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:She feels pretty at the dress rehearsal (opens Thursday)On the ride home, in the middle of a spi…AmusingThey still need work but we have 2 weeks before classes start, so I feel pretty good.They still need work but we have 2 weeks…Personal"A Mushroom at Last… A Mushroom Forever"I asked my 10yo…

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:Happy retirement celebration to two dear colleagues.AcademiaTime Squared (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 13)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…PersonalSolitaire ChessSpent a relaxing evening in playing soli…AmusingImaginary vs Real Office SpaceHere’s a fantasy workspace, that I built…AcademiaEssay on the flaws of distance educationThe web also creates the illusion that a…AcademiaIn…

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:The Trouble With Online EducationI’ve taught an online “Video Game Cultur…AcademiaFancy iPad Holder with Compartment For Storing Your BabyFisher-Price enters the Apple aftermarke…AestheticsA 20 sq cm…

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:Headphones, Croutons and RhetoricME (with crouton tongs in one hand and s…CultureEntire staff of Russian TV channel resigned during a live stream with last words: “no war”…The Entire staff of the Russian TV chann…AestheticsHappy ice cream turkey cake day. AestheticsMost Television From Before 2000 Is Trapped in the Uncanny ValleyJust as the technological innovation…

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:Do you really keep a diary?ALGERNON Do you really keep a diary? I’d…AmusingWhy did I only blog 3 times in June 2001?What was I doing during the summer of Ju…CybercultureAfter 10 Years of Blogs, the…

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”),…