By Adam Katz Do you think books mind when we read them? Here they are carrying on with their lives, being beautiful or terrible according to how they were written, and we come along and literally stick our noses into their business. There are some people—scholars, philosophers, authors—who treat books as if they were alive.Continue reading “Adam’s Big Think #5: Sticking Your Nose in a Book”
Category Archives: Big Think
Teaching my Kid about September 11
By Erika Grumet Editor’s Note: Readers of The Ivory Tower Boiler Room know that on Monday, we typically publish our Big Think, an essay giving a perspective on the month’s topic. But then in the days leading up to this important anniversary, Erika wrote the following and we decided just to go with it. SometimesContinue reading “Teaching my Kid about September 11”
Back to the Big Think
This week’s Big Think is a bit of a special edition. This month’s theme is Back to the Books, and we wanted to celebrate (in slightly punny fashion) by going back to our favorite passages from our previous Big Thinks about reading and about books in general. Of course, if you find one of theContinue reading “Back to the Big Think”
Andrew’s Big Think #4
What is the Passion that Fuels the Ivory Tower Boiler Room? Enter Plato! By Andrew Rimby “I propose that each of us should make the finest speech he can in praise of Love, and then pass the topic on to the one on his right.” from Plato’s Symposium (translated by Christopher Gill) “I propose thatContinue reading “Andrew’s Big Think #4”
Erika’s Big Think #4: Dismantling Writer’s Block with Friends
By Erika Grumet My younger kid has always been a big fan of Snoopy. When she was six months old, my sister gave her a stuffed Snoopy puppet, who became known as Puppy, and became her lovie. Puppy is Real to us, just like the Velveteen Rabbit is Real to his boy. Asking Puppy toContinue reading “Erika’s Big Think #4: Dismantling Writer’s Block with Friends”
Adam’s Big Think #4: I’d Rather be Editing
By Adam Katz Last month, the theme for our Big Think was education and scholarship. This month, we’re narrowing our focus to the ways in which our time in the Ivory Tower Boiler Room has helped us discover for ourselves what it means to be a teacher, a scholar, a public intellectual. Enjoy! * WhenContinue reading “Adam’s Big Think #4: I’d Rather be Editing”
It’s Party O’Clock in the Ivory Tower Boiler Room!
If just one person believes in youDeep enough, and strong enough, believes in youBefore you know it, someone else will think“If he can do it, I can do it” Typically on a Monday, we bring you a Big Think entry; a piece by one of us that highlights our own relationship with the theme forContinue reading “It’s Party O’Clock in the Ivory Tower Boiler Room!”
Erika’s Big Think #3: “I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper and I was free.”
I don’t usually think of myself as a teacher. I love teaching, but I also knew there was no way I could handle classroom politics, and so, in spite of encouragement from my parents to consider teaching as a career, I went in a different direction with my undergraduate and graduate degrees. What I ended upContinue reading “Erika’s Big Think #3: “I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper and I was free.””
Andrew’s Big Think #3
Andrew Tries to Figure Out His Identity as a Public Scholar By Andrew Rimby It’s been difficult trying to figure out how to begin my reflection on this month’s Big Think theme: Education and Public Scholarship. The reason? Because so many of my projects are categorized as public scholarship, but when I begin dissecting thisContinue reading “Andrew’s Big Think #3”
Adam’s Big Think #3: What is Teaching?
By Adam Katz Last month was a lot. We in the Ivory Tower Boiler Room are justifiably proud of our continuous coverage of Pride Month. And just because the month is over doesn’t mean our queerness and allyship, respectively, are over. This month’s theme at the Ivory Tower Boiler Room is public scholarship, with anContinue reading “Adam’s Big Think #3: What is Teaching?”