Pursuant to last Thursday’s post about Peter Thiel’s plan to destroy higher education, I offer this: simultaneously the funniest and the most depressing commentary on academia I’ve seen in ages. Xtranormal | Text-to-Movie So you Want to Get a PhD in the Humanities , posted with vodpod This video might, in fact, look familiar, becauseContinue reading ““Humanities in higher education is under attack.””
Category Archives: teaching
Peter Thiel couldn’t pay me enough to quit education
Today I read a Slate article about how billionaire and college drop-out Peter Thiel wants to pay students $100,000 to drop out of college themselves. Supportive blogs and sites like GOOD claim he’s not asking kids to drop out but to “stop out” (whatever that means) because, as Thiel and like-minded moguls believe, education stiflesContinue reading “Peter Thiel couldn’t pay me enough to quit education”
Vonnegut at the blackboard
I was so glad to see Ampersand Review link to this article in Lapham’s Quarterly: I had to profound good fortune to see Kurt Vonnegut give this same lecture at Trinity University in San Antonio back in, oh, 1995? 1996? I forget the date, but I will never forget this lecture, in which Vonnegut explainsContinue reading “Vonnegut at the blackboard”
A follow-up about Virginia Quarterly
Back in August, I wrote a post about the tragic suicide of Kevin Morrissey; in that post, I commented on one aspect of the narrative unfolding at the time, namely, the dangers of workplace bullying and the need for our vigilance in fighting it. That post has received a lot of traffic since, partly fromContinue reading “A follow-up about Virginia Quarterly”
In memoriam: Scott Simpkins
One of my former professors, a great but humble man named Scott Simpkins, died this morning, in his home in Denton. I don’t know any more about his death except that he’d been in poor health for some time, and that he will be dearly, dearly missed. One of the great joys of academic lifeContinue reading “In memoriam: Scott Simpkins”
Nine years ago today…
I was driving a two-hour commute to teach a college class. I listened to the news on the radio. At one point I had to pull over on the side of the road just to catch my breath. Later, I passed others who had done the same. When I got to school, I spent halfContinue reading “Nine years ago today…”
A Writer’s Notebook: “Casting a Wide Net”
This week, another exercise from Scott McCloud’s Making Comics. In this exercise, McCloud asks us to create a cast of characters that share one trait (from a list of traits–see below) but are different in at least four other ways. These academics are my four characters (in the order I wrote them). Sandra: 45, aContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: “Casting a Wide Net””
One tragedy in academia
Among my various pet causes (promoting nonviolence, encouraging the creative writing of kids and teens, supporting increased awareness about breast cancer), one of the most recent for me is bullying. Usually, we associate bullying with the schoolyard, and when the news reports on bullying (and it has been reporting on it more in recent years,Continue reading “One tragedy in academia”
Photo blog 11
This is not a spectacular photo, I know, but I wanted to post it in honor of the 75th birthday of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (6 July). While he is not formally my teacher, I have received teachings from him, including teachings on Tara (the female bodhisattva of compassion, whose Chinese name isContinue reading “Photo blog 11”
A Writer’s Notebook: Character details
This story I’m writing about the character named Ford is ballooning, but in the best way–each week I find new ways to build it, expand it, let it breathe. But more on that below. Right now, five quick questions to help flesh out the character of Ford: a) What are the character’s physical attributes, fromContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Character details”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 