Monthly Archives: March 2010

I Tribulated and All I Got Was This Dumb T-Shirt

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Timothy Burke

Forgive me a brief moment of irreligious kidding. (I’m tempted to not kid and talk about ongoing revelations about the Catholic Church, but I doubt I could stay studiously cool on that topic.) But something that’s occurred to me in … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellany | 1 Comment

Release the Kraken!

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Timothy Burke

I have a sneaking feeling that movie critics won’t be that impressed with the remake of Clash of the Titans, coming out this week. Maybe I won’t be, either, given that it has the potential to be a sort of … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 5 Comments

My Books, My Selves

Posted on March 25, 2010 by Timothy Burke

Having one of those stretches where it is really hard to get my head above water. Most of the time March and April are like this. One thing I’ve been doing when I have a spare moment is adding books … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 2 Comments

There In Spirit

Posted on March 23, 2010 by Timothy Burke

I’ve got a number of meetings at the college today, so I can’t be there myself, but my sister is right now at her confirmation hearing for her appointment to be Director of Operational Energy Plans and Programs at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellany | 2 Comments

Bad Books and Bad Commentariats

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Timothy Burke

I’m far more deferential to general criticisms of professors than most academics are. At a certain point, however, it’s okay to just squawk about kneejerk anti-intellectualism. So, for example, take this response by Carolyn Kellogg at her LA Times book … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Politics, Popular Culture | 3 Comments

What Color Is Your Leaden Weight?

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Timothy Burke

Strictly in the department of anecdotes-don’t-make-data and a single year doesn’t make a trend, there’s been a slight acceleration in movement in enrollments this year at Swarthmore towards the sciences, particularly chemistry and biology. Reading enrollments anywhere is hard, even … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Swarthmore | 9 Comments

Teacher Teach Me

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Timothy Burke

Like a lot of other bloggers, I was impressed by Elizabeth Green’s article on teacher training in the most recent NY Times magazine. Green describes some movement towards improving the process of training teachers both before and after they’re on … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 8 Comments

That’s So Funny I Forgot to Laugh

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Timothy Burke

In the middle of a New York Times story on corruption in the World Food Program’s aid to Somalia, there’s this gem: “We have to tell these folks that you cannot go on like this — we know what you … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Good Quote, Bad Quote, Politics | Comments Off

Sacrificing Your Isaacs

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Timothy Burke

Sorry for the long silence. Busy couple of weeks and a stretch where I just felt impossibly fatigued. ———– I’ve been thinking a lot about the politics of budgets, a Gordian knot if there ever was one. Whether we’re talking … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Politics | 1 Comment