femminista: thoughts of a feminist rhetorician

Oh my. Well, I have a new topic for my blog. Or, rather, I have one old topic that's been sorely neglected and a new topic to introduce, my newest medical condition--seizure disorder, or as it is more commonly referred to, epilepsy. Up until I had a grand mal seizure two weeks ago I thought that my spasms and tics were just that. As it turns out, they are considered to be seizures, as are my frequent deja vu experiences, which I only recently learned were mini-seizures. So, now I'm on medications (Keppra to be specific) to control my seizures; and the side effects are kicking my ass. They're making me tired and confused, and I think they're giving me headaches.

The Pickering Institute in Missouri is pimping out its edu domain names. The Institute, which falls under my definition of a "questionable institution," is clearly not what we assume when we hear the .edu domain. Its home page consists of a standard blog template and two short front page entries, the oldest of which is from March 2008. PI's ethos is no better established by its two-paragraph long "About us" page. The second of its whopping two whole paragraphs describes in vague terms its educational role:

In my Postmodern Rhetoric class, we had a fairly lengthy discussion of Marshall Alcorn's Changing the Subject in English Class: Discourse and the Construction of Desire. Unfortunately, the topic that I was most interested in discussing didn't emerge until the end of class (and I had a bit of difficulty being heard). My classmates were discussing the difficulties that arise when students make racist comments (or comments that you otherwise feel is inappropriate), either in class or within their writing. The question of assessment, as always, demanded much of our attention.