The First Amendment of the constitution protects the incoming students’ right to say whatever they like, even if Harvard doesn’t like it. And, as a private institution that is not regulated by the First Amendment, Harvard has the right to kick out incoming students unwise enough to exercise their rights in this manner. (The government…
Just as comedians generally don’t laugh at their own jokes, Shakespeare doesn’t call too much attention to his own linguistic cleverness, which is one reason his work rewards close scrutiny. It’s not that he was being deliberately obscure or flowery — though some of his obsequious characters definitely exhibit such speech patterns. One line of…
Similar:Weekly and seasonal patterns in visits to an MLA Style tips pageThe WordPress extension Jetpack provided…AcademiaTrump and JFK: Masters of New MediaI didn’t use Newsweek’s clickbaity headl…CultureVintage Freebies for DesignersI wish I had time for cool stuff like th…AestheticsOur news is dominated by people in expensive suits, shouting at each otherMost of the time, I…
Similar:Stage Right's 'Seussical' offers songs, messagesThe Tribune-Review does a great job cove…Current_EventsSpaghetti dinner with my son.PersonalCarolyn as Hodel and Peter as Lazar in the Stage Right homeschool Fiddler on the Roof.PersonalWhen students don't show up during office hours: I adjusted the cabinet and added a new (s…AestheticsMisaligned interior and exterior portholes. Bulkheads from the…
Could the absurd examples of bizarre public discourse please stop happening so I can investifart some of them? Similar:The woman and the car: a chatty little handbook for all women who motor or want to motor (…Great piece of history, from 1909. Dorot…AmusingMy Dad Is a Right-Wing Asshole (Village Voice)A closed-minded liberal writing a letter…CultureBlood &…
Most research subjects, when offered the chance to win $10 and read essays that opposed their views, or $7 and read essays that confirmed their views, chose comfort over the higher potential prize. Liberals and conservatives reacted basically the same–with liberals slightly less willing to read conservative views. (I changed the click-baity headline, which sensationalized the issue…
I remember being fascinated with and challenged by The Waste Land in high school, though it wasn’t until I read some of Eliot’s essays in college that it all sunk in. The same man who could write such clear, sensible prose when he wanted to explain could also construct densely packed, layered, gnostic verse. What…
Fake news is frustrating. Nothing new there. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Students in my freshman writing class often want to write their first college research paper on the topic of unrealistic images of women in advertising. Their first thesis is often something like “Advertisers should not damage women’s self-esteem by promoting…
I didn’t use Newsweek’s clickbaity headline: “Trump and JFK Are More Alike Than We Like To Think.” They are different in many ways, but JFK was remembered for mastering the new medium of television (people who listened to the Nixon/Kennedy debates on radio were more likely to believe Nixon won, but those who watched the…
To believe Donald Trump, you must believe two largely contradictory things. | You must believe that there are a slew of leakers in the executive branch who are providing damning details to the press illegally, and who must be rooted out and punished. punished….You must also believe that the press makes up imaginary leakers simply…
The girl was singing lyrics she learned from a friend. They were so bad I had to Google them. But the animation and tune were better than I expected. Wocka-chicka makes everything better, including this cheesy-but-catchy orc song from the 1980s animated Return of the King. Saving this for the next time I need motivation. Similar:Today’s…
While Pittsburgh has become more metropolitan in the last generation, the culture here one county to the east still bears witness to its rust belt past. This may sound dull as ditch water to those who believe that the “flyover” states are inhabited largely by clodhoppers, fundamentalist zealots and loudmouthed Babbitts. In fact, Lauck’s aim…
I like introducing my English majors to coding. Here’s a computer scientist who’s returning the favor, advocating the importance of writing skills. “If you succeed in attaining a position that allows you to do something great, if you do something that really is great, and if you realize that it’s great, there’s still one more…
By the end of the semester you will be able to: * Write a good clickbait headline * Fire off a snappy tweet to trolls * Use facts ironically to disprove the President * Locate Sean Spicer in a variety of diverse hiding places * Pin a congressional candidate in under 60 seconds —McSweney’s Internet…
Similar:Man enough to sew my own computer bag. Insecure enough to seek validation on social media …AmusingEnjoyed making a 3D print of the captain’s chair from the #steampunk bedtime stories I use…Enjoyed making a 3D print of the captain…PersonalHome Soil (TNG Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 17)The concept was good, and the production…PersonalToday's 10 sq cm…
Successful people may just be lucky; focusing too much on their successes can silence the honorable failures that we can all stand to learn from. People who consider themselves “lucky” take more risks, and are therefore more likely to discover opportunities. They brush off their failures rather than dwell on them. People who consider themselves…
I wrote the following in 2004, when my son was 6 and my daughter was 2. The time is waning that my son will want nothing more than to play Battleship and The Magnificent Race with me all afternoon. Some day I’ll make a silly joke, and my daughter won’t giggle with glee, she will…
Sobering analysis. Would I be able to follow this advice in the unthinkable event I had a personal account to share? Terrorists use social media to recruit, but they also depend on you and the media to use it to amplify their message…. The motivation for terrorism is not mere murder or maiming but the…
Does the world need another working definition of digital humanities? Do you have one? Here’s mine. Digital Humanities is the deliberate, critical application of emerging technology to the study of traditional subjects such as literature, art, philosophy, and language, often (but not always) with a focus on how those traditional fields are now using emerging…
Many a high school student has muddled through a book report in a single caffeine-fueled sitting, but successful research term papers or quarterly progress reports require planning. In technical writing, a prototype might be a full table of contents (with summaries for each major section) and one or two complete chapters. If conducting a survey is…