Quickly Ending the Evening with a Picture of a View
The new semester at Bemidji State University started just two weeks ago, and it opened with a brand new view of the lake. Yup. I got a new office! It’s a lot larger than the last one, and I get to look at this every single day:
Thoughts on Wikis, Responsibility, and Cultural Shifts
I’m currently re-reading Robert E. Cumming’s introductory chapter from Wiki Writing: Collaborative Learning in the College Classroom, entitled “What Was a Wiki, and Why Do I Care? A Short and Usable History of Wikis.” This is one of the readings for my class on digital rhetoric, and it serves as a handy introduction to the invention of wikis, the reactions to them in the “ancient times,” and some of the key concerns about their impact on knowledge production. Basically, it’s some nerd shhhhh. That said, it has got me thinking a lot about the role of wikis in our culture and, more importantly, just how much has changed since I was a kid. While there are still people running about saying you should never use wikis, for the most part, even academics have softened on them. A lot of you probably remember when that wasn’t the case. Hell, I remember when that wasn’t the case for me as a teacher. Mind you, I was never the type to outright fail a student for using Wikipedia, but I did strip away points.
Compliments Matter (or, Tell Someone You Value Their Work)
In the past two months, I’ve twice met the same former student in my gym. Each time, we have a wonderful conversation about what he’s reading, his newfound love of writing, his dreams for the future, and so on. Each time, he reminds me just how much one of my classes influenced him to be a voracious reader and a deeper thinker. These are the kinds of interactions that truly make a week of exhaustion worth it. And they’re a reminder of just how important compliments can be.
Adventures in Teaching: The Aliens That We Are, or Roleplaying the World
Let’s talk aliens, ethics, and mock United Nations debates, shall we? Since 2011, I have run an experimental debate session with my students at least once per year. In this debate, they are asked to roleplay as one of two alien species (or as members of an Intergalactic United Nations security council) who have been in a multi-century conflict reminiscent of the current Israel-Palestine conflict — albeit, in a reductive and allegorical sense. One group wishes to be recognized as a planet (i.e., member state) in the IUN, while the other does not. A panel of students ultimately decides whether planethood (i.e., becoming a member state) will be granted; this decision is based on the strength of the presented arguments. If you’re curious about the scenario, I’ve provided the full slideshow below:
Teaching Against the Mainstream
I just turned in my book list for the courses I will be teaching in the Spring. Both are composition courses, so their default texts aren’t particularly interesting outside of an academic interest, but one of those courses (ENC 1102) is a research writing course, which means I get to teach some literature! Every time I teach these courses, I try to make the readings accessible and relevant to the present day. Previous renditions looked at war (past, present, and imagined), social media and technology, and, most recently, etc.. Most of my ENC 1102 courses this year have been explicitly political. It’s hard not to be. A lot of writers have talked about trying to be creative in the present political climate. As a teacher, I find that the best way I can deal with what is going on beyond screaming obscenities at my friend on Skype is to turn my courses into productive explorations of our present world. Over the summer, I explored fascism/totalitarianism in literature and the connection such ideas have to our present situation (it’s complicated).
Shaun’s Rambles 010: On C.L. Moore’s Judgment Night and Gender Violence
Space opera attacks! It’s been three weeks since I started teaching my space opera course, and I already have far too much to talk about! In this edition, I take a look at the first half of C.L. Moore’s Judgment Night and the interesting ways in which I and my students read gender violence into some of the early scenes. I hope you enjoy it! Some useful links: http://media.blubrry.com/shaunsrambles/archive.org/download/ShaunsRambles010OnC.L.MooresJudgmentNight/ShaunsRambles010–OnC.l.MooresJudgmentNight.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS