Tag Archives: teaching

Booker T. Washington Checks Out of a Hotel…

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Sharyn

1903 was a particularly difficult year for African Americans, as described in Douglas Blackmon’s book, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. In that year alone, at least 85 African Americans were … Continue reading →

Posted in African American Lit, History, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Confronting Tokenism in the Syllabus

Posted on March 5, 2018 by Sharyn

With the news that heretofore widely beloved author Sherman Alexie is apparently a real monster who has preyed on women–particularly Native women–and threatened to ruin the careers of anyone who reported his sexual harassment, I had to confront my own … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Profession, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pageants Used to be Theatrical

Posted on September 4, 2017 by Sharyn

Welcome Back! If you were able to take Labor Day off, I hope you relaxed and had a great day. If you weren’t able to take the day off, I hope you got paid extra for working on this day … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Teaching, Theatre | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Learning is More Important Than Teaching

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Sharyn

Last week, I got to attend a teaching and learning conference and surprisingly, the keynote was wonderful. I say this because I have honestly been to so many conferences over the years for which the keynote was decidedly a snooze. … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Profession, Teaching | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Drama is Always Relevant

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Sharyn

I’m teaching a new-to-me play in my Introduction to Drama course this semester: Death and the King’s Horseman (1975), by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. I feel quite ignorant for not having read any of his work before, but I am an Americanist, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Teaching, Theatre | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Orders, How Do They Work?

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Sharyn

It’s that time of the semester–time to submit my textbook orders for the impossibly far-seeming Fall semester 2017. The pressure to get them in on time is pretty strong, since each department gets a stipend from the book store that … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Teaching, Theatre | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A New Native Son, Part I

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Sharyn

Content Note – discussion of fictional rape and murder follows. THIS IS NOT A DRILL, Y’ALL: Variety is reporting that Richard Wright’s novel Native Son will be adapted for film by Rashid Johnson and Suzan-Lori Parks. And I’m not sure I can effectively … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, African American Lit, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

End of Semester Breakdown

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Sharyn

There’s just one more week left in the Fall Semester and, as usual, I am ready to be DONE. There are still piles of grading and then two more classes to teach, final exams to put together, and student evals … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Profession, Teaching | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Truthiness & Consequences

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Sharyn

Chances are that you’ve heard something about First Lady candidate Melania Trump and her oopsie of a speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention. It already has a nice Wikipedia entry: Melania Trump speech plagiarism controversy. There was much discussion … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Renaissance of Angels in America

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Sharyn

I regularly teach the American Literature Survey in my department–all three parts of it. My academic expertise technically only covers the last two courses, which at our institution cover 1865-1914 and 1914-present, respectively. (But I actually love teaching the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching, Theatre | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment