Leigh M. Johnson

President Jokes-A-Lot

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Obama, Politics 1 Comment

Hey, did you hear our President is FUNNY? Here is the video from his gig at the annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner. Targets of Obama’s barbs: Dick Cheney, Larry Summers, FOXNews, Arlen Specter, Hillary Clinton, swine flu, Somali pirates, Joe Biden, the First Dog (Bo), and of course, himself, himself, himself. What a nice change…

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Small Groups

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Open Source Pedagogy, Philosophy, Teaching, The Search for Values 17 Comments

Last week and this week, I’m participating in the annual seminar that reviews and (occasionally) amends the curriculum of the core humanities course-sequence at my college. Some of the work that we do is tedious and bureaucratic, but a lot of it includes really interesting sessions on pedagogy, core text discussions, interdisciplinarity and more general…

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On Being (And Not Being) A “Philosopher”

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Politics, Women and Gender Issues 3 Comments

There’s a debate ensuing over on The Leiter Report (which, for all intents and purposes, serves as the internet bulletin board and agora for professional philosophers) over whether or not the pensive-looking woman to your left, Hannah Arendt, is a “philosopher.” The question that started the debate, posed by Jason Stanley, is articulated in his…

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A Community of Kitsch

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Pop Culture/Film/Literature 8 Comments

There’s an interesting review of Brithish philosopher Roger Scruton’s new book, Beauty, that looks at the value (or, more accurately, lack thereof) of kitsch. In “Finding Kitsch’s Inner Beauty,” Robert Fulford praises Scruton’s text for holding the “now marginalized view” that philosophers should help the rest of us “think about issues that really matter.” (Marginalized?…

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Torture Reading

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Human Rights, Philosophy, Politics, Teaching, Torture Comments Off on Torture Reading

Just a couple of quick recommendations for those of you keeping up with the current scandal over the so-called “torture memos.” I’ve been doing a lot of reading on this stuff over the course of the past year as a part of my research, and I plan to include both of these texts in my…

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Right Place, Right Time

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Memphis, Music 17 Comments

File this away under “The Story I Would Want To Tell My Kids, If I Ever Had Any Intention of Reproducing (Which I Don’t).” Last Saturday night, I was at Wild Bill’s (per usual) enjoying myself greatly (per usual) and hanging out with a great group of friends and an even greater stock of delicious…

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Loving Lolita

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Pop Culture/Film/Literature, Teaching, Women and Gender Issues 1 Comment

I can’t remember the first time I read Vladimir Nabakov’s Lolita— it must have been more than 15 years ago now– but I can remember with absolute clarity how utterly besotted I was with it. If memory serves, I think the only other books that I’ve read straight through in one sitting were Les Misérables…

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Work-Guilt and Time-Management

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy 6 Comments

It’s really surprising how long it takes to acclimate oneself to a full-time position in academia. I’m nearing the end of my second year now, and I still find myself constantly tweaking all of my best-laid-plans for “balancing” the Holy Triumvirate of responsibilities: scholarship, teaching and service. As I’ve said many times before, one of…

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I See London, I See France…

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Politics, Women and Gender Issues 4 Comments

I hope you’re not one of those people who already felt vulnerable and exposed by having to remove your shoes and belt in the airport security check, because things are about to get a lot worse for you. According to William Saletan over at Slate, the Transportation and Safety Administration (TSA) has revised its position…

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Social Networking, the Ivory Tower, and “Friend”-ly Disagreement

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Politics, Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature 9 Comments

There is an old, well-worn and tired stereotype of academics that figures them/us as people who restrict their/our lives to the Ivory Tower, engaged in intellectual pursuits and disengaged from the practical concerns of everyday life. (Incidentally, the “tower” pictured to the left really is one of the towers on my campus.) I suppose that…

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