After over a decade of teaching an Arts and Culture class at Abilene Christian University, you'd think I'd have it figured out by now. Truth is, I'm in my annual panic. It's a bit of ritual, to emerge from the daily privilege of family, work, and more work, to raise my head and try to …
The CyberSea
The preacher said a couple of weeks ago that the sea has always been a symbol of chaos. Last night, I went surfing. Not just for the fun of it. It's time for the annual ramp up toward my January class, that audacious thing having to do with a "Christian Aesthetic", whatever that might …
A Call for Syllabus Ideas
The title of the university class is this: The Arts and Culture: A Christian Aesthetic. It’s in January, is one week long, 8-5 for five days straight, beginning Monday, and there’s a two-three hour final on Friday afternoon. I’ve been teaching this class for ten years, a couple of years on my own, and the …
Up to Our Necks in “The Shallows”
Nicholas Carr, in his book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing To Our Brains, brings a lot of brain science to bear on his simple thesis: the Internet is indeed changing the structure and processes of our brains, as will any new technology that becomes as ubiquitous and powerful as the 'net has become. …
“Places”
Each night I stand backstage pacing back and forth, running a small ritual that has become important to me as a preparation for a coming night of emotional journeying. The role of Eric Weiss in Brooklyn Boy is a challenging one, one that I relate to all too well. And then, inevitably, my friend Carla …
JEFF BERRYMAN 