Missing Freshman Comp – Lingua Franca – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Have you hugged your college’s freshman writing course today? (Not the students, not the teachers—we don’t want disciplinary hearings. The course.) Like most who have worked in English departments, I was rarely excited to be assigned freshman rhetoric (as it was called where I started). The essay-grading was back-breaking and social-life-destroying, to say nothing of…

Reports suggest UVa board wanted president to eliminate language programs

Apparently, her defense of the classics and German was among the reasons UVa recently ousted the presudent. As a grad student needing to beef up my foreign kanguage credentuals, I took the summer German course Herr McDonald comments on here. William C. McDonald, director of undergraduate studies in German at the university, stressing that he…

Father’s Day Kirktopus

via Rainbow Hector Weblog Similar:First they came… #kristallnacht @nccheshuFirst they came… #kristallnacht @ncchesh…PersonalThe other day I did a socialize with some of my Humanities colleagues. (I am proud of myse…PersonalRandom sibling selfie.PersonalMy daughter was five or six when she created the character “Moonbot” for the #steampunk be…https://youtu.be/GoWiNB_tlJ8  AestheticsSame photo, two different interpretations.This is why I…

Teresa Sullivan fired from UVA: What happens when universities are run by robber barons.

On Monday Dragas, sensing that the university community might want some explanation for such a radical act, sent out a second message: “The Board believes this environment calls for a much faster pace of change in administrative structure, in governance, in financial resource development and in resource prioritization and allocation. We do not believe we…

My daughter playing “Alice in Wonderland” in her dollhouse

Stop drinking from random bottles, child! Similar:Combating Shakespearean shrinkage – Shakespeare & BeyondThe worst reaction to Shakespeare’s comp…CultureA certain potions instructor is done with everything after submitting midterm grades. (Har…AcademiaShip in a Bottle (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 12) Barclay's holodeck hack br…Rewatching ST:TNG Data and LaForge ar…CybercultureMy contribution to WAOB Audio Theatre’s plan…

Kindle iOS Update

I find it really amazing that it has taken this long for Amazon to finally shrink that ridiculously huge margin, which persisted like fake stirrups on a horseless carriage. Similar:Emily Short's advice on writing great game protagonistsAt GDC 2015, noted interactive fiction g…CybercultureFake News Can Be Deadly. Here's How To Spot ItWe are all vectors…

9-Year-Old Who Changed School Lunches Silenced By Politicians

This young blogger has learned a very important lesson about power and privilege. I’m sure the story does not end here. We anguish about getting kids to be enthusiastic about healthy, sustainable food — to not prefer the bad stuff, not waste the good stuff, and not be entitled little monsters who whine about when their next…

Happy Flag Day from Stage Right Musical Theatre Campers (Greensburg, Pennsylvania)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BYkuRBVXN4 Similar:My Kids Are Shatner Than MostI passed along to my geeklings an apprec…DramaMr. President, stop attacking the pressReagan recognized that as leader of the …CultureAnother delightful caricature by Rebecca ScassellatiAestheticsStudent Journalists Are Our Future—We Should Start Treating Them Like ItCatherine Palmer was already a seasoned …CulturePart of my daily routine is practicing German for…

Grocery Store Lesson

As a kid, I loved the feeling of confidence that came when my mom handed me a few bucks at the pool and told me I could get what I wanted from the concession stand. Since my main responsibility for the afternoon was to keep the kids occupied, and I was in no rush to…

Testing

I’ve been having some problems with the WordPress iOS app. Just testing. This should be a robot inspecting a donut. Similar:Why did I only blog 3 times in June 2001?What was I doing during the summer of Ju…CybercultureAI crawlers destroying websites in hunger for contentTraffic on my website has plunged over t…BusinessWhy I Rarely Blog…

Pride and Pedantry

“What’s a meme?” I took my daughter to the birthday party of a 12-year-old friend yesterday, and hung around with the adults as the kids splashed in the pool. After a round of Chuck Norris jokes with his dad (“When Chuck Norris goes into the water, he doesn’t get wet, the water gets Chuck Norrissed”),…