A Career-Aligned Major Isn’t Enough

I’ve taken over teaching the English department’s relatively new career focus sequence, so I’m more than usually invested in these ideas. It’s time for faculty and administrators to be blunt: postgraduation success, more than ever, requires a demanding curriculum that includes extensive writing, facility with data and statistics, and extensive opportunities for collaboration and critical…

The Terrible Things I Have Said and Done My Entire Life, and Right Up Until a Few Days Ago, Do Not Represent Me As a Person

The media constantly takes things I say and then repeats them on their news shows and in their magazines, and they always leave something out, like the thing I haven’t even said yet that lets you know I don’t believe the thing I already said. If the media wants to be completely accurate, they should…

Enjoyed watching the restored version of the hugely influential 1927 sci-fi movie #Metropolis

Enjoyed watching the restored version of the hugely influential 1927 sci-fi movie #Metropolis I hadn’t seen any of the 20m or so of restored footage. Added main title music was good, but repetitive and not always emotionally aligned with the story. The print was very clear, with crisp details. Nothing like the version I saw…

Oscar Wilde and the Importance of Being Earnest (Part 1 of 2)

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Friday night board game therapy. #startrek #monopoly

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Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu Logo

Having a rough day. But in a span of about 24 hours, three former students reached out to thank me.

One former student said I’m the only adult male in their life who ever supported their creative efforts. A second former student posted an essay on social media, describing bouncing back from alcohol and cocaine addiction, and after mentioning several life-savers, mentioned me in the final line of the essay — thanking me for teaching…

Universities must stop presuming that all students are tech-savvy

Although considerable resources have been invested in helping teachers retool, not much has been done to assist their pupils. Instead, it has been taken for granted that 21st-century youth naturally become fluent in any technology, even without explicit directions. While supposedly clueless instructors are given a plethora of tips and tricks – like the OK,…

Candlemas, by John Henry Newman (read by Dennis Jerz for WAOB Audio Theater)

I enjoyed reading this short John Henry Newman poem for WAOB Audio Theater. Similar:Perspective | Could ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ really be done? We found out. The three of us approach them in…AmusingMe (glares in iambic pentameter)Me: I need to post the opening lecture f…AcademiaFeature: History Lesson: the treasured past of LucasArts point and clicksI…

Figured out how to configure my iPad as an external monitor for my laptop. Much more efficient when working between errands at the mall. Ready for Spring 2021. (Finally!)

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A masked, socially distant museum visit. So nice to get away from syllabuses and email for a day.

Ford built about a half dozen of these custom cars designed by Allegheny Steel. I’m not a car guy so I can’t place it beyond that. Similar:Some new locations for my #neovictorian #steampunk personal project. Created in #blender3d…AestheticsA stranger approached me today.A stranger approached me today. I was a…CultureKids Today: A Response to Mark Bauerlein…

Playwright #AugustWilson Takes Center Stage on U.S. Postal Service Commemorative Forever Stamp #AugustWilsonForever #BlackHeritageStamps

Playwright August Wilson Takes Center Stage on U.S. Postal Service Commemorative Forever Stamp 📬📃🖊 #AugustWilsonForever #BlackHeritageStamps https://t.co/Ezj04lKcPa — U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) January 28, 2021 Similar:There Is A Difference Between Middle Grade and Young Adult Lit, and It Does Matter Adolescence took a long time to be inven…BooksAugust Wilson Trifecta (Two Trains, Ma Rainey and Fences…

No, these “Perspective matters” photographers aren’t misrepresenting the size of a fire in Paris

I have shared and liked this image, and incorporated it in lesson plans. The juxtaposition suggests that the little knot of photographers is hunkering down in order to make a small fire appear more threatening in front of L’ Arc de Triomphe in Paris. I have seen plenty of cases where unrelated images were juxtaposed…

Mesmerizing Video of a Printer Terminal Running “Adventure” on a PDP-11/45

After spending several days clicking buttons and ticking boxes and waiting for pages to refresh in my school’s content manager, I really, really miss the command line interface. This video shows the 1970s computer game “Colossal Cave Adventure” running on a printer terminal (that is, its only display is text that it prints out on…

Jitney ( #AugustWilson #CenturyCycle, 8 of 10)

August Wilson’s Century Cycle >  Spoiler-free scene breakdown Premiered: 1982; Broadway 2017 Setting: 1977; Becker’s cab station, Pittsburgh Act I.i (morning?) Youngblood accuses “old man” Turbo of cheating in checkers; Turbo accuses Fielding of drinking his gas money; Youngblood turns down a grocery run, which Turbo takes; Youngblood gets defensive at Doub’s silent look; Shealy…

Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu Logo

In January 2001, I was blogging about Bill Clinton’s #WhiteHouse security deposit, anachronism in the #Titanic movie, a textual detective, and #email #etiquette

In January 2001, I was blogging about The Onion: Clinton Not Expecting to Collect White House Security Deposit Anachronisms in the movie Titanic A textual detective who helps the FBI solve crimes and says Clement Clark Moore did not write “A Visit from St. Nicholas” A student whose client backed out needed a project, so…