Epilogue to Rossum’s Universal Robots

My big finish as Alquist in a Zoom-based production of R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). Similar:Children of the Holocaust return to Auschwitz and pay tribute to those who saved themIn the last chaotic days of Nazi Germany…CultureThe Protagonist’s Best Friend Would Like to Stop Having to Shoehorn So Much Exposition int…Look, it’s just—now that you’re the…

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

In October, 2000, I was blogging about bobbed hair, Woolf, a CFP for interactive fiction scholarship, the hyphen in e-mail, and a book with glow-in-the-dark pages

In October 2000, I was blogging about The F. Scott Fitzgerald Short story “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” (background; full text) A biography of Virginia Woolf The precarious status of English as a global language A call for papers for a special issue of Text Technology devoted to interactive fiction (I have a copy on my shelf…

Cameras and Masks: Sustaining Emotional Connections with Your Students in an Age of COVID19

There are some sound pedagogical reasons for turning cameras on. Thus, I suggest sharing those reasons with the students before giving them the choice of what to do about their cameras. Explain why you are making your request. For example, being able to see students’ faces gives instructors a quick and easy way to discern whether students are finding the material engaging, at least in smaller classes. One instructor told me that “I asked students to turn their cameras on to say hi to their classmates at the beginning and end of class, and those were the best moments of the class.”

Topics in Am Lit: August Wilson — Online J-Term course starts Dec 16.

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Performing as Alquist in ActIII of Rossum’s Universal Robots. (Free Zoom performance of ground-breaking 1920 play that coined the word “Robot”.)

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Really enjoyed Prime Stage Theater’s video presentation of Mockingbird.

Obviously I would have preferred to see it live, but the pandemic-era video presentation — with clever graphics that indicate stage actions and pop-up text that augment the recorded performances — was subtle and touching. Similar:The Most Epic Demo in Computer History Is Now an OperaThis is nice, but what I really want to …AestheticsWriting…

I just picked up both Aslan's How and Cair Paravel. #narnia #monopoly

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Destroying trust in the media, science, and government has left America vulnerable to disaster

From The Brookings Institution (non-profit, deeply sourced factual writing; has been accused of both conservative and liberal bias; is cited in Congress about equally by conservative and liberal politicians; leans a bit left in terms of loaded language): American institutions are not perfect, of course. We all should want to improve scientific practices, remove bias…

IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE — Berkeley Rep audio production

Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 anti-fascist novel adapted for radio by Berkeley Rep. Similar:Diamonds Are Bullsh*tI did propose with a diamond ring, for w…BusinessOpinion | Defiant, Now Infected: Trump Is a Morality TaleFrom Frank Bruni, NYT It’s a measure …Current_EventsQuantum's King Lear at Carrie Blast FurnaceThe girl and I were thrilled to catch Qu…CultureBattle Lines (#StarTrek #DS9…

Far-Right Twitter Trolls Won’t Admit They Were Wrong About Killing of a “Patriot” in Denver

  It was a reporter’s bodyguard, not an anti-fascist activist, who shot and killed a right-wing demonstrator who had assaulted him. The viral spread of those false claims apparently alarmed the Denver Police Department, which had taken Dolloff into custody along with the journalist he was guarding and quickly determined that they were not left-wing…

Enjoy the showmanship as a 94yo woman performs in a dance competition.

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Rossum’s Universal Robots (Act 2)

For my birthday I treated myself to Episode 2 of RUR (Rossum’s Universal Robots) — the play that introduced the word “Robot” to the world 100 years ago. Similar:The Hut Where the Internet Began – Atlantic MobileLet’s start at the end point: what you’r…CybercultureEven in the U.S., Chinese Students May Have Tiananmen ‘Amnesia’But now that…

They figured it out.

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Fall 2020 Midterm Grades: SUBMITTED

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Deadline seems to have briefly published, then taken down, story that says Pence has tested positive for coronavirus

Deadline seems to have briefly published, then taken down, a breaking news story including the sentence “Pence announced late Wednesday that he is among those who have tested positive in the ongoing White House coronavirus outbreak.” 1. Google search for “tom tapp coronavirus pence” shows a hit for a Deadline story with a headline prefaced…