The pine cone landed in the crepe myrtle tree
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
New Online Shakespeare Resource
Very cool new resource:
The Shakespeare Quartos Archive.
I'm going to try to incorporate this into next year's Shakespeare class.
The Shakespeare Quartos Archive.
I'm going to try to incorporate this into next year's Shakespeare class.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
This is too much fun
And you can tell I'm an academic.
I found via, well, everyone on Facebook an academic sentence generator from the University of Chicago's Writing Program.
Some of my favorites:
I found via, well, everyone on Facebook an academic sentence generator from the University of Chicago's Writing Program.
Some of my favorites:
The epistemology of the gaze may be parsed as the invention of print culture.I might be a little guilty of writing sentences like this at some point in my academic career.
The reification of pop culture replays (in parodic form) the fantasy of the nation-state.
The eroticization of praxis is strictly congruent with the discourse of agency.
The poetics of civil society asks to be read as the systemization of power/knowledge.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Recommended reading -- requests
At the beginning of summer 2008, I was anticipating teaching the Survey of British Literature after 1798 for Fall semester 2008. That never materialized, since we got different jobs and left Florida.
But now, I'm scheduled to teach the course this spring. I've got an overall idea of what we're doing, and I feel fairly confident in the literature that I will be teaching -- much of which will be poetry. At the same time, I know that I have some significant gaps in my knowledge of Victorian literature, and Victorian novels in particular.
This isn't a request for course material (we're reading Wuthering Heights and using the Blackwell Anthology), but rather a request for more background reading as I think I'd feel more confident in teaching about the era if I were better versed in the novels. Thus, I'm reading Vanity Fair right now.
However, I could use some suggestions.
So, dear reader of this oh-so-occasional blog, what Victorian novels should I read?
But now, I'm scheduled to teach the course this spring. I've got an overall idea of what we're doing, and I feel fairly confident in the literature that I will be teaching -- much of which will be poetry. At the same time, I know that I have some significant gaps in my knowledge of Victorian literature, and Victorian novels in particular.
This isn't a request for course material (we're reading Wuthering Heights and using the Blackwell Anthology), but rather a request for more background reading as I think I'd feel more confident in teaching about the era if I were better versed in the novels. Thus, I'm reading Vanity Fair right now.
However, I could use some suggestions.
So, dear reader of this oh-so-occasional blog, what Victorian novels should I read?
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Scenes from a small campus
"I like a girl in black boots ..."
"Dude, that's a professor!"
And that has been my day.
"Dude, that's a professor!"
And that has been my day.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
What I've been reading lately
I decided at some point near the beginning of September that I needed shorter things to read -- something 10-15 pages that I could read in one sitting before falling asleep. So, I picked up our copies of Best American Travel Writing. We're not actually sure why we even have them -- we have all of the Best American Essays and a number of other books from the Best American series (especially fiction), but travel writing? We're not so sure about that.
Still, I enjoy travel writing -- and it's really because I enjoy travel and wish that I had all the time and money to do it. So I read and I read. And now I've switched to something a little closer to home, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina. I picked it up because I live in eastern NC (so, a no-brainer there) and I enjoy architecture.
It's interesting to read about the region's architecture, because with only a couple of exceptions (New Bern, Bath and Wilmington), most of the region is pretty unremarkable once you've gotten away from the Outer Banks. But the book presents small town civic and religious architecture, as well as domestic architecture both in town and in the country, with a sort of respect and admiration that you'd expect from someone writing about an area of more significance. Thus, the book has sparked in me an appreciation for the farm houses in the area, some of which are clearly antebellum and some of which are early 20th century. It makes the many drives along country roads a bit more interesting.
I do have to note a couple of things about the language of the book that struck me as, well, peculiar. (Okay, perhaps peculiar is too strong a word. Let's just say it didn't go unnoticed.) There's an interesting tendency to generally gloss over the slavery of the antebellum period -- there's some mention of the slave quarters on the larger plantations, but just as frequently the entries make mention of "tenant's quarters." I realize that slavery wasn't as central to this region's economy as it was to other rural areas of the South, but I still found that intriguing. Plus, I always think of the post-war era as immediately after World War II. It throws me off a little as the authors talk about the post-war era and refer to the 1870s.
I'm also interested in the way -- and this is not an observation original to me -- that those who designed the homes are labeled. Certainly there are architects. But of houses built prior to the 20th century, black designers are all referred to as either builders or carpenters. I realize that an architect is something that one studies to become, but it's still a striking difference to me.
All in all, I've enjoyed the book because, as I said, it's giving me a new appreciation for the architecture of the small towns that surround ours. And I have learned a whole lot of new terms (for example, we live in an I-house with a rear ell. And I finally know that houses that remind me of barns have gambrel roofs).
Still, I enjoy travel writing -- and it's really because I enjoy travel and wish that I had all the time and money to do it. So I read and I read. And now I've switched to something a little closer to home, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina. I picked it up because I live in eastern NC (so, a no-brainer there) and I enjoy architecture.
It's interesting to read about the region's architecture, because with only a couple of exceptions (New Bern, Bath and Wilmington), most of the region is pretty unremarkable once you've gotten away from the Outer Banks. But the book presents small town civic and religious architecture, as well as domestic architecture both in town and in the country, with a sort of respect and admiration that you'd expect from someone writing about an area of more significance. Thus, the book has sparked in me an appreciation for the farm houses in the area, some of which are clearly antebellum and some of which are early 20th century. It makes the many drives along country roads a bit more interesting.
I do have to note a couple of things about the language of the book that struck me as, well, peculiar. (Okay, perhaps peculiar is too strong a word. Let's just say it didn't go unnoticed.) There's an interesting tendency to generally gloss over the slavery of the antebellum period -- there's some mention of the slave quarters on the larger plantations, but just as frequently the entries make mention of "tenant's quarters." I realize that slavery wasn't as central to this region's economy as it was to other rural areas of the South, but I still found that intriguing. Plus, I always think of the post-war era as immediately after World War II. It throws me off a little as the authors talk about the post-war era and refer to the 1870s.
I'm also interested in the way -- and this is not an observation original to me -- that those who designed the homes are labeled. Certainly there are architects. But of houses built prior to the 20th century, black designers are all referred to as either builders or carpenters. I realize that an architect is something that one studies to become, but it's still a striking difference to me.
All in all, I've enjoyed the book because, as I said, it's giving me a new appreciation for the architecture of the small towns that surround ours. And I have learned a whole lot of new terms (for example, we live in an I-house with a rear ell. And I finally know that houses that remind me of barns have gambrel roofs).
Monday, September 28, 2009
Online reading ...
Good grief. Has it really been this long since I posted something? Busy much?
Anyway, Bradley's got a short essay up at Opium Magazine. You should go read it.
Plus there's an interesting article in the NY Times about the Basque region. I have some good memories of the day I spent in the French Basque country during college. And I've been reading a lot of travel writing lately.
More importantly, though, go read Bradley's thing. (Perhaps you might decide that I'm a bit of a narcissist. That's probably true. When we first started dating I was wary of the idea of ever showing up in the essays that he writes. Now that we've been married this long, I announce it.)
Anyway, Bradley's got a short essay up at Opium Magazine. You should go read it.
Plus there's an interesting article in the NY Times about the Basque region. I have some good memories of the day I spent in the French Basque country during college. And I've been reading a lot of travel writing lately.
More importantly, though, go read Bradley's thing. (Perhaps you might decide that I'm a bit of a narcissist. That's probably true. When we first started dating I was wary of the idea of ever showing up in the essays that he writes. Now that we've been married this long, I announce it.)
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Happy first day of my semester
It's that time of year. The day that reminds academics that we live on a different calendar ...
My grandfather, Kenneth Cooper, lecturing at Peabody College
Today is the first day of classes on our campus. It's always exciting to be back. To try to direct students to the correct classrooms. To explain to first year students the ins and outs of how to read a syllabus and their course schedule.
You know, the fun stuff.
My grandfather, Kenneth Cooper, lecturing at Peabody CollegeToday is the first day of classes on our campus. It's always exciting to be back. To try to direct students to the correct classrooms. To explain to first year students the ins and outs of how to read a syllabus and their course schedule.
You know, the fun stuff.
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