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Henze, Selzer, and Sharer (2007): 1977: A Cultural Moment in Composition
1977: A Cultural Moment in Composition by Brent Henze My rating: 4 of 5 stars 1977 is an excellent history of the composition program at Penn State, which Henze, Selzer, and Sharer argue is a justified history to tell because too often histories of composition are more national and told in grand narratives. In a [...]
Jon Stewart on “Ground Zero Mosque” critiques
Jon Stewart questions the claims of conservative pundits and politicians who don’t want the new Muslim Center near the World Trade Center location: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
nuclear detonation infographic video
via the Blogora, an excellent video infographic that shows the number of nuclear bomb detonations between 1945 and 1998. The number is staggering. If, like me, you’re fairly young, you might assume that the United States hasn’t detonated a bomb since before you were born (1980 in my case). Um, wrong. This video is particularly [...]
politics and rhetoric of spaces
This last six months have made me think quite a bit about the politics of spaces, and the rhetoric surrounding those spaces. Two “events” in particular. For the queer community in town, there’s our local bar, Chumley’s, which is a great place for meeting people, even if it’s very tiny. Before January, there was one [...]
where did May and June go?
To answer that question: studying for my comprehensive exams, going to Rhetoric Society of America conference in Minneapolis, taking my comprehensive exams, traveling to Iowa for my friend Rachel’s wedding, and preparing to teach English 15 during second summer session (which started Wednesday). I entered my “study for comps” mode in December/January, intending to write [...]
Chronicling Workspaces
Inspired in part by Johndan Johnson-Eilola‘s Datacloud, I started chronicling my workspaces throughout the day on Twitter on Monday morning. After three days, I’ve chronicled a number of places I work, whether it’s reading for comprehensive exams, preparing for class, working in the composition office, or grading papers. Clicking on an image will take you [...]
How to write a talk/presentation
A former middle school student of mine tweeted a link to this list how to write a paper in college/university. The list seems obviously old: who uses ICQ anymore? And Kazaa? Woah. Thought I’d follow suit with a new list, because I’m in the middle of writing a presentation/talk for an awards ceremony on Friday [...]
snowed
Last night it snowed somewhere between 12 and 14 inches — the whole town seemed concerned about the impending “snowpocalypse,” “snowmaggedon,” or in lolz, “snowMGz.” And it’s gorgeous out. I should have taken some pictures today during daylight, but Dana’s got some great ones. I walked to a cafe today to eat an afternoon lunch [...]
Latour (1993): We Have Never Been Modern
We Have Never Been Modern by Bruno Latour My rating: 5 of 5 stars This summary is probably going to be a bit flawed and definitely elides some of Latour’s critical moves. I really enjoyed reading this, and thought it was very insightful. Latour starts his book with 1989: the fall of the Berlin Wall [...]
the iowa winter
It’s kinda gloomy here today in southwest Iowa. I stole myself away from the parents’ farm to get some wireless internet fix at the tiny public library. The vacation’s been nice so far… read some old journal articles I’ve been meaning to read, some Harper’s magazines from months and months ago, and most of the [...]
