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:And yes, that's her picture in the program (from the PPT Shakespeare contest).At PPT’s The Diary of Anne Frank. …CultureThe boy is visiting the Prohibition exhibit @HistoryCenter while I continue at NeMLA.PersonalDance of "the awkward nerd trying to act really cool" Carolyn (doing a really cool dance m…AestheticsIt not only went VROOM, it carried chunky plastic…
Similar:Jaw-dropping moments of insight and humanity. So funny, so edgy, so affirming! I did not e…PersonalThe Cosmic Brownie fairy has visited my office. Is “brownie fairy” redundant? Thank you an…PersonalHappy Sweet Sixteen, Carolyn!The girl spent her birthday weekend open…PersonalStudents present their research for the Celebration of Writing @setonhilluniversityPersonalThere, in my morning snapshot of the kids…
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:15 Times "Filler Text" Became a Journalist's Worst EnemyIt doesn’t happen often but when filler …AmusingWashington Post, Breaking News, Is Also Breaking New GroundThe Washington Post, famous for breaking…BusinessI had…
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…
I have always taken a neutral stance in my journalism classes, modeling the objective nature of reporting the news “without fear or favor.” I shall continue to uphold reporting designed to publish objective truth, and criticize and expose exaggeration, rumor, wishful thinking, and outright lies presented in the guise of truth. This fall, I…
When a Facebook friend asked for tips on teaching a large class, I inventoried what I’ve learned about the flipped classroom. For the classes I teach on a regular basis, sometimes online and sometimes in-person, I’ve had many opportunities to develop stand-alone resources that I reuse. For example, I’ve recorded some stand-alone audio lectures on…
Journalist Sam Husseini, who had been holding a sign that said “Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty,” was forcibly removed from the Trump/Putin press briefing in Helsinki today.
10 points to CNN’s Oliver Darcy for working both “when asked about” and “this reporter” into a news story that was not written by a supporting character in a 1940s gangster flick. When asked by this reporter how the company could claim it was serious about tackling the problem of misinformation online while simultaneously allowing…
Similar:The girl as Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn and Thorin. #proudofthegirl #notentirelysurewhy #still…AestheticsA brief respite from grading. A brief respite from grading. Personali trained an ai chatbot on my childhood journal entries – so that i could engage in real-t…I kept a journal from Feb 3 1983 (the da…CultureAfter the haircut. The girl seems to like it.PersonalThis…
Similar:Understanding Anti-SLAPP laws – The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the PressShort for strategic lawsuits against pub…EthicsUneasy Lies the Head — Tyrant: Shakespeare on PowerJohn Stubbs reviews Stephen Grenblatt’s …AcademiaPfully Pfizered and pfeeling pfine so pfar. Current_EventsReturn to Grace #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 14) Kira supercharges Dukat's cl…Rewatching ST:DS9 Played for laughs, …EthicsThe girl…
In my lit and writing classes, I regularly encounter STEM students who are frustrated because I won’t deliver a lecture that tells them “what the poem means” and then give them points for spitting back the “correct answer.” Likewise, when I teach a math unit in my journalism class, I regularly encounter word-oriented students who…
I don’t click on headlines that use words like “might be” or “possibly.” Journalists are not in the business of reporting what might happen. Neither do they repeat rumors. A thing is not necessarily true just because a source — such as the neighborhood busybody, a crook caught red-handed, a prankster, or the President of the…
At the Carnegie Museum of Art. Similar:Harper Lee to publish new novel, 55 years after To Kill a MockingbirdLee said in an announcement from her pub…BooksIn-person classes heighten age-related hearing problems (opinion)My family tells me I’m starting to speak…AcademiaSpent the morning in a socially distanced recording studio.PersonalAfter lights out, the girl is knitting.PersonalAnother delightful #blender3d…
This painting was inspired by the scene from Henry VI Part 2 that Carolyn used for her Shakespeare monologue last year. Similar:A student who is writing her research paper on Taylor Swift made a passing reference to Ka…PersonalMy meme about the distracted boyfriend memeAmusingThe Anatomy of an Amazon 6-pagerIn the halls of power at Amazon,…