For a lack of anything else intelligent to say at this hour, I'm posting descriptions for two of the undergrad courses that I'm teaching next fall: 21st Century American Fiction (ENGL 429:001) What innovative directions is American fiction taking in the new millennium? How have novelists and other writers reacted to the dominant events of… Continue reading Fall 2006 Courses
Category: Literature
A Fleeting Thought on Interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity is one of the enduring keywords of academia in the past decade. I've been hearing it praised for so long now and seeing so little actual evidence of it, that I'm beginning to think all the praise is simply wish-fulfillment. And like most wishes, the wisher probably wouldn't know what to do with it… Continue reading A Fleeting Thought on Interdisciplinarity
Tarzan, Africa, and Cellphones
After writing Thursday's post about the August 25, 2005 NYT article on soaring cellphone use in Africa, I got the urge to reread Tarzan. It must have been this memorable line from journalist Sharon LaFraniere's article: On a continent where some remote villages still communicate by beating drums, cellphones are a technological revolution akin to… Continue reading Tarzan, Africa, and Cellphones
Harry Potter, the first 100 pages
Okay, I admit it, I advance-ordered Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from Amazon, and, as promised, Amazon had UPS deliver my copy first thing Saturday morning, the day of the long-awaited novel's release. I have serious mixed feelings about the Potter series. I've read all the books--twice, even--so it's obvious that they bring me… Continue reading Harry Potter, the first 100 pages
In Time of the Plague
On my desk