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:Happy Easter 2019 Current_EventsSummer photos of the daughter.PersonalColorful variations of an upholstered desk chair for my fantasy #steampunk #blender3d proj…Aesthetics"A Mushroom at Last… A Mushroom Forever"I asked my 10yo why she was moping. “…AmusingHow are you holding up? What difficult choices have you made? How can we all help each oth…Carolyn and were recently cast…
Similar:Checking out of @frontporchtheatricals Grand Hotel. What an experience!My brother had already planned to visit …AestheticsThe daughter is working hard as a dancer and Flaemchen understudy. @frontporchtheatricalsCultureThe Fantasticks (Oct 18-27)PersonalMy colleague @crissycp offers warm soda bread and tea every year, as part of her authentic…AcademiaSibling Affection and Paternal Abstraction as Drawn By a Six-Year-Old; or,…
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:Replica of George Washington’s field camp. @fortligonierReplica of George Washington’s field cam…PersonalOpening night! So great to see live local theatre.PersonalGoogling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google.When I…
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. Â 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:My English major skills crushed the girl in Bananagrams.Wildcard? You mean quitter tile! GamesFamily, I Hear You. I Love You. Go Away. This Weekend, I'm Marking Papers.No, I don’t want to see the new jacket y…AcademiaThe Emissary (ST:TNG Rewatch: Season Two, Episode 20) — Enjoyable Worf-centered RomanceRewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….CultureRhythm of the Dance…
Similar:Radio News Delivery: How to Sound Like a Radio BroadcasterListen to a short news broadcast, such a…AestheticsStill shot from a flyover video that's been taking about 3 minutes to render each fra…AestheticsThe chief engineer does not know where the floating lamps are coming from, but he looks gr…AestheticsAfter Halloween where do all the pumpkins go?…
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:The Case for Breaking Up With Your ParentsI already felt fairly independent from m…Academia‘I’m sorry, but it’s too late’: Alabama doctor tells unvaccinated, dying COVID patientsDonald Trump is vaccinated. Mitch McConn…CultureMe Checking into My #4C19 Conference Hotel RoomI’ll just mark a few more papers before …AcademiaUntil next term, I…
This painting was inspired by the scene from Henry VI Part 2 that Carolyn used for her Shakespeare monologue last year. Similar:Journalists are vital to the health of a free nation. #firstamendnent #freepressPersonalThe Fantasticks closes today at 2.PersonalMy virtual army of grey capsules is just barely smart enough to follow my avatar around. #…My virtual…