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:Many familiar faces in this cast but this one is my favorite. Sold out opening of Grand Ho…PersonalFather-daughter bonding between takes.That’s a prop knife in my right hand. Aesthetics‘Broken Age’ ReviewThis will be my self-reward when I finis…CybercultureI played Pseudolus freshman year in college. Haven't seen the show in a while.Amusing"The Nightmare of Prince Prezelsky"Leigh,…
Similar:My theory: Trump was composing therapeutic poetry, and got stuck on the last line. PersonalI just caught myself thinking, “This doesn’t suck.” #medievalyork #mysteryplay #blender3d …I just caught myself thinking, “This doe…AestheticsJust submitted final grades for the compressed course that began the day after fall grades…PersonalThis is the first time during the pandemic that we’ve brought…
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:The Nth Degree (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 4, Episode 19) Barclay Evolves Rewatching ST:TNG Engineering schlub …MediaGreat Twitter thread on Aaron Burr, from the Internet ArchiveFunny what you find in books.…
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:1,000-pound rosary sends heavy message: PrayThe rosary that retired quarry worker Be…AestheticsMy daughter was five or six when she created the character “Moonbot” for the #steampunk be…https://youtu.be/GoWiNB_tlJ8 AestheticsSamaritan Snare (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 17)(Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generati…DramaIn a literature class, the author's words matter more than the author's life and times, or……
Similar:More details in the powder room of my villain's lair. #Blender3DAestheticsWoman comments on man's looks. Man FREAKS OUT.If I ever over-react to a tweet, I hope …AestheticsJames Goodwin Clonney: Mother's WatchThis painting, of two impish children ta…AestheticsA woman approached The Post with dramatic — and false — tale about Roy Moore. She appears …This looks…
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:Office Hours in the Pool Hall My favorite story comes from the week …AcademiaState officials: Bushy Run staff must consult with Native groups before staging reenactmen…When my kids were younger, trips to Busy…CultureHow’s newsgathering during COVID-19 at the state level? Depends on the governor.Journalists covering state responses to …CultureThe…
This painting was inspired by the scene from Henry VI Part 2 that Carolyn used for her Shakespeare monologue last year. Similar:The hidden billion-dollar cost of repeated police misconductThe story notes that when police departm…CultureThe ballroom of my #steampunk fantasy space cruiser is now a less lonely place. Thanks to watching many, many YouTub…AestheticsThe daughter…