S6 Ep. 42: SCOTUS vs. MFA: Jaswinder Bolina on How the End of Affirmative Action Will Affect Writing Program Admissions

Poet Jaswinder Bolina joins co-host Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about how the Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw the consideration of race in college admissions will affect MFA programs. The group reflects on why diversity is a crucial part of any writer’s education and the risk that this decision will change writing programs for the worse. Comparing the MFA admissions processes for their respective institutions, the three also discuss how everything from scholarships to the workshop environment may be affected, and Bolina speaks about the importance of diverse faculties. He reads from his essay “American, Indian” and Ganeshananthan reads a section of Supreme Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent—both examples of how it is impossible to think about American writing, or American history, without considering race. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Cheri Brisendine and Anne Kniggendorf. Jaswinder Bolina English as a Second Language and Other Poems (forthcoming October 2023) 44th of July Phantom Camera Carrier Waves The Tallest Building in America “American, Indian” - The Paris Review Others: Supreme Court Rejects Affirmative Action at Harvard and UNC - The New York Times 20-1199 Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College “Creativity And Diversity: How Exposure To Different People Affects Our Thinking” by Shankar Vedantam, Jennifer Schmidt, Parth Shah, Tara Boyle, NPR Quiz Show directed by Robert Redford SCOTUS affirmative action ruling: Harvard and UNC students, alums react Here's what happened when affirmative action ended at California public colleges by Emma Bowman, NPR Michigan's ban on affirmative action upheld by Supreme Court | CNN 20-1199 Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (06/29/2023) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs a bill banning DEI initiatives in public colleges : NPR by Jaclyn Diaz James Tate Column: On affirmative action, Justice Jackson blasts her colleagues' 'let-them-eat-cake obliviousness' Affirmative action in college admissions and why military academies were exempted by the Supreme Court - CBS News by Caitlin Yilek and Kathryn Watson What Counts as Discrimination on a College Campus? By Kelly Field, The Chronicle of Higher Education Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino Jhumpa Lahiri Ernest Hemingway Zadie Smith Read the full text of the dissents in the Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling by Sotomayor and Jackson - CBS News Jim Crow Laws | American Experience | Official Site | PBS  Homestead Act (1862) | National Archives Will Essay Prompts Get Students in After the Affirmative Action Ruling? By Scott Jaschik Highlights of the Affirmative Action Opinions and Dissents by Charlie Savage, New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices