Author Archives: ghw

academic freedom

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Pink Bunny of Battle: “The War on Academic Freedom.”

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re at war. I’m not referring to the war on terrorism. I’m referring to the no-holds-barred, scorched-earth war that extremist right-wing Republicans are waging to transform every aspect of our society so that it conforms to their ideology. In higher education, they’ve got academic freedom in their sights. And they’ve just about killed it. Read on, and you’ll see what I mean.

This is relevant to my (still largely embryonic) “How an English Department Works” category.

return of the soggy bottom boys

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I ended up with some extra time at the tail-end of my Georgia trip, so this morning I headed to Georgia State University to visit some old friends. Mike, Chuck, and I went to lunch together and walked a few blocks around downtown. Man, Atlanta has changed so much in the ten years since I moved away, and GSU has changed even more since my time as a student here. We talked about careers, teaching, research, and the permeable membrane between academia and the rest of the world that is the blog. I’m writing from Mike’s office right now, and within minutes I will head to the airport. Class prep in the airport lounge, back in KC at 8:00 tonight, and back in class tomorrow morning. Adieu for now.

what’s kansas city doing on 9/11?

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[Update] Visit the website: http://www.kcseptemberproject.org. [/Update]

On September 11, 2004, people from all over Kansas City will share and discuss their ideas about citizenship, democracy, and patriotism.

At the University of Missouri-Kansas City (call 816-235-2559 for more information).

  • Open forum & Bring-your-own-picnic, 11-2
    University Playhouse (51st & Holmes)
    Come have your say, listen to speakers, singers, poets. Bring a picnic lunch and have a conversation on the grass.
  • Roundtable Discussion, 2-3:30
    Oak Street Residence Hall
    Professors, students, and community members will discuss “Civic Responsibility in Light of September 11.”
  • Voter Registration
    Miller Nichols Library
    Exercise your right: register to vote.

Johnson County Public Libraries (call 913-495-7514 for more information).

  • The Continental Soldier, 10-11 a.m.
    Antioch Library, 8700 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Merriam, KS
    Storyteller Mark Armato brings to life the soul of an army soldier facing the discontents
    of war.
  • Patriots and Poets, 12-1 p.m.
    Lackman Library, 15345 W. 87th St, Lenexa, KS
    Kansas City Star book editor and poet, John Mark Eberhart will read several poems celebrating freedom and democracy and mourning the losses of war.
  • Patriots and Poets, 2-3 p.m.
    Central Resource Library, 9875 W. 87th St, Overland Park, KS
    John Mark Eberhart will read several poems celebrating freedom and democracy and mourning the losses of war.

The September Project is a collection of people, groups, and organizations working to create a day of engagement, a day of conversation, a day of democracy.

The September Project is for all people.

To learn more:
http://www.theseptemberproject.org
Contact George Williams at williamsgh[at]umkc[dot]edu

when everything stacks up

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I know I owe you an entry on the divisions of specialization in an English department, gentle reader, but you see, this is the first week of classes, and the cat’s been getting treatments at the vet every other day, and the first colloqium of the Honors Program took place today, and I have a busy day tomorrow what with all the Celebrate UMKC events, and my flight to Georgia leaves tomorrow evening, so you’ll have to forgive me if another week goes by without the next installment of the “How an English Department Works” series. I’m visiting family in Georgia, and as I’ve written now and again, such visits are complicated by my uneasy relationship to the American South. No time for a longer entry right now. Reading and then sleep.

But as I mentioned before, I do love Lynyrd Skynyrd. Everything that’s good about them can be learned by comparing their original recording of “Simple Man,” an example of zen perfection, to Shinedown’s wretchedly overwrought cover version.

cheating made easy

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Via Slashdot:
jefu writes “This NY Times story talks about the kinds of papers that students might find (and buy) on the web. It also mentions turnitin.com a site that will scan papers and attempt to determine if it was copied. The article uses ‘The Great Gatsby’ as an example and notes that for the time it takes to read the book and write a paper, buying a paper seems a poor tradeoff. However, many books (or required papers) involve much more work on the part of the student, so the question becomes that much more difficult. If you have to do a report on ‘Ulysses’ it takes a bit more than a few hours just to read the book – let along understand enough to do a reasonable paper on it.”

The discussion is interesting. I just like to see Slashdot readers argue about something directly related to my line of work, as in this entry I posted back in January.