Why Do We Read This?

Audio from the 2022 New York Comic Con panel, "Pop-Culture, Fandom, and Comics in the College Classroom" featuring Heidi Bollinger, Jennifer Caroccio Maldonado, Tanya Cook, Rebecca, Salois, and Asif Siddiqi.

In this panel, we shared how we incorporate pop-culture into our own courses and how you might do the same - whether you are a professor or a student! From Taylor Swift to Game of Thrones, Supernatural, Marvel, DC, and more we discussed the validity of pop-culture in the college classroom.

Special thanks to New York Comic Con and the New York Public Library for inviting and supporting our panel.

Link to the panel slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OLYQLlLaBu1g__pu3KSOiuqn7awRSghFu30bDGTH6ec/edit?usp=sharing

In this episode I feature projects completed by Comparative Literature 2800 students Shan Rabbi, Rigi Geci, and Johanna Gustafsson.

Shan’s project compares the Tortoise from Aesop’s fable, “The Tortoise and the Hare” to the anime character Naruto. In particular he focuses on how these characters challenge expectations by achieving goals that are deemed impossible and overcoming criticism from those around them.

Johanna and Rigi focus on the Prologue from “The Thousand and One Nights” and consider the consequences that women face (compared to that of men) when they are unfaithful. They look at how female characters’ lives change in the face of infidelity in this text as well as in two separate Netflix television series: Dark Desire and Sex Life.

Both projects address texts from distinct cultures from different historical periods. These students were able to draw parallels with contemporary works in order to demonstrate the relevance of these works in our society today.

This special episode is brought to you by the Transformative Learning in the Humanities Initiative at the City University of New York. As part of this initiative, I was invited to speak on the topic of podcasts and the classroom. This episode is my public contribution to knowledge based on the information I shared in that workshop.

In this "episode" I discuss using podcasts as an alternative form of student input, podcasts as assessment, and what to consider if you are interested in starting a podcast for your students.

Here are some links I mentioned in the episode:

YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/u6cbMZO7jk8

Resources and References: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mlpnr4AisIyX_T7IAAGW4vz01yc9Y1Qk_1iUq27BMbY/edit?usp=sharing

Sample Final Project w/Podcast Option: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rrCi3O06oeDCHZbeA9gVWXKQGRI9ytF_m776VolIwJA/edit?usp=sharing

You can listen to past episodes of my podcast, Why Do We Read This? here: https://soundcloud.com/whydowereadthis

Twitter: @ rlsalois and @ whydowereadthis

In this, the final episode of Why Do We Read This? I discuss the literature we've all been waiting for! Don Quixote de la Mancha! I draw parallels between the hero/sidekick duos of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee. I get into what makes these pairings not only work but actually necessary to telling a good story.

For this episode I utilized the Norton Anthology World Literature, Volume C, 4th edition.

A shout out to all of the co-hosts I have had over these last couple of years. I couldn't have done this without you all. You made this podcast work! And of course a special thank you to all of you listeners around the world. You made this a fun and engaging project.

Follow the podcast!

Twitter: @whydowereadthis

Instagram: @wdwrt_podcast

For podcast merch check out: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/55982933

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

Please enjoy these bloopers and outtakes from the last 10 episodes of the podcast. I hope you get a laugh out of one or two of them. I know they make me laugh, but I was there!

I'll be back with the final episode in two weeks! Guess which work of literature I'll be covering and I'll give you a shout out!

Follow the podcast!

Twitter: @whydowereadthis

Instagram: @wdwrt_podcast

For podcast merch check out: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/55982933

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

In this episode, Kimberly Fludd joins me once again to discuss another work of Indian literature. This time we cover the ancient tales of the Jataka. We draw parallels between the heroic self-sacrifices of the Bodhisatta as Monkey King and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. We also consider the parallels between the different characters in The Golden Goose and the family members in Knives Out as they relate to greed, giving, and the loss of trust.

For this episode we utilized the Norton Anthology World Literature, Volume A, 4th edition.

You can follow Kimberly @Kimplaints_NYC on all the things.

Follow the podcast!

Twitter: @whydowereadthis

Instagram: @wdwrt_podcast

For podcast merch check out: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/55982933

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

In this episode, returning guest, Gretchen Pineo and I discuss satire in Jonathan Swift's 1729 essay, "A Modest Proposal." We draw parallels between the delivery of the serious message through the guise of satire in both Swift's work and John Oliver's show Last Week Tonight. We also consider the absurdist aspects of A Modest Proposal as satire in print with the absurdist elements of articles found in The Onion.

For this episode we utilized the Norton Anthology World Literature, Volume D, 4th edition.

Additional resources include:

The Humor Code, by Peter McGraw and Joel Warner

"Jonathan Swift in 1729 Mentions the Weight of an Infant at Birth and at a Year of Age" by T.E.C. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/48/1/122

Follow the podcast!

Twitter: @whydowereadthis

Instagram: @wdwrt_podcast

For podcast merch check out: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/55982933

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

In this episode, returning guest, Gretchen Pineo and I discuss satire in Jonathan Swift's 1729 essay, "A Modest Proposal." We draw parallels between the delivery of the serious message through the guise of satire in both Swift's work and John Oliver's show Last Week Tonight. We also consider the absurdist aspects of A Modest Proposal as satire in print with the absurdist elements of articles found in The Onion.

For this episode we utilized the Norton Anthology World Literature, Volume D, 4th edition.

Additional resources include:

The Humor Code, by Peter McGraw and Joel Warner

"Jonathan Swift in 1729 Mentions the Weight of an Infant at Birth and at a Year of Age" by T.E.C. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/48/1/122

Follow the podcast!

Twitter: @whydowereadthis

Instagram: @wdwrt_podcast

For podcast merch check out: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/55982933

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

The final project that I assigned this semester asked students to compare one of the works of literature we read in class to pop-culture from today and it gave students the options to present their research in one of three formats: a paper, a video, or a podcast episode.

Five students who completed podcast episodes gave me their permission to share their work as part of a Why Do We Read This episode.

This episode features English 2800 student Tenzing Palden and English 2850 students Anesa Feratovic and Nam Kim.

Anesa's project was a comparison of Diary of a Madman by Lu Xun and the anime series Welcome to the NHK. Tenzing's podcast was about the Bhagavad-Gita and the The Lion King. And Nam covered parallels he saw between Lola Rodriguez de Tio's poem "Song of the Borinquen" and J. Cole's "High for Hours."

Follow the podcast!

Twitter: @whydowereadthis

Instagram: @wdwrt_podcast

For podcast merch check out: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/55982933

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois

The final project that I assigned this semester asked students to compare one of the works of literature we read in class to pop-culture from today and it gave students the options to present their research in one of three formats: a paper, a video, or a podcast episode.

Five students who completed podcast episodes gave me their permission to share their work as part of a Why Do We Read This episode.

This episode features English 2800 student Tenzing Palden and English 2850 students Anesa Feratovic and Nam Kim.

Anesa's project was a comparison of Diary of a Madman by Lu Xun and the anime series Welcome to the NHK. Tenzing's podcast was about the Bhagavad-Gita and the The Lion King. And Nam covered parallels he saw between Lola Rodriguez de Tio's poem "Song of the Borinquen" and J. Cole's "High for Hours."

Follow the podcast!

Twitter: @whydowereadthis

Instagram: @wdwrt_podcast

For podcast merch check out: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/55982933

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music: Fugue in C# Major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1": J.S. Bach

Music Synthesizer and Programming: Shawn P. Russell

Sound Consultant and Mixing: Shawn P. Russell

Recording and Editing: Rebecca L. Salois