Author Archives: Timothy Burke

A Thing I’ve Learned About Teaching

Posted on July 20, 2005 by Timothy Burke

One thing I’ve learned about teaching over the years is that in an undergraduate course, it’s usually a mistake to assign the best scholarly works that you otherwise rely on in your field. There’s some exceptions. I teach an upper-level … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 9 Comments

Woof, Woof! Zap!

Posted on July 18, 2005 by Timothy Burke

My daughter was intrigued by the ads for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So I decided to strike while the iron’s hot. I haven’t read the book to her yet, (we’re halfway through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) or … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 7 Comments

Whoa. Yeah, yeah. Hmm. Yes! No! Whoa.

Posted on July 18, 2005 by Timothy Burke

Or, “My weekend with the new Harry Potter book”. Spoilers abound, so avert your eyes if you want to remain innocent of the plot details. — At the beginning of the book, Rowling appeared to signal that the status quo … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Popular Culture | 43 Comments

Book Notes: Theory’s Empire

Posted on July 13, 2005 by Timothy Burke

Warning: this is a really, really long post. Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Books | 31 Comments

Flawless Victory

Posted on July 10, 2005 by Timothy Burke

Well, so much for Tribble. Seriously. Whomever he/she is, I hope there’s at least some reflection going on there in the wake of some really very careful, methodical criticism from, oh, just about every academic blogger in existence. I didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Blogging | 4 Comments

The Trouble With Tribble

Posted on July 10, 2005 by Timothy Burke

A pseudonymous professor at a small liberal arts college in the Midwest advises academic job candidates not to blog. His remarks are addressed to graduate students and junior professors, but honestly, they apply to anyone who might ever want to … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Blogging | 9 Comments

Have You Ever…

Posted on July 8, 2005 by Timothy Burke

mistyped a word, noticed it a bit later, gone to fix it, mistyped it again, growled at yourself, then mistyped it again when you tried to fix it? This means it’s time to stop working on the book for today.

Posted in Miscellany | 1 Comment

The Funny Pages

Posted on July 8, 2005 by Timothy Burke

Ok, seems we have a little consensus here that whether or not bloggers are thin-skinned, Doonesbury isn’t particularly funny or sharply observed any longer and hasn’t been for a while. I can go along with that. So what do you … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 9 Comments

Violence and Agency

Posted on July 8, 2005 by Timothy Burke

Caleb McDaniel makes some important observations here and at his own blog, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how to respond. These are certainly not the kinds of discussions I had in mind when I asked that we put … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 2 Comments

Calibrating the Classroom

Posted on July 7, 2005 by Timothy Burke

I’ve done uncompensated overload teaching in the past and I suspect I’ll do it again in the future. Now I admit I’ve cried “uncle” a few times when my service load and course load have conspired to make my work … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 13 Comments