Russia/USSR has long been a place that fascinates me. As a kid growing up in the 1980’s, some of my earliest memories were of Mikhail Gorbachev’s visits to the US. As a product of a liberal arts college, I took classes in Russian language, history, and literature (in addition to my chemistry classes). The Russia …
If you’re interested in the world of Modern Orthodox Jews, I’d definitely recommend reading any of Tova Mirvis’s wonderful novels. However, Mirvis’s 2017 memoir, The Book of Separation, which documents her decision to leave the Orthodoxy, should be on the top of your reading list. Even if you’re not interested in Modern Orthodox Judaism–which you …
The band The The is performing live for the first time in 16 years. So I snapped up some tickets and went to look for my old CDs of theirs in the basement (remember those shiny round things? I couldn’t find mine, so I am listening on an iPad). Going through their catalogue – primarily Soul …
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, …
I am currently reading Julia Franck’s novel Die Mittagsfrau for the second time as I prepare a talk on it for an upcoming conference. I first read the book in 2008, when I directed an honors project that focused on its depictions of gender and sexuality in Germany during the turbulent first half of the …
I have been a long time fan of the band Paramore but the group’s newest studio album, After Laughter, is my favorite project by the band. Being a bass player, the first thing that caught my ear were the melodic and interesting bass lines. Outside of that, what I find extremely interesting about this whole …