Monday 13 May 2024 I started revising my Katyn manuscript. During the past week, I worked on the so-called “Afterward,” new written content. Motivated by King Arthur’s suggestion that I provide some kind of epilogue or postscript, I found myself writing new material but also revising blog drafts I decided were better suited for the […]
The Revision Diaries: Week One Read More »
Tuesday 07 May 2024 Dear Student: Over the years, several students have asked for my guidance concerning reading additional books. And in the past, I had prepared a stock, typical list of titles—or, at least, I had considered that reading list to be stock because I thought other professors or teachers would select the very
Paliwoda’s Reading List Read More »
Monday 06 May 2024 I just finished grading my students’ Paper Two Assignment, the War Class’s significant researched-argumentative essay. All that now awaits me is the Final Exam, which is scheduled late during the Finals calendar, and so I must wait—not only for the Final to be over but to begin the Revision of my
Sneak Peek into the Upcoming Revision Process: The Revision Diaries Read More »
Monday 29 April 2024 The first time a student asked me, “Professor, Why Don’t We Read ‘__’” was toward the end of the Fall 2013 semester. The college course was “The Holocaust.” Preparing students for their final exam which focused solely on Primo Levi’s The Drowned and the Saved, I allotted six class meetings to
“Professor, Why Don’t We Read ‘__’” Part 2 Read More »
Monday 22 April 2024 During our recent video conference call, King Arthur and I were discussing my manuscript revision plan and calendar. I still have several weeks left to teach and must wait for the semester to end so that I can begin the serious revision work for the Katyn manuscript. “I’m chomping at the
My Manuscript Editor Is a Travel Planner, Too Read More »
Monday 15 April 2024 “Professor, how much longer can you teach this war class? After today’s lesson, I feel… I feel… depressed. If you teach this stuff all the time, how could you not also feel depressed? You must feel worse depression than I do. You must. Now I understand what you told us at
“Professor, How Much Longer?” Read More »
Monday 8 April 2024 My wife would say I’m delirious from maddening pain now when I am describing migraines using the word “gift” in this blog’s title. In most cases, when migraines torture me, they’re not blessings or endowments; they’re crushing and overpowering agonies. My migraine diary is too erratic to pinpoint a direct cause
The Gift of Migraines Read More »
Monday 01 April 2024 While drafting last week’s blog “PROFESSOR, WHY AREN’T WE READING ‘___’?” (25 March 2024), I at once planned for a new blog series on other experiences from my classrooms. Last semester a precocious student asked me whether I was cynical. In what was to be this week’s blog, I started writing
A Blog Draft Becomes a Book Chapter Draft Instead Read More »
Monday 25 March 2024 “Professor, can I ask you a question?” a student requests. Because I’ve taught the War Class for nearly ten years—longer than my Literature of the Holocaust course—when they ask me questions after class, I intuitively sense it’s about the course reading list. When they ask me about an upcoming assignment, they
“Professor, Why Aren’t We Reading ‘___’?” Read More »
Monday 18 March 2024 The Thursday after the 16 February 2024 Russian announcement declaring Alexei Navalny, Russian dissident, had died after he walked around the prison grounds of the IK-3 “special regime” colony, known as “Polar Wolf”, I, on a whim, ventured to Union Square Park. I finished teaching my morning class. Not only to
Alexei Navalny: Scenes from a Pilgrimage Read More »