E-Learning Queen

Bruce Goff, Brilliant Rebel Architect -- Good luck with building permits today!

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 3 Aug 2025 20:36:00 -0500

I’ve always been captivated by the unconventional, the visionary, and the beautifully strange—and no architect embodies those qualities quite like Bruce Goff. His work speaks to me not just as an admirer of design, but as someone who values creativity that refuses to be boxed in by tradition. Goff’s use of unexpected materials—coal, glass cullet, feathers—and his imaginative, almost dreamlike structures make me feel like architecture can transcend mere function and become something poetic, deeply personal, and alive.

So, yes, I love Bruce Goff’s architecture – it’s fanciful, strange, utilitarian, drab, dramatic – and I’m just starting my list of adjectives.

Since I grew up in Norman, Oklahoma, I feel a special connection to Bruce Goff. Even though he was born in Kansas, his long association with Oklahoma—especially through his work at the University of Oklahoma and the unforgettable Bavinger House—makes him feel like a kindred spirit. It inspires me to think that someone from this place, someone shaped by the same winds and skies, could create art that shook the foundations of architectural convention and opened new realms of possibility.

But what I’m sure of is that it’s not and never has been easy to explain to permitting and zoning people. I think that’s why so many of the wilder architectural experiments have been built out in the country, far from city limits. Was it necessary to obtain a permit to build the Bavinger House built on farmland northeast of Norman, Oklahoma. Given that the main design looks like a cross between a Fibonacci sequence, a spiral, rock candy stuck on long thin wires, and some sort of medieval haystack, I doubt it. It was a round structure with part of it subterranean – really amazing and fascinating, but I think that it was designed to essentially self-destruct by auto-disintegration, and that’s exactly what happened. I could provide the details, but it’s easy enough to look them up. I do remember seeing the structure when I was young, but after it became impossibly structurally unsound, it was demolished. It’s a shame, but it might have been rather horrendous to try to keep it from falling apart. Like other Oklahoma home-growns, the cottonwoods, some just start shedding limbs and rotting from inside out once they hit a certain age. Not every tree is a sequoia.

But really – take a good look at the Bavinger House (photo taken before it crumbled into ruin and had to be demolished). How do you keep those rocks suspended in air??

The Bavinger House (before it was demolished) in Norman, Oklahoma

On the other end of the spectrum is the Spotlight Theatre building on Riverside Drive between the 11th Street Bridge and 14th Street. It’s a plain white blocky Bauhaus-esque building with an amazing circular window that is filled with rectangular panes of stained glass, and then rectangular windows and lights along the building. With the paucity of windows, it does have something of a bunker appearance, and it’s hard to imagine really enjoying being inside since there might be illumination coming from the panes of stained glass in the round window, and the too-narrow-for-escape, but literally no view. I guess any and all air flow would come from the HVAC system, and ingress / egress would be in doors. There must be many doors in the building. Otherwise, who on earth would issue such a dangerous building any permits?? This is particularly the case since it is a theatre, and appears to have a seating capacity of a hundred or so. Originally, it was designed as an personal home. There again, I have to wonder about permits. Each room is supposed to have two methods of escape. I just do not see how this building could satisfy such a requirement. That’s not to say it’s not a cool building. It’s an amazing building and I have taken many, many photos of it. The building behind the theatre was also designed by Goff and it’s definitely more traditional with windows. It is equally Bauhausian.

The Spotlight Theatre on Riverside Drive in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The depth and breadth of Goff’s vision are amazing, and I often wonder how he was able to be so prolific and also to be so dramatically divergent in his styles. Some of the influences seem to be consistently recognizable – Frank Lloyd Wright and Antonio Gaudi come to mind. There are also elements of Le Corbusier (thinking of the Riverside Drive buildings in Tulsa).

I wonder if Goff kept notebooks, sketches, journals, and records of his ideas. They would be very interesting. I just did a bit of digging and yes, Goff’s archives are held by The Art Institute of Chicago and they are impressive:

• 200 linear feet (263 boxes), 12 portfolios, 7 oversize portfolios, 12 tubes, and flatfile materials

It’s a shame that they’re not at the University of Oklahoma, but then again, he was fired and was not treated very well at all toward the end. I have read conflicting accounts.

Five Iconic Bruce Goff Works in Oklahoma

The Bavinger House (Norman, OK) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavinger_House)

A spiral structure built from native stone, glass cullet, and suspended platforms. It exemplified Goff’s organic architecture and whimsical material use. Though it was tragically demolished, it remains legendary.

Ledbetter House (Norman, OK) (https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2010/08/15/historic-home-in-norman-earns-national-acclaim/61296204007/)

Located near the University of Oklahoma, this is one of Goff’s preserved masterpieces. It features cantilevered roof elements and a dramatic geometric layout. It is still a private residence and a symbol of Goff’s lasting presence in Norman.

Prichard House (Oklahoma City, OK) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pricilla_Myers_House)

Also known as the Joe D. Price House, this residence has been described as a fusion of Eastern influences and American modernism. The structure is known for its richly detailed textures and luxurious materials.

Shin'enKan (Bartlesville, OK) (https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=SH027)

Commissioned by collector Joe D. Price, this residence and museum incorporated Japanese aesthetics. Though it burned in 1996, it remains one of Goff's most spiritually rich and visually poetic designs.

Boston Avenue Methodist Church (Tulsa, OK) (https://tulsaworld.com/archive/bruce-goffs-boston-avenue-church/article_46d6ff6c-02d4-578b-8313-2205df88ff3b.html)

Though designed primarily by Adah Robinson with Goff’s involvement, this Art Deco marvel stands as one of Oklahoma’s most iconic churches. Goff’s early input helped shape its bold verticality and ornamentation.

Understanding the Whole Person

Although I've read articles, walked by houses and building designed by him, and taken many photos, I still do not feel as though I understand Bruce Goff, the person. The more I study his work, the more intrigued I am. I think it would be worth a trip to the Chicago Art Institute, and definitely worth reading more about the people he grew up with, worked with, and dreamed with as they commissioned his work.

Teaching Technical Subjects Online? Tap Into the Brain’s Design Creativity Engine

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 12:20:00 -0500

Designing effective online courses—especially for technical disciplines like engineering, data science, and computer programming—requires more than organizing lectures, videos, and assignments. It demands creativity at every level, from course structure to learner engagement. But what kind of creativity are we talking about?

A fascinating 2018 paper by Leslee Lazar, "The Cognitive Neuroscience of Design Creativity," provides a roadmap. According to Lazar, design creativity is distinct from both artistic and scientific creativity. It’s uniquely tied to how humans solve complex, ambiguous, and evolving problems—what the paper calls “ill-structured tasks.” For instructional designers in the digital space, especially those working with technical subjects, this insight is profound. To truly prepare learners for the real world, our courses must engage their "design brains."

Embrace Ill-Structured Problems

In traditional education, especially in technical fields, we often rely on "well-structured" problems—those with clear parameters, predictable outcomes, and established solution paths. Think of solving an algebraic equation or calculating the flow rate through a pipe. While these tasks are useful for teaching fundamentals, they fall short of preparing students for the ambiguity and complexity of real-world challenges.

Lazar emphasizes the power of “ill-structured” problems—open-ended scenarios where both the problem and the solution evolve during the process. These are the kinds of problems that designers and engineers face daily: how to reduce waste in a city, optimize a software interface, or create a sustainable energy model. In online technical education, embracing this approach means offering scenarios that encourage learners to frame the problem themselves. Instead of handing students a tightly defined task, present them with a realistic challenge and ask, “Where would you begin?” This not only cultivates critical thinking but activates deeper brain networks associated with creativity and real-world problem solving.

Foster Divergent Thinking

One of the hallmarks of design creativity is the ability to generate many possible solutions to a problem. This process, known as divergent thinking, involves connecting seemingly unrelated ideas, drawing analogies, and pushing past conventional answers. It’s also associated with right-brain activation—particularly in the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal regions tied to memory and mental imagery.

To foster divergent thinking in an online technical course, instructors can build in brainstorming activities and reflection prompts that go beyond “what’s right?” to ask “what else could work?” For instance, in a course on systems design, pose a challenge like “design a water filtration system for a desert environment,” and invite students to submit five distinct conceptual sketches or approaches. Tools like digital whiteboards, collaboration platforms, and creative forums can provide the space for learners to explore without judgment. Emphasizing breadth before depth in the early stages of learning taps into this essential phase of the creative process and helps learners become flexible, innovative thinkers.

Balance with Convergent Thinking

While divergent thinking opens up possibilities, convergent thinking brings clarity. It is the process of narrowing down options, analyzing trade-offs, and making decisions. According to Lazar, this phase activates more analytical regions of the brain—primarily the executive control networks in the prefrontal cortex. Together, these processes form what researchers now view as a “dual-process model” of creativity: oscillating between the expansive and the focused, the imaginative and the evaluative.

In online learning, this means we shouldn’t stop at brainstorming. Learners also need structured opportunities to analyze and refine their ideas. For example, after generating a set of potential designs for a circuit or a software interface, students can be asked to evaluate each against a rubric that considers feasibility, efficiency, and user experience. Peer reviews, instructor feedback, and self-assessment tools can support this critical convergence stage, helping students internalize the skills needed to assess and refine their own solutions. Building this evaluative loop into course design teaches not only technical accuracy but the judgment needed for innovation.

Integrate Emotion and Intuition

An especially intriguing insight from Lazar’s review is the role of emotion in design decisions. During evaluation and final decision-making, brain areas like the medial prefrontal cortex and default mode network become active. These regions are associated with emotion, intuition, and personal preference—what designers often describe as a “gut feeling.”

This has profound implications for online learning. While we often focus on cognitive load and performance metrics, we shouldn’t overlook the emotional and intuitive dimensions of learning. Giving students space to reflect—through design journals, voice notes, or video reflections—can deepen their engagement. When students articulate why they chose a specific solution or how they felt about their learning process, they begin to integrate their analytical and emotional selves. This not only mirrors how real designers work but helps learners develop self-awareness and intrinsic motivation.

Use the “Design Brain” to Train Technical Brains

The neuroscience evidence is clear: expert designers think differently than novices. Their brains activate differently, especially in regions responsible for hypothesis generation, analogical reasoning, and mental imagery. Importantly, these skills can be taught—but not through lectures alone.

To help online learners move from novice to expert, instructors must model their thinking processes. Use screen recordings, narrated walkthroughs, or “design thinking in action” videos where experts tackle real problems. Make your own reasoning visible: how you define a problem, discard options, draw analogies, and iterate. This transparency helps learners build mental models of expert thought. Scaffold assignments with opportunities for learners to practice these same steps—first with support, then independently. Over time, learners will internalize the cognitive habits of expert designers, which are essential for mastering technical fields in the real world.

Conclusion: Teach Like a Designer

Teaching technical subjects online is a challenge—but also an opportunity. By drawing on insights from neuroscience and design cognition, we can create courses that mirror how real problem-solving happens. Instead of just transmitting content, we can build learning environments that activate the same brain systems used by innovative designers, engineers, and thinkers.

When we do this, our courses don't just inform—they transform. They help students become agile, creative, and confident problem solvers, ready to tackle the complex challenges of tomorrow.

So the next time you open your LMS or course builder, pause and ask: am I laying out a lecture... or designing an experience?

Reference

Lazar, L. (2018). The Cognitive Neuroscience of Design Creativity. Journal of Experimental Neuroscience, 12, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1177/1179069518809664

Summary of a Conversation with Rochelle Owens, July 2

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 10:35:00 -0500

In this wide-ranging, philosophically rich conversation, (linked here) Rochelle Owens reflects on aging, bodily transformation, philosophical influences, quantum mechanics, and poetic creation. The main question – what have been the core issues and ideas that animated you during COVID and after, are addressed. The answer starts with a frank acknowledgment of the physical body the houses the ideas that lead to production of art and literature.

Rochelle Owens, Patterns of Animus

Owens connects deeply with Simone de Beauvoir’s acknowledgment of aging and the erosion of bodily confidence, and extends that to broader reflections on identity, creativity, and survival. Owens references Descartes, Wittgenstein, and quantum physics to explore the mystery of existence, the fragmented nature of perception, and the survival-driven evolution of the brain. Her poetic practice is framed as deeply bodily, rooted in the mammalian, the grotesque, and the juxtaposition of horror with incantatory grounding through language. Owens touches on cultural archetypes, spiritual symbolism, and historical trauma, all while interweaving lived experiences and abstract concepts with profound emotional and intellectual insight.

Connecting the Conversation to The Aardvark Venus and Patterns of Animus

Rochelle Owens' reflections in this conversation are intimately tied to the thematic core of both The Aardvark Venus and Patterns of Animus. In The Aardvark Venus, Owens explores the visceral and grotesque aspects of female embodiment, often juxtaposing biological processes and spiritual crises. Her discussion of aging and Simone de Beauvoir’s quote—“to lose confidence in one’s body is to lose confidence in oneself”—echoes through The Aardvark Venus, where the speaker is often caught between decay and a raw, vital drive to speak, to create, to assert meaning through language. The poetic voice in that work occupies what Owens describes as “the edge of clarity and horror”—a place of dispassionate awareness of the body’s inevitable breakdown paired with ecstatic linguistic invention.

Similarly, Patterns of Animus engages in the ritualistic repetition Owens discusses in the interview. The incantatory refrain—“Black and hot my coffee. Work is a binding obligation”—functions as both mantra and existential acknowledgment. Her conversation expands on that theme by situating it in the biological and survivalist imperative of the body. The notion that “the brain is an organ that, like other human brains, is trying to survive” is palpable in Patterns of Animus, where the poetic self loops through trauma, memory, and obligation, always returning to grounding acts like drinking coffee, marking labor, or repeating phrases. These repetitions reflect a need for coherence amid the chaos of political, spiritual, and physical entropy.

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Ties to Owens’ Earlier Work

These ideas resonate with Owens’ earlier poetic experiments—particularly her I Am the Babe of Joseph Stalin’s Daughter (1972) and Black Chalk (1992)—which challenge traditional logic and syntax, offering instead a brutal, surreal body-consciousness. Her focus on the grotesque and spiritual in female embodiment can be seen even in these earlier works, where language is both medium and subject. The interview’s references to Wittgenstein’s notion—“not how the world is, but that it is, is the mystery”—echo the metaphysical tension in these earlier texts, where language fails even as it compulsively tries to name and frame the world.

Additionally, Owens’ reflections on the symbolic power of patterns, especially within Native American beadwork and clothing, align with her long-standing attention to ceremonial forms and mythic residues in language. Just as traditional patterns once served protective spiritual functions, Owens’ poetic structures function as psychic armor—often enacting their own brutalities in the service of deeper truths.

Final Reflection

Ultimately, Owens positions poetry as a biological and philosophical necessity: a defiant act of naming amid mortality and mystery. Her fusion of philosophical discourse, embodied awareness, cultural critique, and poetic intuition in this conversation deepens our understanding of her poetic voice—especially as it evolves in The Aardvark Venus and Patterns of Animus. Her voice remains fierce, mordant, grounded in paradox, and vibrantly alive with intellectual audacity.

Rochelle Owens: Reflections on Body, Mind, and Mystery

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 10:35:00 -0500

Conversation on July 2, 2025 with Susan Smith Nash

Susan Smith Nash: With the advent of COVID and devastating global events, Rochelle Owens produced new poetry with deep philosophical insights that connect with her body of work, and also forges new directions and connections.

Her books during that time include The Aardvark Venus: New and Selected Poems (1961 – 2020) published in 2020 and Patterns of Animus: Poetry, with Accompanying Essays and Reviews (2022).

I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Rochelle Owens on July 2. Here is a transcript of her words. I am deeply grateful – her insights are so illuminating!

Rochelle Owens: I have been aware for several years now that my body is not what it was, that my energy and everything is changing because I'm old. In this period of understanding and acknowledging the transformation of my body, I find myself identifying with certain parts of Simone de Beauvoir's vast literary work in ways I never could before.

Simone remembered that her father told her she had the brain of a man because she was so intelligent and different from other little girls of that period—very curious and scholarly, wanting to know everything, an exceptional child who always knew she wanted to write books. She said something that I find quite pertinent: "When I was a child, when I was an adolescent, books saved me from despair. That convinced me that culture was the highest of values."

I identified with that completely. Books saved me too when I was a child. I walked to the library and read all the time, and it saved me. This corresponds with her father's observation about her having "the brain of a man"—because that is part of the destiny projected onto us women. Men are supposed to invent and create, while women are meant to listen, to be cheerleaders.

Simone also said something that strikes me deeply now: "To lose confidence in one's body is to lose confidence in oneself." When she was getting older, she felt her body changing and admitted she lost confidence. I can identify with that profound connection between physical and spiritual confidence.

This leads me to think about René Descartes, the 17th-century philosopher and forerunner of very modern thinking about the body. He said something very pertinent: "The only thing we have power over in the universe is our own thoughts." Before Descartes, I used to think there was a God, some idea of a personal God, and that made me feel comfortable. But then the state of being an atheist also makes me feel quite comfortable.

I listen to Luc Ferry a lot, in French of course, and I relate to his thinking about this transition. Ferry helps me understand how we can move between these states of belief and disbelief without losing our sense of meaning or comfort. His work on how philosophy can provide consolation even in a secular age resonates with my own journey from theism to atheism.

And then there's Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose influence on modern thought is enormous. He captured something I've reflected in many of my poems: "Not how the world is, but that it is, is the mystery."

Everything that exists in the universe is made up of atoms, and when we leap to quantum mechanics—which in my brash and nonconformist manner I know very little about, yet feel I know enough to enrich my blood cells and brain—we're dealing with these minuscule particles and their bizarre interactions that make up the universe. Science has determined with advanced technology the reality of atoms, which are made up of even smaller particles that our eyes cannot see without instruments.

What fascinates me is this interaction we don't understand, this bizarre phenomenon that simply happens. It's a mystery—the fact that the universe and we exist is a mystery. There's a phenomenon called superposition in quantum mechanics, where particles seem to be not just in one determinate position at one time, but somewhere here and also there simultaneously. This radical view turns many common-sense metaphysical ideas on their head. Imagination does that too.

The brain, like other human organs, has this premise: survive. The body must survive. And yet I'm an old woman now, and I have lost confidence. This connects to whether we police our thoughts, whether physical caution starts applying to our mental and intellectual selves. That could be dangerous.

I remember when I was in Oklahoma with my Georgie, attending a concert by a famous African-American folk singer. Before that concert, the policeman in my mind was inhibiting me—I began to police myself. But after the concert, I got on the speeding roller coaster higher to inventiveness and creativity, thinking of how male philosophers, with their scrotums, have always been given the authority and privilege of wanting to outdo other male geniuses. Male geniuses want to rival each other and win, whereas women are trained differently.

Much of my later poetry is filled with the idea of the mammalian—the body and the organs—because that is everything. Without our brain, our sophisticated human categorizations, we wouldn't have this evolutionary strategy to survive. We developed all these functions anatomically: five fingers on each hand, everything in order.

I think of Ötzi, the Iceman, the oldest mummified human being from 5,000 years ago, found preserved in ice in the Alps between what we now call Italy and Austria. He had a fanny pack, arrows—he'd been walking and was pursued and killed, shot with arrows. His body was preserved by ice and climate, and we can still study him. We are the body—everything. My poems have always been concerned with the body because I am the body.

There are persistent ideas that run through my work like threads: the worm, the rot, the horror of consciousness. But I like to stand firmly on the edge of clarity and horror—the clarity and dispassionate awareness of what might be horrific description. My horrific descriptions are very concrete, but they're not disgusting because of juxtaposition. You'll have the worm or the rot or the skull, but then there's this incantatory repetition—"hot and black and hot my coffee"—that grounds the reader and makes them connect to their own lived experience.

The antidote to this diffuse horror is work. "Work is a binding obligation"—everyone can identify with that line. We all have to work. Whether it's domestic work or warrior work, work is what we're supposed to do. The Comanche women did both: all the domestic work—making teepees, feeding families—and they had powerful spiritual authority too. In Native American culture, women have spiritual authority. They were creators of artwork, beadwork, embroidery, the patterns that were spiritual and prescribed, meant to protect. They used traditional imagery: the four directions, the four winds, animals with their protective qualities.

I'm very glad they didn't practice female genital mutilation like some Egyptian and African tribes, or foot binding like the Chinese. The constant pain of bound feet, women hobbling around because they were crippled—it makes me angry to think about it.

This all comes back to the mystery Wittgenstein spoke of, the strange fact that anything exists at all. The atoms and particles, the consciousness and horror, the body aging and losing confidence, the work that binds us—all of it part of this inexplicable phenomenon of being. Whether we believe in God or consider ourselves atheists, whether we think the words of scripture were written by human beings with their brains or inspired by something beyond—the mystery remains. That it is, not how it is, but that it is at all.

Building Fortress-Level Assessment Security: What 591 Accounting Faculty Taught Us About Online Assessment Integrity

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 17:58:00 -0500

Picture this: You've just finished designing what you think is a bulletproof online course, complete with engaging content and thoughtful assessments. But then that nagging voice in the back of your head whispers, "How do I know students aren't just Googling or ChatGPTing their way through my carefully crafted exams?"

If you're an instructional designer who's ever lost sleep over assessment security, you're not alone. A comprehensive study by researchers Nas Ahadiat and Mohamed I. Gomaa surveyed 591 accounting faculty across 921 U.S. universities to understand perceptions of security and integrity in online assessments. While their focus was accounting education, their findings offer a treasure trove of insights for any of us designing secure online assessments.

🔍 The Security Hierarchy: What Faculty Really Think

The research revealed a clear "trust hierarchy" when it comes to assessment security, and the results might surprise you with how stark the differences are.

🥇 Face-to-Face Assessments: The Trusted Champion Traditional classroom assessments remain the undisputed favorite among faculty for security. An impressive 54% of faculty rated face-to-face delivery as "most secured," while only 1% considered it "most unsecured." This overwhelming confidence speaks to the power of physical presence and direct supervision that many of us take for granted when designing in-person experiences.

🥈 Hybrid Courses: The Strategic Middle Ground Here's where things get interesting for us as instructional designers. Hybrid delivery emerged as a compelling compromise, with 35% of faculty rating it as "secured" or "most secured." What makes this approach so appealing is that it offers significantly more security than fully online options while maintaining much of the convenience that makes online education attractive. It's a thoughtful balance that doesn't force educators to choose between accessibility and integrity.

🥉 Synchronous Online: The Power of Presence When faculty had to choose between online delivery methods, synchronous options won decisively. The research showed that real-time, live online assessments were perceived as significantly more secure than their asynchronous counterparts. There's something about the immediacy and live monitoring capability that creates accountability and reassurance for faculty. It captures some of the supervisory benefits of face-to-face delivery, even when mediated through technology.

📱 Asynchronous Online: The Trust Gap Challenge Asynchronous assessments faced the biggest credibility hurdle in the study. Only 12% of faculty rated this delivery mode as "secured" or "most secured," while a concerning 35% considered it "unsecured" or "most unsecured." For those of us designing online learning experiences, this represents our biggest challenge—and our biggest opportunity to innovate around security and integrity measures.

Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.

🎯 Beyond Accounting: Security Strategies for Every Subject

While this study focused on accounting, the principles apply beautifully across disciplines. Here's how to fortress-fy your assessments:

📊 Data-Heavy Subjects (Statistics, Economics, Analytics)

The Challenge: Easy to find formulas and solutions online

The Solution:

Use unique, real-world datasets for each assessment
Require students to show their work process, not just final answers
Implement timed assessments with randomized question pools
Consider hybrid proctoring for high-stakes exams

🧬 STEM Fields (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)

The Challenge: Standard problems with readily available solutions

The Solution:

Create scenario-based problems using current events or local contexts
Use virtual labs with unique parameters for each student
Implement peer review components that require original thinking
Design multi-step problems where each answer builds on the previous

📚 Literature and Writing Courses

The Challenge: AI writing tools and essay mills

The Solution:

Focus on personal reflection and analysis rather than summary
Use discussion forums for peer interaction and idea development
Implement portfolio-based assessment with draft iterations
Require students to connect readings to personal or local experiences

🏛️ Social Sciences (Psychology, Sociology, Political Science)

The Challenge: Widely available information and opinions online

The Solution:

Use current events that post-date available study materials
Require primary source analysis with specific citation requirements
Implement case study analysis with local or regional focus
Design collaborative projects that require real-world interaction

🛡️ The Arsenal: Top Security Tools Faculty Recommend

The study revealed faculty preferences for different security strategies:

Live Proctoring: The Heavy Artillery
84% rated as "secured" or "most secured"
Best for high-stakes assessments
Implementation tip: Reserve for final exams or certification tests to manage costs

Remote Proctoring (ProctorU): The Smart Compromise

74% positive rating
More scalable than live proctoring
Implementation tip: Provide clear tech requirements and practice sessions

Plagiarism Detection (Turnitin): The Safety Net

78% positive rating for written work
Implementation tip: Use as both detection and deterrent tool

Hybrid Delivery: The Goldilocks Solution

Best of both worlds approach
Implementation tip: Conduct major assessments on-campus, everything else online

💡 Smart Implementation Strategies

Start with Risk Assessment

Not every quiz needs Fort Knox-level security. Categorize your assessments:
Low stakes: Weekly quizzes, participation checks → Minimal security needed
Medium stakes: Module exams, major assignments → Moderate security measures
High stakes: Final exams, certification tests → Maximum security protocols

Build Security into Learning Design

Instead of bolting security onto existing assessments, weave it into your instructional design:

Scaffolded assessments: Build knowledge progressively so cheating becomes harder
Application-focused questions: Test understanding, not memorization
Personalized content: Use student location, interests, or program focus in questions

The Transparency Approach

Be upfront about security measures:
Explain why academic integrity matters in their field
Share consequences of dishonesty in professional practice
Make security measures feel supportive rather than punitive

🔮 Looking Forward: Emerging Trends

The research highlighted some fascinating patterns:

AACSB-accredited programs showed higher confidence in security measures
Graduate programs were more concerned about asynchronous security than undergraduate programs
Public institutions favored face-to-face assessments more than private institutions

These patterns suggest that institutional culture and student population significantly impact security needs and perceptions.

🎯 Your Action Plan

Ready to level up your assessment security? Here's your starter toolkit:

This Week:

Audit your current assessments using the risk categories above
Identify which delivery mode best fits each assessment type
Research institutional resources for proctoring and plagiarism detection

This Month:

Pilot one hybrid assessment approach
Create a question bank with randomizable elements
Develop clear academic integrity policies for your courses

This Semester:

Implement differentiated security based on assessment stakes
Gather student feedback on security measures
Analyze any integrity incidents to refine your approach

🐕 The Bottom Line

The research from these 591 accounting faculty confirms what many of us suspected: there's no one-size-fits-all solution to online assessment security. The key is matching your security strategy to your specific context—your subject matter, student population, institutional resources, and assessment stakes.

Remember, the goal isn't to create an adversarial relationship with students, but to design assessments so robust and engaging that cheating becomes both difficult and pointless. When students are genuinely learning and applying knowledge to meaningful problems, academic integrity often takes care of itself.

What security strategies have worked best in your online courses? Have you noticed differences between synchronous and asynchronous assessments? Share your experiences in the comments below!

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About the Research: This post is based on "Online accounting education: How to improve security and integrity of students' performance assessments" by Nas Ahadiat and Mohamed I. Gomaa, published in the Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, Volume 24. The study surveyed 591 accounting faculty across 921 universities in the United States.

Tags: #OnlineAssessment #AcademicIntegrity #InstructionalDesign #ELearning #AssessmentSecurity #OnlineEducation #Proctoring

Posted to E-Learning Corgi by Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.

When Academia Meets the Abyss: Review of H. N. Hirsch's murder in academia mystery, Winter

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Tue, 8 Jul 2025 19:23:00 -0500

H.N. Hirsch's mystery novel, Winter (Pisgah Press, 2025) operates as both an academic mystery and an intimate domestic drama, weaving together the public investigation of the murder of an obnoxious professor with the private crisis threatening a colleague and his long-term relationship The novel's strength lies in its authentic portrayal of academic culture, drawing on Hirsch's extensive experience in higher education to expose the toxic intersection of intellectual ambition, institutional politics, and personal vendettas.

The murder investigation serves as a catalyst for exploring deeper themes of truth, loyalty, and moral compromise. The murder victim, Charles Silver, functions as a complex antagonist whose sexual compulsions and intellectual arrogance create a web of potential suspects, each representing different aspects of academic dysfunction—from career rivalry to administrative corruption to intellectual obsession. The revelation of Silver's HIV diagnosis adds another layer of consequence to his reckless behavior.

Parallel to the mystery, an infidelity subplot provides the novel's emotional core. Hirsch handles this marital crisis with remarkable sensitivity, using grief over a parent's death and fear of aging to explain without excusing betrayal. The therapy sessions and gradual reconciliation feel authentic, avoiding both easy forgiveness and melodramatic dissolution.

The academic setting allows Hirsch to satirize university culture while maintaining respect for intellectual work. The portrayal of faculty politics, administrative bureaucracy, and the pressure for academic advancement rings true without descending into caricature.

Structurally, the novel balances multiple plotlines effectively, creating a rich family tapestry that grounds the more sensational murder plot. The resolution suggests that truth in both crime and relationships often remains partial and complicated, reflecting the novel's sophisticated understanding of human motivation and institutional corruption.

Links to purchase

Paperback http://www.amzn.com/B0F64CZK88

Kindle http://www.amzn.com/B0F92ZZ8XM

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Kickapoo Kamp, Kerrville, TX -- 100 years old: Turning Point at Turtle Creek

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 6 Jul 2025 14:42:00 -0500

Many prayers for the victims of the tragic flooding at summer camps, including Camp Mystic, in the Texas Hill Country. What happened over the 4th of July weekend is truly heart-rending. The piece I am sharing here was written before the tragedy. It offers memories but changes identities, as a tribute to the life-changing experience of Kickapoo Kamp near Kerrville, this year commemorating its 100-year-anniversary. I hope this work of memory encourages others to spend a moment to reflect on their own happy and formative experiences.

Link to recording: https://youtu.be/8HuqAn7PXfI

Speakers near the recreation hall blared Golden Earring’s "Radar Love" for what must have been the tenth time that day. Battery-powered radios scattered around camp added to the soundtrack of the summer of '73—Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band," Elton John's "Daniel," and Vicki Lawrence's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" competed with the constant refrain of "Locomotion" by Grand Funk that the younger girls couldn't seem to get enough of. From the direction of the counselors' cabin came the melodic "Eres Tu" by Mocedades, its Spanish lyrics floating across the camp grounds, while someone else had tuned into a station playing Sister Janet Mead's rock version of "The Lord's Prayer," the unexpected hit by the Australian nun that had become an international sensation. 15-year-old Genni Dyer shifted uncomfortably on the wooden bench, tugging at the hem of her shorts that seemed determined to ride up her thighs. All around her, girls chatted excitedly, their voices creating a cacophony that mirrored the chaos inside her head.

Why did I agree to this?

Five weeks at Camp Kickapoo near Kerrville, Texas. Five weeks of trying to be someone she wasn't—someone who could easily make friends, someone who didn't overthink every social interaction, someone thin.

"There you are!"

Genni looked up to see Melody Boker waving enthusiastically, her blonde ponytail swinging behind her as she navigated through the crowd. Behind her trailed her younger sister, Nancy, whose perpetual half-smile always made Genni wonder what private joke she was enjoying.

The Boker girls were the reason she was here. Ted Boker and her father, David Dyer, had been thick as thieves since their days at the University of Oklahoma, where they'd bonded over rock formations and late-night study sessions for their geology master's degrees. While her father had gone on to become district geologist for Samedan, first in Ardmore where Genni was born, and later in Oklahoma City, Ted had taken a teaching position at the University of Texas.

Source: Wikipedia

"Dad's looking for you," Caitlin said, plopping down beside Genni. "They're announcing cabin assignments in ten minutes."

"Great," Genni murmured, fighting the flutter of anxiety in her chest. New cabinmates meant new people to impress, new people to inevitably disappoint.

"Aren't you excited?" Melissa asked, her eyes wide with genuine curiosity. At thirteen, she possessed a sincerity that Genni envied. "Second session is supposed to be the best. The swimming hole will be perfect by now."

Genni forced a smile. "Can't wait." At least in the water, she felt comfortable. On the Oklahoma City swim team, she'd found a place where her body was an asset, not something to be criticized. Her mother's voice still echoed in her head: "Genni, honey, maybe just half a portion? You're getting a little chunky for summer shorts."

Last month, she'd won bronze in the 200m butterfly at the Oklahoma Junior Olympics and placed eighth in the 200m freestyle. In the water, she was graceful, powerful. On land, she was just... chunky.

"Come on," Caitlin said, tugging at her arm. "Let's go find out who we're bunking with."

Cabin Osage housed four girls under the Choctaw tribe designation: Genni, Caitlin, a tall girl named Debbie from Houston, and a quiet, bookish girl called Laurie from Austin. The cabin itself was rustic—wooden bunk beds with thin mattresses, each camper’s foot locker, and a shared bathroom with lukewarm water at best.

Genni claimed the bottom bunk beneath Diana, unpacking the stack of books she'd brought: Future Shock by Alvin Toffler, The Peter Principle, a collection of Jorge Luis Borges' Ficciones that her English teacher had recommended, Franz Kafka's short stories, and her favorite, Richard Bradford’s Red Sky at Morning. Novels about plucky heroines who prevailed against all odds were her comfort food for the mind, while Butterfingers and butter-top bread were her comfort food for the body.

"Are you really going to read all those?" Vanessa asked, peering over her shoulder. "It's summer camp, not summer school."

Genni felt her face flush. "I just like reading."

"Leave her alone," Diana said quietly, not looking up from her own book—something with a worn spine and yellowed pages. They were older campers, experienced. This was Genni’s first year at Kickapoo, but she had spent other summers at Oklahoma camps – the Southern Baptist Camp Nunny Cha-ha in the Arbuckles, and Campfire Girls Camp Cimarron near the Cimarron River.

"What are you reading?" Genni asked her, grateful for the intervention.

"The Bell Jar," Diana replied, showing the cover. "Sylvia Plath."

Genni's eyes widened. "I've been wanting to read that."

"You can borrow it when I'm done," Laurie offered with a small smile. "I've read it twice already."

"As Boethius writes in 'The Consolation of Philosophy,' it's through adversity that we discover our true selves," Genni said, then immediately regretted it. There she went again, dropping medieval philosophy into casual conversation.

But Laurie just nodded thoughtfully. "I've heard of that but never read it. Tell me more later?"

Before Genni could respond, Melody, who had been organizing her makeup collection, turned around. "If you two bookworms are done bonding over ancient dead guys, we should head to the dining hall. It's almost dinner time, and I heard it's fried chicken night."

Genni's stomach rumbled in anticipation, followed immediately by her mother's voice in her head. Chunky girls don't get asked to homecoming, Genni.

"I'm not that hungry," she lied.

Diana looked at her curiously. "You should eat something. Tomorrow's the first activity day. You'll need your energy."

Something in Diana's tone—understanding without pity—made Genni nod. "Maybe just a little."

The first week at Camp Kickapoo fell into a rhythm. Mornings were for swimming in Turtle Creek, where Genni quickly established herself as one of the strongest swimmers. Afternoons rotated between crafts, hiking, archery, and free time. Evenings were for campfires, sing-alongs, and on Fridays, a social with the boys' camp across the lake.

Genni felt a friendship with Diana, who shared her love of books and didn't fill silences with meaningless chatter. One afternoon during free time, they sprawled under a live oak, reading.

"What would you be doing if you were home right now?" Diana asked, marking her place in The Bell Jar.

Genni considered. "Probably the same thing. Reading. Or sketching."

"You sketch?"

Genni nodded, reluctantly pulling out her battered sketchbook from her backpack. "Just designs. Nothing good."

Diana flipped through pages of clothing designs—angular business suits with unexpected details, school outfits that balanced practicality with flashes of personal expression. "These are amazing, Genni."

"They're just doodles," Genni mumbled, but pleasure warmed her chest.

"You could be a designer someday."

"That's not a real job," Genni replied automatically, echoing her mother's dismissal.

"Says who?" Diana challenged. "My aunt's a buyer for Neiman Marcus. She says fashion is serious business."

Genni's eyes widened. "Really? Do you think... I mean, could she look at my sketches sometime?"

"I'll ask her to write to me," Diana promised. "She'd love these."

In that moment, beneath the Texas oak with cicadas buzzing in the background and "Radar Love" drifting from someone's smuggled-in transistor radio, Genni felt something unfamiliar—possibility. A Spanish-language station faded in and out as someone adjusted the dial, catching fragments of "Yo Te Recuerdo" by Juan Gabriel before settling back on the American Top 40.

During the second week, Genni gained a reputation as an impressive runner during the camp's daily morning jogs. Her swimmer's endurance served her well on the trails around camp, though she remained self-conscious about how her thighs looked in the required shorts.

"How are you not dying?" gasped Caitlin after one particularly grueling uphill section, her face flushed.

Genni shrugged. "Swimming. It's good for your lungs."

"Well, it's not fair," Vanessa complained good-naturedly. "Some of us are suffering back here."

"I'll wait with you guys," Genni offered, surprised at her own confidence.

"No way," said Melissa, who had caught up to them. "You're going to win the Choctaw points. Cherokee is killing us in archery."

The tribal competition was fierce at Camp Kickapoo, with each activity earning points toward an end-of-session trophy. Genni had never been a key player in any team before, and the feeling was intoxicating.

That evening at dinner, she surprised herself by taking a full portion of chicken strips, salad, and potato wedges, eating slowly and thoughtfully while listening to Diana talk about the latest news on the Watergate hearings.

"Nixon's going to resign," Diana predicted. "My dad says it's just a matter of time."

"My dad says he should've resigned months ago," Vanessa contributed. "The whole country's waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"It's like we can't trust anything anymore," Genni said quietly. "Like everything we thought was solid is actually... I don't know, quicksand or something. Alvin Toffler talks about this in 'Future Shock'—how rapid change creates a kind of disorientation. But really, it reminds me more of what Aquinas explores in 'Summa Theologica' about truth and authority."

The table fell silent for a moment.

"That's deep, Genni," Melody finally said, but not unkindly. She adjusted the macramé choker around her neck, a perfect complement to white t-shirt with the navy blue neck and the Choctaw logo.

"Sorry," Genni mumbled, tugging at her own white t-shirt with green Kickapoo Kamp lettering. "I've been overthinking again."

"No, you're right," Diana said. "It's like what Kafka writes about—the world suddenly not making sense anymore."

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Can we not talk about Kafka at dinner? I'm trying to keep this down. I don’t need Grigor Samsa, the giant human cockroach crawling around in my head. We had to read that last year for English."

They all laughed, and Genni felt a strange warmth spread through her chest. This was what it felt like to be part of a conversation, to have her thoughts considered.

By the third week, Genni had fallen into an unlikely friendship with her cabinmates. Even Debbie, initially intimidating with her Highland Park confidence, had revealed herself to be funny and fiercely loyal. Melody remained chatty but had taken to asking Genni's advice about books worth reading.

Melody dressed one evening in her new low-rise hip-hugger jeans with the wide cuffs that had become all the rage that summer. Her polyester shirt with its butterfly collar perfectly matched her platform sandals. "My mom just sent these," she announced, twirling to show off the ensemble. "What do you think?"

"Totally fabulous," Debbie declared, looking up from her own outfit—denim hot pants paired with a crocheted vest over a halter top. "Genni, you should borrow my suede fringe vest sometime. It would look dynamite with those culottes you wore yesterday." They loved changing out of their camp-required shorts and t-shirts to explore 70s styles.

Genni glanced down. At home, her mom encouraged preppy outfits, ignoring the fact that Genni desperately wanted to wear the same fashions as everyone else—the peasant blouses, maxi dresses, and wide-legged pants that dominated teen magazines.

One hot afternoon, they escaped the Texas heat by taking refuge in their cabin. Laurie had brought a battery-powered radio, and they tuned it to a station playing the melancholy strains of Cat Stevens. From cabins nearby, Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song" drifted through the air, while someone else blasted Paul McCartney's "My Love" loud enough to hear across the compound.

"The first song was from Harold and Maude," Genni said, surprised. "Don’t Be Shy – oh my goodness. I love the song! You've seen it?"

Diana nodded. "Three times. My mom thinks it's inappropriate, which makes it even better. She hates the song, “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out."

"What's Harold and Maude?" Melissa asked, having stopped by to borrow sunscreen.

"Only the best movie ever," Genni said with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. "It's about this young man who's obsessed with death and this old woman who teaches him how to really live."

"That sounds... weird," Caitlin said, wrinkling her nose.

"It's beautiful," Diana countered. "And the Cat Stevens soundtrack is perfect."

"If there's a sad boy and an old lady, why is it your favorite?" Vanessa asked Genni curiously.

Genni hesitated. She wasn't used to explaining her inner landscape to others. "I guess because... it's about finding your own way to be happy. Even if it's not what everyone else thinks happiness should look like."

She ran a hand through her hair, wishing she had Melody's fashionable shag haircut instead of her ordinary shoulder-length style. "Dante explores this in 'Vita Nuova'—the idea that true happiness comes from a kind of inner transformation. And Avicenna talks about how the soul needs to recognize its own nature to find fulfillment."

Diana added, “The fake suicide attempts are really funny – and then you realize that Harold is making a statement about American and Vietnam – how death-cultish it was to have the young go to Vietnam to be traumatized, badly wounded, and killed. It’s funny because he’s trying to shock his mom – who’s just a total nightmare who cares about her social events and not her son’s well-being. And then, he meets the total free-spirit Maude. Anyway – it’s a long story and there is just so much to it – especially when you find out that Maude is a Holocaust survivor who tells Harold to relish life.”

“And,” added Genni. “You have to do what you love, not what someone prescribes for you.”

The cabin was quiet except for Cat Stevens singing softly about trouble. Outside, someone's transistor radio blasted Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On," a song the counselors were constantly trying to ban from camp. From the direction of the lake came the soulful Spanish lyrics of "Eres Tu," which had become an unlikely crossover hit in Texas that summer, especially popular in the hill country with its strong Mexican-American influence.

"That actually makes sense," Nancy said finally, adjusting her mood ring. "Like how my dad wanted me to love geology like him, but I want to be a veterinarian."

Genni smiled at her. "Exactly."

"Well, my idea of happiness right now would be not melting in this heat," Vanessa announced. "Secret swimming hole? The counselors are all at their meeting."

Source: Wikipedia

Diana raised an eyebrow. "The one past the restricted trail?"

"That's the one," Vanessa confirmed with a mischievous grin.

"We could get in trouble," Caitlin pointed out, but she was already reaching for her swimsuit.

Genni felt a flutter of anxiety. "I don't know..."

"Come on, Genni," Diana urged quietly. "Live a little dangerously."

The phrase, so reminiscent of Maude's philosophy, made Genni smile despite herself. "Okay, but if we get caught, I'm blaming all of you."

The secret swimming hole was a revelation—a deep, clear pool formed by a natural dam of limestone, shaded by bald cypress trees with their feathery foliage and knobby knees protruding from the water. The limestone walls of the swimming hole were striated with bands of darker material, telling a geological story that Genni wished her father was there to read.

"It's like Keats wrote," Genni said, gazing up at the dappled light filtering through the cypress branches. "'A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.'"

"You really do have poetry for everything," Debbie said, but she was smiling as she dipped her toes in the cool water.

A flash of movement caught Genni's eye—a six-lined racerunner lizard darting across a sun-warmed rock, its bright blue stripes vibrant against the limestone. Further up on the bank, amid a tangle of mustang grape vines, the distinctive black and yellow pattern of a Texas patch-nosed snake was visible as it slithered away from their voices.

They slipped into the cool water with sighs of relief from the July heat. The creek bottom was a mosaic of smooth limestone and river pebbles, with occasional patches of soft sand collected in the deeper parts.

Genni floated on her back, gazing up at the dappled sunlight through the leaves. For once, she wasn't thinking about how her body looked in her swimsuit or what her mother would say about her sneaking off. She was simply present in her body, feeling the water support her weight, hearing her friends' laughter echo off the limestone walls.

"Race you to the other side," Vanessa challenged, and without thinking, Genni flipped over and took off with powerful strokes.

After easily winning, she treaded water, waiting for the others. Diana arrived second, her technique less polished but effective.

"Show-off," Vanessa called out when she reached them, splashing Genni playfully.

"Can't help it if I'm part fish," Genni retorted, splashing back.

"You really are amazing," Diana said. "You could probably swim in college."

The thought hadn't occurred to Genni before. Swimming had always been something she did, not something she could build a future around. "You think?"

"Absolutely," Diana nodded. "My cousin got a scholarship to swim at Rice."

A scholarship. A way out. A path forward that had nothing to do with being chunky or pretty or normal. Just being strong.

"I might look into that," Genni said thoughtfully.

That night at the campfire, Genni sat between Diana and Melissa, toasting marshmallows for s'mores without her usual guilt about calories. The past three weeks had changed something fundamental in her relationship with food. She wasn't cured—she still heard her mother's critical voice—but she had begun to see food as fuel for swimming, for running, for living.

One weekend, Ted Boker stopped by camp at lunchtime on his way back to home. "Having fun, girls?"

"The best, Dad," Caitlin assured him.

"Glad to hear it." He turned to Genni. "Got a letter from your father today. He says to tell you he's proud of you for trying something new this summer."

Genni felt a lump in her throat. Her father, unlike her mother, had always accepted her as she was—bookish, analytical, and yes, a little chunky. "Thanks, Mr. Boker."

"You remind me of him at your age," Ted continued. "Always with your nose in a book, always asking the big questions."

"I do?" The comparison startled her. She'd never thought of herself as being like her father.

"Absolutely. He was the only other undergraduate who wanted to debate medieval philosophy while we were supposed to be studying rock formations." Ted smiled. "You've got his mind. It's a gift, even if it makes life complicated sometimes."

After he moved on to check on other campers, Diana nudged her. "Medieval philosophy, huh? You've been holding out on us."

Genni blushed. "It's just something I read about once."

"Don't do that," Diana said firmly. "Don't make yourself smaller."

"What do you mean?"

"You do this thing where you know something interesting or have a unique thought, and then you apologize for it." Diana's gaze was steady. "Stop apologizing for being smart."

Across the fire, someone had started playing "Radar Love" on a guitar, and the familiar notes floated up with the sparks from the fire.

"I've been driving all night, my hands wet on the wheel," a counselor sang, and others joined in.

Genni looked around the circle—at Diana with her quiet intensity, at Caitlin braiding Melissa's hair, at Vanessa teaching younger campers a complicated hand-clapping game. For the first time in longer than she could remember, she felt a sense of belonging.

The fourth week brought the camp Olympics, a day of intense competition between the tribes. The Choctaws were trailing the Cherokees by a narrow margin, and the final event was the lake swim—four laps of the marked course, with each tribe fielding their strongest swimmer.

"It has to be you, Genni," Melissa insisted during the strategy session. "You're our best shot."

Genni felt the weight of responsibility pressing on her chest. "What if I mess up?"

"You won't," Diana said with certainty.

"But what if I do?" The anxiety that had been her constant companion for years bubbled up. "What if I let everyone down?"

Vanessa put her hands on Genni's shoulders. "Then we'll still be your friends, stupid."

The simple declaration stunned Genni into silence.

"It's just a game," Caitlin added. "A fun one that we really want to win, but still just a game."

Genni took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll do it."

At the lake's edge, Genni adjusted her swim cap, trying to ignore the crowd of campers cheering. The Cherokee swimmer was Kimberly, a tall girl from Dallas who had been eyeing Genni with respect mingled with competitive fire all week.

"Swimmers ready," called the head counselor.

Genni closed her eyes briefly, centering herself. In her mind, she was back at the Junior Olympics, feeling the water welcome her.

The whistle blew, and she dove.

The world narrowed to the rhythm of her strokes, the burn in her muscles, the steady pattern of her breathing. She was vaguely aware of Kimberly beside her, matching her pace. At the first turn, they were neck and neck.

By the second lap, Genni had settled into the meditative state that always came during long swims. Her mind, usually buzzing with anxious thoughts, quieted. There was only the water, the movement, the steady beat of her heart.

On the third lap, Kimberly began to flag slightly. Genni maintained her pace, letting her endurance carry her.

The final lap was pure joy—the knowledge that her body was strong, capable, carrying her toward the finish while the voices of her tribemates urged her on.

When her hand touched the dock, seconds before Kimberly’s, the explosion of cheers barely registered. What she would remember later was the feeling of being lifted from the water by many hands, of Diana's fierce hug regardless of how wet she was, of Vanessa's uncharacteristic whoop of victory, of Caitlin jumping up and down while Melissa chanted "Choc-taw! Choc-taw!"

That night, celebrating their overall victory with an extra hour of campfire time, Genni found herself writing in her journal—not self-recriminating thoughts or angsty poetry, but a letter to her future self. Remember this feeling, she wrote. Remember that you are more than what people see or say. Remember that you can be strong and smart and weird and still find your people.

She paused, chewing on her pen, then added: As Boethius would say, fortune's wheel turns for everyone. Today it turned in my favor. The Peter Principle suggests that people rise to their level of incompetence, but maybe sometimes we also rise to our level of unexpected excellence. Maybe Aquinas was right about how virtue is cultivated through practice—swimming laps, making friends, being brave enough to be myself.

Across the campfire, Melody was showing off her new Indian print gauze blouse and elephant bell-bottoms that her mother had sent in a care package. Her cork-soled platform shoes made her tower over everyone else. Next to her, Debbie had paired some spectacular striped pants with a peasant blouse, adding puka shell beads that gleamed in the firelight.

The final week of camp arrived with the bittersweet knowledge that their time together was coming to an end. Genni had exchanged addresses with Diana, Vanessa, and of course the Boker girls, with promises to write.

On their last free afternoon, Genni and Diana returned to their spot under the live oak, now a place of comfortable silences and deep conversations.

"Are you scared to go home?" Diana asked suddenly.

Genni considered the question. "A little. I'm different now, but home will be the same."

"Maybe that's good," Diana suggested. "Maybe home needs you to be different."

"Maybe." Genni plucked at the grass beside her. "I'm going to miss this. Miss you."

"We'll write," Diana promised. "And maybe next summer..."

"Maybe."

They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the distant sounds of the camp—shouts from the ball field, someone playing piano in the rec hall, the ever-present "Radar Love" from someone's radio.

"Hey," Diana said suddenly. "I never asked why you came to camp this summer. You don't seem like the typical camp person."

Genni hesitated, then decided on honesty. "I was... not in a good place this past year. My parents were worried. My dad thought being with the Boker girls might help."

Diana nodded, understanding without requiring details. "Did it? Help?"

Genni looked out over the camp—the dusty paths between buildings, the shimmer of heat rising from the tin roofs, the lake glittering in the distance. She thought about her body, carrying her through water and over trails. She thought about her mind, finally finding people who didn't flinch when she mentioned Kafka or medieval philosophy.

"Yeah," she said softly. "It did."

Five weeks at Camp Kickapoo near Kerrville, Texas, in the summer of Watergate and "Radar Love." Five weeks that had somehow managed to be a lifetime.

Somewhere inside her, the girl who'd arrived—lonely, self-conscious, hiding behind books and comfort food—was still there. But alongside her now was someone new, someone who could win races and make friends, someone who could remain analytical and bookish without using it as armor.

"What are you thinking about?" Laurie asked, her own outfit a perfectly on-trend combination of a smock top and wide-legged jeans. Her center-parted hair fell straight and long, the quintessential early seventies look that Genni had always admired.

Genni tugged at the hem of her simple shorts, but for once didn't feel self-conscious about her lack of fashion sense or her athletic build. Here at camp, her strength had become a source of pride rather than shame.

From somewhere in the distance, some of the Hispanic campers were playing "Tú y Yo" by Roberto Carlos, its romantic Spanish lyrics a reminder of the rich cultural blend of Texas.

"I was thinking about Avicenna's concept of the flying man," Genni said, surprised at her own candor. "The idea that even if you were created suspended in the air, unable to see or touch anything, you would still be aware of your own existence. That your sense of self is independent of your body or surroundings." She smiled. "And I was thinking about the future. And how maybe it doesn't have to be a shock after all."

This is an excerpt from Shells and Shadows, available at Amazon in paperback, e-book, and audio.

Todos Santos: Just published!

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 13:34:00 -0500

What if death wasn’t the end—but only a border? And what if someone found a way to cross it?

Dr. Wisteria Vanish, a trauma psychologist grappling with unbearable grief, is drawn to the remote desert town of Todos Santos, Mexico, where whispers of resurrection swirl around a rogue military medic. In an underground lab carved from ancient stone, the dead stir—but what returns may not be human. Available now on Amazon.com

Todos Santos is a philosophical literary science fiction novel that follows Wisteria Vanish, a trauma psychologist and former competitive swimmer reeling from the loss of her husband, David, who was killed by an IED in Afghanistan. When a mysterious biotech defense contractor, VitaNuova, contacts her with a shocking proposal—to investigate a rogue scientist in Baja California who may have found a way to reverse death—Wisteria reluctantly accepts, drawn by both professional curiosity and personal longing.

The journey takes her from Norman, Oklahoma through the haunted landscapes of the Texas Panhandle and into the deserts of Baja California, Mexico. There she meets Dr. Holdsby Asher, a former Army medic turned controversial researcher operating out of an abandoned silver mine. His reanimation experiments blur the lines between life and death, resulting in disturbing partial resurrections: biologically functional beings without apparent consciousness.

As Wisteria becomes immersed in Holdsby’s world of ethical ambiguity and scientific obsession, she also connects with Maria Bentley, a hotelier and former pharmaceutical researcher, and Elena, a once-dead trafficking victim who regains agency and becomes a symbol of consciousness evolution. Together, they confront the implications of Holdsby’s work—and the darker motives of VitaNuova, who seeks military applications for the technology.

Through a series of morally fraught encounters, Wisteria is forced to choose between complicity in a terrifying future or becoming a bridge to new understandings of grief, healing, and being. Her poetic reflections on trauma, memory, and identity deepen as she explores the “spaces between” death and resurrection—not only in others, but within herself.

Structured in four parts—Descent, Darkness, Transformation, and Resurrection—the novel foregrounds themes such as Julia Kristeva’s concept of abjection, the existential dilemmas posed by Sartre and Camus, and Berger and Luckmann’s social construction of reality. It interrogates the meaning of consciousness, identity, and personhood through the reanimation of partially conscious bodies and the corporate desire to militarize immortality.

With its haunting desert setting, philosophical underpinnings drawn from existentialism, social construction theory, and Kristeva’s abjection, Todos Santos is a meditation on what it means to be alive, to grieve, and to evolve. Ultimately, it is a story of resurrection—both literal and metaphorical—and the dangerous, liberating, and deeply human desire to bring the dead back, if only to say goodbye.

Interested in writing a review? Let me know and I'll send you a galley proof ... Thank you in advance!

Why Neuroscience Matters in Website and eLearning Design

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 17:05:00 -0500

When it comes to designing websites and eLearning programs, it's easy to get caught up in tools and templates—but there’s something deeper that can really elevate your work: understanding how the brain responds to design. Neuroscience isn’t just for labs and textbooks. It offers practical, powerful insights into how users take in information, stay engaged, and remember what they learn. And when we apply those insights, we can create learning experiences that are not just functional, but impactful.

Keeping those neurons firing! (recorded on Juneteenth by Susan Nash)

Take something as simple as color and shape. A recent study by Nissen and colleagues (2024) used brain imaging to explore how people respond to different website designs. They found that blue-colored designs and rounded buttons made people feel more relaxed, less skeptical, and more likely to engage. Why? Because our brains evolved to associate blue with safe, calming environments like the sky and water, and to view rounded shapes as approachable and non-threatening. On the other hand, sharp corners and lots of red can trigger the opposite: alertness, caution, even discomfort.

Here's an example: an online learning platform revamped their interface, swapping out harsh red accents and boxy buttons for soft blue tones and rounded shapes. The result? Learner engagement and satisfaction scores climbed significantly. People stayed on the site longer and completed more modules. It wasn’t just about making things look nice—it was about tapping into how the brain naturally processes visual cues.

Another real-world example: a global logistics company redesigned its compliance training. They color-coded content so users could instantly recognize urgency—red for critical warnings, green for safe actions, and blue for instructions. These visual signals aligned with how the brain reacts to color in high-stakes settings. The results were clear: learners performed better on scenario-based tasks and made fewer errors. Neuroscience explains this: when cognitive load is reduced through intuitive design, people can focus more on the content and less on figuring out what to do next.

Verbal processing matters too. Research on language areas of the brain (Amunts et al., 2004) shows that when information is structured in logical, semantic categories, people are better at remembering and using it. This has huge implications for how we write eLearning content. Organizing lessons into clearly defined themes, using consistent language, and providing visual anchors (like icons or mind maps) can support the brain’s natural way of retrieving meaning.

Why is the dog wearing a black sock? (sketch by Susan Nash)

Now, imagine a virtual high school biology course that uses subtle attention cues—like pulsing highlights or animated arrows—to bring learners’ eyes back to key information when they start to drift. These cues could be timed to match typical attention cycles (about 10–12 minutes). While hypothetical, this kind of design could increase quiz scores and completion rates by keeping learners mentally “in the room.” It’s a simple, neuroscience-informed strategy with a big potential payoff.

One caution: just because something sounds scientific doesn’t mean it is. Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), for example, often uses fancy terms like “neuro” and “programming,” but as Roderique-Davies (2009) points out, it lacks real scientific backing. That’s why it’s important to focus on design practices supported by solid, peer-reviewed research.

In the end, understanding a little neuroscience goes a long way. It helps us create websites and learning experiences that feel intuitive, engaging, and even enjoyable. And best of all, it helps learners get what they need faster—and retain it longer. For anyone involved in design or training, that’s a win.

References

Amunts, K., Weiss, P. H., Mohlberg, H., Pieperhoff, P., Eickhoff, S., Gurd, J. M., ... & Zilles, K. (2004). Analysis of neural mechanisms underlying verbal fluency in cytoarchitectonically defined stereotaxic space—The roles of Brodmann areas 44 and 45. NeuroImage, 22(1), 42–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.12.031

Nissen, A., Riedl, R., & Schütte, R. (2024). Users’ reactions to website designs: A neuroimaging study based on evolutionary psychology with a focus on color and button shape. Computers in Human Behavior, 155, 108168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108168

Roderique-Davies, G. (2009). Neuro-linguistic programming: Cargo cult psychology? Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 1(2), 58–63. https://doi.org/10.1108/17581184200900014

How Did Teresa de Avila keep from being killed as a witch?

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 17:04:00 -0500

Teresa of Ávila lived in 16th-century Spain during a time when the Catholic Church was incredibly suspicious of anyone claiming direct spiritual experiences. The Spanish Inquisition was at its peak, and mystical experiences were often viewed as potentially heretical or even demonic. Women, especially, faced scrutiny if they claimed to have visions or direct communication with God.

Teresa became known as a mystic because of her extraordinary spiritual experiences - ecstatic visions, levitation during prayer, and what she described as mystical marriage with Christ. She wrote detailed accounts of these experiences in works like "The Interior Castle," describing the soul's journey through different stages of prayer and union with God. Her writing was so vivid and psychologically astute that it influenced spiritual practice for centuries.

What made her particularly dangerous in the eyes of authorities was that she was a woman teaching about theology and mysticism - areas typically reserved for male clergy. She also reformed the Carmelite order, establishing stricter convents that emphasized contemplative prayer over the more relaxed monastic life common at the time. This reformist activity drew attention from both church and civil authorities.

Teresa definitely walked a tightrope regarding accusations of witchcraft or heresy. Several of her confessors initially thought her visions might be demonic. She was investigated by the Inquisition multiple times, and her writings were scrutinized for theological errors. The fact that she experienced physical phenomena like levitation made her particularly suspect, as these were often associated with witchcraft.

However, Teresa had several things working in her favor. She was highly educated, came from a noble family, and was incredibly shrewd about church politics. She always submitted her experiences to male confessors for approval and framed her mystical experiences within orthodox Catholic theology. She also had powerful allies, including influential Jesuits and eventually King Philip II himself.

Her influence during her lifetime was enormous. She founded seventeen reformed convents, mentored other mystics like John of the Cross, and her writings provided a roadmap for contemplative spirituality that balanced mystical experience with practical wisdom. She managed to navigate the dangerous waters of her era while fundamentally changing Spanish monasticism.

Here's a website that explores the Seven Mansions of the Inner Castle written by Teresa of Avila. https://myss.com/entering-the-castle/seven-mansions/

Sophie Charlotte Belnos: A 19th-Century Company Artist's View of Indian Culture

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Wed, 4 Jun 2025 18:42:00 -0500

Sophie Charlotte Belnos (1795-1865) stands as a significant figure among the Company Artists—European artists who documented Indian life during the British colonial period. Her meticulous illustrations of Hindu religious practices and Bengali cultural life represent some of the earliest ethnographic visual records of colonial India, offering unique insights into the intersection of European artistic techniques and Indian cultural documentation.

‘Nautch Girl or Bengal Singing Girl’

Early Life and Background

Born on February 18, 1795, in Danapur, Bengal, Belnos was raised in Calcutta as part of the European colonial community (Roebert, 2021). While British by nationality rather than Anglo-Indian, her upbringing in India profoundly shaped her artistic perspective and cultural understanding. Her marriage to French miniature artist Jean-Jacques Belnos, who had introduced lithographic printing to India in 1822, proved instrumental in her artistic development (USEUM, n.d.). This partnership not only provided her with technical expertise in lithography but also positioned her within a network of artists and cultural observers in colonial Bengal.

Artistic Development and Professional Career

Belnos began as an amateur artist but evolved into a professional lithographer and illustrator, demonstrating remarkable entrepreneurial spirit for a woman of her era. In 1847, she established her own lithographic studio in Calcutta, gaining artistic and financial independence (USEUM, n.d.). Her transition from amateur to professional artist reflected both the growing opportunities for European women in colonial India's artistic landscape and her own determination to document the culture surrounding her with professional rigor.

Major Works and Cultural Documentation

Belnos produced two landmark publications that established her reputation as a Company Artist and cultural documentarian:

Twenty-four Plates Illustrative of Hindoo and European Manners in Bengal (1832)

This seminal work featured hand-colored lithographs created from Belnos's original sketches, with lithographic work by A. Colin and her husband (Saffron Art, 2020; StoryLTD, n.d.). The publication included descriptive text in both French and English, reflecting the multicultural nature of colonial Bengal and making the work accessible to both French and English-speaking audiences.

The work documented both male and female dancers, providing insights into Bengali cultural practices and social hierarchies. Notably, Belnos recorded that "natives of both sexes of respectability will never dance themselves; it is considered derogatory to their dignity," capturing indigenous attitudes toward performance that predated later colonial moral campaigns (Roebert, 2021).

The Sundhya or the Daily Prayers of the Brahmins (1851)

This comprehensive documentation of Hindu religious practices showcased Belnos's deep engagement with Indian spiritual culture over nearly two decades of observation. The work illustrated various prayer ceremonies, hand gestures (mudras), religious vessels, and devotional practices dedicated to deities including Vishnu, Ganesha, Hanuman, and Shiva (Rawpixel, n.d.; The Heritage Lab, 2021). This publication demonstrated her commitment to understanding and accurately representing complex religious practices that were often misunderstood or misrepresented by European observers.

Artistic Analysis and Cultural Significance

Belnos's work represents a unique fusion of European artistic techniques with Indian subject matter, characteristic of the Company School style. Her illustrations demonstrate several key analytical features:

Technical Innovation: By combining traditional European watercolor techniques with the newly introduced lithographic printing process, Belnos created works that were both artistically sophisticated and reproducible for wider distribution. The hand-coloring of her lithographs maintained the personal touch of original artwork while allowing for multiple copies.

Ethnographic Precision: Unlike many contemporary European artists who romanticized or exoticized Indian subjects, Belnos approached her documentation with anthropological rigor. Her detailed attention to religious gestures, ceremonial objects, and cultural practices suggests she spent considerable time observing and understanding the contexts she was illustrating (Roebert, 2021).

Cross-Cultural Perspective: Her work reveals a European woman's attempt to bridge cultural understanding during the colonial period. The bilingual text in her publications indicates an awareness of multiple audiences and a desire to communicate across cultural boundaries. Her documentation of both "Hindoo and European Manners" suggests she saw herself as documenting a hybrid colonial culture rather than simply exotic Indian practices.

Gender and Social Commentary: Belnos's inclusion of female dancers and her observations about social attitudes toward performance provide valuable insights into gender dynamics in colonial Bengal. Her work captures the complex social hierarchies and cultural tensions of the period from a female European perspective, adding a dimension often missing from male-dominated colonial documentation.

Historical Significance and Accuracy

Belnos distinguished herself through her commitment to ethnographic accuracy, a quality that sets her apart from many contemporary Company Artists. She included endorsements from members of the Royal Asiatic Society to validate the authenticity of her cultural representations (Roebert, 2021). Her collaboration with Jean-Jacques Belnos produced some of the earliest visual records of yoga practices during the colonial era, featuring detailed illustrations of yogic postures and spiritual practices that modern scholars consider remarkably accurate (The Heritage Lab, 2021).

Legacy and Later Life

Belnos's documentation provides invaluable insights into 19th-century Bengali culture and Hindu religious practices that might otherwise have been lost or misrepresented. Her work represents a bridge between European artistic techniques and Indian cultural subjects, embodying the hybrid nature of Company Art while maintaining respect for the subjects she documented. She died on April 24, 1865, in Copenhagen, Denmark, leaving behind a body of work that continues to inform our understanding of colonial Indian culture and early cross-cultural artistic exchange.

Examples of Her Work

Several of Belnos's illustrations are available in digital collections:

Religious ceremonial illustrations: Hand gestures and prayer poses from "The Sundhya" can be viewed at Rawpixel's Sophie Charlotte Belnos collection

Cultural documentation: Examples from "Twenty-four Plates" are featured in academic discussions at Pictorial Indian Dance History

Contemporary exhibitions: Her work has been displayed in modern contexts, as noted in the Artsy collection from Swaraj Art Archive

Sophie Charlotte Belnos's contributions to Company Art demonstrate how European artists in colonial India could serve as cultural interpreters, creating visual records that transcended mere documentation to become valuable historical and anthropological resources. Her work remains significant not only for its artistic merit but also for its respectful and accurate representation of Indian cultural and religious practices during a critical period of cultural contact and colonial transformation.

References

Roebert, D. (2021, September 5). Depictions of dancers in the Bengal Presidency by three artists: c. 1820-1840. Aspects of Pictorial Indian Dance History. https://pictorialindiandance.wordpress.com/2021/03/13/depictions-of-dancers-in-the-bengal-presidency-by-three-artists-c-1820-1840/

Rawpixel. (n.d.). Sophie Charlotte Belnos images. https://www.rawpixel.com/search/sophie%20charlotte%20belnos

Saffron Art. (2020, January 15-16). Sophie Charlotte Belnos. Antiquarian Books Auction [Lot 38]. https://www.saffronart.com/auctions/PostWork.aspx?l=29841

StoryLTD. (n.d.). Sophie Charlotte Belnos - Twenty-four plates illustrative of Hindoo and European manners in Bengal. https://www.storyltd.com/auction/item.aspx?eid=4253&lotno=4

The Heritage Lab. (2021, June 20). Yoga: A story in art. https://www.theheritagelab.in/yoga-art/

USEUM. (n.d.). Sophia Charlotte Belnos. https://useum.org/artist/Sophia-Charlotte-Belnos

Fountain Square, Baku, New Year's Eve 1999

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sat, 31 May 2025 11:01:00 -0500

The fountains surge at mechanical intervals against the Caspian night, their waters catching fragments of light from small fireworks that bloom and die in children's hands. Their sound mimics conversation—the rhythmic murmur of voices just beyond comprehension, like the Russian phrases that drift past my ears, half-familiar syllables that force me to strain for meaning that hovers always just out of reach. Art nouveau facades curve around the square in elegant contradiction—wrought iron railings twist into filigree dreams while Soviet concrete slouches behind them like a guilty secret. I stand among the cobblestones, foreign feet on ancient ground, watching elegant women drift past in their narrow-shouldered blazers and dark lipstick—the careful glamour of a decade that promised everything and delivered fragments.

photo by susan smith nash

The kimancha's bow draws across steel strings, weaving mugham's modal lamentation through the crowd. This is music that builds meaning note by note, like Wittgenstein's language games—each phrase a world, each ornament a way of seeing. The musician's eyes close as he navigates the ancient pathways between joy and sorrow, his instrument's voice threading through conversations that switch between Russian's familiar harshness and Azeri's liquid syllables, languages dancing around each other like cautious lovers constructing reality from borrowed words.

Wind from the Caspian carries the eternal scent of oil and gas seeps, that petroleum incense persistent as the fires that once burned without end from this earth. The wind is relentless, constant as the flames that now burn in hearts rather than temples. I think of Zoroastrian altars, of Leyla and Majnun's doomed passion, of Dede Gorgud's twelve tales that shaped meaning from nomad memory long before empires learned to name this place. The fountain spray catches my cheek, cold and sudden against the warm breath of ancient fires, and I am reminded that language, like love, like revolution, constructs the world it claims to describe. Here in Azerbaijan, at the crossroads of empires and languages, meaning shifts like the wind patterns across the Caspian.

The old Soviet buildings lean against art nouveau's flowering iron, concrete socialism crumbling into capitalism's uncertain embrace, while the mugham continues its spiral ascent through modal territories that know no borders. Above it all, Persian arches and Islamic geometries remember older grammars of power.

Tonight feels less about reconstruction than about witnessing—the way midnight fireworks illuminate faces caught between worlds, between languages, between the weight of empire's end and the lightness of small hopes ascending like sparks into the winter sky. In planters between the fountains, olive trees stand patient as prophets, their silver leaves catching wind and light, while winter roses cling to thorny stems with the same stubborn grace that keeps the human spirit flowering in the harshest seasons.

The kimancha falls silent, and in that silence, the wind carries whispers of Majnun calling Leyla's name across the centuries, while gas flames flicker in the distance like punctuation marks in an endless sentence we are all still learning to read. Here, among the poppies that will push through cracks in concrete come spring, among the jasmine that perfumes summer nights regardless of which flag flies overhead, I understand that the human heart rebuilds itself with the same persistence as these ancient fires—unvanquishable, eternal, finding ways to bloom even when the world above seems to crumble.

Yeni il mübarək, someone calls out, and the New Year arrives with the taste of petroleum and the promise that the spirit, like these olive trees, like the fountains that flow regardless of empire, endures and renews itself from sources deeper than any human design.

Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.

Norman, OK

Time-Lapse Expressions: The Modernist Vision of Marcel Duchamp and Giacomo Balla

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 14:15:00 -0500

I would love to have seen the new art at the 1913 Armory Show and that which followed. Marcel Duchamp’s “Nude Descending a Staircase” was mocked and referred to as shingles flying everywhere. Earlier, in 1912, Giacomo Balla’s painting, likewise portrayed motion in multiples. Now, all audiences would automatically recognized it as individual frames from motion picture film. The way of seeing reality is fascinating – it’s a convergence of the new technologies in x-ray (seeing the skeletal form), and silent film, evoking the Lumiere Brothers and also films from Edison’s studios. The art corresponded to the new wave of innovation which we now refer to as the Second Industrial Revolution (the first was steam power, the second technology that included automation, communications, sanitation), etc.).

Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) - Marcel Duchamp

I had the chance to view “Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2)” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The experience of seeing Duchamp’s work in real life makes it clear that the viewer is supposed to enter the experience of the work – emotionally and cognitively – as the work itself requires the viewer to interact with it in a unique / different way than simply looking at a sculpture or painting.

For example, the famous “objet trouvé / “found object” entitled "Fountain" and signed of R. Mutt, 1917, is a urinal that demands you perceive it as a sculpture, but you’re not at all prepared to do so, since you’ve interacted with this everyday item in the real world, and it’s a mass-produced industrial object which is gazed upon and regarded, but not in a museum and not as a work of art, but as a utilitarian, functional machine (is a toilet a machine?).

"Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp

In “The Bride, Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even,” which is a mixed media installation also at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, you are forced to look through a tiny opening in a door to witness, voyeuristically, a Greek myth playing out in front of your eyes. It may not be literally Leda and the Swan, and the incubus concept may be outside your experience (well, one hopes!).

“Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2)” is a painting, but it has the feeling of being a balsa wood construction. In the early 20th century, balsa wood was regularly used to build models and prototypes of machines, vehicles, boats, and fanciful inventions. Thus, by creating a painting that looks like a balsa wood prototype, Duchamp forces the viewer to reperceive the work of art, and to challenge the viewer to think of art as speculative, and all about the way that inventions can be made, and that it does not matter if you’re an artist or an engineer. If you have a mind that can think in multiple dimensions, and across time, you’re a part of the exciting, seemingly infinite future.

"Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash" (1912) by Giacomo Balla

The same can be said for Giacomo Balla’s hyperactive little dachshund in “Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash” – so cute! But what makes the depiction so relatable? Instead of focusing on the dog’s face, and instead of giving the dog oversized, emotional eyes that look directly into the eyes of the viewer, the dachshund is more quintessentially “dachshund” than a sentimental version could ever be, and every dachshund owner would absolutely agree. The dog is all about energy, action, and forward motion.

If you look at the breed from its utility, you’ll think of how it was bred to hunt gophers. At the same time, if you look at the breed from the perspective of a modern urban owner, you totally relate to a frisky, territorial, and cutely aggressive little dog that loves to run on his tiny little legs. Instead of the face, the big, soulful eyes, and a setting in nature, we have a little urban sweetie whose energy somehow reflects and refracts the energy of the young woman walking her little darling. It’s all about sympathetic energy, and thus, Balla paints life itself.

The Joy of Gymnastics: OU Meets Arkansas at Norman - Joscelyn Roberson, Faith Torrez, Jordan Bowers, Frankie Price shine

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 2 Feb 2025 14:10:00 -0600

I had an amazing experience! I had the chance to attend the OU-Arkansas women’s gymnastics meet at Lloyd Noble on Friday, January 31.

University of Oklahoma gymnast getting ready for floor exercise.

I love OU’s women’s gymnastics, and I was really excited to see that now that we’re in the SEC, we would have a meet against the University of Arkansas where World Cup Floor Ex champion and Olympics alternate, Joscelyn Roberson, is competing. I purchased great seats for myself, Shandell, and little 3-year-old Brielle and 7-year-old Monty, in order to see Joscelyn Roberson in person. What would she be like in person? I’ve certainly seen her in videos, but do they do her justice?

Three-year-old aspiring gymnast wearing her OU Sooners leo and dress.

It was so amazing to see Texarkana born and raised Joscelyn Roberson compete in person. I first became aware of her during the 2023 Pan American Games and also the Cairo World Cup where she earned a Gold in Floor Exercise. Her coaches in Texarkana should receive huge credit for developing such a great athlete and sportsman as well. At any rate, when I first saw her, she was 16, and at 4 ft 8 inches, a little powerhouse. Her music and her tumbling passes were incredible. She did receive criticism for “lack of artistry,” but honestly, I think it’s only because she does not have the sylph-like appearance of a rhythmic gymnast. Also the code of points privileges difficulty, so tumbling passes become superhuman in difficulty, along with floor-based wolf turns. I followed her career with avid interest, really disagreeing with her detractors, and I think they have no idea whatsoever about Joscelyn’s true “provenance.” This is just a theory, but I suspect her tumbling prowess is due to the depth and breadth of tumbling talent and coaching in Texarkana, thanks to Cheer. Texarkana high schools, such as Arkansas High School regularly rank in the top 10 nationally. They are stunning! Granted, their technique is quite different than gymnastics, but many of the tumbling passes require tucks, twists, and more.

Joscelyn Roberson (far left) getting ready for vault.

I was sad to see Joscelyn suffer a serious ankle injury during a warm-up for the vault. She came back, better than ever, and earned a spot as an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Team going to Paris. I was secretly hoping that she would sign a Letter of Intent with the University of Oklahoma. OU has earned a reputation as a team with tremendous concentration, discipline, mental toughness, and consistency. They did not advance to the National Championships last year, but there were injuries, and they were rebuilding. This year, OU’s women gymnasts are ranked #1 in the nation. It was exciting to see Jordan Bowers and Faith Torres (tied for all-around in this meet) along with teammates Lily Pederson, Audrey Davis, Addison Fatta, Danae Fletcher, and more. I am incredibly impressed with OU’s coaching and the support behind the scenes. I used to see the women’s gymnastics team at 6 am at Murray Case Sells doing low-impact cardio in the diving well and it was all I could do to restrain myself from going totally “fan-girl” on them and asking for autographs (on what? My swim cap?). I was a huge fan of the now graduated Ragan Smith, Madison Snook, and many others. One true hero who led Oklahoma to national championships in 2017 and 2018 was Maggie Nichols (who was in the audience!!). Maggie wrote about her experiences in a book. Her courage always stunned me – she was one of the gymnasts who testified against Larry Nassar. In fact, she was “Athlete A,” who was the first to report to U.S. Gymnastics what Nassar had been doing to the gymnasts. That took incalculable courage!! Instead of continuing to pursue elite gymnastics, she chose to go the college route. When she was competing, it was almost unheard of for an elite gymnast to leave their club and to compete in college, where the rules are different, and the routines do not have the same degree of difficulty (or at least, didn’t). This was before Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee broke that mold. Apparently, Joscelyn Roberson is following in the tradition of Jade and Sunisa and is on the U.S. Nationals team. I don’t know about members of the OU gymnastics team.

The scoreboard after OU's final rotation on the floor. Their consistency is truly remarkable.

It was reported that Joscelyn had been battling the flu earlier in the week, but she looked really strong. Her first event was the vault. I could see her on the monitors, and more or less from our seats, but we were next to the floor, and away from the vault. She did not seem to get the distance off the table that she has in the past, and there was a bit of a hop. But – wow – what a difficult vault! She did a twist onto the vault before she blocked with her hands, and her hands where perfectly squared so she was able to push up high and get energy to do even more twists off the table. It was really impressive.

Her floor routine was really interesting to me. She still used the song “Stanga,” which OU gymnast Olivia Trautman had used in the past. Sagi Abitbul & Guy Haliva recorded “Stanga” which has been remixed to infinity. The first time I heard it, I literally had chills. I used to listen to my CD-ROM of the “Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares” on my way to work in Oklahoma City for Kerr-McGee. I would park in the parking lot east of the railroad tracks which is now Bricktown, and be really pumped up by it. I had both collections, Vols, I and II, and just loved them. “Stanga” borrows heavily, and is in my opinion, perfect floor ex music. When I was in gymnastics, I had a routine choreographed to a literal bullfighting music from a record my mom had treasured, and it exuded pure passion as well.

At any rate, Joscelyn is still incorporating “Stanga” (wonderful!). Her routine has changed a bit. Her first tumbling pass was incredibly high and she just totally stuck it. I was a bit surprised because I thought that in college gymnastics you had to step back onto the back foot. Perhaps she did, and I did not notice. It went quickly and that is something I can review in recordings. The biggest change is that she took out the floor wolf turns (no wolf turns on beam, either). She did have a great deal of sass in the dance elements, along with lots of playfulness and gestures to the crowd, encouraging them to pick up the volume of cheering. I was going to say entreat, but it there was definitely a feel of play at work. The coaches at Arkansas are great for her. Jordyn Wieber is their head coach, and she is a champ. She looked very elegant in a white flowing pants suit a drapy jacket (turns out she is expecting), and high heels. OU’s coach was also elegant in black. Joscelyn totally stuck her second pass (which she always did in her elite performances) and the execution elicited gasps of admiration. Her floor flexibility moves were serviceable, but I think they could be more original. Her split leaps have really come a long way, and she has made impressive improvements with turning her feet out and making sure her feet are all the way up. Her final tumbling pass was a triumph. I know I’m a bit at a loss for descriptors – my hands-on gymnastics experience was at a very rudimentary level, although I did take gymnastics classes for years that were offered to children through the City of Norman and OU, and then later, I had gymnastics every day in 9th grade at West. I did not take gymnastics in tenth grade. I’m not sure why. I focused more on swimming.

Joscelyn was her team’s anchor on the beam, and she totally nailed all the skills. She did not have all the different skills that she had in her elite routine (no wolf turns), but she had really complicated combinations, and her dismount was a twisting one, with a blind landing. Dangerous! Her precision and confidence were palpable, and her team cheered her on. She received her team’s highest score on the beam – I think it was a 9.925.

Scoreboard after the Arkansas Razorback's rotation.

The scoring has been really stringent this year, especially after complaints about too many 10.0s and scoring inflation helping certain teams. I guess it’s a good idea to reserve the 10s for the truly remarkable performances, and not succumb to the idea of going to a very complicated code of points that contains multipliers based on degree of difficulty. With such an emphasis on dangerous skills, I’m actually surprised there have not been more tragic accidents. Perhaps there have been, but we are just not hearing about it.

Joscelyn Roberson congratulated by fellow Razorback after a great performance on the beam. The atmosphere is truly joyous and supportive. (photo Susan Nash)

I was expecting to appreciate the meet, but I did not expect to absolutely love it, which I did! Wow. The overall feeling is joyous and participatory, and I think it’s very healthy. It’s a far cry from the gymnastics events I attended in the past where the waves of nervousness combined with parental obsession and coaches’ ambition created something pretty unpleasant. I think I’d prefer electroconvulsive shock therapy to attending one of those kinds of meets. It reminds me of when I swam on the swim team as a 12-year-old and saw a parent spank his little daughters at a swim meet in Enid for not getting their best times. Perhaps his daughters were horsing around and merited some firm talk but that? I was glad my parents did not like attending swim meets. Competing is scary enough – why add aversion therapy??

The meet concluded with a score of 197.828-195.975 as Oklahoma continued its winning streak against ranked opponents and remained the No. 1 program in the nation. The Arkansas team was very impressive, and it is really thrilling to have the chance to see such high-level performances.

Unsung Hero: My Mother-in-Law

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 06:51:00 -0600

Myrtle Juanita Robertson was born July 16, 1924 at the Central State Hospital in Norman, Oklahoma. Despite its name, Central State was no ordinary hospital. It was, in fact, the State of Oklahoma’s largest hospital for the mentally ill and the criminally insane. Her mother had been institutionalized after the death of her husband, but there are no remaining stories of why she was institutionalized, nor why her 11 children were all given up for adoption. Myrtle Juanita, who always went by “Juanita” did not realize that she was adopted until much later in life, and then, when she learned about it, she looked desperately for her brothers and sisters. She found one, Charles, who had lived a very difficult life. I met Charles and immediately liked him. He was a small man with a wry sense of humor. He had bleeding ulcers, however, and I think that the end was already near when I met him.

But, to back up a bit. Why on earth was Mary Etta (Shields) DeWitt treated in such a harsh way? The answer has to do with a hidden history of mental institutions. Juanita’s parents were members of the Citizens Band Potawatomi, removed from Illinois to Kansas and Oklahoma, and then given allotments. The DeWitts had land near Little Axe, Oklahoma. After Juanita’s father died and her mother was institutionalized, something happened and it appears that the mother lost all her rights to anything at all. This dark, shameful history is not acknowledged. Juanita was raised by a family in the same town as the mental hospital, and she never had any notion that her mother was in the rather terrifying mental hospital on the east side of town, nor did she have any idea that she had 10 brothers and sisters.

https://fringejournal.blogspot.com/2022/11/oklahoma-sanitarium-company-1895.html

Juanita graduated from Norman High School and then went on to attend the University of Oklahoma, where she majored in education. She continued with her education and became a social worker for the State of Oklahoma. Years passed, and she was contacted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to let her know that she had inherited land from her parents, and that she had at least one surviving sibling. This was a shock to Juanita, who did not realize that she had been adopted, nor did she have any knowledge of her Potawatomi heritage.

Ironically, at the University of Oklahoma, at the same time that Juanita’s mother was institutionalized and her children taken from her, the University of Oklahoma, literally 2 miles from Central State Hospital, efforts were made to preserve Native American culture at the Western History Collection. There are many harsh ironies in this situation, which will be the subject of a later, more detailed meditation.

Finding out that she was adopted, and then, the tragic circumstances, put Juanita in a state of shock, and she started to piece together all the things that had never made sense from her childhood, and also the deep sense of trauma, rupture, and horror that she could never shake off.

She immediately dug into her past and also into Potawatomi heritage, customs, and language. More than anything, she felt a deep, searing pain when she thought of those who were overwhelmed and helpless, who ended up losing everything, and dying alone, destitute, and sad. She could never change the past. There was nothing she could do to rectify the wrongs done to her mother and her 10 brothers and sisters. However, she could fight for better conditions for the Elders.

Juanita was able to work with the State of Oklahoma, and in doing so, she worked on programs to benefit the elderly. At the end of her career, she could look back and see all the programs she had helped shape that had to do with providing nutrition as well as emotional support to senior citizens in the State of Oklahoma.

Juanita died at the age of 90, an unsung hero, a Potawatomi who was able to reclaim her heritage and to fight for meals, companionship, and human dignity for elders.

Her funeral took place on a rainy, cool afternoon at a funeral home in Purcell, Oklahoma, where I had attended the funeral of my dear mother, just three years before. I signed the guestbook and fought back tears until I looked out the window and saw my ex-husband running across the parking lot in a downpour, clutching a cardboard box. Instantly, I knew what it was. He was carrying the urn with the ashes of little Ricky, Juanita’s beloved white cat. I remembered Ricky well. Ricky was the meanest cat you could possibly imagine. Ricky loved to hide under a sofa and then lash out with his razor-sharp claws. I lost many a pair of tights to that crazy cat! But, Ricky loved Juanita, and Juanita loved Ricky. Later, I wondered if somehow Juanita’s mom, Mary Etta DeWitt, had shared her spirit with Ricky, and she was there to do everything she could to protect her little lost baby.

Little Ricky, the cat, and his adored owner, Juanita DeWitt Robertson, are unsung heroes.

Unsung Hero: Susan LaFlesche Picotte (1865 - 1915)

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 06:39:00 -0600

In July 2024, I had the chance to participate in an event at the National Academies of Science in Washington, D. C. The topic was how best to clean up the orphan oil and gas wells that can pollute the air and groundwater, and thus improve the living conditions for many people, especially those who suffer from socio-economic hardship.

The building was a majestic example of intricate Art Nouveau with stained glass, wrought iron, and lovely nooks and hidden galleries where tributes to the nation’s most visionary scientists could be found.

I was excited and inspired to happen upon a tribute to women scientists. I was deeply moved. One of the first to really catch my eye was Susan La Flesche Picotte. La Flesche was the first Native American woman to earn a degree as a medical doctor, returned home to build a system to provide medical care for the people of the Omaha nation, and to institute practices that would dramatically reduce communicable diseases.

She was born in June 1865 on the Omaha Reservation in what is now Nebraska. Her father, Joseph La Flesche (Iron Eyes) was chief of the Omaha tribe and her mother, Mary Gale (One Woman), encouraged their daughters to get an education. So Susan studied at a missionary school on the reservation before being accepted to study at the Elizabeth Institute for Young Ladies in New Jersey. From there, she matriculated at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, where she graduated as valedictorian in 1889.

After returning to the Omaha Reservation, La Flesche instituted a number of changes: She advocated the construction of a hospital and European-style frame houses to provide more ways to keep the patients in as sterile facilities as possible. She was a huge advocate of public health and encouraged families to install screens on doors and windows to keep disease-spreading flies and mosquitoes from entering. She discouraged the use of shared drinking cups at village wells, and was a dedicated physician, traveling great distances to see patients. She was able to achieve her great dream of having a hospital built in Walthill, Nebraska, on reservation land.

La Flesche often spoke out against the great physical and mental toll that contact with European settlers and the Office of Indian Affairs had taken on the health of indigenous peoples.

To me, La Flesche is an inspiring figure for many reasons. The most obvious is that of overcoming the odds to become a doctor and go back home to fight for better conditions and treatment for her people. She never gave up, even when her own poor health made it difficult.

While Susan La Flesche Picotte has had the great fortune to have been remembered for her efforts, it is very important to keep in mind that there are many unsung heroes, especially within communities that are under-represented, isolated, and historically under-served. It is a good idea to take a moment to think about those who made contributions, no matter how large or small, and to thank them.

A Philosophy of Teaching using AI

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 06:33:00 -0600

Sharing my own thoughts and philosophy on teaching

With the advent of ubiquitous AI tools, I’ve renewed my emphasis on connections to real-world experiences as a way to both learn and to communicate the attainment of knowledge, and demonstrating achievement of learning objectives.

It is interesting to see how people use Large Language Model generative AI. They may enter a prompt from the discussion board into AI to see what it delivers. It usually delivers information in the form of short lists, which are either bulleted or are bold-face in the topic or subject. When entire papers are constructed, they are very clearly structured. The thesis statement is often very clear, but the introduction is unengaging. The body paragraphs have good topic sentences (as though from an outline), but any reference to relevant information is not cited properly (no in-text citations, no reference section at the end). If the topic is a common one (Write a paper about Hamlet’s conflicts in Shakespeare’s Hamlet), the information is likely to be pretty reliable, given that there are so many easily accessible papers on the topic. However, it could be unreliable if the Large Language Model is using student papers, websites, and places like Course Hero for the data used to train the model.

My philosophy of teaching has to do with making emotional and cognitive connections to the topic and igniting a fire of curiosity and personal connection so that they feel real curiosity and a need to know about the topic because it could inform them of what could be a future path to a fulfilled and meaningful life.

I think back to my own experiences in life – when I was an undergraduate, I had dreams and there were aspects of life that really fascinated me. I kept changing majors because the world around me kept changing, and I constantly wrestled with perfectionism, which made me feel either euphoric or in a pit of despair. It took me many years to learn how to self-regulate, and now I think I may do it too much – if something negative happens, I immediately reframe it as something else, and my mind starts churning out affirmations as I seek “win-win” situations within my sphere of influence.

It's a lot of work, and it requires a steely resolve to maintain a positive outlook. When I was a graduate student and had a part-time job, I was fascinated by emotional and cognitive “limit experiences” that would push me to the edge and inform me about the nature of reality. I guess that proclivity was what inspired me to write my dissertation on mad messiahs and the apocalyptic narrative. It was the gift that keeps on giving, and I automatically process the day’s headlines through a debunking narrative mechanism that identifies key apocalyptic words and then classifies the narratives into apocalyptic genres and sub-genres. I’ve been doing it so long it’s automatic. These are good days for apocalypse, I must say.

That said, my world view has changed over the years to help me feel a sense of self-determination and well, joy & happiness, even in the face of clear chaos and uncertainty in the world. It helps that the world is always chaotic and so the panic-dread I felt the first five or six times economic meltdown and social discord were proffered up has dissipated into a “well, fortunately, no one has to live forever” mode. What is that about? I think it is, ultimately, a recognition that there are things I can do to make life better. But, I can’t control the world. Good grief – I can’t even get the information needed to be able to control the world. If I did have that key information, would I be able to interpret it? Who knows….

And so, the world I view is one of the joy of discovery and the deep satisfaction of new connections to people, cultures, ways of thinking and living.

We can live. We can live together. The more we know about the past, the magical intersections of history, art, and culture, the more joyous and open our futures can be.

We train our minds to see.

Classically Sublime: The University of Oklahoma Sooners' Upset of #7-Ranked Alabama

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Thu, 5 Dec 2024 12:45:00 -0600

A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful was published in 1757, and it quickly became a cornerstone of Romanticism. The “sublime” is supposed to inspire awe but also shock, even horror.

“The passion caused by the great and sublime in nature, when those causes operate most powerfully, is astonishment: and astonishment is that state of the soul in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria incorporates the ideas of Friedrich Schelling, who privileged the irrational and the subjective in interpreting experience and understanding Nature (and thus reality).

The idea of a subversive, subjective, emotionally intense and deep emotion-producing art is perfectly illustrated in the works of Turner and Goya, especially in the idea that it could be horror-producing. The extreme idealization of Nature, especially when viewed in retrospect, ties in with German Idealism, which was championed by Kant, and then radicalized by Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. https://iep.utm.edu/germidea/

Right now, I’m listening to the sounds from the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord Stadium as the game approaches kick-off. I can hear crowd noises, music and general game energy from inside my house, despite the fact I have double-paned windows and foam insulation. I’m five blocks away from the stadium. The announcer is literally shouting, and the marching band is playing as the crowd cheers. White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” launches and I know that for the rest of the evening, I won’t be able to get the lyrics and the riff out of my head for at least the duration of the game.

I'm gonna fight 'em off

A seven nation army couldn't hold me back

They're gonna rip it off

Takin' their time right behind my back

OU is now a part of the SEC and I have to set out traffic cones earlier than before so people won’t park in my driveway. There is a roar and the Pride of Oklahoma charges into BOOMER – SOONER and White Stripes are now fierce rivals for the Boomer-Sooner riff. I’m a half a mile from the stadium, sitting in my bedroom checking on the score and looking at Ezra Pound’s The Pisan Cantos and Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch (English translation of Rayuela, pronounced rye-zhwayla in Argentina). Suddenly it is quiet. There must be an injury on the field. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Just checked. It’s half-time. That explains it. Well. The excitement will pick up, that’s for sure. If I want to run over to OnCue, I need to do it now. It will be tricky. They rent out parking spaces for $20 a pop. Braum’s, thankfully, keeps their parking for customers only.

Darude “Sandstorm” is playing. I feel my adrenaline going again - and I’m five blocks away. I can only imagine what it’s like to be in the stadium right now.

Totally SUBLIME.

Rosa Bonheur's The Horse Fair: Representations of the Fight for Freedom - Revolutions and Rights of Women?

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Mon, 2 Dec 2024 11:54:00 -0600

Over a three-year period, 1852 – 1855, French painter Rosa Bonheur filled a massive canvas, 8 feet tall and 17 feet wide, with a group of gorgeous white Lippizaner stallions, a dark black horse, and other brown horses, passionately in motion in a field surrounded by trees and bordered by a dirt road, ostensibly a horse market. Now, Bonheur’s The Horse Fair is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It is remarkable for a number of reasons. First, it is by a woman artist, one who was classically trained, but who was not allowed in the studios for “life art” with nudes. So, she painted animals, even dead ones at the butcher shop. Second, its size is quite large, on par with Rembrandt’s The Night Watch and Tintoretto’s Gloria del Paradiso (1588-1592).

However, instead of depicting a religious scene or memorializing the wealthy members of society, Bonheur dedicates the large canvas to animals. They are not even in battle or doing anything heroic; they’re simply behaving as spirited horses will at a horse fair. Men are trying to handle and control them, but the horses are winning. According to the conventions, there were four genres of painting, and they had a hierarchy. First, were the historical paintings which would feature important battles, scenes from religious stories, allegorical or other subjects of overweening importance. Next were portraits, which were supposed to be of aristocracy, religious figures, or members of the upper class. Next came genre painting, which would include scenes of everyday life. Fourth in the hierarchy was landscape painting, which could also include cityscapes. Animal painting was fifth, and the final and lowest on the list was still life.

Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair (source: Wikipedia)

One example of historical paintings from the Renaissance makes one aware of the way they convey culturally normative messages. Gloria del Paradiso (1588-1592) by Tintoretto which is the largest painting of the Renaissance at around 28 high and 80 feet wide. It depicts Dante’s Divine Comedy, and all the characters one finds in Dante’s Paradiso. When it comes to depicting a whole cast of characters, and a cosmology, give me Hieronymus Bosch. His Garden of Earthly Delights and also Ship of Fools are so complex and filled with visual metaphors and stories, that one could stay and contemplate them for hours.

What made Bonheur’s painting so shocking in terms of genre? She made an animal painting in the same size and format as a history painting, with the battle being between the handlers and the horses. What were some of the underlying thoughts that would come to mind? The first that come to mind are those of freedom and liberty – the horses are struggling to be liberated from their bits and ropes. In this sense, the canvas is definitely allegorical, particularly given that moment in history, with anti-monarchist sentiment in Europe. Given that interpretation, Bonheur’s painting could have been dangerous. The Revolutions of 1848 spread through Europe, starting in Sicily, the going to Italy, Germany, and France, where the repressive, authoritarian “July Monarchy” was toppled. In the other countries, the revolutions failed, and the miserable conditions of the people continued, with poverty, income inequality, brutal authoritarianism, and lavish / wasteful spending by the monarchies and nobility. Bonheur’s rebellious horses rise and writhe, but they are in the process of being brought back under control.

How to Effectively Design Good Generative AI-Using Student Assignments: Steps, Strategy, and an Example

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 5 May 2024 09:03:00 -0500

If it were not bad enough to combat essays purchased from Course Hero, GradeSaver, or one of the other paper mills that purchase student essays, now one has to worry about papers generated by large language models such as ChatGPT, Scribe, Google Gemini, CoPilot or others. Generative AI tools are being developed for specific topics or domains, and the assumption is, at least from a student’s perspective, that the product will be well written and accurate, or at least well written and accurate enough to merit a passing grade.

As an instructor who develops, teaches, and grades courses and coursework for online courses hosted on Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, or even Google Classroom, this is a challenge you can’t afford to ignore, and an opportunity that can transform your entire teaching philosophy.

https://www.amazon.com/Moodle-Learning-Course-Development-instructional/dp/180107903X

WHAT INFORMATION IS USED TO TRAIN THE AI LARGE LANGUAGE MODEL?

What data sets are used to train the generative AI algorithms? Let’s take the case of American literature. I would automatically assume that the first repositories to be ingested would be open access repositories such as Project Gutenberg and Archive.com. Those would be primary texts for the most part. Then, secondary texts would be incorporated, which would consist of journal articles. Tertiary texts would also be used, which would include encyclopedias. While there may be some question about intellectual property and the right to use the materials, there would be few questions about the integrity of such materials, gleaned as it were, from peer-reviewed and quality assured primary sources, peer-reviewed journals and monographs, and peer-reviewed encyclopedias.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to materials about American literature that one can access through the Internet. There are blog posts, online magazines, repositories of articles from study guide providers such as Study.com, Sophia Learning, Shmoop.com, and many more. These resources may be a bit repetitive and not particularly original, but perhaps harmless in the overall scheme of things. If anything, they may skew the results to bland and formulaic papers.

LOTS OF BAD APPLES

What happens, however, when these AI bots ingest the massive repositories of essays which have been compiled by companies such as Course Hero, Grade Saver, and others? Is there any quality control at all? Some of the sites encourage students to sell their term papers for $5 each. Is there any quality control? Would the evaluator or screener check for accuracy, bias, originality, and innovative thinking? Would the screener be able to differentiate between a tired, flat, biased, inaccurate paper and a fresh, innovative, and accurate one?

It is quite possible that the sheer volume of low-quality term papers, biased or error-riddled blog posts, student-shared material, unrefereed conference proceedings and “gray” literature could exceed the high-quality, peer-reviewed material by many orders of magnitude.

REQUIRING STUDENTS TO USE CHAT GPT, KNOWING THE RESULTS COULD BE ROTTEN?

Learning how to use generative AI as a helpful tool and understanding its limitations and pitfalls is probably a more pragmatic and useful approach than trying to ban it altogether. Further, if students learn how to use AI tools in their coursework where they receive feedback and guidance, it is likely that they will be able to more effectively use the tool in their professional lives.

Instructional designers and instructors who understand how results are likely to be generated can design assignments that require students to incorporate their own unique vantage points, prior knowledge, experience, and insights rather than simply producing a bland summary or compendium of the blandest, least thought-provoking or original material that responds to the prompt.

FERRETING OUT THE FLAWS WHILE ASKING, “WHAT’S GOOD IN HERE?”

Instructors can develop assignments that actually require students to use a generative AI tool, and then they can ask them to critique the response.

Here’s a sample assignment:

Please write an essay that identifies the possible themes in Emerson’s essay, “Circles,” and explains how they relate to American Transcendentalism.

When I fed the prompt to ChatGPT, it churned out a six-paragraph essay in about 3 seconds. It sported a nice, clear thesis statement, a clear definition of American Transcendentalism, and then proposed several themes, and provided evidence, including quotes. On first glance, it seemed to be a very serviceable essay.

However, upon closer examination, it was clear that the essay was pretty facile, and felt very derivative. It did not provide citations for the quotes, and the explanations around each of the quotes and the themes did not go into any depth and tended to repeat each other. There was no deeper probing of American Transcendentalism, nor was there any historical context.

One could argue that the prompt should have asked for historical context, and could even be interesting and ask for connections to a darker, more ominous underbelly of what seemed, on the face of it, to be an expansive, all-encompassing dream of harmony and unity. However, there is no investigation of the philosophical or ideological underpinnings, nor any sense of how American Transcendentalism was popular because it uniquely reinforced and even expanded the authority of those who already possessed it.

The students could be asked to identify the weaknesses of the Chat GPT essay, and to explain when and how the responses were cliché, facile, or derivative of what one would expect to see in an encyclopedia or generic study guide, and they do not encourage critical thinking or a look at “Circles” through a new and innovative vantage point.

It would be very nice for students to work on the critique in a collaborative workspace – for example, in a shared document, where each could highlight and comment on the ChatGPT-generated essay.

AN INSTRUCTOR CHALLENGE: ASSIGNMENTS THAT DEVELOP CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AND CREATIVITY

It is possible to write assignments and paper prompts that encourage students to incorporate their unique views, experiences, and prior knowledge. While some may think that this subjectivity would make it difficult to assess the work, in reality, just the opposite is the case.

For example, for an essay on American literature, a rubric would require the student to accurately describe what the text is about and also the main themes and characters as required by the prompt. The prompt should also, however, require the student to think critically and ask questions that would relate to their own experiences and perceptions. They could also be asked to apply the concepts to a current situation. The students would be evaluated on their creativity and problem-solving skills as well as critical thinking.

To apply this to the case of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, “Circles,” a prompt could look something like this:

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Emerson’s ideas about agency as expressed in his essay, “Circles,” and describe how you’ve seen examples of the thinking expressed in your own life or the world at large. Describe mid 19th-century American Transcendentalism and how it must have sounded to different groups of Americans: wealthy land owners, men wanting to move West for wealth and adventure, women in America, Native Americans, African-American slaves and freedmen, Irish indentured servants, Mexicans living in parts of Texas that were a part of Mexico before the War of 1848, and children.

Granted, the new prompt is much, much more complex, but you probably get the picture, and can see how writing prompts to outwit the AI bot is fun and engaging, while also encouraging collaborative activities and deeper learning.

THE ROAD AHEAD

Colleges and universities are grappling with ChatGPT, Scribe, Google Gemini, CoPilot, and other generative AI platforms and tools. While there is the chance of rampant violations of academic integrity, we are in the early stages of development and now is the time to envision new and productive pedagogical approaches that are ideal for adult learners and can help develop creativity, critical thinking skills and confidence.

Exploring Ian Wild's Moodle 4 Security (Packt Publications, 2024)

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sat, 27 Apr 2024 23:44:00 -0500

Ian Wild’s new book, Moodle 4 Security (Packt Publications, 2024), equips the Moodle administrator and the IT team to protect all aspects of Moodle, from Moodle server security to Moodle application security, including Moodle infrastructure modeling, and strategies for educating the weakest security links – the individual users.

Link to the text: https://www.amazon.com/Moodle-Security-administrators-regulating-infrastructure/dp/1804611662

The book begins by describing the depth and the scope of the problem, while providing a short history of hacking, understanding the nature of cybersecurity risk with Moodle, and the consequences of doing nothing. It moves to a section that explains how to identify threats, and how to use programs such as STRIDE and other Open Web Application Security projects that can be used to defend against many types of cybersecurity threats.

A large section of the book is devoted to Moodle server security. Wild guides the reader through a step-by-step process of building a secure Linux server which includes enabling TTS/SSL to have a secure SSL certificate, selecting the best firewalls, and exploring server immutability. The process of assuring Moodle server security also involves endpoint protection, denial of service protection, and also making sure to have a backup and disaster recovery. Wild clearly presents options for each level of protection and gives clear, easy-to-implement selections.

Another important section of the book deals with Moodle Application security. This aspect has to do with privacy concerns, a data integrity plan, and a review of the various types and functionalities of Moodle applications with an end to helping the user avoid fall into any pitfalls.

Ian Wild, a technologist and developer of simulations for AVEVA, has many years of experience with Moodle and thoroughly understands the reasons why having a good security solution for the organization’s Moodle installation is imperative in today’s world. The information and solutions presented in this book could not have come out at a better time.

A 2024 Video Performance of Chucky’s Hunch by Rochelle Owens

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 19:58:00 -0500

May The Future be alive

Like apple seeds with the promise

Of The forbidden Fruit

That Eve Mother of All Living ate--

Thus, the world gained

Knowledge and Frightful Liberty!

---Rochelle Owens

In Your skull reigns anarchy...

---Rochelle Owens

When Rochelle Owens’s play, Chucky’s Hunch, was first performed Off-Broadway in 1981, critics lauded what they expressed as a tour-de-force performance by the actor playing Chucky, and they took the plot at face value. The play, which is a long dramatic monologue by an aging man triggered by the news that the second of his three ex-wives has won the lottery, takes the audience into a fascinating psychological odyssey. On the face of it, the play is simply about the embittered rantings of a failed Abstract Expressionist artist whose grandiose plans took him nowhere except into penury and bad health, as he lives with his 85-year-old mother somewhere in upstate New York. He reads his letters to Elly, his ex-wife, to the audience, and in doing so, expresses a range of thoughts and feelings, ranging from rageful recriminations to sentimental recounting of the times that he and Elly spent together, and his observations of her behavior. The narrative is a straightforward epistolary one, punctuated by a framed tale (The Snake and the Porcupine).

Chucky's Hunch is featured in this anthology.

However, when looking more closely at the structure of the play, and then relating it to her other works, particularly her long poems, it becomes clear that the structure is one of repetition and interweaving, just as she has done in her brilliant “Black Chalk,” “Patterns of Animus” and “The Aardvark Venus.” As in those poems and others, there is an apocalyptic intensity that envelopes the reader with a sense of creeping horror at observing the protagonist’s existential nihilism that insists on destructive behavior and an ineluctable journey toward self-erasure. It is good to note that one can read the play for free via the Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/wordplays200perf/mode/2up) although it is necessary to create an account and borrow it online.

The release of a video version in 2024, with Charles Berliner as Chucky, music by Marcia Kravis, video editing by Ellen Reynolds, and produced by Rochelle Owens, enables the audience to see a darker and more intimate version (https://youtu.be/OZdRLyXTNbI?si=F5wzMoBLzhhjwnYu). As a narrator, Chucky could not possibly be more unreliable. He flings words like the Abstract Expressionist flings paint, and it is necessary for the reader to find the patterns that make the deeper meaning, which is not really about Elly and her perceived slights to Chucky, but more about fatal “dances” (like the fabled Tarantella) of those who fall in love with each other, and in their dance of love, they toy with the parallels between love and death. Eros is held up as a life force in popular culture, but for Owens, Eros gives way to Thanatos, and the death-drive animates the various love dances / erotic tarantellas that weave in and out of the play.

Love-Death Dance 1: Chucky and Elly. Chucky reminisces about his time with Elly and the items of clothing he purchased for her. Their life together was something he now views with a combination of sweetness and bitterness, a relatable pain for anyone reflecting on failed relationships of the past. Images of a bright-white smile framed by carmine-red lipsticked lips further eroticize the narrative.

Love-Death Dance 2: Characterized as an impecunious and unmotivated bum, Chucky mooches off his 85-year-old mother, who horrifies him with the relations she has with Chester, her 82-year-old boyfriend. Depicted in graphic terms, the discordant notion of a couple approaching death carrying on as though they were teenagers is deeply unsettling to Chucky.

Love-Death Dance 3: Mother and son have a close relationship, one fraught with contradictions. Chucky describes how he chews his mother’s food for her as an Eskimo mother would chew food for her baby, which may seem potentially kind-hearted except that she lost her teeth because he hit her.

Love-Death Dance 4: Chucky’s only friend is his dog. The dog was killed, however, because it came between the amorous and deadly contortions of a porcupine and a snake. Their passion killed not only Chucky’s only living friend, but also each other. As a female voice narrates the frame-tale, images of a snake about to strike and a young porcupine fill the screen.

Love-Death Dance 5: Chucky’s tarantella with his own mind starts at the beginning of the play, and it weaves in and out of a kaleidoscope of emotions. They take him around in colorful, expressive effusions of emotion and reminiscences, but ultimately, the audience sees him as on a path to madness. When he disappears without a trace, the tarantella takes its final frenzied spin. The impressions are emphasized by the juxtaposition of images of seagulls feeding on trash piles.

Chucky complains that Elly never answers his letters, and he resents the fact that she is not only surviving, but is prospering, thanks to winning the lottery. She has gone on to live and thrive in the modern, changing world. Chucky’s world is one that resonates with medieval times – with echoes of the earthiness of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and the resignation of Boethius in The Consolation of Philosophy, and the aleatory movements of the Wheel of Fortune. The still photos and collages in the film form a backdrop behind the performer, and they resonate with the words, not so much depictions but visual metaphors. The soundtrack, featuring sombre music, seagull cries, and more.

In the end, Chucky psychologically juxtaposes himself in a final dance with the memory of the successful Elly, and in that final dance, he generates more self-destructive energy and pathos, leaving the audience staring into the “filthy maw” of an oblivion of one’s own devising, forged from the dances of “love-death” which left him with little more than shame and regret about his life. And thus Chucky hits home. Chucky is Everyman.

---Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.

Kim Lonzo on Two Poems by Carlos Hiraldo and Susan Smith Nash

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Wed, 7 Feb 2024 11:09:00 -0600

The two poems that I have chosen deal with the basic question, does our technological progress represent true human progress. Susan Smith Nash’s poem, “The Nature of Poetics,” (https://marshhawkpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Marsh-Hawk-Review-fall-2021.pdf) explores the subjects of modern work aided by technology, traditional work aided by tools, and our possible disconnection as a society as the nature of work becomes more ephemeral. Nash uses Aristotelian analysis to search for her answers. This is a much different approach than the second poem. Carlos Hiraldo, in his work, “The Revolution Will Not Be Facebooked,” cleverly creates a sequel poem which updates and brilliantly plays off Gil Scott Heron’s seminal spoken word piece set to music, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” Hiraldo mirrors Heron’s meter and style to call attention to how our modern life holds similar ills as the latter’s poem illustrates. The consensus of Nash’s and Hiraldo’s poems are that technology has not improved the human condition and has possibly added to the disconnections between us.

Nash immediately sets the mood by easing us into a state of relaxation. She opens: “No Zoom meetings this morning / so taking advantage / laptop on lap / leaning back in rocking chair.” By contrasting the images of the laptop positioned on her lap and the recumbent rocking chair, she foreshadows the theme of her poem. Not only is she reflecting on the nature of work but also the implications of technology on the quality of our lives. She continues: “feet propped up / sipping coffee.” Already in a position of relaxation, Nash adds an extra layer of cozy with the added action of the propping up of the feet. This coupled with the sipping of coffee conjures a sense that a moment of introspection is about to begin. She is at peace in this moment save for a repetitive sound that calls her attention. She continues: “thoughts punctuated by the sound of roofers pounding away the uncertainty of leaky surfaces.” This seemingly, clumsy sentence breaks from the gentle scene she has crafted. Suddenly, an uncertainty creeps into this idyllic setting. She uses evocative words like “punctuated” and “pounding” because this distraction is significant. She must investigate her own uncertainty. She acknowledges this here: “we dread getting wet / whether by water or fear / I respect the sheathed decking, nails, and composition shingles.” Now the uncertainty begins to take shape. She uses the word “dread” to express that the task before her will be difficult. She is afraid. She references safety when she speaks of the sheathed deck or a protected structure. She deconstructs what makes it safe almost as if to say that she must deconstruct or analyze her fear. In the next part, she muses: “where plans meet hands / the work is real / Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.” Finally, she arrives at the point where the soul searching begins. She acknowledges that roofing is real work and references Aristotle’s most well-known book about discovering the meaning of life, “Nicomachean Ethics.” She asks the reader to go on a journey with her to determine if what she contributes to society is work.

Nash continues,

What is the reality of work in a world of coordinated communication? This is the work of developing documents, tasks, programs meetings, conventions, projects ,plans, maps ,diagrams— infinite conversations and archived files;

And then there are the invoices, accounting, the back office-

And yet, I sit here imagining since I’m not perched on a roof I have no nail gun in my hand, no risk of slipping off onto a hard pavement;

I’m not really working; all my efforts are ephemeral. (Nash)

Now Nash begins to do a classical analytical dissection of the elements of the argument she is attempting to make. She defines the parameters. What is work in the setting she exists within and how does it compare to the traditional concepts of work? She proposes since she has no tangible risks like say a workman on a roof and her efforts are fleeting that it is possible her work is something other.

She concludes,

At least back when we printed and piled our paper files there was tangible evidence of work; External validation that mind and words had an objective correlative

And we could comfort ourselves that reality and life could be empirically affirmed.

But in my heart of hearts I don’t believe it, and I doubt myself just as I doubt this set of lines on paper is anything approximating a poem (Nash)

As Nash reaches her resolution, we similarly reach a catharsis. Her self-doubt about her own work throughout the poem countered with her admission that she believes tangible output with some element of real risks equals true work illustrates the objective correlative she references. In choosing her title, Nash calls to mind Aristotle’s “Poetics”, which first delves into defining poetry as an art and posits that art imitates life. Here the artist attempts to define the nature of a poem by comparing elements of the work of one who uses their hands versus one who uses words and ideas. Whether she considers her work a poem or not though is ultimately up to the reader. An artist’s intentions aside, the nature of any work of art is evident in its effect on its audience and not in its creators vision.

Hiraldo introduces the reader to his work by referencing the source inspiration which is the powerfully poignant, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” by Gil Scott-Heron. It is my opinion that Hiraldo wants his reader to be familiar with this piece to fully understand his message. He is tacitly teasing the point that if you are ignorant of the past, you may repeat it. This poem uses repetition and emulation of Scott-Heron’s master work to interplay themes of “old and new,” “mundane and absurd” in a very sharp, satirical tone.

He opens,

You will not be able to man your posts from the comfort of your offices or homes. You will not be able to sign in, rant, and log out. You will not be able to friend and unfriend your way into community, share your way to the communist utopia, like your way to power, brothers and sisters, because the revolution will not be facebooked. (Hiraldo)

By simulating Scott-Heron’s opening and updating from television to Facebook, Hiraldo introduces us to wonderful wordplay and humor, he will be using throughout. The puns on the words “posts”, “friend”, “unfriend”, “share”, and “like” force the reader to interpret at every twist and turn. The brilliant use of the oxymoron “communist utopia”(Hiraldo) illustrates this will be a fun journey into an intellectual discourse on how our technology has improved or possibly impeded us. When he hits his rallying cry, “The revolution will not be facebooked” (Hiraldo), which he will repeat throughout, he is attempting to show us that a new medium reigns and his emphasis attempts to refocus us on the fact that it is a medium.

He continues,

The revolution will not be brought to you by book length, newsfeed articles telling you everything you already know The revolution will not show you videos of cowardly officers shooting brothers at point blank range because they move too fast or they move too slow

The revolution will be no Onion repost The revolution will be front page news, brothers and sisters. The revolution will not be facebooked

There will be no smiley selfies of you and colleagues you never talk to at the Global Warming march, CNN will not be able to file an entire report based on your social media posts of events because the revolution will not be facebooked (Hiraldo)

Here Hiraldo departs from Scott-Heron who takes a strong political tone. His message rooted in the Black Liberation Movement informed all his work. Hiraldo continues to have echoes of the former’s poem and acknowledges that violence against Black men by law enforcement is still newsworthy in the social media world. He then pivots to question what news in our new digital landscape is. He mentions the satirical website “The Onion” which is a well-known news parody site that is widely shared and often mistaken for real news. He uses the expression “front page news”, an old-fashioned way of saying something was particularly important, to show that our social media advancements aren’t themselves the agents of our change. Further, Hiraldo slyly takes aim at the state of protests by pointing out the vanity aspects of modern activism and the rise of news network coverage of citizen journalists.

He continues,

There will be no soft-porn pictures of meals to be shared There will be no soft-porn pictures of meals to be shared There will be no kooky anti-government conspiracy theory discrediting all opposition because the conspiracy to be attacked will be what they call reality The revolution will not be facebooked.

The revolution will not be brought to you by an old closeted celebrity or a nubile brainy hot thing giving brilliantly obvious quips

The revolution will not sell you Doc Martens boots The revolution will not give you flattering easy IQ tests (Hiraldo)

Interestingly, Hiraldo launches into an unflattering critique of two major uses of social media which are the sharing of food pictures and the dissemination of conspiracy theories. The tropes of “soft-porn pictures of meals” and “anti-government conspiracies” are used to show the prevalence of and importance placed on indifference and ignorance. Moreover, he juxtaposes the tropes of “an old closeted celebrity” and “a nubile brainy hot thing” to address that fact that our information is packaged in the form of entertainment or infotainment. With a wink, Hiraldo teases the rise of consumerism by mentioning the preferred boot of the anti-capitalist punk movement of the 1970’s. He drives his point even further with a nod to the “flattering easy IQ tests” which is an oxymoron laying bare how little we value integrity and intelligence.

Hiraldo concludes,

The revolution will not tell you what country you should have been born in because the revolution will make the country you were born in the country you should have been born in The revolution will not be facebooked.

The revolution will not be facebooked The revolution will not be facebooked The revolution will not be facebooked The revolution will be no parody, brothers and sisters, The revolution will be an original work of art. (Hiraldo)

The metaphor of “The Revolution” that Hiraldo has repeated throughout finally takes form here. He has been alluding to the meaning with examples of elements that are not endemic to this revolution. By defining what it is not, Hiraldo has been implying what it is all along this journey. His strongest statement is telling the reader the ultimate result of the revolution will be universal equity. Instead of going to a “promised land” somewhere else , the revolution will have made this unnecessary and no one will question if the grass is greener. For me as the reader, my absolute favorite line is the last. The wit is on full display as Hiraldo takes us home by subtly poking fun at his own work which is a parody. He does this because he is ingeniously showing us that his work like Facebook is a medium for a message and not itself the agent of change. The revolution after all is the movement towards universal equity and this requires active participation not passive acknowledgment.

Our technology has led to fascinating advances in our world. The benefits of which seem to have made our daily lives more comfortable even simpler. We now have a shared digital space that has ushered in a new era of virtual citizenship. Both Nash and Hiraldo question whether our advances in tech have advanced us as people in this modern landscape. Nash embraces her unease at creating a product or work that feels fugacious. She contrasts elements of the new (Zoom Meetings and laptops) versus the old (nail gun or rocking chairs) and decides to use Aristotelian analysis (literally old school thinking) to determine if “work” in an increasingly more digital world remains relevant. By embracing this trope of “new vs old,” she ultimately concludes that minus a tangible or real element, work, like her poem, may not be what it seems anymore.

Hiraldo too echoes this as he shows us that Facebook as a medium, like television in “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” (Scott-Heron) has not been an agent of change but merely mistaken as one. By mimicking the structure and meter of Scott-Heron’s poem and comparing similar relevant issues in an update to this work, Hiraldo shows that the new medium of Facebook has merely replaced television and this time we are creating the soulless content. His novel approach with a nod to the “Old School” of critical analysis seems to arrive at the same destination as Nash with her traditional reasoning. The measure of our true progress is in how much or how little the individual physically contributes to the real world and not the virtual one.

Works Cited

Nash, Susan Smith. “The Nature of Poetics.” Marsh Hawk Review, Spring, 2021

Hiraldo, Carlos. “The Revolution Will Not Be Facebooked.” Marsh Hawk Review, Fall/Winter,2019

Scott-Heron, Gil. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” Pieces of a Man, Flying Dutchman, 1971

Aristotle. Aristotle’s Poetics. New York; Hill and Wang, 1961.

Revisiting “Black Chalk” (1994) by Rochelle Owens

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Wed, 4 Oct 2023 18:40:00 -0500

May The Future be alive

Like apple seeds with the promise

Of The forbidden Fruit

That Eve Mother of All Living ate--

Thus, the world gained

Knowledge and Frightful Liberty!

---Rochelle Owens

In Your skull reigns anarchy...

---Rochelle Owens

It’s hard to believe it has been almost 30 years since the long poem, “Black Chalk,” was published as a chapbook by Texture Press in Norman, Oklahoma. A companion video was filmed and produced in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, to be debuted at the Fred Jones Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.

Video: https://youtu.be/EdTdsfaessY?si=6aUtiW3-ptsXfsiD

The text: https://rochelleowens.net/poetrybooks.php?book=black_chalk

The poem consists of three interwoven threads. The first consists of the arrival of the Spaniards in North America and the brutality and mass death. The second thread ties to the work of Leonardo da Vinci, not only his works of art the studio, but also his anatomical investigations. The third interwoven thread is one of societal malaise, where there is a great gulf between social classes, privilege vs homelessness, and consumer culture. The interweavings and the repetition had an incantatory effect which generates levels of meaning as discordant sounds and disparate concepts are juxtaposed.

Black Chalk (1994) by Rochelle Owens

In the video, the layering, interweaving of dialogue is manifestly powerful and the visual narrative adds levels of gallows humor, horror, and bourgeois creature comfort stripped bare. The experience of watching the video “Black Chalk” is both disconcerting and enlightening as the inescapable realization dawns on one that the discomfort is evidence of a deep connection with the text.

Themes

Greedy devouring insatiable hunger.

The scene where a curly headed young man who could well have been a model in Leonardo 's studio devours a Peach. The extreme close up continues and lingers almost excruciatingly and is repeated a number of times just after lines about the Spaniards and the conquest are intoned which graphically illustrates the relentless, munching, finger licking horror of the Europeans rapacious destruction and ingestion of all that had pulp, which is to say, living value.

Gleeful celebrations of death.

Evoking the idea of an ecstatic dance macabre four privileged wealthy summer residents in a convertible luxury car echo medieval images from Bruegel or Hieronymus Bosch gleefully chatting blankets infected with plague which invokes the smallpox outbreaks in Mexico and North America which killed indigenous on a genocidal scale and also the ship of fools plague infested ship refused quarter in all ports of call until a fateful “yes” with devastating consequences. The actors shriek with carnivalesque glee which invokes horror. The “hungry bum” refers to an existential state.

The hungry bum played by George Economou picks up a fanny pack containing an empty wallet and then he repeats the act many times as the camera encircles him creating a dizzying vertiginous journey into a disruption of the boundary between self and other. The bum’s hands rip through the wallet and the emptiness of that very wallet reflects the bankrupt morality of 20th century Americans who are comfortable in their neat New England town and expensive cars and studios but the search for self ultimately yields empty seams and compulsively repetitive digging and searching.

The Studio: The “Chalk” of Art

A black chalk dirtied hand moves over ink and chalk sketches of hands, bodies, and fingers but all are fragmentary and none are fully formed. The scene suggests process, the work in progress, and the ultimate goal, perhaps Leonardo’s Vitruvian man from 1490. The only fully formed complete images in the studio are those the artist and young man who could be the artist’s model or an angel coming to give the gift of artistic creation. In the scene, a slender, aged but attractive woman, the artist, contemplates work in her studio. Her art elicits ideas of fragmentation or even dissection. The angel touches the artist’s withered hand and arm. The lines and the body parts on the canvas are smudged which gives an idea of creation, but also that there is an essential horror at the core of creation. It is simply not possible to have creation without contact with dissection, disruption, and a canvas smudged black and gray with cremains, which could be the “chalk” of art.

There are many other repeated scenes, repeated snippets of dialogue and behaviors, all which build to a climax of vulnerability, invasion by the other, and profound grief. Some elicit visceral revulsion such as when we are confronted with the lusty munching of a peach, which represents the way the Europeans devoured the civilizations of the Americas.

The Artist

At the end, the artist’s chair is empty. This means, at the end of the day, the artist is obliged to depart. The artist’s white plastic beach chair is empty. In the world of Black Chalk, the artists is not a god or even Shiva. It is important to consider that the artist could even represent nothingness. The responsibility of meaning is in the consciousness of the viewer.

---Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.

"Oklahoma Too" - A Rare Video Gem by Rochelle Owens: Humor, Disruptions of Language, and a Question of What Is Real

susan@beyondutopia.com (E-Learning Queen) — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 17:09:00 -0500

May The Future be alive

Like apple seeds with the promise

Of The forbidden Fruit

That Eve Mother of All Living ate--

Thus, the world gained

Knowledge and Frightful Liberty!

---Rochelle Owens

In Your skull reigns anarchy...

---Rochelle Owens

The short film, Oklahoma Too, written and directed by Rochelle Owens in 1987, is filled with wry humor and social commentary. In addition, it is an exploration of the capacity of language to classify, represent truth, human desire and behavior, and ultimately to contain the seeds of its own disruption of meaning(s).

In the gift store, Voila, in Oklahoma Too

Video: https://youtu.be/1wVC8Oh6SPU?si=RXgZPNMcR6OyCEEH

How Much Paint Does the Painting Need https://rochelleowens.net/poetrybooks.php?book=how_much_paint

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXTS

Filmed in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1987 during the depths of the oil bust, Oklahoma Too takes place in a gift store across the street from Norman Public Library on Gray St. and also in the nicely appointed living room in a private home.

(Personal note: There was a used bookstore in the same shopping center. I used to ride my bicycle to it after visiting the library in the mid 1970s, when the library was very new. I think it is possible that the used bookstore is still there. I used to buy and sell Regency romances as well as Jane Austen novels. The first Jane Austen novel I read or attempted to read was Sense and Sensibility, purchased in paperback form in Vermont).

The name of the store is Voila and it features jewelry in locked glass cases, plus gifts and lovely collectible decorative pieces for the home including cloisonné and China figurines such as a whimsical ornamental rabbit dressed in a jacket, reminiscent of the rabbit in Alice In Wonderland.

Gold nugget jewelry, fashionable in the 1980s, plays a prominent role in the film. Contrary to what one might think, based on the appearance of the nuggets, they were not mined by bearded prospectors panning for gold in streams in Nevada or California. Instead, the chunks of gold were 14 karat confections fashioned to look like nuggets and worked into pendants, rings, and earrings, and often considered investment pieces. Such an investment was a good one in the 1980s when gold and silver skyrocketed in price. In the video, the inauthenticity of the “gold nuggets” introduces a tension between appearance and reality, and the way that language convinces one of “the real.”

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

The video has several key characters. They include three upper middle class professional women eager to purchase something novel to reinforce their social status. Next is Mr. Markup, the owner of a line of nugget jewelry. He recruits a graduate student from Greece to sell the nugget jewelry to pay tuition. Finally, there is a local man who sits behind a jewelry case and reads excerpts from a poem by Owens, “Anthropologist at a Dinner Party” that later appeared in the collection, How Much Paint Does the Painting Need.

LITERARY FOUNDATION

The poem, “Anthropologists at a Dinner Party” was inspired by an actual dinner party with professors from the University of Oklahoma which included George Economou, chair of the English department, and professors from the anthropology department.

Although one of the anthropology professors ostensibly specializes in Native American culture, he brings the history of the peoples of northern Europe to the conversation. Despite his specialty, he himself is of European origin, and not Native American. He talks about Picts in Northern Europe and then mentions Aryans and intermarriage. The professor’s narrative is subverted by subtexts of eugenics, a theme that underscores a later work by Owens, “Black Chalk.” The history of Oklahoma informs Oklahoma Too, which includes the removal of Native Americans, the Trail of Tears, and a history of cultural destruction and the many attempts to subjugate, exploit, and potentially eradicate Native American peoples.

PLOT SUMMARY

The film commences as three women dressed as the elite of a small college town appear in the opening scene. The cast of men consists of the entrepreneur and an impecunious graduate student along with a diffident potential customer of gold nuggets or other trinkets.

Owens has said that she typecasts to facilitate and energize improvisation. In Oklahoma Too improvisations occur in the jewelry store and then later in the scene when the graduate student is attempting to sell the gold nugget jewelry. He's in the living room of a home of one of two women and the more insistent he becomes the more they resist. They even counter his sales pitch with one of their own: Why not contribute funds to save the Arctic seals being clubbed to death by hunters? There is an element of the absurd in not only the lively and humorous dialogue, but also in the exaggerated Western wear that the foreign student from Greece wears. He is a Greek cowboy wholeheartedly embracing the accoutrements of local culture, and thus potentially equipping himself to be more convincing in the heart of Oklahoma.

Whether the Greek graduate student’s pitch succeeds, or if the women succeed in convincing him to donate to their cause, is part of the negotiation of text and textual space that marks Oklahoma Too. In fact, one could consider the improvisations as ultimate language play. One can further suggest the dialogue, with its many levels of ambiguity, and the three voices speaking over each other, are, by their very indeterminacy, a part of the world of art. Reality is a series of complex negotiations. Signification is just one of those negotiations. Another language negotiation is the right to deconstruct, which embodies the right to collapse and implode language itself the ultimate liberation from oneself and impositions of identity and thus fate.

THEMES

“Foreign” vs. “Local:” The film toys with the notion of “foreign,” and suggests that all are constructed identities. In fact, when the “foreigner” (the Greek graduate student) dons the apparel of the Western cowboy, he reinforces the notion that appearances always deceive.

“Faux” vs. “Authentic” nature: The “gold nuggets” are shaped to look like they came straight from a prospector’s gold-panning operations, with his donkey observing from the edge of the stream. In reality, they are simply lumps of 14K gold (or even just coated with a veneer of gold to be “gold filled”). At any rate, gold is melted and fashioned into a shape that mimics authentic nuggets.

Con the Con: Mr. Markup is telling the graduate student that he can sell nuggets and earn enough for tuition. In a flash, the Greek graduate student becomes an accomplished sales rep, with a stunning repertoire of sales pitches. The bourgeois women are likewise cons – except what they “sell” is participation in a high-status philanthropical “cause.” They try to convince the graduate student to contribute to their fund to “save the seals.”

CONCLUSION

The poem by Owens satirizes university faculty and the conversations they have at dinner parties, which are almost always remembered in retrospect as a platform for one or two dominating, bloviating know-it-alls, who, despite their seeming commitment to liberal perspectives (human rights, civil rights, etc.), reveal their internalization and unconscious espousal of normative forces. In this case, there is a subtext of eugenics.

Owens’s vision and direction create an energetic scene In the living room as all three actors speak over each other, creating “noise” rather than clear dialogue. Their attempts to con the others into giving money to their own cause or self-interest explore the way that the audience tries to make sense – which voice dominates? Which one can you follow? The fact that all three voices are of equal valence is critical: at the end of the day, cacophony prevails. Art is what happens when clarity comes from the cacophony. The artist provides the clarity.

It is also worth noting that the Voila gift store was a charming oasis. The University was likewise an intellectual and spiritual oasis, which fostered creativity and self-expression during the mid to late 1980s, when Oklahoma suffered through the devastating “Oil Bust” and farm crisis.

---Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.