Two Stories from Oklahoma That Seem to Illustrate Skewed Priorities

The first of these stories, “Gun Activists Lobbhy for Weapons on Campus,” appeared in the Norman Transcript [http://www.normantranscript.com/news/article_52a58aa0-4b3d-11e4-89de-0f889f7b5efd.html]. Gun-rights activists are pushing for legislation that will allow guns to be brought onto the state’s 25 public college and university campuses. Don Spencer, Vice President of the state’s Second Amendment Association, is promoting the legislation in…

America Re-Imagined, in Retrospect: Fifty Notable American Novels about the “West”: 12-14.

Doctorow, E. L. Welcome to Hard Times. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960. After his discharge from the army, E. L. Doctorow found a job as a script reader at Columbia Pictures. After reading a great many scripts for Westerns, he became convinced that he could write a more credible and still entertaining Western. He…

Thanks to Diane Ravitch, I read Glen Ford’s July post today, “How to Pay for a Free, Non-Racist Higher Education.” It is certainly worth the look. It starts: Corinthian Colleges is going out of business, and other for-profit rip-offs will follow. However, “The very existence of Corinthian, Phoenix, Ashford and the other gangster institutions proves…

"Embracing" the News from All Sources: Relax, It Won't Kill You

I have a good friend who listens to Rush Limbaugh every day for too long. Of course some of us would say that to meet this limit should not take even a day or one minute. My friend spends the remaining part of the day, having been vaccinated by Limbaugh serum parroting in feverish pitch…

Salaita Speaks!

It’s 6:50 in the evening on Wednesday, October 8, 2014. The 7:00 event start time at Columbia College Chicago draws near. The lecture hall is filling up rapidly. The star attraction has not arrived. Professor Iymen Chehade, indeed a star in his own right, and I are waiting for Steven Salaita. A skilled, poised and charismatic student…

U. Illinois chancellor earns mega-correction for duplicate publication

Now this, from Retraction Watch, is fascinating, especially as it concerns University of Illinois Chancellor Phyllis Wise:

It's Not All About Salaita…

…certainly not about the content of his tweets or of his character. Among other things, it’s about whether or not being scheduled to teach with students actually enrolled constitutes “hiring.” And that’s not a question any of us should have any disagreement on. Questions we on the faculty need to ask certainly include concern over the impact…

unCommon News (October, 2014)

If you are unable to view the images in this newsletter, click here. unCommon News (October, 2014) A crowd-powered newsletter for a writing-centered community Dear Friends, Welcome new readers! Bienvenido Spain! Välkommen Sweden! Willkommen Germany! During September, an average of 5,629 people visited Writing Commons each day. Our global readership continues to increase, particularly in Spain, Sweden, and Germany. Please visit The Aaron…

2015 Digital Writing Tools for Global Citizens Conference

2015 Digital Writing Tools for Global Citizens Program for January 16, 2015 Time Presenter Short Bio Presentation Title 8:00-8:15 Introduction 8:15-9:00 Chris Anson Director, Campus Writing and Speaking Program, North Carolina State University Digital Tools, Global Audiences, & the Future of Writing StudiesGroup Discussion 9:00-9:15 Break 9:15-10:00 Valerie Ross Director, Critical Writing Program, University of…

Fallout From Salaita: Taner Akcam Cancels Visit

This comes from Days and Memories: A blog of the Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Earlier this year, I invited Professor Taner Akçam to speak to students and faculty at the University of Illinois about the Armenian Genocide and the Turkish state’s denial of that genocide. Professor Akçam, the…

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