Some of you might have been wondering what I’ve been up to lately. Mostly, it’s being a “learning coach” for a 2nd grader and a 7th grader attending virtual school. And editing, trying to make it through another pandemic year, grumbling about my foot and walking boot, herding cats, and spending an inordinate amount of …
Yesterday, I learned that bell hooks passed away. And I, like so many others, was gutted by her loss. I didn’t know except through her writing. I never got to hear her speak. I only encountered her on the page. When I first picked up one of her books, I didn’t realize the impact that …
I’ve been writing for public audiences since 2007, when I starting writing posts for the Religion in American History Blog. I was a graduate student, who felt a little–or maybe a lot–stifled by the academic styles of writing that focused engaging a specialized audience, other experts. I was writing a dissertation that I hoped spoke …
Hi readers, this interview appears not only here at my site, but also over at Katie Rose Guest Pryal’s site. I hope y’all enjoy our discussion of careers, shifting out of academia, and the important role of failure. *** From 2013 to 2015, Kelly J. Baker wrote a monthly column for Chronicle Vitae (an arm of The Chronicle of Higher Education) called “Grace Period,” detailing her experience leaving the …
*Who would I be without my anger? I don’t know.* My simmering anger has come to define me. It’s familiar, even if it’s not welcome. A steady hum vibrating my bones. Never quite gone because it’s a foundation of who I am. What I can’t make myself say is that I’m not sure what I’ll …
*Nice pretends to be a virtue, but kindness actually is.* “I was just trying to be nice.” “I just wanted to be nice.” “Not nice,” I say to the toddler after he bludgeons his sister with a random toy, “NOT NICE.” I find myself thinking about “nice” a lot lately, often before recounting a story …