Teaching Adjunct

 This past term (Aug-Dec 2024) I have been an adjunct instructor at Utah Valley University (UVU). I’ve had two sections of Intro to Theatre, and honestly, it’s been a lot of fun. There have been two assignments that I have continuously put off grading (I don’t know why), but the students have been great. It’s been interesting teaching two sections of the same course one day after another - we’ve had some slightly better class discussions in the MW class, but the TTh class always got a somewhat more polished ‘lecture’ and slide presentation. (The jokes never went over quite as well in TTh, as it’s always hard to recycle something that was effective and spontaneous, but, like I said, the students were great.)

I developed a massive, nasty ear infection (both ears) right at the start of the term that almost completely blocked my hearing. I had to reconfigure some assignments and adjust the schedule and be out of classes for about a week and a half; everyone rolled with it. I prefer not to have anyone try to conduct online conversations; we moved everything to in-class discussions days with a written follow-up response. They had interesting insights, and great things to say, both in class and in their responses. I tried some new things with my lesson plans, and had some cool successes. And some topics just can’t be made super exciting. 

I gave both classes their weekday off after the presidential election, as they are theatre classes with a solid percentage of theatre students. I had more trans, gay, and non-binary students this term than I ever have before. We all needed some time off to process the election and start dealing with the incomprehensible implications. Two weeks after the election I asked each class if there was anything they wanted to talk about; I didn’t want to ignore what had happened, or blow over the events as if they wouldn’t mean anything. Some students had questions. Others tuned out. We all made at least an attempt not to alienate anyone who had voted for the winner. It was a bit uncomfortable; we moved on. 

This week, the first week of December and the only week in the term after Thanksgiving break, I showed both classes a play (so glad I could still find a copy on YouTube - I really need to try to find a better recording!) and we ran a group chat through an app for them to bring up different elements of theatre that we had been talking about for the last few months. One of the great things about that kind of class is watching the students when they get invested in a story, when they react to dramatic moments and revelations. Then these last two days we had in-class study sessions so they could prep for the final exam, reviewing a study guide comprised of questions written by the students (and edited by me) covering all the modules front the term. I’ll start grading those once the test closes for each class. The test really isn’t the important part; I think they’ll get more out of the review than the test itself. (*evil laugh*)

Yesterday one girl asked for my contact info for real life theatre consultations (basically). A few others thanked me and said I was awesome. Today one student gave me a Christmas card with a gift card; inside they had written “You were born to teach. Thank you for making class a safe space for us.” This same student lost both his parents about a year ago, and has since been made guardian for his older, disabled sister. Just a few weeks ago he missed class to visit a parent’s grave; while he was there a police officer approached him, told him there had been a call from a concerned citizen, and handed him a cup of hot chocolate. He happened to tell me about this incident during a class discussion period; I told him that he had the beginning of a play and I REALLY hope he writes it. Another couple of students thanked me and told me I was the coolest teacher they had, and that they really appreciated me. 

I did mention these students were great, right?

I have also taught dramaturgy and playwriting (scriptwriting) here at UVU, and was scheduled to teach a Theatre History & Literature course next term (it was canceled, not enough sign-ups). I’m also working on a new course with a professor from the Social Work department - it’s going to be on social work and Improv. 

And I have loved and continue to look forward to teaching Intro to Theatre, the most basic of them all.

2024 Presidential Election - A Record

 Things that have happened in the one week since the 2024 election:

- Vote counts are continuing, and it looks as though DJT will take less than 50% of the popular vote. It also looks as though he will win that count only by around 1.5% of the total. This is not anything like a landslide, or a “mandate.” Even the Electoral College votes are in a normal range for a winning candidate; nothing extraordinary.

- According to Benny Johnson (an influencer being paid by the Russians - literally) and DJT’s own actions, they lied about Project 2025 not being the Trumpublican agenda. Look it up; we’re evidently going full Handmaid’s Tale if the new administration has their way.

- Nick Fuentes, White Supremacist incel and online… personality (?), went viral for posting “Your body, my choice. Forever.” on Twitter after the election, and followed that up by going on a podcast and mocking women that their rights were being taken away and soon they wouldn’t have any at all. He repeated his phrase, giggling like a junkie. It became an attack line on Twitter (women were swamped with it), someone made tshirts, and elementary school boys have started taunting their female classmates with it (in one Utah school district, the phrase has been accompanied with a smack to the girl’s backside). Fuentes was subsequently re-doxxed and people started showing up at his house; he became so afraid for his own safety that he moved back in with his mother.

- DJT has named Elon Musk to his cabinet as a Secretary of the Department of Efficiency (there is not yet any such department); though it may take time away from Musk’s busy schedule of talking on the phone with Putin (seriously), Musk has promised to cut government output by around 2 trillion dollars. This will strip the government of basically ALL programs, and will decimate the economy (we’re talking Great Depression levels) for at least two years. Musk believes this is an acceptable sacrifice to “build the economy” [currently literally the best in the world] “into something better.”

- I paid $2.79 per gallon of gas today. This is the lowest it’s been in years, and it has nothing to do with Trump or the election.

- The Taliban congratulated the US for refusing to elect a woman president. They have also recently banned the sound of women’s voices in public, and started confusing men by beginning to restrict their fashion and personal grooming choices. The men are SHOCKED that the Afghani government that has completely repressed half the population is now starting to oppress them, too. The Taliban also made a point of mentioning that the agreement that got the US out of Afghanistan and allowed the Taliban full access to power was signed by Trump.

- By the end of last week (Friday?) the economic report on the radio described how businesses were pre-emptively raising their prices in preparation for the hikes that will come next year when DJT implements all the tariffs he’s so excited about. Trump voters have not seemed to have any idea how tariffs actually work, and have been shocked to find out that they will be paid by American consumers, not foreign countries. One anecdotal story tells how a manufacturing company in Pennsylvania had to tell all their employees (mostly Trump voters) that no one would be getting a Christmas bonus since they had to order enough supplies to last a full year because of concerns about the proposed tariffs. The employees were utterly stunned and confused.

- Even though the same voting machines were used in the same districts across the country, no one has tried to call foul or scream about a rigged election (there have been some isolated reports about election officials changing vote tallies in favor of Trump). Many have expressed surprise that those who were able to successfully rig the 2020 election evidently just… didn’t bother? to do it again in 2024.

- The position of “Border Czar” is evidently officially being created; it is to be filled by the same guy who said that splitting up families when they begin mass deportations won’t be a problem because they’ll just deport the American-born children as well. He is the same person who authored the section of Project 2025 that describes how they plan to deport 11 million immigrants. (Stephen Miller, evidently taking a break to come out of his coffin, posted that they have a “de-naturalization” program in place and ready to go. He wants to strip citizenship from people who have been here legally for years.) So not only is the country about to spend literal billions to try to deport illegal immigrants and their legal children, the country is projected to lose additional billions in taxes and labor provided by those immigrants. 

- DJT today reiterated his intention (as outlined in Project 2025) to eliminate the Department of Education. This will remove all educational standards, as well as all funding for special education programs and IEP’s. Apparently all autistic children (or anyone with any need of specific support) will be on their own.  

- It’s interesting that the vast majority of those who post messages about how “we shouldn’t allow politics to damage our relationships” seem to be Trump voters unwilling to listen to honest concerns and fears about the things DJT has said and the policies outlined in Project 2025. “It’ll all be OK,” they say, usually to people who will lose all access to health insurance if the administration succeeds in getting rid of the ACA. (Apparently, there are also Trump voters who rely on the ACA but don’t like Obamacare and are gobsmacked to realize they are the same thing.)

There’s more, of course, but it will have to wait for the next round-up. Y’know, if we still have access to the Internet.

Miserable Useless Menopausal Childless Single Teacher Lady here - I can’t complete the list because I don’t have any cats due to a slight allergy. Sorry, JD Vance. Looks like you’ll have to find some other way to talk about how you hate women. Fortunately, a solid percentage of men in this country agree with you and also hate women, so I’m sure you all will come up with something. 

Can’t hardly wait.