by Deborah Quinn | Nov 13, 2013 | Books, Education, language, NaBloPoMo, reading, teaching, writing
I spent about six weeks this semester teaching and talking about poetry with my students. Almost to a person, they started the term with “eh…I don’t much like poetry,” and “I don’t get poetry,” and “what the hell is...
by Deborah Quinn | Oct 5, 2013 | Abu Dhabi, Education, Feminism, Gender, me my own personal self, teaching, writing
Next week I am teaching Virginia Woolf’s brilliant and amazing essay A Room of One’s Own. So on my list of “to do” for the weekend is this note, jotted down while I was in a meeting: “find a way in to Room.” Indeed. Of course, what...
by Deborah Quinn | Aug 25, 2013 | family, Feminism, Kids, Parenting, Politics, teaching
I wrote this post back in the halycon days of Obama’s first presidency and well before “lean in” became a meme and not an athletic command. I like to think that even with newborn Caleb strapped to my chest, I did a pretty good job at my job, but...
by Deborah Quinn | Jun 3, 2013 | Education, Kids, NYUAD, teaching
Here’s the thing about being a professor: your students stay roughly the same from year to year. Eighteen is eighteen is eighteen, more or less. And the same with the twenty-year olds, and with the about-to-graduates. Yes, the particularities of dreams and...
by Deborah Quinn | Mar 16, 2013 | Abu Dhabi, Education, expat, Feminism, NYC, NYUAD, Politics, ranting, teaching, UAE
I live in Abu Dhabi. When I tell people that, I usually have to do a few follow-up comments. No, Abu Dhabi isn’t where they filmed that “Mission Impossible” movie, that’s Dubai; yes, it’s the setting for the dreadful “Sex and the...
by Deborah Quinn | Sep 10, 2012 | Education, language, teaching, writing
I came back from summer vacation revving with ideas about writing projects. My mind bubbled with book proposals, blog posts, novel revisions, pitches for magazine articles. Words and ideas tumbled around in my head like socks in the spin cycle. I was on fire, people,...
