Tag: phd

The Summer of Sims and Prelims

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Last summer during lockdown, I played Sims for the first time. And me being me, I quickly became obsessed. By the end of summer, I had bought all but 3 of the packs. (I don’t have My First Pet, Kids Room, or Toddler).

Over the past year, Sims has been my way of relaxing and escaping from academic stuff. Building and creating are my favorite parts of the game. I’ve been uploading my houses and such into the gallery for other people to download. If you play and are interested in seeing what I create, my username is GingerSnap425. Look me up, follow me, download my shit! (haha!)

Screnshot of my Sims account, GingerSnap425

This summer is the summer of prelim exams for my cohort. Before I can start dissertating, I have to pass a prelim exam of 3 questions from my dissertation committee; one in pedagogy, one in theory, and one in history. There are a total of 70 readings to prepare for the exam; 52 on a general list, and 18 that I added. I’ve read some of them already in classes over the past 2 years, so I just have to gather the notes and annotations I already have for those. And, let’s be honest here, I have no intention of reading Phaedrus again. (Sorry, not sorry, Plato).

I get 3 days to answer the questions, and it’s open book. Right now, I’m planning on taking mine August 27-30. Doesn’t seem too difficult, right? Hahahaha! At least it’s not like the bar exam. That’s what they’re telling me, anyway.

So, as I’m reading and annotating and reading some more, I will be building and creating in Sims to relax from it all. It’s something completely mindless which is what I’ll need. I remember when I was studying for the bar exam way back when, and I would watch the MTV reality show “Sorority Life” for the same reason. Remember that show? It was gloriously awful as most reality tv is. Doing something that takes no brain power is a must when your work consists of nothing but brain power.

And I think I’ll be writing posts about my adventures in Sims. I’m not entirely sure what to write about yet, but here are a few thoughts:

  • write about each of the packs I have, and my favorite/least favorite parts of the pack
  • build a house using only the base game and one pack (this is very difficult for me)
  • have people give me building/character creation challenges to complete

If there is anything you want to see or read about, or if you want to give me a building/creation challenge, go for it! I’ll do my best to create it, and then I’ll write all about it here!

Historic Women of Rhetoric

.Reading time 6 minutes.

This week in my History of Rhetoric class, we read about Aspasia and other women from Ancient Greece who were highly influential in rhetoric. I was so excited that one of the discussion boards asked for a creative post. Below is what I created and posted! It was so much fun to do!

My only other exposure to Aspasia has been from one of my favorite video games Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.

My plan was to play AC: Odyssey on our Wellness Days and do some kind of comparison. However, Tabitha hogged the PS4 playing Call of Duty: Cold War, so instead I turned to Sims. I decided to create Aspasia, Sappho, and Diotima in my island world named Sulani. So while technically I was doing coursework on a wellness day, it was so fun! I call that a win!

Ok, on with my creation. I made the women roommates on a plot of land that is “off-the-grid” given there were no such luxuries of plumbing and electricity in ancient Greece. I let Sims pick their body type and skin color, but I changed their hair style and color. I then picked out the most Grecian-like clothes Sims 4 has available and gave the 3 rhetoricians personality traits based on what I read about them this week.

Below are screenshots of what I created along with explanations.

Sappho is in blue; Diotima is in purple; and Aspasia is in orange. It shows Mantinea as the household name because I created Diotima first. I gave each of them the last name of where they were from. Interesting side note: when I went to save the household, I got a message saying one of the last name’s was a forbidden word in Sims, and if I continued on, I could not upload the household to the gallery. I continued, and then later figured out the forbidden word. I gave Sappho the last name of Lesbos.

Anyway, here are their personality traits:

One trait you see with all of them is the Bookworm trait. I figured it was appropriate, and I just picture these women trying to soak up any and all knowledge they could.

I added genius and creative to Sappho’s personality which gives her the extra trait of a quick learner. Creative was based on her poetry. Genius was based on several things. How her main concern was “how the women’s voice could best be heard and understood by the audience” (Glenn, 26); how she transformed the male gaze into a female gaze; and how she uses her skill as a poet to disrupt “the continuum of male-dominated poetics” (Glenn, 27).

For Diotima, I added family oriented and romantic which gave her the additional trait of alluring. “For Diotima, then, the generative power of eros (or the philosophy of love) is an ongoing pursuit, a striving, rather than any kind of completion or final attainment” (Glenn, 46). I thought family oriented was appropriate based on her belief of the “reproduction of one’s soul in another” and that a person achieves immortality by producing offspring. I don’t know for sure whether offspring means actual children or ideas, but for Sims purposes, I went with children.

Lastly, I added genius and self-assured to Aspasia (also resulting in the extra trait of quick learner). I think these traits can be summed up in this quote from Glenn on page 38:

“By every historical account, Aspasia ventured out into the common land, distinguishing herself by her rhetorical accomplishments, her sexual attachment to Pericles, and her public participation in political affairs. Her alleged connection with the courtesan life is only important so far as it explains her intellectual prowess and social attainments—and the surprise of the Athenian citizenry unaccustomed to (or perhaps jealous or suspicious of) a public woman”

The house I built for them has a garden, an “arena” area for them to practice and recite their poems, speeches, and songs, and large spaces inside for them to relax, read, and write. They each have their own sleeping area with bedding that matches the color of their dresses (because I’m weird that way). There’s a small kitchen area (I had to add a somewhat modern-day refrigerator, so they don’t starve – but it’s still off-the-grid), and a bathroom. Notice the 2 large bushes in the bathroom? Those serve as the toilets – haha!

I’ll leave you with a few screenshots of what occurred after I was done building, and the women were getting acquainted with their neighbors and living space. In the first picture, Diotima and Aspasia are debating with an anti-environmentalist neighbor as Sappho is busy building something in the sand. After the neighbor left, Aspasia and Diotima decided to join in on the fun of sand sculpting, and, in the last photo, you can see their creations.

Student’s Log – Scholastic/Quarantine Date 03.30.2020

.Reading time 1 minute.

Well, I woke up this morning, and I got myself a…wait…IT’S STILL FUCKING MARCH!! OMG!!

An upset Pam Beasley from The Office
Giphy.com

I have little concept of time anymore. The only reminder that it is still a thing is my “To Do” list on Canvas. Otherwise, it all just blends together.

Sour Cream from Steven Universes saying “Time is an illusion”
Giphy.com

I was productive yesterday. At least, I think it was yesterday. Not with school, of course. Instead, I organized my closet and got rid of 5 garbage bags worth of clothes.

London Tipton from Suite Life of Zach and Cody smiling and clapping
Giphy.com

As you can probably tell, my mind is functioning almost solely on memes and gifs at this point. That and online shopping. OMG! MAKE ME STOP BUYING SHIT!!

I’m going to run tomorrow morning. Dave’s Running has virtual races for the next 4 weeks, so I signed up for those. Hopefully, DeWine doesn’t shut down the parks because people are being stupid and congregating in groups at the parks now!

Philip J. Fry from Futurama yelling “Stop acting so stupid” through the wrong end of a bullhorn
Giphy.com

And on that note, I’m off to read my weekly affirmations from the rhetorical bible.

Student's Log – Scholastic/Quarantine date 03.23.2020

.Reading time 2 minutes.

First day of online teaching. I didn’t really have anything to do except email my students. I have the week’s module all set, I’m trying to make this as easy for them as possible. (Which means no synchronous stuff!)

I also got emails/updates on my own classes. One professor is (as someone in my cohort described him) an academic angel. I swear there isn’t a nicer human being on the planet and is eliminating grades on our stuff for the remainder of the semester. We still need to do the work, but if we have issues, we don’t have to worry about our grades. My professor for my other 2 classes is giving us time to get used to the new way of life and has pushed back readings and project due dates. I love my program.

GIF of Captain America saluting

Not all heroes wear capes

Because I have been under so much stress the past few weeks, (I mean who hasn’t been?) I needed to get outside and run. We are under lockdown here in Ohio, but we can still go to parks. I had never run the trails at one of our parks, so I decided to go today. The best way to describe what happened is it was a beautiful disaster. Beautiful because I wanted to run at least 6.5 miles, and I ran/walked 7.1!

GIF of Barney from How I Met Your Mother giving himself a high five

It was a disaster because…well, just watch this video.

Strong language

Student’s Log – Scholastic date 02.13.2020

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Nearing the end of week 3 of the new semester, and I’m already feeling like this…

giphy.com

I’m responding to some questions for a class about how I capture emerging ideas, how do I organize publications of others, where do I write, what does my weekly schedule look like…

I realized that on paper, it actually looks like I’ve got my shit together. So why don’t I feel like I do? Why do I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water, and the sharks are circling?

Linda Belcher is way cooler than me

Teacher’s Log – Supplemental

.Reading time 2 minutes.

I can’t believe I forgot about the Doctor Who activity I had my students do!

On the last day before rough drafts were due, we watched the Doctor Who episode, “Midnight.” For those not familiar with the episode, it’s from season 4, episode 11. Amazon Prime’s description of it is…

The Doctor is trapped, alone, powerless and terrified, on the leisure planet Midnight. Soon, the knocking on the wall begins. Only a woman called Sky seems to know the truth – but as paranoia turns into a witch-hunt, Sky turns the Doctor’s greatest strengths against him, and a sacrifice must be made.

-Amazon Prime https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00C104Y54/ref=atv_tv_hom_1_c_Nw77I8_2_1

It’s a bit of a spooky episode which is perfect for right before Halloween!

At a certain point in the episode (right after he asks “Could you really murder someone? Or are you better than that?”), I stop the video. Students must then decide if they would side with the Doctor, or throw the woman out of train. I give them 5 minutes to write a post to me, telling me their decision, and the reasons for that decision.

After their decisions are made and submitted, we finish watching the rest of the episode. The first question I asked when the show finished was “Would it have made a difference if I had added the constraint that your decision would have been on a discussion thread where everyone else in the class would’ve seen it?” They overwhelmingly said yes!

We spent the rest of the class time discussing all of the rhetorical moves made throughout the episode (there are a lot!). It’s always a fun way to end the first part of the unit.

Teacher’s Log – Scholastic date 10.16.2019

.Reading time 6 minutes.

I started the rhetorical analysis unit a couple of weeks ago. It’s my favorite to teach. I mean, it makes sense because that is what I’m getting my PhD in, after all. I wanted to wait to post in my journal though until before rough drafts were due so that I could reflect on the first part of the unit as a whole. This is going to be a long one!

I started the unit by discussing exigence, Kairos, and audience/constraints. I had them read about and define the terms prior to our class discussion. I use an activity that I love that I call “The Situation.” My students in the past have always had fun with. I put them in the situation that while driving to their mid-term biology exam they are texting their friend, run a red light, and get in a car crash while driving their grandma’s car. No one is hurt, but both vehicles are towed away, they are cited for the accident, and they miss their mid-term. They then have to create an email to their professor asking for a chance to re-take the mid-term (knowing their professor is old and cranky and probably won’t allow it). They also have to create a text message to the friend they were texting at the time of the accident and ask for a ride. Lastly, they create a script of what they are going to say to Grandma when they Facetime her after they get home. I have them do this as a discussion post, so everyone can see each other’s writing. We then read through them as a class, discussing exigence, Kairos, and audience along the way.

This is always a fun way for them to realize the rhetorical situations they find themselves in on a day-to-day basis. It’s also a cool way to show how audience affects rhetorical choices.

The next class, we looked at the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos. After a short lecture/discussion, I had 5 stations set up around the room (I’m in a huge computer lab and have been really wanting to use the space to my advantage). At each station, I had different types of advertisements. Station 1 was a video Snickers ad with Betty White from a past Super Bowl; Station 2 was two activism ads (one from Moms Demand Action, the other from the ACLU); Station 3 was 2 cigarette ads from the 1930s; Station 4 was a political ad from a local primary election in Toledo; and Station 5 was a movie poster from the film Titanic. The students were in groups and had to work together to find one example each of logos, pathos, and ethos at each station. Afterward, they wrote their results on the whiteboards. This activity went long, so we ended up having to save the discussion for the next class. At first, I was happy about it because it gave me more time to review everything they had found. But the next class was a Tuesday, so there was a long break between the activity itself and discussion of it. That was not so great because many of them forgot or weren’t as excited about it after 5 days. Next time, I would either only have 4 stations, or limit the time they spend at each station, so we could cover it all in one class.

We then moved on to style, arrangement, and delivery. There was a short lecture, then I had them go back to their car accident discussion board and do 2 things. First, comment on their own post about how they used ethos, pathos, and logos in their email, text, and Facetime with Grandma. Second, discuss how aspects like appeals, style, and arrangement might change if the delivery method was different for each person. What if it had to be a phone call to the professor? What if they had to send an email to Grandma?

After this, they had time to brainstorm about their own project. I am having them do a rhetorical remix. They need to find a prior piece of writing, analyze it rhetorically, then pick at least 2 major aspects and remix them. After the remix, they are to write a reflection about what they remixed, why, how, etc.

As always, I wondered if my students were understanding the concepts of this unit. I would often get blank stares or a few head nods in response to what we discussed. But after reading what they wrote in their brainstorming session, I was so happy! Not only were they understanding the concepts, they came up with such unique and interesting ways to remix their old writing! Most are taking some piece of prior academic writing, but turning it into videos, presentations, social media posts, poems, short stories, so many creative things! I’m so excited to see the finished pieces!

Teacher’s Log – Scholastic date 09.25.2019

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Last night, I couldn’t fall asleep. Nothing new. It takes a while for my brain to calm down enough to realize, ‘hey, it’s sleepy time now’. I was laying there trying to figure out why I keep clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth. Yes, I’m under stress right now, but I’ve been under more stress in the past, and I never clenched my jaw to the point my molars are begging me to stop! I love my classes I’m taking; I love the class I’m teaching. Why do I have I had this perpetual tense feeling?

So, I did a bit self-reflection because 1:00 am is the perfect time for it; and I kind of had an epiphany.

I spent more than a decade in a highly adversarial environment. Being a bankruptcy attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan is no walk in the park. It’s an immeasurable amount of stress on a daily basis.

From there, I became a college instructor. So much less stress every day, but where I was teaching had an adversarial vibe. There was not much in the way of collaboration (it was virtually non-existent), and there was a divide between full-timers and adjuncts. I think a lot of people liked to pretend it wasn’t there, but it was. So, even though there was less stress, there was still a fair amount of tension.

Then, I started this PhD program, and it’s all about collaboration, and let’s help each other through this, and professors who say they see me as a colleague. And this is so amazing! So again, why am I so bloody tense all the time?!?!

What I figured out is that I’ve put up a deflector shield. And this deflector shield is trying to protect me from potential adversary. I know people aren’t trying to trick me into believing they’ll help only to have them say “Sike! Fooled you!” but, I still feel this need to be on guard.

Now that I know this is an issue, the goal will be to try to lower that shield and no longer be on Red Alert.

Teacher’s Log – Scholastic date 09.24.2019

.Reading time 1 minute.

I’ve realized today that when I finish attending a class, I’m all geeked up about what was discussed or covered. Then when I get back to my office, I only want to work on that stuff!

Today was a workshop with James Schirmer (who was teaching a first-year writing course when the Flint water crisis broke). I already had ideas for how to incorporate the Common Read (What the Eyes Don’t See) into the curriculum, and I have even more now. So, all I want to do is work on the assignments and activities for my WRIT 1110 course, but I have so much other stuff I need to do first. This does not help with my procrastination!

Dean Winchester saying awesome sarcastically
The struggle to find balance continues…

Teacher’s Log – Scholastic date 09.18.2019

.Reading time 2 minutes.

This seemed like a more laid-back week. Peer review and conferences with my students. Less reading for my own classes for next week. I was even able to get to the gym today and run 6.2 miles! Dare I tempt fate and say that I feel like I found a balance this week?

I might be pushing it with that. After all, I still have a lot to do. Those WRIT Journal submissions aren’t going to review themselves. But overall, I didn’t feel as stressed this week as the first few weeks. Conferences went well with my students. I also had them do an anonymous survey. Most of them hated writing at the beginning of the semester. The consensus on the survey is that they are liking my class, and writing may not be so bad after all. Many of them are so happy to not have to write in the 5 paragraph model anymore. I’m so happy to not have to grade it! Most of them said they wanted to play it safe with the first project and just write it as an essay. I get that. They want to get their feet wet first before jumping straight in to a new way of writing. But, a few were excited to explore new ways of writing. One wrote a song, one is doing Instagram posts, another is making a video. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the semester to see how many of the others will start to branch out.