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Book of Lamentations A new dystopian novel in the classic mode takes the form of a “dictionary of madness”

Hang on hang on hang on. This essay is fabulous. I can't believe I taught an entire course on, essentially, co-reading science and/as literature and didn't have this at my disposal. thenewinquiry.com/book-of-lame...

Passed with no revisions. That's a PhD then.

It's not enough to bring "humanities" and "sciences" together (especially when such pairings work on the assumption of an oppositional relationship here), we should be showing the clear historical through lines between these different types of inquiry.

#MedHum students responded extremely well to the methods of History of Medicine and Philosophy of Science. I'm becoming increasingly convinced these are essential missing pieces in a lot of MedHum programs.

Wrapped up my course on the "Medical Surreal" last Wednesday. A bittersweet moment with amazing student discussions reflecting back on the work of the course but with no knowledge of when I'll be able to offer something like this again.

Performance I am a mezzo-soprano with over 15 years of experience as a soloist specializing in early music. I also have extensive experience singing in chamber ensembles and symphonic choirs from Denver…

still needs work perhaps, but nice to see all this in the same place! skyesavage.com/performances/

The admin tasks are never ending, but today's somewhat helpful although probably not to be prioritized task was compiling a performance resume on the website. Musicianship and scholarship occupy very much the same place in my head, but it has been a challenge figuring out how to convey that.

the texts are contemporary to each other even if from distinct European vs. American vantages. I'm looking forward to seeing what the students make of it, especially given the way Williams is somewhat instrumentally used in many MedHum syllabi.

Another fun aspect of this course is forcing myself to re-read some of my earliest grad school encounters while pairing them with something radically different. Tomorrow is Walter Benjamin's "The Story Teller" with selections from William Carlos Williams "The Doctor Stories."

nearly perfect representation of my dissertation trajectory.

We worked with a particularly dense and unsettling Unica Zürn text yesterday in my Medical Surreal course, and I was admittedly a bit apprehensive, but the students truly blew me away with their approach. Some admitted discomfort but were able to articulate the value of digging deeper.

It can be nerve-wracking assigning challenging texts on difficult topics. I think many instructors these days work with an amount of anxiety that a student might respond poorly. But that makes it all the more gratifying when instead students respond with serious engagement and consideration.

I'm afraid I must once again beg academics to learn how to deliver a lecture. Speaking is a skill! It can be trained!

A Real Pain was a incredible to watch not the least because it was for once a movie about PEOPLE. I did feel that each character, no matter how little screen time, was truly real. Each person had a story that shone through in small interactions, even if we never learned more about them.

I am also struck by those reading his character as just "some annoying guy" that the film tried to make "philosophical." As the movie progressed I felt intensely that I have met him before. It's hard to move among DIY art and music scenes and not encounter people like him.

Benji staying at the airport in the end was not "showing growth" (???? how would anyone read that as the message?) but precisely the indication that, despite their travel, despite the painful confrontation with history, with their family, nothing has changed. Meaning failed once again.

This was a film entirely ABOUT this desperate search for meaning, the desire to feel something real and authentic about something with an overwhelmingly monumental historical impact, that shaped you in ways you cant really know. But no matter what you try, every attempt feels empty.

I absolutely loved A Real Pain and I'm really surprised to see some of the critique of it as "not going anywhere" or not "doing enough"?? For once I actually think this is a genuine misunderstanding of the film.

Very amused at all the darkwave bands finding me on here. You're not wrong, but how did you know??

Let Words Be the Garden Before I begin: This is the first post I’ve written here in over five years. 2020 was a caesura for many, and for me it was no different. The conference I’d been planning with fellow IC…

New Blog Post: Let Words Be the Garden. Inspired by my amazing round table at #mla2025. Looking forward to engaging more with the working group on academic forms. skyesavage.com/2025/01/17/l...

(rip wittgenstein notes Ive been nursing for the past few months)

the only small blip for me: leaving my notebook on the plane coming in! 🥲 all notes relegated to hotel notepads.

I especially appreciated the roundtable format that more and more people seem to be embracing. Had a great discussion on my own RT on (Re)Thinking Academic Forms.

Had an unexpectedly inspiring time at #mla2025. Highlights: Lee Edelman vs. the Jury on Queer Theory Teaches us Nothing (incredible and passionate dialogue); Butler's amazing address and forceful positioning for truth and refusing to self-censor on Humanities and Democracy.

At one point on Twitter I was following a decently-sized group of scholars and writers. A lot of really amazing conversations and opportunities arose because of that community, and I hope to begin to recreate some of that here. To that end, I wonder who I'll be seeing at #MLA2025?

2020 was truly a caesura. So much of that work feels alien to me, but it is sad to see it gone. Maybe I'll find a way to host it on my own. But it is also the motivation needed to start submitting cnf and essays again!

Finally bit the bullet to do some end of the year housekeeping, including finally updating the personal website I'd abandoned nearly 4 years ago. It was the only place I tracked my online publications and nearly every link is broken now--journals gone, magazines shut down.

Beginning the slow and arduous process of rebuilding some kind of online presence. Let's see what we can make of this.