Category Archives: learning
The Secret History by Donna Tartt – an investigation into a novel about studying the humanities (and murder!)
Recently I read Tartt’s “The Secret History and was impressed by the handling of a bunch of pretentious teenagers studying Julian Morrow’s exclusive (and doubtless uppity) Greek Classics class. The Guardian well summarises the reasons that you should read this book … Continue reading
Jeffrey Williams: The Rise of the Academic Novel – A graphic guide / map
This post features a diagram I made using ‘Inspiration 9’ to describe the ways in which Jeffrey Williams divides and subdivides the Campus Novel and the Academic Novel. I read ‘ The Rise of the Academic Novel’ in American Literary … Continue reading
Conference Paper from ‘Theorising the Popular’ Conference at Liverpool Hope
This post is a copy of a paper which I gave at my very first conference this summer. It was part of the fourth international Theorizing the Popular Conference held at Liverpool Hope University(details here). I am pleased to have … Continue reading
Scholar Gipsy : Matthew Arnold
I’ve been reading up on Matthew Arnold’s work as a school inspector, and came across some of his poetic works. Having only thought of Arnold as a cultural critic, I was surprised to find his poetry to be so highly … Continue reading
Nussbaum’s remarks at Colgate University
Thanks to Andy Daddio for this brilliant photo. Truly the Daddio of Scholarly Photography! When it comes to a defence of the liberal arts in Higher Education, Martha Nussbaum is a matriarch. While some have criticised her universalism, and tendency towards vague aspiration, she nonetheless … Continue reading
Rousseau’s Emile: on Infancy
I made this quote bank of the first chapter of Rousseau’s Emile : “Infancy”. Feel free to use this wherever and whenever you want. The first drafts of Emile did not include infancy, but as William Boyd observes in Emile … Continue reading