I’ve always been attracted to the (highly romanticized) idea of monks hunkering down in out-of-the-way monasteries to save cultural artifacts from destruction by the vagaries of time, weather, war, and indifference. If it weren’t for all the religious stuff, I’dRead More
Knowing What I Know Now
I woke at 3am with the thought that the classes I’m currently teaching are going terribly. After 20 years of teaching, I’m familiar with this feeling, particularly with classes I’ve never taught before. We’re nearly half-way through the term, andRead More
Known, Needed, Cared For
When I was a high school teacher, we had a leader who told us that a successful institution is one where everybody in the community feels known, needed, and cared for. It’s a simple concept that, if taken seriously, hasRead More
New Educations
1. I survived high school by reading books about education. My mother worked at the local college and was using her tuition benefit to do an M.Ed. Often, I accompanied her to the library. High school was tough for meRead More
Change or Die
I’ve spent this week in meetings: New Faculty Orientation, New Academic Program Leader Orientation, various meetings of committees and groups. This is not a complaint; I enjoy these meetings at the beginning of a new academic year, not only becauseRead More
Against the Grade
The backstory: Me and my grading I gave a presentation last month for the Summer Writing Institute of the National Writing Project in New Hampshire, which is always a great joy — I was a participant and a fellow atRead More
How Public? Why Public?
In the Interdisciplinary Studies program where I have begun working, we encourage students to go public with their work. It’s a common idea well beyond interdisciplinary studies: for students to feel more engaged with the work they do, to feelRead More
Open Scholarship in Neoliberal Times
“Many researchers long for change,” an article at OpenUP Hub states, adding that such researchers “may desire to publish in new formats; to separate results from methodology and analysis in peer review; to consider qualitative output evaluations; to spread theirRead More
Assigning a Bad Book, Actively
At the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Lingua Franca blog, linguist Geoffrey Pullum declares, “We should not be sending students to a text as myopic and antiquated as The Elements of Style, not in any edition.” Pullum has written extensively about theRead More
“Before I got my eye put out”
The title of this site comes from the third stanza of Emily Dickinson’s 1862 poem “Before I got my eye put out–” But were it told to me, Today, That I might have the Sky For mine, I tellRead More
