If the first Monday in September were called Labor Union Day, to make clear exactly what we’re celebrating, this country would be a better place
Assoc. Prof of Writing & Rhetoric, Author of "I Grew Up in the Church" (Baylor 2024). Currently working a book about progressive Christian writer Rachel Held Evans. Penn State & UConn grad, rural TN crunchy-ish, blueberry aficionado
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If the first Monday in September were called Labor Union Day, to make clear exactly what we’re celebrating, this country would be a better place
two great choices
So he's been sleeping a lot and getting the good drugs
I wasn’t super convinced that something was seriously wrong with Trump until he tweeted this
My tomato basket runneth over
This was a big thing for me to learn once I got into a job where I didn't have many big blocks of writing time.
We haven't seen conclusive evidence to the contrary, right?
Mind you murder rates are higher in Memphis and Dayton than in Chicago. But no troops there because those cities (a) do not determine election outcomes and (b) are not at the center of a Fox News culture war.
Newsom is fun I guess, but Pritzker is a man of substance I can respect
mmm, pre-worn loinclothes, yes please
At my university I think you would not need to, since the human interaction is not the source of your information.
"Grapple with" is one of those phrases that I use when I don't actually know what I'm trying to say
My 5-yo would try to push that over (probably succeed) and my 3-yo would run away from it screaming
It's like techbros sit around thinking "what would be fun to make?" not "what would meet an actual need that real people have?"
That's the most useless application of technology I've ever seen in my life. Also don't they know how many little kids are in grocery stores?
This interview with @lynleethorne.bsky.social about Rural Ground Game was kind of encouraging to listen to
They had been cornered by *that colleague* and it was the only way out of the conversation
I would genuinely not be surprised if after the news came out that he died some segment of evangelicals started a conspiracy that he actually rose from the dead.
The other appointees (Miller, Noem, Vought, etc.) who have true darkness in their hearts are going to eat him alive
In my house we call that face she's making "the poochy lip"
at approximately 3:45 am the president stepped on a roller skate in the presidential residence, sliding across the room and headfirst into a honey jar. the president continued on the skate, through an open third story window. he was found unresponsive at approximately 6:19 am
Dont' feel guilty. Honestly, he's not even going that low.
My youngest, a freshman at my university, just got campus library job. I joked that I have an ILL book that’s three months overdue (which is true), and they straight up ratted me out. The library fuzz are now breathing down my neck. How sharper than a serpent’s tooth, indeed. #academicsky
Yeah but could use the National Guard in there to roll out some new sod
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The ones who really do probably need security
I'm going to bring that in to class next week! Thank you!
I have a full* first draft of my Rachel Held Evans book! 60,000 words, 196 pages, 425 footnotes. 25 interviews with some of the smartest and most generous people I've ever met. * there's still so much work to do
Here’s what they said when I asked! Note: there were 45 people in class so idk what was going on with the people who didn’t vote
One of them connected it to the religious violence in Europe and said the framers were specifically trying to avoid that kind of religious conflict. I have no idea if that's true? but was impressed he thought of it. And I had to hold myself back from talking about my Huguenot ancestry
Wish me luck, my MIL says I’m going to get myself in trouble
Today in my Discourse and Democracy course we’re asking: Why doesn't the Constitution mention God?
According to federal data, 13 of the top 20 cities in homicide rates have Republican governors. None of those cities are Chicago. 8 of the top 10 states in homicide rates are led by Republicans. None of those states are Illinois. And yet Trump is sending troops here.
unfortunately no, because I'm just a good teacher not a great one
Week 1 of discourse and democracy: Student proposing a project topic: "I think I'll write about Forrest Gump" Me: yeah, okay Week 2: Student: actually, there's this death metal song about WWII that weirdly made me think about democracy, can I do that instead? Me: NOW you're talking
All in all, what this shows is that the American people have the final word, not Trump.
That discourse would be just as eye-opening, if not more. You'd see a whole other wave of deconstruction and de-churching.
There's been so much good work on the grotesque evangelical teachings about gender -- I would love to see that attention now shift to grotesque evangelical teachings about money
yikes, which ones? what did you say?
Really? why?
Thank you! And I do have a lot of experience explaining ideas to people who are only half listening to me 😆
bsky.app/profile/thet...
Nuanced is one word we could use
Kids as drunk roommates is exactly right
In the future I'll be more liberal with my /s and my 🙄 !
I'm impressed by his comms director
How did you raise your kid to be so cool?
And, when we burn out on projecting empathy (or when that's not what students want), "expansiveness" can be a good change! Anyway, I see a lot of expansiveness in Mamdani's rhetoric 😆
I've thought about the emotions teachers project, and how often they go for "empathy" or "caring" -- but other emotions like "expansiveness" or "curiosity" belong in teaching and talking about writing too
This is a great tradition!
Does anyone have/know of good articles about AI and democracy? Ideally relevant & accessible to intro-level students? #Academicsky #Rhetoric #AIskeptics
Nevermind, found this. What a turd bsky.app/profile/jool...
What did they say? Can someone link to/quote them here so I don't have to go looking?
I'm an English professor, it'll never get off the ground 😆
It's true, most candidates here literally run unopposed You're probably going to say I should run for something and . . . maybe.
Democrats seem to think politics is a workplace they don't want to get fired from, and Republicans seem to think it's a sport where no one is enforcing fouls
Making whimsical fun part of a political campaign! I love it!
She's mine too -- okay if I dm you to ask where you live?
I'm also in TN, and also love him!
I wonder how Trump will try to suppress this before it comes out
Do you think I actually oppose vaccines?
lol what?
And have good intentions, which the public will be able to intuit and will reward you for
But what's really treasonous is that during this time Biden encouraged everyone to get vaccinated
Actually "cold and removed" is the best argument against theses words I've heard! Even if you know what they mean, or kind of know the term, they don't have much visceral resonance. I argued that "food insecurity" is a pretty normal phrase but it doesn't pack much of a punch.
The Republican Party and the Trump Administration have defined themselves for all time with this frenzied cover-up of their leader's role in the Epstein case. About child rape, trafficking, etc. The truth lies in what they covered up, not what a convicted criminal was bribed to say.
I understand and I agree in a lot of cases, but "food insecurity" seems pretty widely used. Maybe I'm wrong.
A lot of this language is useful for analysis but not for clear and compelling messaging
Sometimes you need a noun though
If the TN organization "Shooting Hunger" uses "food insecurity," is it really academic bullshit? shootinghunger.com/index.php/ab...
Yeah is "food insecurity" really that alienating to people?
It's from an NYT interview (gift link): www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/m...
Jen Hatmaker's writing doesn't always do it for me, but I love this answer
this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like
Seeing people romanticize ~rural womanhood~ while forgetting everything they actually did is like. how you know misogyny won
i need politicians to be as mad at housing prices as they are about cracker barrel's new logo
They’re proud of being trash, this mirror shows they’re deluded
I do! Usually the prior lecture/reading gives them some context. But I also send an email explaining some context too. I worry students wouldn't remember what I said in the class meeting.
#Edusky #academicsky #peer #review Academic colleagues! Please share one unhelpful comment you received from a peer reviewer. I am going to create an activity for my doctoral students and would love to use actual reviewer comments! Send me those “#reviewer 2” gems!
Readings => lecture/discussion
Bless their hearts
Was she teaching in a girls school and disappeared and they found her body out in a field in the winter?
I know
I think the consumer is responsible for that choice to drink poop milk, but also it feels like the farm is a little responsible for selling the poop milk in the first place
Appeals to the "actually it's good for you to be exposed to germs, it's called the hygiene hypothesis" crowd
"We just want to love on these people"
She is a delight
Were your parents proud but also a little terrified?
My 3-year-old's forms for her check up ask if she can talk in 3-word sentences. This child, today, told me "Mama, you need to put your phone away." So I think her verbal skills are a little TOO good
I wouldn't expect Trump to know this but every evangelical in the country should be shaking their head and saying "good works is not how you get into heaven!"
The bitcoin mine failed! And turns out my county gov't is a hot mess. wpln.org/post/how-one...
Is anyone still pretending Trump is good at the economy?
Elephants are born weighing 250 lbs. They are the biggest babies on earth except for the people mad about male cheerleaders in the NFL.
Why are boomers so impressed with the slop from ChatGPT?
Every thanksgiving my grandma served fruit cocktail (canned obvi) with a scoop of rainbow sherbet and it felt like the fanciest thing ever
Faculty could do this for each other. Kind of how I used to write fake reviews for my grad school friends and give them chili peppers
😆 No but maybe free enchiladas!
Shame on the governors who sent their National Guardsmen away from their families to be bored extras in Trump’s fascist theater of the absurd.