Exciting work being done by the VKP. Randy Bass summarizes the meaning of “visible” in the project title, in terms of what technology has made available for researchers and educators: the visibility of the historical record, the visibility of learning processes, and the visibility of faculty processes.
NYU’s Journalism Department put out a list of “The Best American Journalism of the 20th Century.” “Best of ” lists are almost always missing something central. This list could better be “best literary journalism,” but then would Murrow’s “Investigation of Sen. Joseph McCarthy” qualify?
I taught Hersey’s Hiroshima for an undergraduate class in “Forms of Non-Fiction.” Even by today’s standards, Hersey’s descriptions are graphic. Whether they help students be more empathetic or critical, is perhaps a different story.
Saw the Stoppard play Indian Ink when it came to Boston at the BCA. Enotes has a good summary of the plot and issues at stake. The acting was excellent, though the heavily accented Indian accent from the Indian actors got a little tiresome. While the play itself set a scene for a relationship that I haven’t often seen depicted (that between an Indian artist and a white British artist), I was really most struck by the audience. Mostly Stoppard fans I imagine; I was tipped off by the elderly man in front of me who said without much thought after the first act, “one of his lesser plays, certainly.” “Even the language,” he continued, “well, I won’t say.” I saw him passed out in the corridor shortly afterwards, and promptly left after the first act. When I returned to my seat, I had a wonderfully open seat next me, kindly vacated, so I could finally enjoy the really finely done play.