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Author Archives: Boz
The English Major and Ford Madox Ford: A Tale of Passion
The Chemistry Major At this late date, newly minted Medicare card tucked safely in my wallet, I suppose it’s time to admit, mostly to myself, that I have always been what … Continue reading
Posted in education, history, language, literature, review, World War I, writing
Tagged books, education, history, language, literature, review, World War I, writing
2 Comments
Bible Belt Billboards
I am very much aware of the Great Commission. I memorized it in Sunday school when I was about eight years old, at a time when the King James version was still in vogue and children still memorized Bible verses: … Continue reading
Bearing Witness: Reading and Telling the Great War
Midway through the World War I centenary, I decided that I would use that largely unacknowledged anniversary as the theme for my freshman composition class on writing across the curriculum. The students write a literature review about shell shock for … Continue reading
Posted in books, history, literature, review, World War I
Tagged books, history, literature, World War I
2 Comments
Dear Jay and Gina: An Open Letter
The five “increasingly savage paragraphs” of this obituary were published in the Redwood Falls [MN] Gazette on June 4. That same day, Stu @RandBallsStu posted it on Twitter. By the time I heard about it three days later on All Things Considered, it had … Continue reading
Posted in current events, news
Tagged current events, media, obituary, responsibility, social media
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Ennui; or, The Cat Who Read Mallarmé
La chair est triste, hélas! et j’ai lu tous les livres. [The flesh is sad, alas! and I have read all the books.]
Yellow Fleas
The end of Reconstruction in 1877 gave birth to the Solid South. In both Presidential and state politics, the South retained its essentially single-party identity until the passage of the Civil Right Act in 1964. During that time, Southerners would … Continue reading
Posted in current events, education, free speech, history, language, news, politics, sexual harassment
Tagged discrimination, education, First Amendment, free speech, history, identity, politics, religion
1 Comment
Reconsidering the American Consensus–and Rehabilitating the 1950s
The Mering thesis and the roots of consensus history At the University of Arizona in the mid-1970s, John V. Mering inculcated his disciples with a devotion to the consensus historiography whose bedrock was The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made It … Continue reading
Posted in books, critical thinking, current events, education, history, politics
Tagged education, history, identity, mentor, Orwell, politics
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The Mother of Beauty: War in Words and Music
For the past two years, I have immersed myself in a personal and professional commemoration of the centenary of World War I. For a freshman composition class I designed in writing across the curriculum, I have read extensively in the … Continue reading
Posted in history, literature, music, peace, World War I
Tagged beauty, fiction, literature, music, poetry, truth, war, World War I
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My Journey to Easter
Last year on Palm Sunday, the rector of our large, young, and vibrant Episcopal parish, St. Michael’s in Raleigh, announced–only half in jest–that we might want to consider attending the Easter Vigil on Saturday night rather than trying to find … Continue reading