English Professors as Therapists

I loved this, from Andrew Solomon’s The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression: In an important study done in 1979, researchers demonstrated that any form of therapy could be effective if certain criteria were met: that both the therapist and the patient were acting in good faith; that the client believed that the therapist understood [...]

Perpetual Garage Sales in Elkhart, Indiana

Sad NY Times article about hard times in Elkhart, Indiana: To understand just how grim things have gotten in this northern Indiana town, consider a new law passed last month by the City Council that limits residents to one garage sale a month. It seems the perpetual garage sales — which for scores of people [...]

Flailing

COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations for example, with the Russians? PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We do — it’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia — as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where [...]

Done with my class/ Heathcliff nightmare

I’m done with my summer session class. That went really quickly, actually. Just need to finish grading papers and exams this weekend. One student made a comment to me that made me feel that I’d succeeded in some small way: he reported that he’d had a nightmare about Heathcliff the night before. “He was chasing [...]

Teaching Gaffes

I am teaching again after a semester off. Summer Session I. Really enjoying it so far, the students seem motivated and good. The Chronicle of Higher Ed had a funny discussion thread about Teaching Gaffes. This was the winner, by ‘hegemony’ — something to aspire to: I brought in a plate of doughnuts for the [...]