Why trust me?

I’m an Ent.

Yes, really.

You know the scene in The Lord of the Rings, when Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard, and they ask him what side he is on.

What does Treebeard tell them?

“I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me.”

Which does not mean that Treebeard is a coward or unwilling to march when his trees are in danger. Only that he does not take sides in the Great Wars between Elves and Men, just as they do not usually take the side of the Ents and trees.

I’m with Treebeard. I have a hard time taking sides in the Great Wars because nobody ever seems to be altogether on mine.

Another way of saying the same thing is that, like my Scots-Presbyterian ancestors, I live on the borders, coming from the middle of the country, but spending my career in the ports.

Or perhaps I take more after my German ancestors, invisible to most histories and yet everywhere in the story once you know where to look.

Or perhaps I have been shaped most by growing up on the edges of empire, born in the city of the crusader king, growing up in the cities of New Spain and the riverboats, educated in the great cities of the coasts, teaching on the shores of the Lake of the Midwest.

It’s easiest just to say, “Ent,” and reiterate:

“I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me.”

Which means: you can trust what I say to be from my side, which hopefully means bringing a fresh perspective on the Great Wars between the sides that everybody else seems to be taking, while being clear about my own.

My Credentials

1. I grew up Presbyterian, but I was received into the Roman Catholic Church in March 2017.

2. I have been teaching at the University of Chicago since 1994, but I have never taught a course crosslisted in Gender Studies, although most of my scholarship is on devotion to the Virgin Mary.

3. I voted for Obama in 2008, but not in 2012. I voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, and from 2021-2022, I served on the Cultural Property Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of State, as commissioned by President Trump before he left office in January 2021.

4. I sued my own institution in autumn 2021 for a religious exemption from the vaccine mandate. The next year, when the university mandated weekly testing for those granted exemptions, I started the Corona Testing Control Group. The group has met weekly on campus for the past two years to pray for wisdom and peace, including peace with Russia and in the Middle East.

5. I am a fourth-generation woman in academia—my great-grandmother graduated from college in Arkansas, both my grandmothers went to college, and my mother was a practicing M.D.—but I am adamant that women and men should have their own spaces, including in sports.

6. I set up my academic homepage in 2002; I have been active in social media and with blogging on the Internet since 2008; and I have been live-streaming and making videos since 2017, but I also publish books and articles in my academic field.

7. You may have heard of me if you pay attention to Milo or Vox Day (see my Wikipedia page). Check out my academic homepage if you want a fuller picture of my teaching and publications.

Think Benedictine in a world of pilgrims. Or medievalist in a world of modernists. Or handmaid of Our Lady in service to her Son.

References

On (Not) Having a Side, or Embracing My Inner Ent — January 7, 2016

Between the Baskets, Mary and Me — February 6, 2016

White Privilege — November 12, 2016

Why I will not wear a safety pin — November 23, 2016

Bear’s Two Bodies — March 5, 2017

An Open Letter to the President and Provost of the University of Chicago: Save Our School — January 13, 2022