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.

Jonah Lehrer, and the “marvellous Boy”

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

Well, the sad news last week was that Jonah Lehrer, one of my favorite writers, admitted to fabricating quotes from Bob Dylan in his recently published book Imagine.  I intended to purchase Lehrer’s book but hadn’t gotten around to it … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and reading, Teaching, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer), Writing, blogging | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

August moon (photos)

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

I am still figuring out how to use my camera, but I’m happy with these two pictures I took last night.  Hasn’t the full moon been beautiful the past few evenings?  The photo above was the first I took, when … Continue reading →

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Going for Olympic gold . . . in art!

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

It was once possible to get an Olympic medal for art, according to an article in The Atlantic this week.  From 1912 -1948, gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded in five categories of art: architecture, painting, sculpture, literature, and … Continue reading →

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Learning without teachers: “The Doubting Game” versus “The Believing Game”

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

Back in the early 1970s, the college writing classroom was a touchy-feely environment, occasionally subject to instruction through experiential events called “happenings,” which were basically instances of hippie-era performance art. In a “happening,” students engaged in random, unorganized activities like flicking the classroom … Continue reading →

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Who writes the songs that make the whole world sing? (Barry Manilow, for one)

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

Walking on the treadmill earlier today, I kept skimming through my iPod to pick out whatever suited my workout fancy of the moment.  At one point I idly wondered whether the song I was listening to had been written by the … Continue reading →

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The making of a “reader”

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

Are “readers” born, or are they made? If they are “born” then no amount of instruction is going to make a difference.  But assuming a reader is “made,” how can schools best accomplish that objective?  In 1955 readability expert Rudolf Flesch published … Continue reading →

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“Westworld” (Boy, have we got a vacation for you!)

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

Over the weekend my older daughter and I watched Westworld.  Again 🙂 Although we always enjoy this film for the story itself, we also get a kick out of deconstructing its “high tech” symbolism and noting anachronisms and things so commonplace … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies and film | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Success through failure

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

The “Review” section of yesterday’s Wall Street Journal contained an interesting short article by Ken Bain, titled “Flummoxed by Failure – or Focused,” which was primarily about the un-fixed nature of intelligence.  Most people are just about as smart as … Continue reading →

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Creativity, “Mr. Patent,” Keith Richards, and me

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

Following up on yesterday’s post on “Creativity and the importance of routine,” here is a link to a Fast Company article I recall reading ten years ago.  Titled “Mr. Patent,” it profiles Marvin Johnson, a research fellow at Phillips Petroleum … Continue reading →

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Creativity and the importance of routine

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

One of my favorite writers is Flannery O’Connor, a Southerner who lived and wrote for most of her life on a farm in rural Georgia.  Possibly you’ve never read her, or maybe you read one of her stories once and wound … Continue reading →

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