Hum de dum. Not paying any attention to current events at all, just thinking about possibly teaching Richard III in my Shakespeare class this fall. Oh, look, Dwight Goodyear posted commentary on Agnes Heller’s book The Time is Out of Joint: Shakespeare as Philosopher of History. How interesting. You know, to those of us who care about…
My “Media Aesthetics” students worked with students from Elizabeth Jacobs’s “Social Psychology” class, where students wrote editorials and designed infographics about cognitive dissonance. My students helped the psychology students with their drafts, then chose essays they thought had a good chance of going viral, and used WordPress, Facebook, Twitter and Hootsuite to publicize those selections. Similar:The annual…
Similar:The only snow alert you'll ever need.AmusingMy kids are in a tree. How's your Friday?PersonalAfter your shift at the protocol station, join me in the officers' lounge, just up the spi… AestheticsIdeology shapes our view of reality, which affects what persuades us. EthicsJust submitted final grades for the compressed course that began the day after fall…
I loved listening to her practice the “Money, money, money, money, money” monologue in her mirror. Similar:Fake Kitsch! Not Really the 80s! There is a part of me that misses …AestheticsHow much of what local TV stations post to Facebook is actually local? For many, right aro…I am not a fan of TV news, and…
A Republican Facebook friend posted a link to this article, which acknowledges that there’s plenty to dislike about Trumpcare, but challenges the truth behind some of the statements that are driving online outrage. Remember the Trump administration’s strategy — do something that invokes outrage, pounce and call it “fake news” as soon as someone exaggerates…
Similar:7 ways for teachers to beat the Sunday bluesTell yourself, I am rejecting these thou…EducationTWEEN GIRL: "What's a tribble?"TWEEN GIRL: “What’s a tribble?” MY GE…PersonalWhat blogging wasI’ve maintained this blog since the spri…CybercultureSome new locations for my #neovictorian #steampunk personal project. Created in #blender3d…AestheticsYesterday it was 298 so this is actually a good number.Personal5 Fun…
An interesting piece. Easy-to-learn hypertext authoring tools like Twine and TextureWriter have encouraged many of my students to give this kind of storytelling a try. As longtime experimenters and scholars in interactive narrative who are now building a new academic discipline we call “computational media,” we are working to create new forms of interactive storytelling,…
In the early 20th century, print journalists often identified with the working class. Small newspapers were created by and read by people who live and often grew up in the same area. Online jobs tend to clump around big cities, meaning that reporters increasingly live in a media bubble that isolates them from the life…
Similar:Rude mechanical sighting! Shakespearing it up with @newrentheatreco.PersonalSafety is a good thing.PersonalMy colleague Dr. Cusick bakes Irish soda bread every year to honor Saint Patrick's Day.AcademiaOpening night of Sive.PersonalAnother day, another 10 square centimeters of #steampunk control panel. #blender3d #blende…AestheticsWide-angle view of a villain’s secret lair. #blender3dAesthetics
Members of the Herald’s editorial guild are boycotting Twitter this week after reporter Chris Villani was suspended without pay for three days for violating the company’s social media policy. Villani’s misstep? An April 20 tweet stating, “The notes found in #AaronHernandez cell were letters to his daughter & fiancee, saying he loved them & would see…
Similar:Go not to the elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.PersonalProgress over 11 years of Blender3D practiceOver the past few years I have created l…AestheticsMidsummer opens tomorrow.Personal5 Fun Ways to Help Your Kids Learn Math OnlineMy son has finally found a math textbook…CybercultureMy older brother falls to my son's chess skills.PersonalMidterm…
Adolescence took a long time to be invented at all, and it took an even longer time to become a somewhat stable archetype. It’s only in recent human history that people a) live long enough for adolescence to be a different physical experience than adulthood; and b) live in a society that indulges an extended…
I’m not saying that the Upward Bound kids deserved to be punished because application writers didn’t follow formatting instructions. I am saying that formatting matters. When your professors put “formatting” on the rubric, they aren’t simply trying to make your life difficult. For the want of double spacing in a small section of a 65-page…
My daughter will be playing Dolly Levi Friday night. Similar:Making more retro props for a #blender3d project. The way to get better at a thing is to d…PersonalChristopher Robin made for a pleasant family outing.PersonalAnother section of a #steampunk control panel. Useful for a cutaway shot after a character…AestheticsMasked, vaxxed, and settling in to watch…
Mix the paranoia of 1984, the absurdity of Brazil, the pathos of Chekhov, the social commentary of Moliere, and a healthy dose of “When Mike and Carol swap jobs, the Bradys are on a collision course for wackiness.” Quantum Theatre’s “Collaborators” is a fascinating study of power, integrity, and compromise. (Sound designer Joe Pino directed…
Similar:At the Johnstown Flood Museum. (May 31 1889 the neglected dam at the South Fork Fishing an…At the Johnstown Flood Museum. (May 31 1…CultureEnjoying some sibling nerdtime with Lego The Hobbit.GamesHow long has Google Docs let you pop up a window with your current word count? Why wasn’t …PersonalWhere the press is free, and every…
A good exploration, in the light of current interest in “fake news,” of the troubled relationship between conservative Christianity’s understanding of truth and secular experts’ understanding of facts. (Mainstream Protestantism and Catholicism have negotiated this difference much more smoothly.) But it wasn’t Christianity, or religious faith itself in general, that helped make Republican voters more likely…
Analyzing humor, as E.B. White famously said, is like dissecting a frog; few people are interested and the frog dies of it. Nonetheless, writing humor is a highly logical exercise — fit idea X into form Y for humorous result Z — and can therefore be broken down in ways that more slippery kinds of…
Similar:Settling in for a jukebox show (not my favorite genre but the Go-Gos are fun).PersonalStudents present their research for the Celebration of Writing @setonhilluniversityPersonalA former student contacted me to share her thoughts.A few years ago, I told myself I would s…AcademiaJust a #steampunk captain inspecting the æther power orbs. #Blender3D #Unity3D #design #ae…AestheticsDean Jones…
Art conveys significance; however, much of that significance is constructed by the receiver. That’s why I care less about what a work of art “means” and more about what it “does.” Understanding what a work of art does requires interpretation. The context of a work of art can contribute to the significance of the artwork in surprising…