They weren’t the most newsworthy part of Trump’s Florida rally yesterday, but I’m just taking a moment to acknowledge a journalist who is using muted language, in keeping with the charge of journalists to report objectively. It’s perfectly neutral to place, deep in the body of the article, a note about the president’s claim that…
Similar:NASA Releases New Earthrise ImageNASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO…AestheticsHow 'Fiddler On The Roof' (And Writing Its Sequel) Helped An Actress Find ClosureI’m not sure what I think of this yet. M…BooksThe Library Adjacent to My Ethership Control Room Needed BooksFor me, summer vacation means spending h…AestheticsSledding in Spring Break SnowMy wife suddenly decided I should be a…
16yo Carolyn Jerz performs “A Little Priest” with 14yo Ben Federico. A video clip can capture only part of the magic created by a huge, committed cast, live musicians, and an attentive audience. (Support the arts in your community!) Similar:Modular support craft from the #neovictorian #steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell my …Modular support…
Similar:#SHUConvocation is about to begin @setonhilluniversityPersonalOn Office Hours and Student Contact at the Small Liberal Arts College I don’t expect students to be constantl…AcademiaMinneapolis protest cleanup: Did you share this meme without fact-checking it? (Don’t spre… A Facebook meme with 52k reactions a…CultureJust a random side corridor in the #neovictorian #steampunk cruiser I've been building…
Here’s a thought… nothing you can write can possibly encourage me to click through 40 separate chunks of text. Bye. Similar:A Fistful of Datas (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 8) Worf Trapped in Western S…Rewatching ST:TNG Silly Gagh-Western …AmusingNo, this pie chart does not mean that anyone at CNBC believes the typical 25 year…
Sometimes my students get nervous because I ask them to learn writing by, you know, writing. For some other subjects, it makes sense to ease students into the work, having them memorize facts to recall for points on multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank quizzes. But writers gotta write. That means taking risks, and occasionally stumbling. In a…
After I read Mark Sample’s blog post “What about Blogging Keeps Me from Blogging,” I tried to post a comment lamenting that I miss blog comments. I ran into these fun problems. Similar:Smith College Protesters Bar Journalists From Covering Sit-In Unless They Support the Caus…Reporters planning to cover the sit-in a…AcademiaRussian trolls 'spreading discord'…
Words apparently spoken by the President of the United States. If you trust the news organization that reported what he said. But the President has no reason to mislead the public. He loves the public probably more than anybody. Believe me. Similar:How to Think Like ShakespeareSaving this for the next time I teach Sh…AcademiaA…
Verrit, like Snopes, Politifact, and a host of other fact-checking sites, reflect fundamental misunderstandings about how information circulates online, what function political information plays in social contexts, and how and why people change their political opinions. Fact-checking is in many ways a response to the rapidly changing norms and practices of journalism, news gathering, and…
Helping my students understand how my role as a college literature teacher differs from the role of a high school English teacher is a sometimes daunting task. Preparing students for a standardized reading test is completely unlike teaching them about a work of classic literature. In an English class addressing The Great Gatsby, depending on student ability…
In my freshman writing class, my job is to teach students how to write a researched essay. I encourage students to pick topics that interest them, but I warn them that if they go into their project already convinced that one answer is correct (that euthanasia should/should not be legal, that abortion is murder/healthcare, that…
Similar:Work-Life Balance, from 11(!) Years AgoI think I’m managing work-life balance p…AcademiaHey there, chaotic world in academia and beyond, could you settle down just a bit so I can…AcademiaDaughter is in 2 theatrical productions opening this weekendThe daughter plays Laertes in Seton Hill…BooksMy students were awesome. So many thoughtful final projects. So much growth. A…
Similar:Carolyn made it to the next round of the 2017 PPT Shakespeare Monologue contest. Finals ar…CultureThe Penance of Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, by Edwin Austin Abbey.This painting was inspired by the scene …AestheticsI'm not tired of @shu.pippin yet! Final performance is sold out.PersonalPreparing for some serious nerd time with the family this summerSet phasers to…
On this date in 1999, I first dated an entry in the collection of web links I had been curating since at least that January. Similar:Brass desk lamp, with translucent green shade and glowing light bulb filament. #blender3dPersonalDevil's Due (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 13) Picard vs. sexy devil ArdraRewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year…
Above is my response to a meme that makes some shaky assumptions about the purpose of an English classroom. Exploring the intent of the author is a huge part of the English discipline, but it’s far from the only way to study (or teach) literature. Author intent, new historicism, reader-response, structuralism… the list goes on.…
I can sympathize with the sentiment, but the top part of this meme (the white text on black background) is not how I’d frame the situation. My take (which I’ve added underneath the original) is that when two sources disagree, assuming that one must be right and the other must be wrong is a form…
This fascinating essay, by the grandchild of a Nigerian slave trader, explores a complex cultural legacy. At least as provocative as “Did Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson Love Each Other?” and the stunning, bitter “Molasses to Rum (to Slaves)” from the otherwise cheery musical 1776. African intellectuals tend to blame the West for the slave…
My wife Leigh received a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant towards producing the small-cast drama Full Bloom. She’s found a good space and found the right cast, and so we’re doing the whole crazy “Hey, let’s put on a show” thing again! If you’re within shouting distance, and you think the arts should matter…
This is why journalism matters: The Atlantic offers a good overview of the confusing fact that the official transcripts published by the White House and the Russian government don’t match the video. Compare this transcript, of what actually happened, to the White House’s version. Here is the record of what took place, starting with the…
We’re all still reeling from Trump’s statement yesterday that he “didn’t see any reason why it would be” true that Russia had meddled with the US election. Standing there next to Putin, he publicly rejected the positions of multiple US intelligence authorities. Today, in the face of blistering criticism from foes and friends alike, including…