Monthly Archives: July 2009

Arresting Power

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Some years ago, I got mugged late at night at an urban train station. I was pretty stupid: I had a friend drop me off to a nearly deserted train station on the most deserted side. Two guys started towards … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 4 Comments

Red Herrings Overboard

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Many of the criticisms directed at information technology in the classroom get hung up on a misattribution issue. Eric Rauchway makes this point very effectively: the problem with bad PowerPoint presentations is often not the software, but the presenter. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 7 Comments

A Tale of Two Game Movies

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I’m pretty surprised that Sam Raimi has agreed to make a film based on World of Warcraft. I still enjoy World of Warcraft as well as find it intellectually interesting but the idea that its mashed-up, derivative, internally contradictory, heavily … Continue reading →

Posted in Games and Gaming, Popular Culture | 7 Comments

Mine!

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I didn’t catch the complaint of some philosophers against a small NEH course-development program called “Enduring Questions” the first time around, but picked up on it via Savage Minds. The NEH program offers a small amount of financial support for … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 9 Comments

Passages to Meritocracy

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Timothy Burke

If nothing else, Sunday’s New York Times story on pricey consultancies helping well-heeled students get into the selective university or college of their choice was memorable for the juxtaposition of a quote from Amy Gutmann, president of the University of … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Swarthmore | 8 Comments

Other People’s Money

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Some interesting fallout from the light sentence given to Pennsylvania state senator Vincent Fumo for his conviction on corruption charges, a sentence that the judge in the case justified as recognition of Fumo’s many good deeds. (The 55-month sentence is … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Comments Off

Obama in Ghana

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I joined in a conversation in Second Life about Obama’s speech in Ghana over the weekend. Due to some technical snafus, I had trouble participating in the panel early on, so one of the basic reactions I had to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Politics | Comments Off

The Weedy Garden of Familyhood

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Before the blog went haywire last week, I meant to comment on Michael Chabon’s essay “The Wilderness of Childhood” in the New York Review of Books. The basic thrust of Chabon’s commentary is spot-on. It’s certainly one of the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Domestic Life | 1 Comment

Blog Troubles

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I think we have everything fixed now here. Let me know if comments are still broken or links to entries here aren’t working.

Posted in Blogging, Swarthmore | Comments Off