Mission Accomplished?
A personal essay given to my students at the end of The Iraq War in Literature and Film, a Fall 2015 general education literature course that I developed and taught for the first time.…
Author Archives: Dr. Michael Cunningham
Who Won at Missouri?
To a large list of “Interesting Things Happening In the World of High-Powered Collegiate Sports,” we have an addition. No, it’s not another episode of a marquee coach shoving an assistant or the revelation…
I Have Seen Terrible Things….
I can’t think of many films that more viscerally render the lives of young people caught up in a tumultuous war than Beasts of No Nation. [This film is available in limited release and…
Does the Athletic Department Tail Wag the Academic Dog? You Bet!
A few of the questions asked and answered by Gilbert Gaul in his Billion Dollar Ball: A Journey Through the Big Money Culture of College Football: Q: Why can loyal fans of Big Time…
Hillary: “We Are Not Denmark!” Why Not?
At last week’s Democratic debate, Bernie Sander’s attraction to the North Sea social democracies was met with a reprimand from his chief rival. Yes, some differences are obvious and some Sanders would like to…
99 Homes: Visions of a Trumpian World
While watching Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes, it’s hard not to think about presidential candidate and master of the art of the real estate deal, Donald Trump. Real estate agent Rick Carver (Michael Shannon)…
What’s a Teacher to Do (in an Age of Distraction)?
Sherry Turkle, a sociologist and professor of Technology and Society at MIT, has a new book out that should be relevant to anyone interested in the changes taking place in college classrooms. The title…
It’s More Than Red Sauce
A REVIEW OF JOSEPH LUZZI’S MY TWO ITALIES Add Joseph Luzzi’s recent work to the list of American memoirs that explore a particular strain in the Horatio Alger mythology. It’s the story of the son (or…
So You Think You Know Frost’s Poem
A Review of David Orr’s The Road Not Taken. The subtitle of Orr’s work devoted to the Robert Frost poem a year short of the 100th year of its publication is indicative of his…
A Few Thoughs after Reading Naomi Baron’s Words Onscreens
I just took to my local library twenty hard cover books that I’ve purchased over the last 15 years. It was only with slight regret that I’ve given them away. Though I might be…