If once you have slept on an island You’ll never be quite the same; You may look as you looked the day before And go by the same old name, You may bustle about in street and shop; You may sit at home and sew, But you’ll see blue water and wheeling gulls Wherever your …
Continue reading Flying During Covid-19: Planes, Poems, and Virtual Journeys
Hanging side by side above the imposing entrance to the southwest hall of the Library of Congress (LOC), three large banners announce exhibits currently open there. One is a permanent fixture at the LOC. A recreation of Thomas Jefferson’s impressive home library allows visitors to enter a circle of shelves showcasing the beautiful leather-bound volumes …
Continue reading Revisiting Women’s Suffrage from an Intersectional Perspective
“This star I am wearing is for my husband, a member of the great Sioux Nation, who is a volunteer in Uncle Sam’s Army.” From Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala-Ša), writing in The American Indian Magazine, in an article on WWI Choctaw Code Talkers from WWI Veterans Day—a day to honor all the women and men who …
Continue reading Extending Veterans Day and Spotlighting Native Americans Who Have Served
One story offers a compare-contrast parallel between a student’s move from an out-of-state home to the TCU campus and her grandmother’s mixed-emotions relocation from a beloved house to assisted living. Another student author draws on an extended conversation with his father, describing episodes of the family’s extended period of homelessness during that dad’s growing-up years; …
Continue reading Family Ties: College Students’ Writing Connecting the Classroom to Home
Toni Morrison died last night—August 5, 2019—and her family shared news of her passing today, August 6. In the wake of more mass killings in America, we need her presence now. Even in her absence, her written wisdom can speak to us. Morrison and her writing have been much on my mind recently. In a …
Soon after When They See Us began streaming on Netflix, I saw an article by Doug Criss on CNN’s website. The lead grabbed me right away: “I tried to watch ‘When They See Us,’” Criss declared. “I couldn’t even get past the trailer.” Criss attributed his feeling overcome to a cluster of related causes: “the …
“Office Hour” is a devastating play. But it’s a play whose questions about race, gender, and social class we should be willing to examine. This one-act drama—at Circle Theatre in Fort Worth through May 11—may resonate especially strongly with those of us who have already been “schooled” to think about intersectional identities in classrooms. And …
It’s springtime in academe. Walking across campus is less a shivering ordeal and more an opportunity to savor the warmer air, the seasonal blooms—and the lively, post-spring-break energy our students are bringing to the classroom. But this is also a season of anxiety for “contingent” faculty. For part-time adjuncts and short-term, contracted-for-a-year teachers, the stress …
I’ve purposefully waited until after the US Thanksgiving weekend to draft this blogpost. I’ve been thinking, throughout the entire month of November, about what to say. After all, November is National Native American Heritage Month. As noted on a webpage describing the rightful goal of honoring Native peoples throughout November, the “Library of Congress, National …
Continue reading A Thanksgiving of/for Learning: National Native American Heritage Month
Here's a recent TWEET from Civil Rights icon John Lewis: John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) 10/26/18, 1:09 PM The right to vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool or instrument we have in a democratic society. Let nothing stand in your way to use it so that together we may build a …
