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In Syndication

Jason Mittell's picture

Haunted by Seriality: The Formal Uncanny of Mulholland Drive

by Jason Mittell — Middlebury College
January 03, 2013 – 19:00

In my 18 years in academia, I’ve never been to the MLA convention – until now. For those who don’t know, the Modern Language Association is the largest humanities organization, and their annual convention is an iconic event, known as a massive academic job meat market and an object of mockery in the press for dense theoretical jargon. ... read more »

tedfriedman's picture

Ted’s Movie List for 2012

by Ted Friedman — Georgia State University
January 03, 2013 – 18:55

Since the early 1990s, I’ve been rating every movie I see according to the DTMTBD system: how it compares to Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead. DTMTBD  is my movie equivalent of what sports statheads call a “replacement-level player” – what you could expect to pick up off the waiver wire if your starter went down. Best […]

Karen Hellekson's picture

Upgrading to Windows 8

by Karen Hellekson — Independent Scholar
January 02, 2013 – 13:37

I bit the bullet and upgraded my Windows 7 laptop to Windows 8, seduced by the promise of faster boot times and more security, not to mention its decent price. I downloaded the installer, had it check my system for compatibility, paid my money, and let the OS install. I did not bother backing up or migrating any info, because everything I care about is in my perfectly synced Dropbox account. ... read more »

tedfriedman's picture

Ted’s Top TV of 2012

by Ted Friedman — Georgia State University
January 01, 2013 – 22:48

1. Breaking Bad 2. Louie 3. Mad Men 4. 30 Rock 5. Girls 6. Childrens Hospital 7. Game of Thrones 8. Parks and Recreation 9. The Mindy Project 10. Community 11. New Girl 12. Justified 13. The Amazing Race 14. The Colbert Report 15. The Daily Show 16. Top Chef 17. Pardon the Interruption 18. […]

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Ted’s Top Music of 2012

by Ted Friedman — Georgia State University
January 01, 2013 – 21:41

Albums 1. Spiritualized, Sweet Heart Sweet Light 2. Taylor Swift, Red 3. Frank Ocean, channel ORANGE 4. Ellie Goulding, Halcyon 5. Burial, Kindred 6. Mount Eerie, Clear Moon 7. Lana Del Rey, Born to Die: Paradise Edition 8. Metric, Synthetica 9. Various Artists, Country Funk 1969-1975 10. The Men, Open Your Heart 11. Brian Eno, Lux 12. Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Psychedelic Pill 13. Kendrick Lamar, good […]

Shawn Sobers's picture

Where can young people go for refuge? (Open letter to the Principle ...

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
December 29, 2012 – 05:59

Courtni Webb, one of your 17 year old high school students, is now facing the possibility of being expelled from your school after writing a poem about the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In the poem Courtni wrote she understood why someone like Adam Lanza might do what he did. She wasn’t agreeing with it, but in her poem said she understood the oppression in society that could cause such a tragedy. ... read more »

Jason Mittell's picture

Media violence and debating effects & influences

by Jason Mittell — Middlebury College
December 17, 2012 – 19:20

Like most people I know, I’m sad, angry, and numb in reaction to the massacre of children and their teachers on Friday. While I feel helpless to affect change in a meaningful way, I do what I can via the small contributions to organizations like the Sandy Hook School Support Fund and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and writing letters to my Federal and State representatives arguing for increased gun control and funding for mental health initiatives. ... read more »

kfitz's picture

More on That Word

by Kathleen Fitzpatrick — Modern Language Association
December 13, 2012 – 09:37

This is in part an apology for having ranted and run yesterday; between the little project I’m trying to get launched in the next couple of weeks and a meeting that took up ... read more »

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“Neoliberal”

by Kathleen Fitzpatrick — Modern Language Association
December 12, 2012 – 10:45

I have come to despise the term “neoliberal,” to the extent that I’d really like to see it stricken from academic vocabularies everywhere. ... read more »

kfitz's picture

Feeling My Way Through

by Kathleen Fitzpatrick — Modern Language Association
December 10, 2012 – 09:53

I find myself at one of those moments at which everything is great and yet nothing seems to be working exactly right. ... read more »

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