Bangaroo's blog

Shakespeare in prison

Bangaroo — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 21:01:23 -0400

If anyone has NOT heard this This American Life show about Shakespeare in prisons, you should. It will turn even the most committed commie into a humanist. Go to the this american life website and type "Shakespeare, prison."

http://www.thislife.org/

Here's the official description of the show:

Today's show is devoted to just one story. Over the course of six months, reporter and This American Life contributor Jack Hitt followed a group of inmates in a high security prison, as they rehearsed and staged a production of the last act--Act V--of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Shakespeare may seem an odd match for a group of hardened criminals, but he found that they understand the bard on a level most of us might not.

Hunger of Privacy

Bangaroo — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:32:30 -0400

*I don't usually post my responses, but I welcome any comments you might have on this one because questions of public/private and essentialism are interesting to me and might end up in my diss. Enjoi:

I find Rodriguez’s emphasis of the interplay of public and private discourse to be the most interesting facet of Hunger of Memory because it troubles and adds complexity to the term “minority.” The idea of conflict between home and school language and culture is certainly nothing new in composition studies. What I find most intriguing is not Rodriguez’s sentiments—that schooling necessitates a harsh but necessary reformation of identity, the replacement of home language and values with those of the school (dominant culture/gringos)—what was interesting to me was Rodrigez’s unflinching explanation of the position of the scholarship boy, and eventually, the minority scholar held up against his will as a spokesman for all latinos.

Tuskegee

Bangaroo — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 20:48:34 -0400

Yo. Check out Tuskegee's current rhetoric about its past.

http://www.tuskegee.edu/Global/category.asp?C=56172&nav=menu200_2