Reading Time: 3 minutes Recently, someone asked me why I started writing. While being a writer was always a dream of mine, it didn’t feel like an attainable goal. More like the silly pipe dream of a nerdy seventh-grader. But after I started dancing, the idea of writing a memoir began to lurk in the shadows of my mind. […]
Writing
Posted inMyth & Folklore
My new fairy-tale research: all queer, all the time
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ah, summertime, when academics everywhere finally get to work on our research. Mine, I realize, is focused on queer identities in fairy tales, since that’s the most exciting thing to me right now.
Posted inGeneral
Karen Witemeyer and the Fuss Over Her Romance Novel
Reading Time: 9 minutes Recently, a Christian romance novelist, Karen Witemeyer, wrote a book called At Love’s Command. On July 31st, the Romance Writers of America (RWA) awarded this book the win for ‘best romance with religious/spiritual elements.’ It’s a deeply disturbing book due to its racism toward Native Americans — and its casual revisionist treatment of real-world events like the slaughter of Lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee. Karen Witemeyer and her professional organization don’t understand all the fuss here at all! Today, I’ll show you that fuss — and then why these Christians are just soooooo mystified.
Posted inEducation, General
Reflections on Teaching First-Year Writing
Reading Time: 5 minutes Since I’m teaching First Year Seminar this year, I’m teaching academic writing skills through a variety of assignments…but of course, this is making me reflect on when and how I first learned to write.
Posted inGeneral
2020 Was the Year of the Personal Essay for Me
Reading Time: 4 minutes Despite being badly burned out this year, I published two personal essays and had a third accepted. Here’s what I’ve learned.
Posted inEducation, General
Two Kinda Awful Reasons I Stopped Writing What I Love
Reading Time: 5 minutes Some days I feel like I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up; being a writer is high on that list, but I’ve badly sabotaged myself already, for unpleasant reasons.
Posted inEducation, General
What Do I Even Write About Fall 2020?
Reading Time: 5 minutes As you may have guessed, the fall 2020 semester kept me too busy to blog much (or at all). The challenges were immense, and I’ll outline them here for the curious.
Posted inCulture, History, Religion
Did ancient priests invent writing before states co-opted it?
Reading Time: 5 minutes An interesting article in the online ezine “Aeon” posits that religious bureaucrats, not civilized states, invented writing thousands of years ago.
Posted inCulture, Education, General
Thoughts on Vocation, Privilege, and Specialization
Reading Time: 12 minutes Finding my way to a new career involves examining my thoughts on vocation or calling, as well as what to do with my existing specialization and privilege.
Posted inEducation, General, Myth & Folklore
Looks Like I’m Going Alt-Ac Again
Reading Time: 8 minutes I’m soon to join the ranks of the pandemic unemployed. Mostly I’m alternating between devastated and numb, but maybe I’ll have time for more writing and blogging this way?