Monday, March 28

Today is Monday. Week 9 is now over... and Week 10 has begun. Monday morning, until noon, is the grace period if you did not finish the final Week 9 assignments. This week's topic in the Myth-Folklore class is Native American stories for one more week, and in Indian Epics each person is pursuing their own interests. Just six more weeks of the semester to go!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Project Stack. As usual, there is a HUGE stack of assignments that people have turned in. My goal today is to get through all the projects turned in on Thursday and Friday last week. Meanwhile, you can check the stack to make sure I received your assignment.

Writing Center. In addition to the writing you are doing for this class, you are probably now working on end-of-semester writing projects in your other classes, too. Whether you are wrestling with the overall organization of your writing or whether you have questions about writing mechanics (especially punctuation), or even if you just need some tips on learning how to proofread your work, the consultants at the Writing Center can help. For hours and services, visit the Writing Center website.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Languages. I really like this linguistic family "tree" drawn by Minna Sundberg.

Words to Watch: Today's words to watch out for are PRAY and PREY. For details, see this blog post.

Featured Storybook: Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Missing River. Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Dr. Watson have come to India for some rest and relaxation, but when they find a murdered woman in their rented room, they have no choice but to pursue the mystery.

Free Book Online: Indian Legends of Minnesota by Mrs. Cordenio A. Severance. This blog post provides additional information about the stories in this book which includes the legend of Hiawatha and the waterfall named after his beloved Minnehaha, as shown here:

India Featured Book: Prabhavati: The Asura Princess. This blog post provides additional information about this reading option for Indian Epics. This is one of my favorite ACK comic books: it tells the love story of Krishna's son Pradyumna and the asura princess Prabhavati.

Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is Never tickle a sleeping dragon (a modern Latin saying). Details at the Proverb Lab. This is the famous Latin motto of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Today's Video: Google Search: Reunion. After the terrible events in Lahore, Pakistan on Sunday, I wanted to share this beautiful video from Google ... we need more of the spirit of "Reunion" to counteract the fear, hatred, and violence.

Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is ambitious: Consider what you are capable of. Details at the blog.

Event on Campus: Prof. Laurel Smith will present a lecture at 3PM in Gould Hall, Room 395: "Indigenous Film and Cross-cultural Collaborations: From Southern Mexico and South America to the Southern Plains" (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

March 28: Marc Chagall. Today marks the anniversary of the death of the painter Marc Chagall in 1985; he was born in 1887. Chagall is one of my very favorite modern painters! You can read more about his life and work in this Wikipedia article. He used beautiful colors and curves to create amazing dreamscapes combining motifs from the Jewish tradition and from other religious and mythological traditions as well. The painting below is entitled Les Fiancés de la tour Eiffel.

Note: You can page back through the older blog posts to see any announcements you might have missed, and you can check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day.