When people are subjected to deep and sustained stress, they can respond with anger, with aggression, with avoidance, or with withdraw. Or they can be resilient. I seem to be surrounded by resilient people this Spring: my Oxford students, who filled … [Read more]
Fall, 2022: Teaching Leave in the Archives
Thanks to the generosity of Oxford College's Academic Affairs, I have leave from teaching this fall. I miss the classroom but am grateful for the extra time and mental space to write and study in the archives, especially with my daughter, … [Read more]
Summer, 2022: Rare Book School
For a week in June, I studied how to teach the history of the book with Professor Michael Suarez, SJ at Rare Book School. Prof. Suarez and my inspiring classmates (including old friends, and new) demonstrated how I can activate my students' wonder … [Read more]
Spring, 2022: Shakespeare, Gender, and the Brain
Emory's "sidecar" courses bring together two professors from different disciplines---like behavioral biology and Shakespeare---to find points of connection with their shared students. I look forward to connecting with my colleague and friend, Dr. … [Read more]
Fall, 2021: Endurance
In this our fourth pandemic semester, I've been thinking about what it takes to endure. Fortunately, I have a lifelong friend, college roommate, and college teammate---Dr. Kathryn McLeod---who has taught me about the joy of endurance. We spent a … [Read more]
Summer, 2021: Screenless Summer
Simone Weil writes that "attention is the purest form of generosity." As a way to be more attentive to people around me, and in celebration of my daughter's college graduation, and as a way to recalibrate from teaching through three pandemic … [Read more]