Encouragement

The California Wildfires, Government, and Necessity

How do we explain to someone who believes amazon.com can replace a public library that a library is so much more than books?

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "A Thought went up my mind today" (701)

Dickinson says she had a thought – "A Thought went up my mind today" – and then narrates its unique horror.

education

The Opening of Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Message

A letter means to break through this. All of this.

american politics

The need for sensitivity to community in Texas

I lived in Dallas 20 years and I thought I knew a lot about Texas.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Pain — has an Element of Blank" (650)

Dickinson claims "Pain – has an Element of Blank." I can't help but think how uncomfortable we are with that notion.

american politics

Texan Constitutionalism, if you will, and a Short Introduction to Civil Rights and Liberties

One of the best ways to understand the law is to understand the political debates adjacent to it.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "I worked for chaff and earning Wheat" (J 1269)

The question for us is our devotion to the worthless.

american politics

Intro to Texas Government: What does it mean to be Texan? What does it mean to be an American?

I want to start with the question that's the heart of the course: What does it mean to be Texan?

american politics

bell hooks' Definition of Love and our Present Political Moment

If we're going to have a better politics, someone has to stand for something real.

poetry

Graham Foust, "The Only Poem"

I'm staring at Foust's last lines of "The Only Poem:" Even in danger, / you're a writer, liar.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "There is no Frigate like a Book"

...how to respond to someone determined to tell you everything you're reading is worthless?

poetry

Jane Hirshfield, "A Chair in Snow"

I thought I should share Jane Hirshfield's "A Chair in Snow" because it so beautifully illustrates the weight of the season.

education

Remarks for Sigma Kappa Delta's Friendsgiving

...the question for us this holiday season is how to be genuinely grateful.

emily dickinson

Emily Dickinson, "The power to be true to You" (464)

Dickinson does not inch toward the cosmic.

american politics

On Attending the 2024 Northeastern Political Science Association Conference

You are owed an explanation about conferences.

philosophy

Political Philosophy and the Question of Genre

I feel I might be reinventing the wheel.

american politics

Post-Election Reading List

The readings below are not meant to be anti-Trump or anti-GOP. They are attempts to inform people's expectations.

education

The Classroom and Election 2024

It isn't just that some want to steal classrooms from us.

education

Four Ideas About Leadership

I never thought I'd talk about leadership in the way business schools or youth pastors do.

education

A few short remarks to open "Monstrous Musings," Odessa College's Poetry and Storytelling Night

I think what's hitting me most nowadays is neglect.

poetry

Five Short Meditations on Rae Armantrout's "Djinn"

Armantrout's first stanza, about the terrain ghosts create, brings into relief the strange world-building of lying.

poetry

Jane Hirshfield, "I sat in the sun"

Jane Hirshfield opens the sacredness of the everyday in "I sat in the sun."

philosophy

Introduction to Philosophy, Lecture 8: Sample Final Exam

Much has been said about the public's addiction to cable news or TikTok.

philosophy

Introduction to Philosophy, Lecture 7: Normative Ethics

Education is your responsibility to your community.

american politics

A few remarks on class in America, or on the importance of subtext

Part of the problem with explaining social class and wealth to you is that I'm not entirely sure how it all works.