Author Archives: Katherine Wikoff

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About Katherine Wikoff

I am a college professor (PhD in English, concentration rhetoric) at Milwaukee School of Engineering, where I teach film and media studies, political science, digital society, digital storytelling, writing for digital media, and communication. While fragments of my teaching and scholarship interests may quite naturally meander over to my blog, this space is intended to function as a creative outlet, not as part of my professional practice. Opinions are my own, etc.

Urban trees with a purple glow

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

Just another photo from my day. Actually, this one is from my evening. Tonight was the MSOE Scholarship and Donor Dinner, an event where donors who fund scholarships get to sit down and share a meal with the students who … Continue reading →

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Maintenance Maintenant

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

Just a photo from my day. I fooled around with the colors a bit to brighten the reds and yellows and darken the shadows, and I liked the result enough to share. Hope you like it, too😀

Posted in Photography | Tagged | 7 Comments

Coat rack with moving light reflections

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

My office in the Grohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering gets lots of direct and indirect sunlight in the morning. Today as I was getting ready to leave for my 10:00 class, I noticed that not only had the … Continue reading →

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Happy (slightly belated) birthday, Bob Mackie!

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

My daughter and I were talking about famed costume designer Bob Mackie yesterday and realized that not only is he still alive but he just had a birthday earlier this week (March 24). I thought he must be close to … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creativity, design, History, Media studies, Movies and film, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Amazed by my phone (as exemplified by some paisley closeups)

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

I tend to hang onto my phones until I absolutely have to give them up. Example: when my Nokia flip phone, which I ludicrously loved even more once the cover degraded to the point where I could flip it open … Continue reading →

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Writing exercise – “Common Comrades” (a horror poem)

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

This poem was a response to a writing-exercise prompt for my writing group. My original plan was to submit to literary journals with hopes of publishing. I haven’t done that sort of thing in many, many years and would like … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creativity, Milwaukee, Photography, poetry, writing exercises, Writing, blogging | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wavy Van

Posted on March 20, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

The strong horizontal lines of the building just south of my office got bent big time along the curves of this van on the street below my window. I wasn’t going to post this photo, as it’s really nothing special, … Continue reading →

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Is Corned Beef Really Irish? | Smithsonian

Posted on March 17, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

The rise and fall and rise of the traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal — Read on http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/is-corned-beef-really-irish-2839144/ My daughter told me about this fascinating article about the close ties Irish immigrants developed with their Jewish neighbors in America. What we … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Popular culture | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Office Building Lobby

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

I had a meeting with a colleague this morning in a nearby office building’s large food court, which serves only coffee and prepackaged breakfast food in the mornings and is thus quite deserted during the 9:00 AM hour. While standing … Continue reading →

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‘Chaos: The Manson Murders’ Review: All You Ever Knew is Suspect – The New York Times

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

My January 2022 post about Charles Manson and Dennis Wilson is getting LOTS of views today. And now I know why. There’s a new documentary on Netflix starting today, reviewed here in the New York Times: Errol Morris returns to … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged , , | 2 Comments