There Are Days

November 16th, 2010 § Comments Off § permalink

There are days when being a graduate student seems like the stupidest decision in the world. Then there are days when you find yourself reading a book about the relationship between politics, plague, and Shakespeare and come across a lengthy section dedicated to the life cycle of rat fleas and the bubonic plague and you think to yourself, “this is why I am where I am: so I can spend afternoons reading this kind of thing.”

Of course there are bad days, but this day? This day was a good day.


"Politics, Plague, and Shakespeare’s Theater: The Stuart Years" (Leeds Barroll)

Taking Breaks

November 15th, 2010 § Comments Off § permalink

ProfHacker has a great rundown on various ideas for taking a break and recharging. From physical exercise to simply taking some time to breathe.

Check it out here

Blackboard or WordPress?

November 13th, 2010 § 2 comments § permalink

I did not put my Intro to Performance courses up on the web at all this semester but plan on doing so in the spring. I want to mostly have a place to put assignment guides, calendar, sections of play scripts, and occasional announcements. Given the nature of the course, I don’t need to have my students do a whole lot in a digital fashion.

I’m currently trying to decide if I’m going to roll my own solution using WordPress (a platform I’m rather comfortable with) and Google Calendar or go through the university’s Blackboard installation which will probably have lots of tools that I don’t end up using and which is closed, proprietary, and not the best in terms of user experience. However, I haven’t used it in a number of years, so I don’t have a good handle on how BB has changed over the past decade. Part of me wonders, however, if a lot of other classes use it, the irksome elements might be worth it so that the students can have a centralized experience with their coursework.

Anyone have thoughts on the matter? I’d like to work on putting everything together over the winter break, so I want to make a choice soon.

Oscar Brockett

November 8th, 2010 § Comments Off § permalink

Oscar Brockett, the world’s foremost theater historian and a former University of Texas professor, died early Sunday morning after suffering a massive stroke late Saturday.

Brockett, 87, leaves behind hundreds of former students and colleagues around the world, as well as a daughter, Francesca Brockett, and her husband, Dr. James Pedicano of Austin. (Link)

There’s no doubt that the field lost a remarkably influential and well-known historian. Please click through to the Austin360 site for more information.

5 Year Plan, or Lack Thereof

November 7th, 2010 § Comments Off § permalink

You know, I’ve been involved with a number of universities and grad programs and I don’t remember any of the departments making a conscious and across the board effort to create a plan for itself. At least not one that included discussion and awareness on the part of the students (both graduate and undergraduate). Is this one reason why there seems to be a “well, it’s always been done that way, that’s why” kind of attitude in most academic departments? What would a department look like that had a direction? A plan? One that was openly discussed and enacted and even contested by everyone involved, faculty, staff, and students?

« Older Entries

Newer Entries »