Each day is so unique and so unrepeatable, and I would so like each day and night to last and last. Every scene so much like itself. The vegetables from the organic garden are not at all like those from the stores, and do not even resemble the ones from the farmers’ market very closely. … More Olodumare
This weekend we are not supposed to be singing, but Jazzfest is streaming on. I signed up to volunteer for coastal restoration. Et bon gré mal gré, on chantera comme on chante toujours le “moys” de mai. On chantera des renards. Now is the month of Maying. “The Spring clad all in gladness / doth … More Ce moys de mai
Today a major oil slick from the Macondo Prospect will probably make landfall below New Orleans. You do not know it, but I am not really a professor — I am a landman from Pointe Coupée. I have worked in various branches of the oil and gas industry and my clients have included Halliburton, Enron, … More Vendredi Noir
The counselor told the student that he had made the choice to join the National Guard and now had to “take responsibility” for the loss of his leg. What do you want to bet that earlier on, a similarly trained counselor told the student it was his patriotic duty to join the National Guard so … More Dat Whiteman
In graduate school, we were once visited by a former co-T.A. who was now faculty elsewhere. She said, “Enjoy these days — they are the best of your lives!” I took this comment as the sort of formulaic thing Old Bambis have to say to Young Bambis, and left it at that. Many years later, … More An Academic Wednesday: Was Your Graduate Program Bad For Your Health?
I am not any kind of Cajun or Creole, and I am not in Cajun and Creole Studies. I have no academic expertise to bear on the question of what is a Cajun or a Creole, what Cajun or Creole history is. My own work on Latin American identities is very different. I do not … More White Paper
How often do autodidacts appear as literary characters? How are they portrayed? Why do they fascinate? When are autodidacts liberated and liberating, and when are they impostors? How can you tell an impostor from a harbinger of new ideas? How do I, not an autodidact, explain to an autodidact who could be a harbinger of … More Academic Mondays: Des Autodidactes
It is the weekend, so we must sing! Watch how the presenters present, and consider how you would do it! Axé.
Do you teach a late sophomore or early junior level introduction to literary genres in a language other than English? This is the course in which you learn to scan poetry. You learn to do close readings of four genres. You learn to formulate an analytical thesis statement. You learn all sorts of rhetorical terms. … More An Academic Thursday: The Introduction to Literature
“Take this hammer / carry it to the captain / tell him I’m a-gone. / If he ask you / was I runnin / tell him I’s a-flyin’. / I don’t want no / bread and ‘lasses / It hurts my pride. / If he ask you / was I laughin / tell him I’s … More Singing at Work Wednesday: Take This Hammer
coldhearted scientist وداد 