today i started class with bad bunny’s halftime show because that’s where the students were at and it became an excellent fodder for our unit on narratology, also a great way to review our discussion on immanent critique and totality from a few sessions ago.
February 10, 2026 at 10:50 PM
today i started class with bad bunny’s halftime show because that’s where the students were at and it became an excellent fodder for our unit on narratology, also a great way to review our discussion on immanent critique and totality from a few sessions ago.
as part of “easing into” the seminar on criticism we read auerbach’s essay on odysseus’ scar alongside first 10 pages of sinykin & winant’s close reading book. it’s not an easy essay but the students were up for the challenge and for exploring the worlds opened up by an attention to a single detail!
January 23, 2026 at 12:56 AM
as part of “easing into” the seminar on criticism we read auerbach’s essay on odysseus’ scar alongside first 10 pages of sinykin & winant’s close reading book. it’s not an easy essay but the students were up for the challenge and for exploring the worlds opened up by an attention to a single detail!
My review of Aboulela’s River Spirit is now out in Africa Journal. The line of argument I follow here differs from what I had focused on in my trade review of the book for LARB over two years ago. The book I’m supposedly writing also opens with this novel and the question of generations. Link below.
January 20, 2026 at 2:54 PM
My review of Aboulela’s River Spirit is now out in Africa Journal. The line of argument I follow here differs from what I had focused on in my trade review of the book for LARB over two years ago. The book I’m supposedly writing also opens with this novel and the question of generations. Link below.
i did some high school, all of college, and grad school in the US and i have never experienced any institutional acknowledgement of ramadan before let alone a plan for accommodation. there’s so much to despair about in higher ed these days but this made me smile.
January 16, 2026 at 6:52 PM
i did some high school, all of college, and grad school in the US and i have never experienced any institutional acknowledgement of ramadan before let alone a plan for accommodation. there’s so much to despair about in higher ed these days but this made me smile.
i move to california, the drought ends. draw your causal conclusions, please.
January 11, 2026 at 12:00 AM
i move to california, the drought ends. draw your causal conclusions, please.
me bracing myself for all the circling back emails tomorrow 🫠
January 4, 2026 at 8:44 PM
me bracing myself for all the circling back emails tomorrow 🫠
right?!? although i do love watching a brawl. in reality there’s none. as i told you earlier we should just all read doris lessing and rejoice.
December 29, 2025 at 2:44 AM
right?!? although i do love watching a brawl. in reality there’s none. as i told you earlier we should just all read doris lessing and rejoice.
in the spring, i’m teaching an undergraduate seminar on criticism that is solely organized around doris lessing’s the golden notebook and i couldn’t be more excited :/
December 26, 2025 at 6:01 PM
in the spring, i’m teaching an undergraduate seminar on criticism that is solely organized around doris lessing’s the golden notebook and i couldn’t be more excited :/
my mood at 9am on this sunday.
December 21, 2025 at 5:08 PM
my mood at 9am on this sunday.
as someone who went to not one but two small experimental art pubs parties last night and who co-founded another, i find the scene i just read pretty funny.
December 19, 2025 at 5:46 PM
as someone who went to not one but two small experimental art pubs parties last night and who co-founded another, i find the scene i just read pretty funny.
every day this week, while i had been cooped up inside with a deadline, it’s been 50° and sunny, but the minute i finished and could go run errands and get life done, it rains all day.
December 17, 2025 at 8:36 PM
every day this week, while i had been cooped up inside with a deadline, it’s been 50° and sunny, but the minute i finished and could go run errands and get life done, it rains all day.
teaching a short excerpt from rob nixon’s ‘slow violence’ this morning. this is how nixon starts the book, reminding you that the global south has always known larry summers for the moral degenerate that he is.
November 17, 2025 at 3:50 PM
teaching a short excerpt from rob nixon’s ‘slow violence’ this morning. this is how nixon starts the book, reminding you that the global south has always known larry summers for the moral degenerate that he is.
when i signed up i hadn’t realized that what i thought was a comments section was actually where your preferred name was supposed to go, so this was my name at the berkeley half marathon today 🤦🏾♀️
November 16, 2025 at 10:00 PM
when i signed up i hadn’t realized that what i thought was a comments section was actually where your preferred name was supposed to go, so this was my name at the berkeley half marathon today 🤦🏾♀️
i just want to finish ONE thing this semester, just one thing. how am i this tired and this behind??
November 14, 2025 at 3:24 PM
i just want to finish ONE thing this semester, just one thing. how am i this tired and this behind??
a grading interlude: brownies for class tomorrow. i’ve finally christened my oven and baked in berkeley! but i still have 11 more papers to grade 🥹
November 12, 2025 at 1:44 AM
a grading interlude: brownies for class tomorrow. i’ve finally christened my oven and baked in berkeley! but i still have 11 more papers to grade 🥹
this little guy is the apartment building’s communal pet. he’s always by the door except when he sneaks into windows
November 9, 2025 at 8:56 PM
this little guy is the apartment building’s communal pet. he’s always by the door except when he sneaks into windows
and now i’m reminded of laundry! there’s simply too much demand on a sunday. i waited too long and so this view came at a considerable dehydrating cost
November 9, 2025 at 7:01 PM
and now i’m reminded of laundry! there’s simply too much demand on a sunday. i waited too long and so this view came at a considerable dehydrating cost
i’m so disappointed in female vets for not leading to the downfall of society. women really are weak
November 8, 2025 at 7:24 PM
i’m so disappointed in female vets for not leading to the downfall of society. women really are weak
these are certainly “interesting times” because delta airlines now has free wifi and i’m squandering it by hate-reading this oxymoronic garbage. if that’s not a sign of female pathology, i don’t know what is. feminism can’t save me from the new york crimes
November 8, 2025 at 6:46 PM
these are certainly “interesting times” because delta airlines now has free wifi and i’m squandering it by hate-reading this oxymoronic garbage. if that’s not a sign of female pathology, i don’t know what is. feminism can’t save me from the new york crimes
when i text my ET/CT friends before 8am their time…🙈
November 4, 2025 at 4:40 PM
when i text my ET/CT friends before 8am their time…🙈
while it’s devastating to see my alma mater abdicate the basic premise of what a university should be, every day in a new way, i’m at least glad that they’ve said the quiet part aloud…the ultimate payoff of these schemes is the glory of sounding like any other mediocre white bloke.
November 4, 2025 at 5:24 AM
while it’s devastating to see my alma mater abdicate the basic premise of what a university should be, every day in a new way, i’m at least glad that they’ve said the quiet part aloud…the ultimate payoff of these schemes is the glory of sounding like any other mediocre white bloke.
this was taken on april 26 day of the daffodil dash run in ithaca
November 3, 2025 at 3:48 AM
this was taken on april 26 day of the daffodil dash run in ithaca
best place on earth! 🎉@marissafenley.bsky.social recently sent me this excellent tote!
October 17, 2025 at 5:32 PM
best place on earth! 🎉@marissafenley.bsky.social recently sent me this excellent tote!
She was the keynote at ALA in 2023. finally when i worked up the courage to talk to her, i said, ‘prof. wicomb i have a question for you,’ and she replied, ‘oh really, because i’ve had one for you all weekend, where do you buy your clothes?’ then she had her own questions about somali metaphysics.
October 15, 2025 at 6:58 PM
She was the keynote at ALA in 2023. finally when i worked up the courage to talk to her, i said, ‘prof. wicomb i have a question for you,’ and she replied, ‘oh really, because i’ve had one for you all weekend, where do you buy your clothes?’ then she had her own questions about somali metaphysics.