13 posts tagged “my u”
Well, after my hopeful email about Tuesday night dinner out, I never went. Why? Because before I could get out of the house, I opened an incredibly damaging email about a situation in my department at My U. We are undergoing some internal processes right now that I thought, mistakenely, were going well.
The good news is that this email reaffirmed these things I already knew:
1. I hate liars.
2. I hate being manipulated.
3. I have people who say they do something "for your own good" when it is really, completely, all about what their own good and what they want, and they could give a good goddamn about your good..
4. I hate being treated like I am an emotional female because I state an opinion openly... like my male colleagues do every damn day.
5. I hate back door, Men's Club politics.
Without breaking any kind of confidence, I can tell you this: I understand people doing all the above for multiple millions/billions/trillions in the banking and business empires of our country. It makes them crooks and theives who should go to jail, but I understand the motivation. What rocks me--still--is that in my small, tiny, itsy-bitsy area of turf within academia, people are just as manipulative, ruthless, and petty over such tiny resources.... just as misogynistic, impatient, unkind, and careless. With so little to gain. So little kindness. I am still reeling.
Pearl
Although Dallas in now way resembles "autumn" right now, My U is on its annual fall break. Which means a long weekend over Columbus Day. I am takignt he time to catch up on a/ grading, b/ housecleaning, c/ sleeping... not in that order, actually.
Friday and Saturday I driove to Beaumont, TX, to again see an original play, give feedback, and give a workshop on playwriting. Alll of it was surprising fun, except about about 10 minutes of terror on Friday-night Beaumont rush hour traffice on a major highway. Besides that: terrific!
No pictures this time of wacky Texas roadside stuff: the highway was smooth and clear, no real sightseeing.
Coming home I picked up some bug, however, that knocked me out for Satruday night and msot of Sunday. I got the laundry done, the groceries, cooked some chicken soup, took out the garbage and recycling, and then crashed on the sofa, knocked out by whatever that was. between the pollen, the swine flu (that was not it), the colds, and the stress of mid-semester, it was something that laid waste in my household for about 24 hours.
Monday, I cleaned house and ate (drank?) more soup, and today I'll be completing grading and mid-semester evaluations for my students. Tomorrow, classes begin again--thundering forward to Thanksgiving. Non-stop, sort of, but there you go.
Back to the red pen.
Pearl .
Hidden in the northwest corner of our campus is the law school. It has a lovely little quad in the middle as well as this interesting Grecian-like temple.
Two years ago, one of our students used this is the setting for an independent production. He staged the play in and around this outdoor building, adding only a few things like stools and some lighting for the nighttime performances.
This is one of the quietest parts of campus, where the law school faculty and students are the smaller population than general campus space.
Our students keep trying to break through the veneer of separated schools and use the law library. They are intimidated by the quiet, the older students, the not-belonging. And of course, I'm a scholar and a geek, so I think the notion of checking out various libraries on campus... fun.
Pearl
Our campus is built around two elements: an oval central drive and a four-story, red brick, domed hall. Here is the hall:
The class I'm teaching this summer is in this building, on the top floor.
Inside, the entry hall is open, with a dome and circular skylight.
The gallery runs in a circle around the hall, leading off to two wings.
This particular window gives a great view of both the campus and downtown Big D.
Here's a better view.
Pretty, isn't it? From here, you can really ignore the blazing heat of early evening.
Pearl
These are the beautiful red and white azalea bushes outside my building at My U.
Again, our colors are red and white... and blue, I think, but blue makes for hard flower choices. In any case, these are awfully pretty in all their late spring glory.
And in case you think our academic gardeners can't step out of the red-and-white box, given roses and azalea photos...
Right across the walkway. Very pretty.
Pearl
Right now at My U, the roses are out. Oddly, these bushes are relatively new, not old as they look. The location is the center of the campus, flanking the flagpole.
These are conventional rose bushes, all red
Across the aisle are matching rose bushes, these for same-color wild roses.
Our school colors are red and white.
Roses are one of my favorite flowers--of which there are many, could you guess?--and I was surprised to come across these last week. Which suggests either I never get out of my office/school building (could be) or like most of the plantings on campus, these bushes were inserted into the ground well-grown, not as seedlings but as mature bushes. Or both.
It was really wonderful to see them, although my quibble would be seating nearby to enjoy the sight and smell of them. After all, that's the point of a garden.
Pearl
Here are two more photos from our on-campus chapel. I don't go there very often, despite the fact that it is only one building away from my own, but I have been there for a colleague's funeral, a performance of a play by a 9th century German nun, and a memorial for victims of the Iraqi War. It is a lovely, peaceful spot, inside and out--as you can see below--with architecture based on Georgian principles.
It strikes me now, reading this, that the chapel would be a good place to sit and read, quietly, when I need a break. And rather than go to the library, which is never quiet and is surprisingly not restful, the chapel would provide a moment of peace and quiet within the turmoil of my usual day.
The chapel is nominally Methodist, since that is the base religion of My U, although we have left strict religious ties behind and are firmly secular. Within a world where religion is definitely an expected part of life.
Many more of my students attend some kind of service regularly than at previous schools, and the big, big, big churches of the city continue to amaze me with their physical size and the size of their congregations.
Pearl
At My U, there is a beautiful chapel.
Gorgeous building. Beautiful light.
Pearl
The last two days I've been in St. Louis, giving a paper at a national conference on French history. Left Saturday morning and returned last night...
The weather in St. Louis was rainy on Saturday and snowy overnight into Sunday, a heavy, wet snow.
I took the light rail into Union Station from the airport on Saturday. Great trip from western part of the suburbs into the city.
My paper was all about two of the women who managed theatres in 19th century Paris, Sarah Bernhardt and Gabrielle Rejane. Or... sort of. The first part of the paper was about the laws, regulations, and conventions that kept women from active participation in the administration and management of theatre business--and there were a lot of them. The second part--the shortest part--was about the two women in particular. The third part focused on the problem of finding primary information about women in management and my speculation, based on evidence, about why there is so little information about a substantial portion of these women's lives.
The other paper--because two scholars dropped out of giving papers--was about dance in Paris, between 1909 and 1938. Oddly, I knew a lot about this subject, both because of my own research and a friend who is an expert on the same. This scholar's focus was about the way in which ballet specifically returned to a "high art" status during this period, thanks to the Ballet Russes.
Great questions afterward and several people spoke to each of us individually for some time afterward. It was very gratifying, and I'm happy to think I've made a few new contacts among colleagues. And yes, this paper came out of my work in Paris last fall.
Pearl
The outcome of last night's performances in our new plays festival was... SUCCESS. I was very pleased at the opening night performances of two one-acts by two of my senior playwriting students! Both comedies, they were so funny the audiences couldn't stop laughing. Brava, ladies!
(Wow, I'm so excited my grammar has gone to pieces!)
The directors did fine jobs with casting and staging, while the actors were spot-on in their timing. The house was nearly filled--great for a Wednesday night!--and the audience of students, faculty, parents, friends, and strangers obviously enoyed themselves mightily. Bodes well for the next four nights (and matinees!).
And while the budgets have obviously been decreased this year for production, the effort the students put in was, of course, 110%--as it always is.
The fact is that this particular program--the new plays festival--derives a lot of its energy from the complete immersion by students into the project, Writers, directors, designers, actors, crew, and stage management are students... and they love that they own the projects. Sometimes, student actors feel cheated because they are not in a faculty-directed play or a play by a "name" playwright, but most often they love being in new work imagined by one of their own. I find audiences incredibly welcoming to the work, and that definitely includes our core of non-parent, non-friend spectators and subscribers who come to see what these young people have cooked up.
I was especially pleased because yesterday afternoon--after posting--I had class with these soon-to-be-graduated senior writers, and we had a lively discussion about what they learned through production, collaboration, and rewriting, and what they would do differently or the same next time (!) they get produced, and what the next step in their process with these plays would be. It was a great class and a nice addition to my day of Challenges and Opportunities.
It is a pleasure to teach funny, smart, engaging students who are passionate about what they do.
Pearl
