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Robert B Powers on My Remarkably Common Name Tom Nealis on My Remarkably Common Name Anne Rouse on Joke’s on Me Radhika on My Working Life Anne Rouse on Teaching Composition Courses t…
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My Remarkably Common Name
I have always entertained two notions about the origin of my common name, Mark. The first, that I was named after my mother, Margaret, and the second, that because my family is Catholic, I was named after the first Gospel … Continue reading
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America Would Be Better Off Without Adjectives
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), between 2010 and 2019, 76% of killings in America have been committed by right-wing extremists, 20% by domestic Islamic extremists, 3% by left-wing extremists, and 1% are counted as miscellaneous. These numbers come from … Continue reading
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Prescription for Ethics: An Antidote to the Worship of Scientific Learning
The university where I teach states its mission as “foster[ing] intellectual inquiry and critical thinking, preparing graduates who will serve as effective, ethical leaders and engaged citizens.” It’s a tall order, and I have read this statement to myself many … Continue reading
Posted in Business Communication, Not Satire, Science and Technology, Uncategorized
Tagged behavioral psychology, cognitive psychology, consequence, ethical, ethics, Kohlberg, liberal arts, moral, oxytocin, Piaget, read, Rest, science, story, student, teacher, university, Zak
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Teaching Composition Courses to Non-English Majors: A Multipronged Approach
As one who teaches English composition to undergraduates who are non-English majors, my first task is to convince the students that being able to write well is important, that being able to persuade others is important, and that the approach … Continue reading
Posted in Business Communication, Uncategorized
Tagged college, composition, discipline, educator, English, group work, non-English major, science, student, teacher, writing
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A Hackney Cab Ride through The Corporation of The City of Baltimore: 1834
With free blacks and slaves sharing the streets alongside merchant bankers, shopkeepers, artisans, seaman, and an influx of immigrant labor, antebellum Baltimore City in the early 1830s was growing fast. Irish and German emigrants often booked passage with Baltimore as … Continue reading
An Appalachian almost in Paris
My wife tells me she has booked a flight for four to visit Paris, France, not Texas, although I understand that France is Texas-sized. She’s looking to make family memories before our two girls go off to college, and she … Continue reading
Posted in Food and Drink, Satire, Travel, Uncategorized
Tagged American, Appalachian, architecture, autoroute, bohemian, campervan, cirque, college, Corbusier, family, France, French, Futurescope, Grenoble, microbrew, National Parks, Paris, Portland, Pyrenees, Renaissance, soleil, Texas, tourist, vacation
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Tipping Towards a Living Wage
I phone an order into my favorite neighborhood pizza joint and stop on my way home to pick up the pies. At the counter where I pay, I’m greeted by a chipper young woman, high voice, curly hair, and a smile … Continue reading
Posted in Business Communication, Food and Drink, Satire, Uncategorized
Tagged Baltimore, business, Chowhound.com, credit card, Drew Brees, Home Depot, living wage, low-wage, Steven Schultz, takeout, tip, tippinig, waiter, waitress, Wal-Mart
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Of Straight Men and Comics
“Talk low, talk slow, and don’t talk too much,” John Wayne famously said, eliminating the “big stick” that Teddy Roosevelt so fondly carried, although Wayne implicitly replaces the stick with a rifle. As a youth I was a Wayne fan, … Continue reading
Spring Break at Virginia Tech
My first spring living in Baltimore, late 80s, I had no friends in town, but I did have a record collection, a television set, and a Mazda 323. In my third-floor walkup near Mount Vernon Square, I’d collected every gourmet spaghetti sauce on the … Continue reading
Posted in Baltimore, Food and Drink, Satire, Uncategorized
Tagged architecture, Blacksburg, Cowgill Hall, Gillie’s, Virginia, Virginia Tech, writing
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How I Rate on ratemyprofessors.com
I teach writing to college students, and I’m always searching for ways to improve my teaching technique. I go out of my way to read articles about pedagogy, watch movies about good and bad teachers, and listen to my fellow … Continue reading
Charney's Life of Charney 