McCarthyism in the News

In a recent class we talked about “McCarthyism” and how it relates to the media in general and to the news cycle specifically. Every year I think of deleting it from my syllabus. Whenever I include a topic in my class I ask myself, “How relevant can this be to students today? Then I will undoubtedly encounter the topic within the next week as I scan the media. McCarthy was no different, as Congress moved to hold former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of congress. Many in the media compared Rep. Darrell Issa's (R-Calif.) probe of the Internal Revenue Service to the tactics used by Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-Wis.) and his Senate Committee on Government Operations.

For extra credit I watched the movie Chaplin, where one of Hollywood’s greatest creative geniuses is barred from returning to the United States for his perceived political views.

Spitting in the Wind

Sometimes when teaching my class I have my doubts. Am I the only one that thinks this  material is important? I’ll mention books in class that none of my students have heard of, then the next day find them on a list of important books that the Library of Congress has put together. When I first asked my class about Twitter, no one had heard of it. Now Twitter has half a billion users, including many of the students I teach. For years I have been showing the films of George Melies in class, then Martin Scorsese creates the movie “Hugo” and wins five Oscars.  I’ve been showing the photographs of Lewis Hines in my class for several years now. I came across this item from CBS. It made my hair stand on end.

Sports Fun

Had enough culture for the day? Good, let's have some fun. Here are 32 Great Calls. No, not blown calls by the referee. Great calls by announcers covering some of the most memorable sporting events of the last 60 years. Some of the clips I've seen many times before, but check out number 6 Secretariat at the Belmont Stakes in 1973. I don't even care about horses, but I know greatness when I see it. The other clip not to be missed is number  7, Victor Hugo Morales on the greatest goal of all time, Diego Maradona’s second goal against England in the 1986 World Cup. You don't have to love soccer to enjoy this one, trust me. What's your favorite clip?

The Great Depression Ends (75 years too late)

In class we looked at Depression era photographs by Dorthea Lange and Walker Evans. These photographs helped document the migration of farmers from Oklahoma to California in search of a better life. Now the trend is reversing on a somewhat smaller scale, as California migrants to Oklahoma increase. http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2010-10-12-oklahoma12_CV_N.htm Happy days are here again!