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March 30, 2007
Diane Ravitch on NCLB
Diane Ravitch is a historian of education who has moved into writing and reserach on education policy. She was an undersecretary of education during the Regan administration. Although I do not agree with many of the things she writes, seh recently wrote a piece on No Child Left Behind for The Huffington Post that I think is excellent. Although I don't agree with all her recommendations, her summary and analysis of NCLB is succinct, reader friendly, and gets at the meat of the matter. All of my students (and everyone else, I think) should read her article:
Posted by Nakia at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2007
On the "No TV" thing
Loyal readers (ha!) may remember I gave up TV for lent, but would still watch DVD's. With just under two weeks left before Easter, I thought I'd give an update on my promise.
First of all, I admit I have not been 100% faithful to my promise. I did watch some of NCAA basketball tournament. Winthrop played two games and I watched most of both of those. I also watched a few others, mainly on a Sunday afternoon. Not exactly devout, am I.
Still, I haven't just turned on the TV and watched any shows. No channel surfing. No Pardon the Interruption. No Scrubs reruns. Just some basketball and DVD episodes of Lost and How I Met Your Mother (and movies). Not too bad, I think.
Here's what I've found out: In certain ways, TV is really bad for me. It can certainly be a time suck. It can certainly eat up hours and hours, leaving nothing in return. Not watching TV has directly resulted in me reading more (although I am not reading anything now -- more on that later). Not watching TV contributed to me getting more done faster on my film and philosophy of education project. And not watching TV has directly led me to writing this entry at 9:00 on a Wednesday night. That's all good.
But here's the other thing: Sometimes I want NOT to think. I spend most of my time thinking, focused on some problem or another -- how to present material to my classes, articles I want to write, what to do for baby preparation, how can we pay down are debt faster, will the new car hold up over time, etc. TV is great for non-thinking escape, which we all need from time to time. In the beginning of Lent, I spent a lot of my evenings working on something or another -- grading papers, reading for the film paper, reading for class. That was good and necessary, but could easily lead to burn-out. I am sure I'd find other ways to not-think, but TV is an easy way of vegging out.
When Lent's over, I am sure I'll watch TV again. But I hope I am more aware of my watching. The trick is to be able to turn off the brain for awhile without the complete time-suck.
Posted by Nakia at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)
School Finance Powerpoint
Here is the Powerpoint that we'll use in our discussion of school finance:
Please don't sue me, Tom Cruise.
Posted by Nakia at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2007
Happy Birthday!!
Big Happy Birthday to my brother, Andre!! Thanks for all you do and for being a great brother.
Posted by Nakia at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)
March 23, 2007
Eric Brown's Handout and Next Week
I understand that many of you were able to attend Eric Brown's talk last Wednesday; I heard it was very good and am glad folks were able to make it. I also understand he ran out of handouts. You can download that handout here:
My Soul Looks Back In Wonder
Next week, we will be finishing up Savage Inequalities on Monday and Tuesday (and we haven't had a quiz yet. Hmmmm. . .), then moving on to our discussion of school finance (358-367 in the textbook) later in the week.
Also remember that your framework papers are due soon!
Posted by Nakia at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)
BGP = Gymnast?
The version yesterday went pretty well. BGP turned over (yeah!) after some pushing and prodding from two doctors. It was odd to see them making dents in my wife's stomach, but Sarah seemed okay (they gave her some medicine beforehand) and BGP rolled on over. We had a bit of a scare when Sarah's blood pressure and BGP's heart rate dropped significantly, but they laid Sarah flat on her side and everything quickly returned to normal. We were in the hosptial until about 2:00 and spent the rest of the say resting at home -- we watched Babel.
While I know there are things we need to do at home still -- put all of BGP's clothes away, hang some stuff on her walls -- I am ready for her to come. I want to meet my daughter.
Posted by Nakia at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2007
On the Precis Papers
First, I want to thank all of you for your honest feedback on the precis paper assignment last night. It was very good for me to hear your perceptions and thoughts on this particular assignment and how it could be made better.
Since the semester is halfway through, I am reluctant to change the assignment in any fundamental way that would penalize folks who have written most of thier precis papers already. I don't want people to feel as if they have wasted their time writing these papers. By and large, I feel they have served their purpose, I am just looking for ways to revise things to make the assignment better.
Based on last night's feedback, I am thinking about the following revisions to the precis papers:
1. Allowing students to turn in precis papers on a given reading assignment after we've discussed that assignment in class. For example, you could turn in your precis paper on Conflict Theory next week.
2. Allowing people the option of writing "double" precis papers -- 4 page analytical pieces on a particualr reading. This would allow people to get into more depth with something they feel deserves longer treatment. These double papers would count as two papers and would be graded on a ten point scale.
Each student would still be required to turn in ten papers, with the knowledge that double papers count as two and are graded as two.
This doesn't penalize anyone who has already written their ten papers and is happy with the grades they have received.
Thoughts? We need to make a decision soon.
Also, remember to check this blog post for tips on the analysis aspect of the papers.
Posted by Nakia at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2007
Quick baby update
Well, BGP is not cooperating. She's been breach for two weeks, so Thursday we're headed to the hospital for an attempt at a version(sp?). Hopefully, that will go okay, she'll turn her head down, and we'll procede as planned. Sarah would like to avoid a c-section for obvious reasons, but the most important thing is that mother and baby are safe and healthy.
Posted by Nakia at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2007
East St. Loius & Kozol on You Tube
Here, you can find a link to some recent images of East. St. Louis on You Tube.
There are also clips of Kozol speaking about his most recent book, Shame of a Nation, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VS9XHbEaFYand http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rryBQ7CUCek.
Posted by Nakia at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)
New Calendar for EDUC 110
Use this button to get to the new, revised EDUC 110 calendar (constructed using Google calendar)
Posted by Nakia at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2007
A Goal Has Been Achieved
In the process of writing my film paper, I have achieved a major personal and professional milestone:
I have managed to use Ferris Bueler's Day Off in an academic paper.
After the stuff I posted on Tuesday, I have a section of the paper that attempts to develop a pragmatist view on film. In doing so, I address three vital pragmatist concepts that need to be explained in order for that view to be understood -- educational experience, aesthetic experience, and culture. I don't discuss any one of them enough, but it's a good start to bring to the panel.
Ferris Bueler comes in when I discuss culture. One of the things I argue for is that film needs to be understood in two ways. One, is as a work of art. As a work, it does all those things we expect art to do, including provide new categories and vocabularies for understanding and interpreting our experience. This isn't terribly new or insightful, although seeing art as a function rather than a quality of an object is a different way of seeing art. Two is as a part of our cultural experience; we live in a culture where movies are part of a shared body of experiences. We all see movies. Many of us see the same moveis and talk about them. Many of us have seen the same sets of movies over and over, to the point where they become part of the way we communicate. I use Ferris Bueler's Day Off as an example of a film I've seen over and over, can recite almost by memory, and can reference casually in a way that others can pick up on and recite back. I think a failure of film theory and aesthetics that talk about film is the fact that it does not address the way in which films, as popular art, becomes and inescapable part of our cultural experience.
Posted by Nakia at 12:09 PM | Comments (2)
March 13, 2007
Spring Break and the film paper
Spring break is proving relaxing, fun, and productive. Our friends Laura and David are visiting, so we've been cooking with them, playing lots of dominoes, and showing them what Rock Hill and the surrounding area have to offer. We're about to head up to campus and take a Professor Pope led tour of Winthrop.
Speaking of Winthrop -- Go Eagles! Beat Notre Dame!
I've also been working on the film and philosophy of education paper. It's coming together pretty well. Here's what I've got so far (in rough, note-like form):
1. Introduction:
The visual and narrative elements of philosophy have been with the discipline since the beginning. See Plato's Cave. (Thanks to Winston). These narratives have been used to explicitly illustrate philosophical ideas in a different/more understandable way. Aesthetics has also been a part of philosophy since the beginning, which seeks to explore questions of art and, in so doing, asks what philosophical content is expressed by works of art. Film is a new and a self-conscious art. That is, it is an art that has consciously attempted to justifiy its status as art since its inception. In this attempt, a body of theory has developed about film that has evolved into its own discipline. Film theory has evolved as something distinct from philosophy or aesthetics (or philosophy of education).
2. What is the panel doing? (Heavily influenced by Carl Plantinga's "Film Theory and Aesthetics: Notes on a Schism")
We're not really engaging in film theory, at least as film theory has traditionally been understood. Contemporary film theory draws heavily upon continential thinkers (Lacan, Saussure) and their accompanying activities (psychoanalysis, semiotics, deconstruction). Our film analyses are not explicitly political. We are not approaching these films with a feminist, Marxist, or other political framework or analysis. Nor are our analyses "cultural" in the contemporary film theory sense of that word. For film threorists, then, our work at best, probably doesn't count. At worst, it engages in dangerous hegomonic practice, that marginalizes the important cultural content of film.
Nor is the panel really engaging in Anglo-American aesthietcs, as understood traditionally/contemporarily. In pedigree, we don't reference Danto or other contemporary aesthetic scholars (except Shusterman, actually). In activity, the typical aesthetic issues of beauty, representation, and the like are not explicitly considered.
The difference, I believe, between what this panel is up to and those two broad categories of scholarship is the explicit concern with the pedagogical content of film. This is expected, given our background, but it is an approach that situates us between these two sides of Plantinga's schism. It also puts our sort of analysis in what I will call a Deweyan aesthetic vein (except, no one really mentions Dewey).
3. A short explanation of the Deweyan aesthetic, it's relation to pedagogy, and film analysis in that vein.
Forthcoming
Posted by Nakia at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2007
Thought for the Day
The way we live our lives is a testament to those who have worked to help us achieve.
Happy Birthday, Dad!
Posted by Nakia at 05:57 PM | Comments (2)
March 09, 2007
To Columbia and SAAP
It's the Friday before spring break. I'm in the office getting some things done. This afternoon, I am headed to Columbia to attend part of the annual meeting of the Society for Advancement of American Philosophy. It's a good organization, one I was involved in a bit while at Texas A&M in my Master's program. I had to reprioritize my professional organization membership once I moved over into education, but am still interested in the stuff that goes on at the conference. I hope to run into some old friends, as well as see John McDermott, my MA thesis director. I also have definite plans to get together and eat dinner with Eric Bredo, my dissertation chair. Some philosophy and fellowship this afternoon in Columbia. I am looking forward to it.
Posted by Nakia at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2007
Just an update
I haven't post much in the way of substantial personal stuff to the blog in the past couple of weeks. I've got lots going on at work and with getting ready for the arrival of BGP. I was sick last week -- from 9:00 PM Monday until 9:00 AM Wednesday I slept 24 hours. And, last weekend I had a full-fledged meltdown/freakout about my impending fatherhood that prompted a very large "discussion" between my wife and I that resulted in what I call,without hyperbole, a breakthrough and generally led to both of us feeling better about everything. There was just lots of unspoken stress and worry that needed to be put out there and dealt with. We did, and now we're better for it.
So, what am I up to now? Spring Break is next week, so I am trying to clear my desk as best as I can so I can have a couple of days off. Our College Station friends Laura and David are coming to visit; I'm looking forward to hanging out with them. Next weekend is the Philosophy of Education Society meeting in Atlanta. I am on a panel that's discussing philosophy of education and film.
My original contribution to the panel was going to be a discussion of the films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset in relation to Dewey's aesthetics. But a reviewer of our proposal asked "Why is this sort of thing even necessary? What are you trying to contribute?" and suggested our panel may be philosophically "light." I think those are good questions, so I have divereted my paper to trying to answer them. In order to do that, I have undertaken a crash course in film theory. Texts on the basics of film theory have occupied my reading time over the past few days (the No TV rule has helped me out here). Most of the film theory is rooted in semiotics, Marxism, and Lacanian physchoanalysis (and Continental philosophy more generally). Thus, it treats film as a medium that seeks to promote certain ideologies to the unwitting spectator. The job of film theory is to interpret and critique all that. I am not sold on all the film theory stuff for a variety of reasons which I am still struggling to articulate fully. In the meantime, I am trying to touch on the following questions in my presentation:
1. What does film (as text) offer that traditional philosphical texts don't? (One of the reviewer's questions was something like: "Why do I need to watch Before Sunrise to explore Dewey's aesethics? Why can't I just read Dewey?")
2. Is there a lens for the interpretation of film that isn't based on those vocabularies of film theory that is still critical and helpful? That is, is film always about ideology (and class, race, gender -- culture)?
3. Can film as text supply vocabularies for the interpretation of other texts and/or experience? (It's clear that film is a text that can be interpreted using a variety of existing vocabularies. That's what most film theory does; it critiques film using the vocabularies of cultural theory, semiotics, etc. I just wonder if the converse is tue, and if so, how).
4. What/how much/does pedagogy matter in all this? What are the pedagogical advantages of using film to explore philosophical or other academic vocabularies with students? What are the disadvantages?
These are the things I am thinking about on a Thursday morning before spring break.
Posted by Nakia at 09:23 AM | Comments (4)
March 07, 2007
Sarah at Eight Months
Only four weeks to go!
Posted by Nakia at 09:46 PM | Comments (2)
March 06, 2007
Jeopardy Exam Review
Here's the Jeopardy powerpoint. I hope it's useful for exam review.
Posted by Nakia at 03:31 PM | Comments (3)
March 02, 2007
Steampunk Star Wars
The Table of Malcontents blog at Wired sent me to Eric Poulton's blog, where he does some art of familiar Star Wars characters in a steampunk style. Very cool stuff. I think my favorite is the bowler hat and bow-tie on "Mr. Chewbacca."
Talk about some fodder for gaming ideas. . .
Posted by Nakia at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)
March 01, 2007
Philosophy Jigsaw Powerpoint
This may be useful in preparing for the exam next week.
Posted by Nakia at 03:34 PM | Comments (0)