Or: PhDeviation as a way of life Almost a month ago, I posted here that I was going to try to start “VersatilePhD” meetup. I had no idea how positive the response would be! Almost as soon as I started organizing it, I realized that I wanted it to be bigger […]
teaching
Even way back before classes started, I had ideas about how teaching in China was going to be different than teaching in America. I planned to do a lot of cultural translation, and indeed, I have had to do quite a bit. What I didn’t expect, however, not even when […]
Evolving thoughts on teaching
руÑÑкий Ñзык Ð´Ð»Ñ Ð²Ñех Many years ago, at Phillips Academy, I decided to study Russian. It was my 3rd year in High School and the academic year 1992-1993. The Soviet Union had fallen. Gorbachev was gone. I had seen the Hunt for Red October, but I was not studying Russian […]
The Slowly Liberalizing Arts
3 I have great respect for teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). I’m not one of them, in the sense that I don’t have that training. I do have some training, as an undergraduate, in second language instruction (in fact, among the proudest moments of my life was […]
Teaching and not teaching ESOL
Or, Why I’m going to be 300% nicer to international students and faculty for the Rest of my Life So, yesterday was the first day of teaching at Shanghai International Studies University. I teach only on Wednesdays, which is something of a blessing, in that the campus where I teach […]
Settling In
1 “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” from Sister Outsider I do promise up front that I will not blog with this much specificity about every lesson I plan. But I found this process fascinating, so I hope you will too! When I am being the teacher I dream […]
Transnational Lesson Planning: Audre Lorde
1 Just over a week ago, I arrived in Shanghai. In all due fairness, I have to give credit to United Airlines, because it was absolutely the most pleasant flight than any 14 hour flight could ever hope to be. Having had surprising experiences in the past with shellfish being served […]
Shanghai Arrival
It’s getting down to the wire now. I have moved out of my house, in favor of subletters who are hopefully (A) very happy and (B) not breaking anything I like too much. I am down in the city of my birth visiting family, which is nice. My bags are […]
Shanghai Approaches, or I approach Shanghai
When I first submitted my first draft of my first dissertation proposal (not one that would in any way resemble what my dissertation came to be), my then-advisor said something that has stuck with me. He said (and I paraphrase, it’s been a few years), you’ve really set yourself a […]
New Deviations
Arts and Crafts in my American Literature Classroom Note: I don’t post about teaching much, not because I don’t want to, but because the privacy issues are complex. Today, a fun exception! This week my American Novel class worked on “Bartleby, the Scrivener” (I know, it’s a stretch to call […]