The 7th Annual David Foster Wallace Conference will take place online in December 2020! (Coordinated by Ryan Edel)
Normal, IL
Joined August 2014
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With heavy heart, I pass on the news that Bob McLaughlin has passed away. He was a true friend to the conference, and his remembrances of DFW helped keep alive the memory of Dave Wallace the person. My heartfelt condolences to Sally Parry.
--Ryan
Thirteen years after his passing, Wallace's absence still leaves an emptiness. I don't think I'm alone in wishing we had his thoughts on the past year:
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Trump's tax records are now in the hands of New York prosecutors after the Supreme Court denied the former President's efforts to keep them private cnn.it/2Mnz7bu
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I’m not sure how I feel about #internationaldayofwomenansgirlsinscience this year. The fact that you can go from prize winning scientist to losing your job in 12 months because you were furloughed for childcare and couldn’t apply for grants suggests we need more than just a day.
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Asking for an extension is not a sign that a student is lazy or disorganized. It means they want to take the assignment more seriously and give it their all. By denying (reasonable) extensions, we communicate to students that our timelines are more important than their learning.
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We are super excited to announce the CFP for #DFW2021 in Amsterdam, celebrating 25 years of #InfiniteJest! Check out the CFP here: dfwsociety.org/#conference
I have an elderly family member who now needs plasma antibodies. She caught #COVID19 from rehab for her broken hip. She's in her nineties — I'm not very optimistic.
Please wear masks. Stay home for the holidays. Let's not overwhelm the hospitals with Christmas Covid.
I don't think it's possible to rank DFW’s writing — the scale and scope of IJ is so radically its own. I love his essays and I'm in awe of IJ, but I still haven't finished IJ. As Wallace said in interview, some of us struggle with the habit of reading great literature.
This is the sadness of those dying within the system of COVID — a moving tribute to his mother by the author of the musical Big Fish:
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Speaking as someone who has a PhD in English Studies, I know Dr. Biden made hellish sacrifices of time and energy to earn her doctorate. Her dissertation isn't simply a paper - it's original research that advances knowledge in the field of education. That’s a PhD. #mytitleisdr
#Debates2020 is important to watch. Public participation matters. Whatever your political position, be sure follow what's said.
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"When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.” -- Toni Morrison
As faculty, we have choices about how we treat our students. Be human — show empathy. Be Professor #2:
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This clearly affects higher ed: “It's called ‘systemic’ racism because it's ingrained in nearly every way people move through society in the policies and practices at institutions like banks, schools, companies, government agencies, and law enforcement.” businessinsider.com/us-syste…
How do you mourn someone you've never met? Someone you’d barely heard of until after he had already passed?
And yet through his writing, it feels as if you can know him, as if David Foster Wallace himself leans against your bookshelves.
In a way, you can know him as well as any friend — the humor, the insights, the words unsaid but shared. He'll take you to the fair, or on a cruise, or into the bowels of a college radio station. And that deepens the sense of loss.