Category Archives: Swarthmore; Academia

Some quick thoughts on current debates about higher education

“Everyone Thinks the Current State of Higher Education is Awful. Who is to Blame?” Daniel W. Drezner, The Washington Post, 14 August 2015. This article summarizing some current debates about higher education is worth reading. In the U.S. we’re definitely … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Classical Music, Jazz and other music, Literature, Other (including pop culture of all kinds), Swarthmore; Academia, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

See my U.S. fiction class’s annotations to Gary Shteyngart’s satire _Super Sad True Love Story_ (2010)

Click on the Digital Humanities Projects link in the menu above, which will take you to the table of contents for the annotations and a link to the annotations themselves, in a pdf file. Enjoy! Based on work produced by … Continue reading

Posted in English 52B (U.S. Fiction 1950 to present), Literature, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Two Mistakes Jonathan Franzen’s Haters and Fans Both Make

Introduction for Jonathan Franzen, Swarthmore College, Feb. 14, 2013. Good evening. Speaking for our community of readers, I’d like to welcome you, Jonathan, back to Swarthmore. As for you, the audience, I will do you credit and not list Jonathan’s … Continue reading

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Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the Tony award-winning Broadway musical _In the Heights_, visits Swarthmore

The two opening cuts from the musical, Usnavi’s opening rap introducing all the characters and Nina’s first song, were featured in my English 53/ “modern American poetry” course last year, which had a 3-week module on the lyrics and music … Continue reading

Posted in English 53 (Modern American Poetry), Literature, Swarthmore; Academia, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment