Yesterday concluded the RSA Summer Institute, held here at Penn State. Participants from around the country came to discuss rhetoric in either a week-long seminar or a weekend workshop (or for some, both). I was in the Queering Rhetorical Studies workshop, which was a fantastic experience. I walked away with new connections, friends, and colleagues, a long list of things to read, questions and new insights about rhetoric, queer studies, and academic work, and a renewed excitement about rhetorical studies. After a month and a half off away from rhetoric courses, and a month and a half working on revising papers for another course, I both felt disconnected from rhetoric and exhausted by it (I know, paradoxical). But now: excitement!
Starting Wednesday, I am teaching FYC as part of Penn State’s Learning Edge Academic Program, or LEAP. The program brings in first-year students early, and as a cohort, they take two courses that will spring-board them into college, generally gen-ed courses. My English 015 course is paired up with a Communications Arts and Sciences course, and I’m excited about this. My fellow teacher is awesome, and also a friend of mine, so it should be a fun time working together, teaching rhetoric, writing, and public speaking, and engaging with students.
So, I’ve got to finish a few things for the course, but first, I want to catch up on all that stuff I missed by being in a workshop and meeting so many awesome people over the weekend. Here’s a few interesting tidbits from the Internet.
• According to Daily Kos, a gay bar in Forth Worth was raided Saturday night (Sunday morning), on the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in NYC. It seems the story is unfolding. (h/t slewfoot at the Blogora.) Towleroad has more.
• Joseph Orosco shares his thoughts on Twitter, Iran, and revolutionary possibilities.
• CNN, in an article whose title is worthy of the Onion: yep, there is.
• XKCD today is awesome: “More harm has been done by people panicked over societal decline than societal decline ever did”
• Sweet! University of Kansas is going open-access for all journal articles written by their faculty.
