I haven’t blogged all that much this semester, but here are a few blog posts I’ve been working on: Rickrolling your students and other attempts at bonding through Internet phenomena Typos, bad grammar, and misunderstandings: How and why you should expose your students’ writing to the world for a laugh How to grade papers in [...]
Another day, another debate
by Brian Sarnacki on March 11, 2012 in Full Posts, Ramblings and Rants
Another day, another blog post on the whole why you should/shouldn’t go to graduate school. I’ve harped on this before but I am so sick of hearing people talk about graduate school as if it’s a place that is only a waste of time with no job prospects whatsoever or as if it’s a religious [...]
Teaching tips
by Brian Sarnacki on February 19, 2012 in Full Posts, Housekeeping, Ramblings and Rants
I’ve been tweaking my blog a bit, posting some papers and picking out some of my favorite blog posts. I also recently decided to create and post some teaching handouts. I have yet to teach my own class and there isn’t one in the near future (need to complete comps first) but if I wait [...]
Succombing to the Semester
by Brian Sarnacki on February 13, 2012 in Housekeeping
I had noble goals of blogging every week, but it appears my schedule has not been very conducive to weekly writing. However, I am a firm believer of deadlines, even imaginary ones like those I make for my blogging, so I will still strive for a blog post every two weeks. I’ll shoot for Fridays, [...]
Am I a Historian?
by Brian Sarnacki on February 5, 2012 in Full Posts, Ramblings and Rants
The question “am I a historian?” first bothered me after reading a blog post written by colleague Jason Heppler, in which he writes: I am a young historian — heck, I barely even qualify for that title when I have no book to my name and don’t hold a PhD yet. But as a researcher [...]
Code Year
by Brian Sarnacki on January 23, 2012 in Follow Friday
This is less of a “Follow Friday” and more of a “Sign up for it Monday.” I have been looking to expand my technology skill set since working with some really useful JavaScript tools during my digital history seminar. The more invested in the digital humanities I become, the more I believe that I need [...]
Creative Academic Writing
by Brian Sarnacki on January 14, 2012 in Full Posts, Ramblings and Rants
[This post stems from one of my courses this semester. Like UNL_DHS, reflections from and on this course UNL_H951 (Comparative History of Women and Gender), will appear relatively frequently for the next few months.] On the first day of my Comparative History of Women and Gender course taught by Margaret Jacobs, she asked us to [...]
New Year, Mostly Same Blog
by Brian Sarnacki on January 5, 2012 in Housekeeping
I had grand plans of overhauling my blog during this winter break, but I settled for tweaks instead, with the main changes in the About Me section, the simplified Research section (formerly My Work), and the new About My Blog section,which I hope gives a quick insight into the purpose of my blogging. This semester [...]
Not Looking Backwards
by Brian Sarnacki on December 16, 2011 in Full Posts
[This post is the text of my final essay for UNL's Digital Humanities Seminar.] Not Looking Backwards: Understanding New Technology’s Transformative Power and its limitations For every study decrying technology’s negative societal impacts,1 a study detailing how it reinforces and improves society exists.2 The debate over digital technology is not whether or not it is [...]
Digital (Urban) History
by Brian Sarnacki on December 7, 2011 in Full Posts
[In lieu of readings for the final class meeting of UNL's Digital Humanities Seminar. Each student was to give a brief presentation on the digital humanities in their field.] As a field built around places, urban history has always been cognizant of space. Beginning with Phil Ethington’s Los Angeles and the Problem of Urban Historical [...]
