Journalist – Historian – Speaker
My scholarly work focuses on the movement of relics and the way that movement enables storytelling and cultural creation. Although I write about the 13th century (and the centuries surrounding it), the urge to tell stories about objects, especially objects as they move, is widespread. It’s part of the way we solidify, as it were, …
See here for primer on these posts. I did no writing over the weekend. Instead, my son turned 9. Read about it here. I did a few edits on a Hillary Clinton and autism piece. Daily word count: 1378 Chapter word count: 3583Chapter goal: 8500Total word count: 6784Total goal: 70000 Summarized history of deinstitutionalization in …
Happy birthday to my son, who is 9 today. Nico throws a “biscuit” over a glass barrier to a waiting crocodile. Yesterday we went to the Brookfield Zoo. I’ve written about the Zoo’s true commitment to inclusion here, and will have another piece on them next month in Chicago Special Parent. We bought a “backstage …
I did no writing on Saturday. Was I supposed to write on Saturday? I played with the kids, cleaned the house, made food, put away holiday directions, played a show that night. We needed the time together during the day. Also I finished my final edits on a CNN piece about Clinton’s autism plan. And …
See here for primer on these posts. Daily word count: 973 Chapter word count: 2205 Chapter goal: 8500 Total word count: 5406 Total goal: 70000 Did a lot of general “here’s how I’m going to talk about disability” stuff today. Identity first. Social model.
Last year was the year in which white liberal pundits ranted about PC Run Amok. Hua Hsu covered it very well in his piece for The New Yorker, “The Year of the Imaginary Student.” It’s a piece worth reading in its entirety. (Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan, has also written two good essays critiquing this …
See here for primer on these posts. Daily word count: 1232 Chapter word count: 1232Chapter goal: 8500Total word count: 4433Total goal: 70000 I also wrote a 1000 word essay for CNN earlier. I’m now through the opening section of Chapter 1 and ready to get into the meat.
I will be on HuffPost Live at 12:30 ET/11:30 CT as part of a 30-minute panel discussion of disability and politics, prompted by the release of a detailed Plan to Support Children, Youth, and Adults Living with Autism and their Families. Here’s the link to the segment. Here is the best piece I’ve read on …
See here for primer on these posts. Daily wordcount: 372 Chapter wordcount: 3201Chapter goal: 3000Total wordcount: 3201Total goal: 70000 Finished the Intro draft today, did a quick revision and cleanup, and began organizing the first chapter. I keep changing my mind about the opening anecdote, but am leaning towards the death of Quintonio Legrier.
Over on Chronicle Vitae, a group of students at the University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign, have written a spectacular piece – “A lecture from the lectured.” They open by citing pieces that sneer at students today for being distracted, boring, and un-intellectually curious, then respond with appropriate scorn. At a university like ours, where thousands …