Leigh M. Johnson

Revisionist Etiology

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Teaching, The Search for Values 5 Comments

[Note to readers: Please keep reading. I promise there is a payoff at the end of this entry!] Now that I’ve finished up the Iliad, we’re moving on to a three-week study of the Bible. Although I actually began college as a theology student (and I am a preacher’s kid), I’ve never actually taught the…

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No, you CAN’T just watch the movie!

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, Teaching, The Search for Values 6 Comments

I am, again, inadvertantly competing with a couple of (bad) film versions of texts that I am teaching in my classes this semester. First, there’s the mega-blockbuster Troy, starring Brad Pitt as Achilles. Now, I haven’t seen Troy (though I have recently resolved to do so ASAP), but my understanding of it was that the…

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Who’s keeping the brothers?

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Politics, Teaching, The Search for Values 2 Comments

We’ve moved on to the story of Cain and Abel, which is actually one of my favorites in the Bible. There are so many unexplained details in that story. Why didn’t God like Cain’s offering? (I mean, Cain and Abel were only the 2nd and 3rd human beings ever… it’s not like there was an…

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For my “Celebrity” friends….

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, Teaching, The Search for Values 1 Comment

When I was in grad school, we used to regularly play a game called “Celebrity” at parties. It’s a fairly standard name-guessing game with three rounds in which the clue-giver is allowed fewer and fewer words to decsribe the “celebrity” whose name his/her teammates must guess. There aren’t many rules to “Celebrity.” However, the game…

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R.I.P.

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Music, Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature Comments Off on R.I.P.

As you probably know, today marks the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s (alleged) death. Some say: The King is Dead. I say: Long live the King!

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Fishin’

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy 3 Comments

I have to give props to one of my friends, who will remain nameless for reasons of professional interest, for the following insight. There’s an old saying that goes: “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime. At SPEP, the aim…

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Brain Sex

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Teaching 1 Comment

Here’s something we all need to talk more about: eros in the classroom. I was reminded of this just recently by an excellently written article in The American Scholar by Yale professor William Deresiewicz entitled “Love on Campus.” (If you haven’t read the piece already, please stop and read it now. The references follwing will…

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The Perils of Songwriting

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Music 5 Comments

One of the good things about being back in Memphis is being around muscians again. I’m not talking about professional musicians–of which there are many here–but just your average, everyday, I’ve-got-a-guitar-and-an-idea musicians. I love just sitting around on somebody’s deck, especially on hot summer nights, hammering out totally average versions of truly beautiful songs. I…

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Thematic Uncertainty

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy 7 Comments

I need your help. This fall I will be teaching a General Humanities-type course that has a mostly prefab syllabus, which I can make minor alterations to, but not many. Basically, I can add things, but can’t take any away. The course is pretty labor-intensive as it is designed, and if I were a student…

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A Sad, Sad Day in Memphis

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Memphis, Music, Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature 2 Comments

If you’ve heard me talk about Memphis for any length of time, you’ve heard me talk about Wild Bill’s (pictured above, Bill standing in the doorway). After Junior Kimbrough’s Place burned down in 2000, Wild Bill’s became one of the last surviving “juke joints” in the Delta. It wasn’t much bigger than a large living…

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