Editor-in-Chief Ananya Prakash Media Director Quinn Whitman

Analyzing a Material Culture is a five-part special report on socio-economic class at ASL and its implications. The report examines classism’s presence at ASL and how it impacts students and the assumptions they have. Look out for the next four parts which will be coming out next week.

The first thing Social Studies Teacher Chris Wolf hears students asking each other after a vacation is ‘where did you go?’ Wolf believes that the question not only implies families must have enough wealth to travel, but also touches on disparities in transportation accessible to students, whether it be travelling economy class on an airplane or taking a private jet.

For Wolf, this simple question of travel is a glimpse into how classism manifests itself in the community. Wolf defines classism as “constructing a set of assumptions about wealth and benefit that stratify people, and then because of that stratification, determines how you interact with them.”

Through such preconceived expectations of financial situations, Wolf finds similar subtle ways in which classism is apparent. “I don’t find that there is a lot of overt classism, but I think a lot of it plays out in the assumed interactions or the meanings people interpret behind interactions,” Wolf said.

Look out for the next four parts of this special report next week. Part 2: Misconceptions/Location will be posted on Monday, October 22.

Graphic by Quinn Whitman