I’m a strong believer in the wealth of knowledge that comes from TED talks and seminars all over the world. I have learned a great deal, and I’m still learning from these talks. Based on the impending award of an honorary degree to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I decided to watch all of her videos, TED talks especially, all …
I recently made a new friend who is a bird artist. When he told me what he does for a living, I thought immediately of Howard Norman’s The Bird Artist, a book I loved when I read it twenty-five years ago (around the time I started teaching at Bowdoin). This spring break, my friend and …
Over the last Summer period, many of us in the library would gather together in the Media Commons to watch a short TED Talk, and discuss it afterwards. What did we learn? Was there anything surprising or particularly resonant with our work lives? Did we agree with the premise of the speaker, etc.? Now, the …
I took a course on 20th century Italian theater while studying in Bologna, Italy, with no expectations and I left with a love for Pirandellian humor. Before reading Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore, I read other plays by Luigi Pirandello, L’uomo dal fiore in bocca (The Man with the Flower in his Mouth) and Enrico …
I’m late to the show, but I’ve been listening to Phish since 2014 when I finally got “It.” The band has been active since 1983, and almost every show since then has been taped and posted online for fans to enjoy. It feels a little like an archeological dig, going back in time 10, 20, …