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Thursday, November 10, 2005

In the Big House

Today and tomorrow I’m in Ann Arbor, hoping to avenge Penn State’s “loss” to Michigan by historicizing the post-something cultural formation until people’s heads hurt.  It’s an indirect method, yeah, but I think it’ll work.

Actually I’m doing this lecture as part of the Global Ethnic Literatures Seminar (run by the Program in Comparative Literature) as well as a seminar on the introduction to this and then a class in disability studies tomorrow morning.  So I’ll post if I can, but for the foreseeable future I’ll be pretty busy.

The Global Ethnic Literatures Seminar’s list of invited speakers for the semester is here, and when I first saw it, I reverted to my struggling-mediocre-musician mode and said, “Dang!  I have to follow Seyla Benhabib!  I can’t even open for Seyla Benhabib.” Then I checked out all the hyperlinks on that page, and discovered that while everyone else’s names take you to their faculty pages, mine takes you right back here to this humble blog.  Go ahead, try it.  I’ll wait.

See?  Wasn’t that weird?  The funny thing is that I actually do have a Penn State faculty page, complete with actual academic information (degrees, publications, goals, assists, points, penalty minutes) and everything.  But what’s a mere faculty page when you have a widely-read and annoyingly self-referential blog?  What I really like is this:  whereas when you click on the GELS link to “Seyla Benhabib” or “Saskia Sassen,” you get web pages that feature Seyla Benhabib or Saskia Sassen, when you click on my name, you get the Hansons.

That rocks.  Puttin’ on the foil, coach—every game!  Want some?

And now to avenge that loss.

Update at 11 pm:  Whew—a long and very stimulating day.  So long, and so stimulating, that there’s no way I can come up with a new post.  But I’m happy to say this much:  my talk was so successful that the NCAA has agreed that Penn State actually beat Michigan on October 15, and the BCS and the major polls will be adjusted accordingly.  While that recalibration of the apparatus of social justice is going on, I suggest that you do as I did in my half-hour of down time:  read Judith Miller’s farewell letter in today’s New York Times.  One of the most extraordinary rhetorical performances I have witnessed in recent years, and that’s all I’m sayin’ for now.  But would that I had the time and energy for a good old-fashioned close reading.  Good night and good luck, everyone.

Posted by Michael on 11/10 at 09:17 AM
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