Alexander Jun – författare

From Here to University examines factors leading to successful college preparation and academic mobility for historically underrepresented, low-income, inner-city youth. Alexander Jun analyzes theories of social and cultural capital, as well as the effects of incorporating family and community involvement on college preparation. The text proposes a framework of college preparation factors that requires a comprehensive and culturally responsive approach, affirming local identities and incorporating active participation of families to ensure long-term success. The book concludes with implications for educators who might administer programs in order to help identity factors that lead to programmatic success.

From Here to University examines factors leading to successful college preparation and academic mobility for historically underrepresented, low-income, inner-city youth. Alexander Jun analyzes theories of social and cultural capital, as well as the effects of incorporating family and community involvement on college preparation. The text proposes a framework of college preparation factors that requires a comprehensive and culturally responsive approach, affirming local identities and incorporating active participation of families to ensure long-term success. The book concludes with implications for educators who might administer programs in order to help identity factors that lead to programmatic success.

In White Jesus: The Architecture of Racism in Religion and Education, White Jesus is conceived as a socially constructed apparatus—a mythology that animates the architecture of salvation—that operates stealthily as a veneer for patriarchal White supremacist, capitalist, and imperialist sociopolitical, cultural, and economic agendas. White Jesus was constructed by combining empire, colorism, racism, education, and religion; the by-product is a distortion that reproduces violence in epistemic and physical ways. The authors distinguish White Jesus from Jesus of the Gospels, the one whose life, death, and resurrection demands sacrificial love as a response—a love ethic. White Jesus is a fraudulent scheme that many devotees of Jesus of Bethlehem naively fell for. This book is about naming the lies, reclaiming the person of Jesus, and reasserting a vision of power that locates Jesus of the Gospels in solidarity with the easily disposed. The catalytic, animating, and life-altering power of the cross of Jesus is enough to subdue White Jesus and his patronage.White Jesus can be used in a variety of academic disciplines, including education, religion, sociology, and cultural studies. Furthermore, the book will be useful for Christian institutions working to evaluate the images and ideologies of Jesus that shape their biblical ethics, as well as churches in the U.S. that are invested in breaking the mold of homogeneity, civil religion, and uncoupling commitments to patriotism from loyalty to one Kingdom. Educational institutions and religious organizations that are committed to combining justice and diversity efforts with a Jesus ethic will find White Jesus to be a compelling primer.

In White Jesus: The Architecture of Racism in Religion and Education, White Jesus is conceived as a socially constructed apparatus—a mythology that animates the architecture of salvation—that operates stealthily as a veneer for patriarchal White supremacist, capitalist, and imperialist sociopolitical, cultural, and economic agendas. White Jesus was constructed by combining empire, colorism, racism, education, and religion; the by-product is a distortion that reproduces violence in epistemic and physical ways. The authors distinguish White Jesus from Jesus of the Gospels, the one whose life, death, and resurrection demands sacrificial love as a response—a love ethic. White Jesus is a fraudulent scheme that many devotees of Jesus of Bethlehem naively fell for. This book is about naming the lies, reclaiming the person of Jesus, and reasserting a vision of power that locates Jesus of the Gospels in solidarity with the easily disposed. The catalytic, animating, and life-altering power of the cross of Jesus is enough to subdue White Jesus and his patronage.White Jesus can be used in a variety of academic disciplines, including education, religion, sociology, and cultural studies. Furthermore, the book will be useful for Christian institutions working to evaluate the images and ideologies of Jesus that shape their biblical ethics, as well as churches in the U.S. that are invested in breaking the mold of homogeneity, civil religion, and uncoupling commitments to patriotism from loyalty to one Kingdom. Educational institutions and religious organizations that are committed to combining justice and diversity efforts with a Jesus ethic will find White Jesus to be a compelling primer.

Two fundamental and underlying principles drive White Evolution. The first is that evolution means constant movement in the fight against the virus of White supremacy. If the virus is evolving rapidly, then our critical consciousness needs to evolve faster in order to outpace the supremacy. The second is that this evolution is not an individual act—it must be done in community. The genetic makeup of human beings points to the necessity of interdependence. Growth and development do not lead to a solitary life so much as to being a dependable person rooted in community. The origin of White supremacy, on the other hand, is in reproducing uniformity and eradicating diversity. In an ecological framework, uniformity and monoculture is harmful to an ecosystem that needs diversity of thought, creativity, culture, perspective, history, and economy to survive. The White supremacy intended to "preserve the race" has created an enduring system of violence against people of color and is simultaneously hurting the endurability of humanity in exchange for the immediate gains of supremacy. The book, White Evolution, recounts the historical movement toward supremacy and casts the possibility of a White evolution toward racial justice through collective critical consciousness. The constant struggle for racial consciousness has no arrival point. White consciousness will never be woke because there is no past tense and no plateau. When privilege and supremacy are akin to a constantly evolving and insidious virus (Whitefluenza), and the antidote is to outpace White evolution for supremacy with a White evolution for racial justice. This is not an individual task, but rather a systemic redesign and reconstruction of social systems and requiring the cultivation of a collective critical consciousness. White Evolution covers a great deal of historical detail and contemporary examples to explain and explore new possibilities for recognizing the importance of interdependence of humanity.

Two fundamental and underlying principles drive White Evolution. The first is that evolution means constant movement in the fight against the virus of White supremacy. If the virus is evolving rapidly, then our critical consciousness needs to evolve faster in order to outpace the supremacy. The second is that this evolution is not an individual act—it must be done in community. The genetic makeup of human beings points to the necessity of interdependence. Growth and development do not lead to a solitary life so much as to being a dependable person rooted in community. The origin of White supremacy, on the other hand, is in reproducing uniformity and eradicating diversity. In an ecological framework, uniformity and monoculture is harmful to an ecosystem that needs diversity of thought, creativity, culture, perspective, history, and economy to survive. The White supremacy intended to "preserve the race" has created an enduring system of violence against people of color and is simultaneously hurting the endurability of humanity in exchange for the immediate gains of supremacy. The book, White Evolution, recounts the historical movement toward supremacy and casts the possibility of a White evolution toward racial justice through collective critical consciousness. The constant struggle for racial consciousness has no arrival point. White consciousness will never be woke because there is no past tense and no plateau. When privilege and supremacy are akin to a constantly evolving and insidious virus (Whitefluenza), and the antidote is to outpace White evolution for supremacy with a White evolution for racial justice. This is not an individual task, but rather a systemic redesign and reconstruction of social systems and requiring the cultivation of a collective critical consciousness. White Evolution covers a great deal of historical detail and contemporary examples to explain and explore new possibilities for recognizing the importance of interdependence of humanity.

Knowledge is more expansive than the boundaries of the Western university model and its claim to be the dominant-or only-rigorous house of knowledge. In the former colonies of Europe (e.g., South Africa, Brazil, and Oceania), the curriculum, statues, architectures, and other aspects of the university demonstrate the way in which it is a fixture in empire maintenance. The trajectory of global White supremacy is deeply historical and contemporary-it is a global, transnational, and imperial phenomenon. White supremacy is sustained through the construction of inferiority and anti-Blackness. The context, history, and perspective offered by Collins, Newman, and Jun should serve as an introduction to the disruption of the ways in which university and academic dispositions have and continue to serve as sites of colonial and White supremacist preservation-as well as sites of resistance.

Knowledge is more expansive than the boundaries of the Western university model and its claim to be the dominant-or only-rigorous house of knowledge. In the former colonies of Europe (e.g., South Africa, Brazil, and Oceania), the curriculum, statues, architectures, and other aspects of the university demonstrate the way in which it is a fixture in empire maintenance. The trajectory of global White supremacy is deeply historical and contemporary-it is a global, transnational, and imperial phenomenon. White supremacy is sustained through the construction of inferiority and anti-Blackness. The context, history, and perspective offered by Collins, Newman, and Jun should serve as an introduction to the disruption of the ways in which university and academic dispositions have and continue to serve as sites of colonial and White supremacist preservation-as well as sites of resistance.

It explores various ways in which belief systems are part of the fabric of higher education – either implicitly or explicitly – and pursues a deeper understanding of the role of belief practices as it plays out in both private and public higher education.