An article on CNN reports on a recent study of the links between creativity and mood disorders. As the article notes, "The research of Verhaeghen and colleagues shows when people are in a reflective mode, they may become more creative, depressed, or both." The article also reports thatCreative people in the arts must develop a... Continue Reading →
professional writing and disciplinary identity
One of the things my colleagues and I have been discussing is how we can communicate to our students what it means to be a professional writing major. If you're in traditional English or History and so on, that identity is quite familiar. On the flipside if you're in a more distinctly professionalizing major in... Continue Reading →
the unspoken prerequisites of professional writing courses
You have to want to write. And I understand that's not easy. This summer I did a one-day presentation at a writing institute for teachers, talking about technology and education as I often do. At one point I was talking about Twitter and microblogging a live event. One of the teachers commented on how that... Continue Reading →
"creative writing" and the creative economy
I'm teaching our "advanced creative writing" course this semester. It's a new course that adds another layer onto our "creative writing" curriculum. As I've noted in the past, the majority of students come to our professional writing program with a primary interest in writing fiction or poetry or screenplays. There are many reasons for this.... Continue Reading →
the obligations of curriculum
An unfortunate incident during our Writers Retreat has me thinking about the obligations of curriculum. In the wider scope of life, it wasn't perhaps the biggest deal, a policy violation, but also a demonstration of disrespect and immaturity. It is something I take seriously, but I don't really want to talk about that but rather... Continue Reading →
fall semester planning
As the semester starts, I've really got to start planning what I'm going to do with me time this semester. I'm on sabbatical in the spring (and there was much rejoicing). I plan on hitting some conferences, writing an article, and putting together a book proposal. I just finished writing one article over the summer... Continue Reading →
Expertise, Specialization and Writing Studies
Commenter DKO and I have been chatting. about contingent faculty and role of academic specialization. I decided to post about this b/c it fits in with the discussion about uneven tuition and even the idea of writing studies as FYC that I've been writing about here. Essentially, I think the question is "what does it... Continue Reading →
William Gibson's Spook Country
Here is William Gibson discussing his soon to be released novel, Spook Country, which is a somewhat tangential continuation of Pattern Recognition as one of that novel's characters, Hubertus Bigend, makes an appearance in the new novel as well. The interview is interesting in its discussion of character and writing process, particularly the participatory role... Continue Reading →
Learning from Assignment Zero
Jeff Howe recently offered some reflection on Wired's crowdsourcing journalism project, Assignment Zero. As noted in the Wired article and discussed at Smart Mobs and around the web, the project is being described as either a modest success/productive failure. You can go to the article for the details, but the lessons learned from the project... Continue Reading →
