dupont Circle. The four girls are listening to music and making cocktails before they take the Red Line Metro out for a night of dancing. Boys are commonly absent from this part of [...]

It’s a gorgeous mid-April day in the District. So gorgeous, in part, because the Office of Admissions at American University has chosen today to be AU Preview Day.  Incoming freshmen from all over the Eastern Seaboard flock with their parents to this beacon of higher education in our nation’s capital. The booming voice of a [...]

The progressive community took a loss this past January with the death of historian Howard Zinn — college professor, World War II bombardier, and author of the renowned “A People’s History of the United States.”

The Community Action and Social Justice Coalition — like many American University clubs — has an office on campus managed by volunteers. But unlike other groups, it doesn’t promote a single activist issue on campus; instead, it promotes general activism. In many ways, the CASJ office, located in the basement of the Kay Spiritual Life [...]

Sitting behind the counter of the Mud Box is a small, soft-spoken man named Kuman Singh. Patiently tapping on his iPhone until customers approach, he greets them with a warm smile. If you ask him what he recommends, he’ll tell you to order his favorite drink, a caramel macchiato. As he slides off his stool, [...]

Two and a half years ago, I set out on campus with a handful of fliers — none sporting the Student Activities approval stamp — and tacked them around Ward, MGC, and the library. The fliers decried both my eagerness and desperation: “Interested in Progressive Politics? Writing? Photography? Design? Come brainstorm with me!” These early [...]