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Rohan Maitzen

@rohanmaitzen.bsky.social

3.1K followers 1.5K following 4.9K posts

English prof at King's / Dalhousie (mostly Victorian lit, detective fiction), critic, blogger at 'Novel Readings'. Essays and reviews in the TLS, LRC, Q&Q, CNQ, LARB, etc. It's pronounced "Rowan." She / her. Halifax, NS. http://rohanmaitzen.com

rohanmaitzen.com

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 5h

Good evening from sleepy Fred. ❤️🐈‍⬛

Close up of grey tabby snoozing with her paws stretched up towards my face

Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 11h

After a 3-week delay, we finally started our term on September 23! It feels good to be back in the classroom: in spite of--or perhaps because of--the many forces arrayed against our efforts to care about writing and literature, it seems to me that students are bringing their best selves to the work.

This Week, Back In My Classes

It was just about a month ago that I last posted in this series. At the time, Dal faculty were locked out but we were hoping that a resolution to the labour dispute was close, which, thankfully, it…

rohanmaitzen.com

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 14h

Also one of the first books I saw there was called something like "how to keep your depressed child alive" and JFC. Imagine selling that promise in a book. Imagine displaying it where people like me will see it. 😕

Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 14h

It turns out that when it comes to book browsing I prefer my authors dead - metaphorically of course. Nothing is more off-putting to me when I'm wondering if I want to read a book than being stared at by the writer while I do that. 🙃 (Leaves "Booktoberfest" empty-handed...)

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Reposted by Rohan Maitzen

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 1d

IDK, man. School started 2 weeks ago for us, and once again students remind me that they’re so curious and interested in the world and anxious to ask big questions. We hear that these questions are no longer useful or relevant, but wherever that’s coming from, it’s not what students believe.

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 2d

Yes. All of this. Sigh.

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Reposted by Rohan Maitzen

Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 2d

This also indicates the essential dishonesty of saying “it’s just a tool.” A hammer is a tool. Nobody writes about the “inevitability” of hammers. Nobody has ever studied the harmful effects of hammers on learning and concluded that teachers must all hit their students with hammers “responsibly.”

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 3d

They are a great option if (for example) a massive anthology is just too much content for your course or you want to pick and choose from their different books. You can get paper or digital readers. I've done this several times.

Broadview Custom Texts

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customtext.broadviewpress.com

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 3d

If the "AI" in "AI Assistant" means "Annoying Interference" then it turns out I have my very own. 😆

Grey tabby cat attacking my pencil when I'm trying to mark in-class exercises

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 3d

Depending on the readings one possibility is that Broadview will prepare custom readers (though I'm not sure if they can do that for US orders?) - I've used this option several times.

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 3d

Musquodoboit.

Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 4d

😅

Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 4d

There is not one possible mitigation strategy that is feasible at the scale of our classes, unfortunately - or applicable to all forms of assignment.

Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 4d

I hate hate hate being morally certain a submission is AI "assisted" (at best). Honestly I miss the good old days of students plagiarizing from library books.

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 4d

It is already full up though! Which is good news for us. :-)

Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 4d

🤔

Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 5d

In the October issue of @reviewcanada.bsky.social I review Katherine Ashenburg’s “Margaret’s New Look”

And Sew Forth | A review of “Margaret’s New Look” by Katherine Ashenburg | Literary Review of Canada

Rohan Maitzen reviews Katherine Ashenburg’s novel “Margaret’s New Look,” a fashion mystery surrounding Christian Dior’s 1947 collection.

reviewcanada.ca

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 5d

I'm excited to be offering this program again at the Halifax Public Libraries with my partner volunteer Maxine: we had a really special experience offering it this summer.

Newcomer Reading Club

The Newcomer Reading Club is a welcoming space for all newcomers to improve their English reading and speaking skills. Each session will focus on a short story chosen to match participants’ language l...

halifax.bibliocommons.com

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 5d

This is fine. 🥵

Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 6d

One could do worse than be an amateur painter of birches. 🙃

(With apologies to Robert Frost)

Watercolour painting of birch tree trunks against an abstract landscape.

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 6d

What if I just didn't check the news now that I am caught up on my most immediate work tasks. Hmm.

Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 6d

That is absolutely stunning - wow.

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 7d

Work email that makes you angry on weekends should not be allowed and yes I do check my work email but sometimes there are legit things I need to know about, including both work and non-work. 😒

Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 8d

I always resist what seems to me the essentialism of those terms and the association (marginalization) of being female with disorder.

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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 8d

I'm so sorry for your loss.

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