Monthly Archives: January 2022

Black Poetry–Next on the Right’s List?

By Robin Bates | Published: January 31, 2022

Many iconic African American poems could discomfit certain white audiences. Will the right target those as well as black history?

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Liberal Arts vs. Authoritarians: Who Wins?

By Robin Bates | Published: January 31, 2022

Can the liberal arts counter authoritarianism? I consider an optimistic argument that they can.

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See, This Coal Has Touched Your Lips

By Robin Bates | Published: January 29, 2022

The image of God touching the lips of Isaiah and Jeremiah shows up in C.S. Lewis’s “Voyage of the Dawn Treader.”

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Time to Reread Fahrenheit 451

By Robin Bates | Published: January 27, 2022

With attacks on school libraries and school curricula, it’s time to read “Fahrenheit 451” again.

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The Top Ten Dickens Characters

By Robin Bates | Published: January 26, 2022

Professor Tobias Wilson-Bates names his top ten favorite Dickens characters, along with brilliant summations.

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Apparition of Unmasked Student Faces

By Robin Bates | Published: January 25, 2022

The apparition of unmasked student faces brought to mind Ezra Pound’s famous poem.

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Rightwing Educators & Pope’s Dunces

By Robin Bates | Published: January 24, 2022

Rightwing parent groups and legislators want authoritarian teachers who teach their truth. They want Bentley from Pope’s “Dunciad.”

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Spenser Would Understand QAnon

By Robin Bates | Published: January 23, 2022

In “Faerie Queene,” Redcrosse Knight must contend with the monster Errour. Think of her as rightwing conspiracy theories.

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At Last I Have Found You, Blessed One

By Robin Bates | Published: January 22, 2022

In memory of Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk and poet, I share his poem “Looking for Each Other.”

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