Monthly Archives: May 2017

Ivanka Doesn’t Understand “Beloved”

By Robin Bates | Published: May 10, 2017

When Ivanka Trump quotes Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” in her recent book, she does everything I tell my students not to: she reduces the work to herself.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Using Doublethink To Sell Trumpcare

By Robin Bates | Published: May 9, 2017

House Republicans appear to be using Doublethink to sell their healthcare plan. If it works, there will be no stopping them.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments closed

From Wycherley to Crazy, Stupid, Love

By Robin Bates | Published: May 8, 2017

In my “Restoration and 18th Century Couples Comedy” class, my students paired old rom-coms with contemporary films, including “Ten Things I Hate about You,” “How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, “Friends with Benefits,” and others.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

The Third Who Walks Always Beside You

By Robin Bates | Published: May 7, 2017

Rowan Williams has a powerful poem about the Road to Emmaus in which he tries to capture the tangible-yet-intangible quality of Jesus in our lives. He may be dialoguing with T. S. Eliot’s own use of the episode in “The Waste Land.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Most Impactful Books for Every Country

By Robin Bates | Published: May 5, 2017

For fun, someone has created a map in which the most impactful works of literature are shown for almost every country in the world. Many of the selections are debatable but the map is good for starting conversations.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

Disability: Assemble Me Piece by Piece

By Robin Bates | Published: May 4, 2017

Allison Barrett, a St. Mary’s College of Maryland senior, shares her senior project presentation, which includes poetry and creative non-fiction to capture the experience of a disabled or non-neurotypical woman.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

Swift’s Popularity with Today’s Students

By Robin Bates | Published: May 3, 2017

Students crowded into the gym to listen to the publisher of “The Onion.” It is therefore not surprising that they are also responding enthusiastically to Jonathan Swift. I share some of their thoughts on the satirist in today’s post.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Jane Eyre, Still Groundbreaking

By Robin Bates | Published: May 2, 2017

In her senior project, one of my students looked at four film adaptations of “Jane Eyre” and concluded that Bronte’s novel is more radical than all but one of them.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Berry Chooses Hope over Despair

By Robin Bates | Published: May 1, 2017

Wendell Berry “A Vision” could serve as the guiding star for the environmental movement. He sees a world with clean rivers, thick forests, and clean sky as “no paradisal dream,” even as he acknowledges the difficult challenges ahead.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed