Professor of English, Indiana University Kokomo
Amid the stifling conformity of the 1950s, when a certain new-fangled technology called “television” was still in its infancy, former soldier turned screenwriter Rod Serling set out to make the kind of TV that networks at the time wouldn’t touch.
This course examines the history of the English language from Old English to the present day, with a particular focus on its recent changes—many would say “mutations”—in the digital age. Course content covers the macro-history of the English language and the Indo-European family of languages, various local cultural histories of English, dialectical variation, and some of the basic concepts of structural linguistics (phonemes, morphemes, grammar, and syntax).
What’s the use of an English degree? Here’s an even better question: how many times have you been asked this question?
Course Description ENG-W 131 is your introduction to college writing. In this course, which is also one of your general education (or “GenEd”) requirements, we will learn about an ancient area of study known as “rhetoric,” or the art of using words, images, voice, and other tools to shape persuasive, effective language in any situation,… Continue reading The “New” ENG-W 131: Fall 2020
The genre of creative nonfiction complicates the boundaries of what we normally think of as imaginative writing (e.g., fantasy novels, contemporary short fiction, romance, most “Literature”) and writing about real people, places, things, and events (e.g., journalism/nonfiction or documentary writing).
The Academic Minute is a production of WAMC-Albany in conjunction with the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Today, I was honored to be featured in a segment on building a daily digital media habit and why it is so important to do so in these trying times of information overload and general societal uncertainty.… Continue reading Digital Habits
Course Description We live in a time forever transformed by scientific discovery and humankind’s drive to understand and control the natural world. Scientific and technological advancements in the West have made the present moment what it is—from smartphones to vaccines to NASA’s experimental plasma propulsion systems, science and technology are the twin engines of the… Continue reading ENG-W 221: Writing in the Life Sciences
This summer, as the world burned, the coronavirus raged, and the body count from police-assisted killings edged ever upward, I read Brian Jackson's wonderful new book Teaching Mindful Writers and wondered, "How can I pay my respects to the world-historical events of this summer in a way that both honors the enormity of what's going… Continue reading “This Time It’s Personal” Media Project 1: Looking In (ENG-W 131)
Yes, we should all probably be teaching online in Fall 2020. But the powers-that-be have decided, at least for some of us, that we are going to carry on with face-to-face teaching, even as they explain to us in calm, reassuring terms the conditions of our own demise. If we must head back to campus,… Continue reading Teaching in Fall 2020: Ten Strategies for Pandemic Learning
Paul Cook 