Author Archives: mdilwort

Author Archives: mdilwort

Looking forward to reading…

Looking forward to reading…

, Jesse Whitton, Library Resources, Website
As another year comes to an end, there are lots of “best” books lists of 2021 to look back on, that you can look forward to reading! From mystery, thriller, fantasy, and horror to memoir & autobiographies, poetry, and graphic novels, this 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards voted the best in 17 genres/categories. The 2021 Mighty Women Reading List features biographies and memoirs about remarkable women of the past and present. Search science, travel, photography, food, and more with the Best Books of 2021 list from the Smithsonian Magazine. Wonder what writers are reading? The Guardian’s Best Books Picked by Guest Authors provides insight into what authors like to read when they are not working on their next book. Find over … Continued
Resources for the Skies

Resources for the Skies

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
On Christmas Day in 1758, Halley’s Comet appeared in the sky, sighted by Johann Palizsch.  This time, though, its appearance had been predicted in advance by the man it would come to be named after, Edmond Halley, who realized the comet was subject to Newtonian laws of motion and successfully connected it to historical sightings of particularly impressive comets at roughly seventy-five year intervals. Predicting other celestial phenomenon was well known – eclipses had been predictable for centuries.  Christopher Columbus, for example, had used the technique to intimidate the peoples of Jamaica into cooperation on his fourth trip to the Americas, in 1504; suggesting to them that he had much more power than he actually did.  But many cultures had … Continued
Open Pedagogy: create and collaborate

Open Pedagogy: create and collaborate

, , , , Library Resources
Open Pedagogy is a concept in teaching that overlaps with other schools of pedagogical thought, especially as we now work, create, and learn in a digital environment and engage more with collaborative work, such as: Constructivist Pedagogy – learning based on the idea that we construct our own knowledge through direct experience (Hands-on learning). Critical Digital Pedagogy – focuses not just on the tools we use in teaching, but how we are connecting as human beings. Connected Learning – active participation in learning, collaboration with peers, mentors, etc. The term Open Pedagogy was first cited in 1979 by a Canadian named Claude Paquette and he “outlines three sets of foundational values of Open Pedagogy: autonomy and interdependence; freedom and responsibility; … Continued
Early American protest music

Early American protest music

, , Research
What’s a protest song? According to musicologist David King Dunaway, a protest song functions more as a mode for a message, rather than a distinct art form itself.  “It is not popular music… it is not per se folk music…the field of political music includes everything from an electoral song of the 1730s to a punk-rock protest of the 1980s,” he observed in 1987. That means there are a lot of different songs that qualify as protest songs, and we’ll take a brief look at some of the very earliest American protest songs ever written. Yankee Doodle Written around 1755 by a British doctor, Richard Schuckburgh, “Yankee Doodle” has a rather interesting and perhaps unintentionally hilarious history. Although an author … Continued
Grassroots Patrons of IU East

Grassroots Patrons of IU East

, Jesse Whitton, outreach
On October 16, 1974, the Pioneer Press (v. 2, no. 3) noted that work was “nearly 99% done on the new IU East campus. All that is left is to install the bookshelves in the library and bookstore and sort out some carpeting issues.” (The first building would not be called Whitewater Hall until 1992). Within 3 months, students would be using the new classrooms, faculty and staff would be set up in their new offices, and everyone would be walking past the wall opposite the administrative offices displaying glossy white tiles with little black marks across the middle of them and a plaque at the top that reads “Grassroots Patrons.” From afar these more than 800 tiles all look … Continued