Just finished updating the syllabus and reading list for my Study Abroad class titled “Dangerous Liaisons: Anglophone Cultures and France.” I am excited about teaching this class and “British Lit. I: Brit. Lit. Goes to Paris.” Study Abroad faculty and…
This evening was the first installment of student presentations for the English department’s Senior Capstone course. This course is a rigorous scholarly experience requiring students to produce a 20-page research paper as well as a presentation that they give for…
Today my History of Print class visited Craig Burkhalter’s studio at the Contemporary Arts Exchange to see demonstrations of paper-making and letterpress printing. Check out the photos!
A friend of mine just posted this video on Facebook; I think it’s potentially a valuable little teaching tool: I’ve noticed that students often seem skeptical about writing papers in any order other than beginning-to-end. As a consequence they…
This op-ed by Sara Mosle makes a well-reasoned argument for exposing K-12 students to more, better nonfiction writing. I particularly like her acknowledgment of the value of models and her recognition that students need an explicit bridge from the personal,…
As an enthusiastically reformed prescriptivist, I am fascinated by the ways that language changes over time (as well as fascinated by language in general). I am, as William Safire punned, in love with Norma Loquendi. As a result of this…
All of us in higher ed are increasingly asked to analyze and document our students’ learning via constant attention to “assessment,” which requires both that we define what we teach and that we measure what they learn. Humanities disciplines often…
I love this story about “crash blossoms,” which not only explains the etymology of that gorgeous neologism, but also breaks down the reasons that English so easily becomes ambiguous”*. A more recent example of a crash blossom inspired me to Google**…
Classes started this week so I’ve been busy meeting my new students–and some who are not new but are brave enough to come back for more. I’m especially psyched to be teaching Gender Studies again and teaching my Special Topics…
On Sunday, the Chronicle published an interesting op-ed by Robert Martin, an economist, arguing that college is getting more expensive because faculty are losing power. Administrators, Martin suggests, are growing their own ranks while hiring fewer tenure-track faculty members and relying…