I’ve taught at St. Patrick’s elementary in West Oakland, the University of Illinois-Chicago, St. Lawrence University, and for 25 years at Moberly Area Community College in Moberly, MO. I have been blessed by the profession, by my colleagues, and most of all, by the students who have inspired and sustained me. See the Anvil and Lyre magazine page, and Teaching English Infinity for more on students and teaching.
The work collected on this page includes a two essays on trends in higher education (papers delivered at the Young Rhetoricians Conference) and excerpts from textbooks I wrote for students. Just like creating “home grown avant-garde” in the arts classroom, creating home grown educational resources is one way to resist the forces of automation, central planning, and rentier-privatization that have their envious lamp-like eyes on the trillions of dollars invested in public education.
Cellular Noise to Dark Matter: 21st Century Lessons in Higher Education
From LMSs and cell phone distractions to the dark matter in the universe, this essay contains meditations on lessons learned from teaching college in the 21st century.
Local Pedagogy in a Transnational World
A look at Affect Theory, Wendell Berry, the Agrarian Poets, Turing Machines & Assessment, and Machine-Assisted learning–part of a continuing critique of Neoliberalism.
A Guide to Critical Thinking
An intuitive guide to critical thinking with case studies, examples, and easy-to-use instructions.
from The Mirror & the Chessboard
Chapter on the components of fictional prose, point of view, and their relationship with temporality, including readings of Sherwood Anderson and Ernest Hemingway.
How to Write an Essay
Brief discussion of the rhetorical situation, purposes of prose, and a how-to guide to writing an essay.
How to Perform Poetry and Collaborate
Guide on how to perform poetry, put on poetry shows, and work with others in creating poetry from the textbook: Make it New–A Guide for 21st Century Poets.
from Without Contraries There is No Progression
Chapters on Romantic poets from textbook written to accompany the main text in British Literature II.
Mike Barrett Archive 