Entries by Jeffrey Ian Ross

AI and the Dreaded College Essay

In the coming weeks, college students will begin writing their dreaded end-of-semester essays. But the landscape has changed. The rise of free, publicly available Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tools like ChatGPT and ClaudeAI has transformed how many students do their work. Since these tools became widely accessible, reliance on them has skyrocketed, leaving educational institutions […]

Why Virginia’s Cooperation with ICE is a Misguided Policy & Practice

Following Indiana Governor Mike Braun’s lead, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin recently signed an executive order enabling state and local law enforcement agencies (and jails) to assist federal authorities, specifically Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in detaining and extraditing undocumented immigrants. This policy is neither new nor effective—it has been tried with predictable consequences, including strained […]

The Never-Ending Demonization of the American Inner City

This past week, Trump proposed an executive order aimed at increasing sentences for violent crimes (especially gun-related), quality-of-life offenses (e.g., public urination),  the clearing of homeless encampments, and the removal of graffiti from national monuments in the District of Columbia. Notwithstanding whether Trump has the legal authority to impose these sanctions, over the past century, […]

Tracing the History of Documenting and Sharing Images of Graffiti & Street Art

The documentation and dissemination of images of contemporary graffiti and street art have been integral to its existence and development. Meanwhile, how people have shared images of this material has evolved. Much of this shift parallels advances in photographic, computer, digital, and web-based technology and the culture’s response to these developments. While practitioners and audiences […]

No Soul in the New Hotel?

I’ve stayed in everything from budget hostels to luxury hotels—and, most recently, so-called smart hotels. With this last type of accommodation most interactions with the hotel and the room are either automated, and/or customers can do this through their smartphone or computer.  Guests are usually given a code to check in and out and to […]