America’s First Polish Immigrants: Another Look at Jamestown
Continuing this thread on Jamestown, at the end of class I offered an example of brainstorming research topics. The example I used built from our reading of John Smith’s General … Continue reading
The “Other” Residents of Jamestown
In the last post, I noted two trends in my American History survey classes: (1) Students arrive to the class unaware of what was once popular narratives in the story … Continue reading
Teaching Jamestown, Virginia … Again and Again
One of the ongoing challenges in teaching a survey class in American history is making decisions on what to cover in the limited amount of time 14 weeks and 3 … Continue reading
The Best, Free Word Cloud Generators
Word clouds, data clouds, tag clouds, text clouds . . . Regardless of you call them, everyone seems to like these visual representations of text data. First popularized over a … Continue reading
Free Books, Open Libraries: 15 Resources for Everyone
Many of my upper-division courses focus on the same general set of questions: How does digital media disrupt “conventional” structures? Structures here range from thought processes and reading and researching … Continue reading
Every Season’s Greetings: The Importance of “Green” Spaces for the Older Adult
This post originally appeared on The Upside to Aging on January 22, 2019. I am grateful to the editor, Molly Wisniewski, for permissions to republish here. Please click here to … Continue reading
James Rivington, American Printer
James Rivington (1724-1802) was an English-born printer/publisher and journalist in New York City during the American Revolution. Prior to the revolution, he was one of the most popular and widely … Continue reading
Call for Publications: Textshop Experiments, Spring/Summer 2019
This January, I posted a new Call for Papers for the next issue of Textshop Experiments. This will be an open double-issue with a rolling submission deadline. My goal here … Continue reading
Announcement: Textshop Experiments 5 Flash Reason Released
This week, I am pleased to announce the release of the next issue of Textshop Experiments. This is especially noteworthy because it’s the first issue featuring guest editors, and–in addition … Continue reading
Reading by Design … The Great Gatsby
Next semester, I’m teaching another class related to book history and publishing. This course will examine the history and evolution of book design and, specifically, cover art. The question that … Continue reading
Writing with Scissors: A Review
Writing with Scissors: American Scrapbooks from the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance By Ellen Gruber Garvey. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 320 pp. 62 ill. HC $115, Pb … Continue reading
LIVE: Textshop 4 … From Digital to Print
I am happy to announce the release of Textshop Experiments’ Volume 4: From Digital to Print. Contents 100 Questions About Writing And The Future by Jimmy Butts Printed Animals by … Continue reading
16 Weeks with Bob Dylan
Colleges are like old-age homes; except for the fact that more people die in colleges. For me, the environment to write the song is extremely important. The environment has to … Continue reading
A Tribute to the John Trumbulls
This semester, I again find myself teaching two surveys on early America (situated in both English and History Departments). Each semester, I try to mix up the program and reading … Continue reading
Bookbinding / Bookmaking Workshop Results
Since I’ve posted two prior blog entries on my plans for introducing bookmaking and specifically introducing students to a few binding models, I thought it appropriate to share a few … Continue reading
Types of Book-Binding: An Introduction
Building on what I’ve called the Right PATH method (Performance/Production, Aesthetic, Theory, History), I wanted to add a little supplemental guide to types of binding we will cover … Continue reading
An Introduction to Book-Binding … Workshop
Two weeks ago, my paper history course had its latest workshop, on printing. We were fortunate to use the under-utilized printing facility at Stevenson in a workshop led by printer, … Continue reading
The History of Paper: Getting to Gutenberg
It’s midterms here! Below is a brief review of some of the work and ideas covered in my History of Paper course. The course blog documents a bit more: https://mulberrymummiesmarshes2017.wordpress.com/. … Continue reading
Ian McKellen, Teacher: A Note on Teaching Gesture
In the last few years, I’ve noticed a major shift in my research and in my methods of teaching: a focus on performance. Part of my thinking is a turn … Continue reading
The Best Covers of Bob Dylan Songs
Well, I’m officially halfway through my course on Bob Dylan, and a clear, singular reading of Bob Dylan, the artist, is seemingly further away than ever. But perhaps this is … Continue reading
What a Twit!
twit, n.1 Pronunciation: Brit. /twɪt/ U.S. /twɪt/ Forms: Also 15 twyte. Frequency (in current use): Etymology: < twit v. 1. a. An act of twitting; a (light) censure or reproach; … Continue reading
Sounding Out Supplements: Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan’s Influences, Inspirations & Impersonations I’ve been so invested in the History of Paper class, it recently occurred to me that there have been no posts here on another … Continue reading
Paper Infographics
Walter Ong’s classic Orality and Literacy will be one of the first texts we’ll read in my “History of Paper” course this fall. Attached to this reading/discussion, I’ll ask each … Continue reading
Coming Soon . . . Fall Course on the History of Paper
We’re just a week away from the fall semester! I was a little disappointed last year after my pitch for a “History of the Book” special topics class was deemed … Continue reading
Student Projects from Spring ’17, Part 3
Finally, I’ve come to the last part of this series on student projects…in retrospect, I now wish I’ve created a separate website to host or curate all of these projects. … Continue reading
Student Projects from Spring ’17, Part 2
This is Part 2 of the series on student projects from this past semester. The last post featured videos of place-based historical studies. This post shares some images from a … Continue reading
Student Projects from Spring ’17, Part 1
For the next few posts, I wanted to share something a little different: samples of student work produced this past spring. I’ve been teaching American History courses for the past … Continue reading
Paper-making History: Some Bookmarks
Last fall, I taught courses in the history of graphic design and the history of printing (both Visual Arts courses). Before I got things started, I posted an entry here … Continue reading
Summer Work 2017 — The Road Ahead
Well, another semester has finally come to an end, which typically means a new transition–a new type of busy season–is about to begin. I can’t believe I haven’t formally posted … Continue reading
Just Released: Textshop Experiments #3
I’m happy to announce the latest issue of Textshop Experiments. I hope you enjoy it! I haven’t posted in a while and, hopefully, I’ll change that soon! I’ll share a … Continue reading
Book/Marks: The Digital Humanities Meets the Public Humanities
In one of my last posts, I shared a few videos on the Gutenberg press and letterpress printing for a class that’s now underway. I like this approach of sharing … Continue reading
Course Design Matters: A New Course Blog & Some Reflections
‘Course Design Matters: ART 335 “Origins & Issues in Design”: Course Blog https://coursedesignmatters.wordpress.com Teaching is an important part of my life. I’ve spent the last 12 years working in higher … Continue reading
Printing History Videos: Some Bookmarks
This fall I will be teaching a course on printing history. This post is really just a set of bookmarks for me–especially for the early weeks on Gutenberg and the … Continue reading
Origins and Issues in Design
I’m offering a new course at UMBC in the fall: ART 335 “Origins & Issues in Design”. Remember when life was simpler, and you didn’t have to advertise your courses? … Continue reading
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