Monday, October 28

Today is Monday of Week 11. Yes, the semester really is two-thirds over: just four weeks to go, plus Dead Week. Here is a link to the Week 11 assignments ... and also Week 10 for any of you using the grace period this morning.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Reading/Storytelling. In both classes, Week 11 continues the reading options from Week 10: Krishna OR Jatakas in Indian Epics (details) and in Myth-Folklore, it's Native American traditions again (details). I hope you will enjoy the reading and find good ideas you can use for a story this week.

Project Stack. As always, the stack is HUGE on Monday. You can check the stack to make sure I received your assignment, and today I'll start working through them in the order turned in.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. I was excited to learn about Ryeli from Indian Epics being an assistant director for Me Too Monologues coming up on November 6 and 7; she shared a picture of the cast from last year's fall show, and you can find out more in Ryeli's blog post: A Brief Me Too Monologues Promo!

Twitter Stream. Yes, it's another cartoon by Liniers, one of my favorites, from his Twitter this weekend:

Indian Epics Today. The character of the day today is the goddess PARVATI, whom you can see here with her son, the god Ganesha, when he was just a little one. You can find out more about Parvati here (and, yes, this is "Parvati" like the name of the character in Harry Potter).

Story of the Day. Today's story is an African American folktale about why chickens scratch; it all goes back to a rooster and some cornbread: Why Mr. Rooster Scratches.

Myth-Folklore Video. Here is a Crash Course video: Mythical Horses.

And here's a fun video that shows how animals of all sizes and types are worthy of storytelling: Tiny Hamster is a Giant Monster!

Writing. There are lots of word mix-ups in English, and this is a fun one: IDLE versus IDOL.

Writing Video. And on the subject of English spelling, here's a useful video: Why is English Spelling So Weird?

Event on Campus. Come learn about Thor Ringler and the "My VA, My Story" project today at 1:30 PM in the Gaylord Auditorium (details).

You can learn about Thor Ringler's work in this NPR piece: Storytelling Helps Hospital Staff Discover The Person Within The Patient.

October 28: Erasmus. Today marks the birthday in the year 1466 of Desiderius Erasmus, one of the greatest scholars of the Renaissance. You can read about Erasmus's life and career in this Wikipedia article. Below is a famous portrait of Erasmus by Hans Holbein; along the edge of the book facing the viewer the letters read "The Labors of Heracles" in Greek (ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟΙ ΠΟΝΟΙ = HERAKLEIOI PONOI), alluding to the feats which Erasmus accomplished in his life as a scholar, labors worthy of Hercules.

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day, or click here for past announcements.