Ashok Karra

poetry

Amy King, "Ivywall of Sparrows"

Joy has been difficult this week. Difficult to indulge, difficult to share.

education

What I Mean When I Call Your Work "Good"

What follows are some thoughts for a discussion in a Texas Government class tonight.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "The things we thought that we should do" (1293)

This Thanksgiving, I forgot to count my blessings.

poetry

Katia Kapovich, "Apartment 75"

I want to talk about light in Katia Kapovich's "Apartment 75" (CW: suicide).

texas

Can Texans communicate better?

I lived in Dallas 20 years and felt like an outsider the whole time.

education

Remarks given at a Lenten Retreat of Collegium Cantorum at Cistercian Abbey in Irving, TX

...what got me through grad school was being involved with choir.

education

Short Encomium for Joshua Parens

For me, Dr. Parens’ tenure as Dean was perfectly in line with his teaching as a professor.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Because I could not stop for Death"

I never thought I'd see a world dominated this thoroughly by big babies who have the magic power of making the unacceptable seem rational.

philosophy

On Heidegger's Reading of the "Ode to Man" in Introduction to Metaphysics

Why should we care about Heidegger's reading of Antigone's "Ode to Man?"

poetry

Zena Agha, "Elegy for Return #1"

Zena Agha's "Elegy for Return #1" stunned me for a number of reasons, some of them selfish.

A Short Talk on Fear

I want to introduce you to a curious sort of poem. The poet and classicist Anne Carson has these poems she calls “Short Talks."

music

Tracy Chapman covers "Stand by Me" on Letterman in 2015

Lots of praise for this Tracy Chapman cover of "Stand by Me" on Letterman in 2015.

philosophy

A Quick Comment on Leo Strauss' "Restatement on Xenophon's Hiero" and the phenomenon of "Red Caesarism"

...some academics contend the United States has entered a "post-Constitutional" period where the emergence of a "Caesar" is necessary and/or deserved.

philosophy

Poetry and Nihilism: Confronting the Nothing

My aim is to introduce the concept of nihilism as a philosophical and academic matter.

poetry

The "otherwise peaceful quiet:" Kyla Houbolt, "early"

Busy-ness and its associated anxieties, I believe, can be an amplified effect.

education

Eulogy for Jack Phipps

Jack Phipps was one of the best experiences of my time at CCHS.

writing

Writing Oneself: An Outline for a Short Talk

It may not be auspicious to begin by admitting a mistake, but William Deresiewicz had it right at the end of "The Disadvantages of an Elite Education."

writing

Find Your Voice

How do I convince students to write like they will be heard?

american politics

Let's talk a bit more about the Burger King employee who got candy for working 20 years without calling in sick

Lincoln says that the fathers of the United States "conceived [it] in Liberty," "dedicated [it] to the proposition that all men are created equal."

poetry

On Burdens: Kay Ryan, "Atlas"

"Extreme exertion / isolates a person / from help, / discovered Atlas."

education

About Me, 8/21/23

Every semester I ask my students to talk about themselves. This semester I have a lot of high school students taking dual credit courses.

poetry

Against Ableist Religiosity: On John Milton's Sonnet 19 & Nate Klug's "Milton's God"

I am thinking about service.

american politics

On Texas Nationalism

I'm sitting at the bar, sipping a margarita, and chatting pleasantly with two older couples.

poetry

Anxiety and Creativity: Bartolo Cattafi, "No Escape"

"There's no escaping from this room," Cattafi intones, leading me to ask: this room? What room?

american politics

The 1st Amendment, "the right to be an asshole," and trust

...Jonathan Katz talks about "the right to be an asshole."