Douglas Dowland
@profdgd.bsky.social
Curious about affect in the contemporary US? Visit: https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5889/
Reposted by Douglas Dowland
I hadn’t seen @profdgd.bsky.social ’s book review of a book about reviewing books when I wrote my thread, but yes — bsky.app/profile/prof...
The academic book review is both a craft and an insight into the life of the mind. My thoughts on the genre in today’s Inside Higher Ed.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
Why Review? (opinion)
We review because it’s what we do, and it’s who we are.
www.insidehighered.com
December 11, 2025 at 11:25 PM
I hadn’t seen @profdgd.bsky.social ’s book review of a book about reviewing books when I wrote my thread, but yes — bsky.app/profile/prof...
In my mailbox today. Much appreciated and timely; a perfect gift for any department chair.
December 11, 2025 at 8:23 PM
In my mailbox today. Much appreciated and timely; a perfect gift for any department chair.
Reposted by Douglas Dowland
“One learns through the review the bitterness of academe’s priorities: Yes, being reviewed is important (until it is not); no, reviews “count” for little to nothing on the vitae (but the expectation is that you will do them anyway).”
The academic book review is both a craft and an insight into the life of the mind. My thoughts on the genre in today’s Inside Higher Ed.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
Why Review? (opinion)
We review because it’s what we do, and it’s who we are.
www.insidehighered.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:47 PM
“One learns through the review the bitterness of academe’s priorities: Yes, being reviewed is important (until it is not); no, reviews “count” for little to nothing on the vitae (but the expectation is that you will do them anyway).”
"The book review is central to what we do—and who we are. It is a relish worthy of savor, a form of communion that is as learned as it is precious."
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
Why Review? (opinion)
We review because it’s what we do, and it’s who we are.
www.insidehighered.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:10 PM
"The book review is central to what we do—and who we are. It is a relish worthy of savor, a form of communion that is as learned as it is precious."
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
The academic book review is both a craft and an insight into the life of the mind. My thoughts on the genre in today’s Inside Higher Ed.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
Why Review? (opinion)
We review because it’s what we do, and it’s who we are.
www.insidehighered.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:19 PM
The academic book review is both a craft and an insight into the life of the mind. My thoughts on the genre in today’s Inside Higher Ed.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
The final paper for the medical humanities course, inspired by Rita Charon's work, asks students to describe how their future profession will allow themselves to display the self they admire. The drafts, so far, have been amazing.
December 7, 2025 at 7:05 PM
The final paper for the medical humanities course, inspired by Rita Charon's work, asks students to describe how their future profession will allow themselves to display the self they admire. The drafts, so far, have been amazing.
My article on shame, the face, and the medical encounter in Richard Selzer's "Imelda" is available open-access in the latest issue of Literature and Medicine.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/issue/...
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/issue/...
Project MUSE - Literature and Medicine-Volume 43, Number 1, Spring 2025
muse.jhu.edu
December 4, 2025 at 3:21 AM
My article on shame, the face, and the medical encounter in Richard Selzer's "Imelda" is available open-access in the latest issue of Literature and Medicine.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/issue/...
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/issue/...
Reading Sontag’s journals. The note here is so minimal it’s hard to tell if it’s anxiety, pride, or both.
November 24, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Reading Sontag’s journals. The note here is so minimal it’s hard to tell if it’s anxiety, pride, or both.
Ordered! And so should you!
everyone is talking about getting copies of University Keywords (or other JHU Press books) for all their friends, students, and comrades for the holidays, especially when it is 40% off with the code HHOL25.
November 24, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Ordered! And so should you!
Status: imprisoned on the recliner.
November 17, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Status: imprisoned on the recliner.
Recently I told students about this. First, they thought I was kidding. Second, they immediately understood the power differentials and innate creepiness of it all.
November 16, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Recently I told students about this. First, they thought I was kidding. Second, they immediately understood the power differentials and innate creepiness of it all.
This week I learned how to derail the medical humanities class by asking students to name their least favorite organ.
November 15, 2025 at 11:01 PM
This week I learned how to derail the medical humanities class by asking students to name their least favorite organ.
The books for Literature and Medicine next semester.
November 2, 2025 at 8:18 PM
The books for Literature and Medicine next semester.
Next semester's reading in the Medical Humanities course.
November 2, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Next semester's reading in the Medical Humanities course.
The majors have informed me that their Halloween reading list includes Angela Carter, Oscar Wilde, Poe, Mary Shelley, and my second book(?).
October 31, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The majors have informed me that their Halloween reading list includes Angela Carter, Oscar Wilde, Poe, Mary Shelley, and my second book(?).
Reposted by Douglas Dowland
It's pub day (birthday 0?) for Writing Through Writer's Block: Lessons from Modern American Fiction! This is a study of how authors have used the archetype of the blocked writer to identify, analyze, and ultimately work through both internal and external constraints on their creative abilities.
Writing Through Writer’s Block
uipress.uiowa.edu
October 29, 2025 at 12:17 AM
It's pub day (birthday 0?) for Writing Through Writer's Block: Lessons from Modern American Fiction! This is a study of how authors have used the archetype of the blocked writer to identify, analyze, and ultimately work through both internal and external constraints on their creative abilities.
That my review is #3 @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social suggests that the strategies (and politics) of reading continue to fascinate.
October 27, 2025 at 3:57 PM
That my review is #3 @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social suggests that the strategies (and politics) of reading continue to fascinate.
Part of the author's contract with LARB reads that they may pursue "dramatic film and television, stage plays, non-dramatic productions, and web series" derived from the author's work. So now I'm trying to imagine what "Close Reading: The Netflix Series" might look like.
October 25, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Part of the author's contract with LARB reads that they may pursue "dramatic film and television, stage plays, non-dramatic productions, and web series" derived from the author's work. So now I'm trying to imagine what "Close Reading: The Netflix Series" might look like.
Reposted by Douglas Dowland
It’s the official publication day for Painful Forms! I’m so pleased to see the book out in the world and grateful forever to @uncpress.bsky.social for making that happen. uncpress.org/978146968894...
Painful Forms
In the wake of World War II, Americans struggled to grasp the shifting scale of violence brought on by the nuclear era. To grapple with the overwhelming suff...
uncpress.org
October 21, 2025 at 11:09 PM
It’s the official publication day for Painful Forms! I’m so pleased to see the book out in the world and grateful forever to @uncpress.bsky.social for making that happen. uncpress.org/978146968894...
Reposted by Douglas Dowland
And here's the first review of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century, from @profdgd.bsky.social in @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
The Problem of the Parlor | Los Angeles Review of Books
Douglas Dowland close-reads Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant’s new edited volume, “Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century.”
lareviewofbooks.org
October 21, 2025 at 3:21 PM
And here's the first review of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century, from @profdgd.bsky.social in @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
Reposted by Douglas Dowland
"Instead of mystery, Sinykin and Winant see possibility: to them, close reading is a practice that anyone can learn."
I'm really grateful for @profdgd.bsky.social 's extremely thoughtful review in @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social today
as he writes -- "It’s enough to make the heart skip a beat."
I'm really grateful for @profdgd.bsky.social 's extremely thoughtful review in @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social today
as he writes -- "It’s enough to make the heart skip a beat."
The Problem of the Parlor | Los Angeles Review of Books
Douglas Dowland close-reads Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant’s new edited volume, “Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century.”
lareviewofbooks.org
October 21, 2025 at 3:33 PM
"Instead of mystery, Sinykin and Winant see possibility: to them, close reading is a practice that anyone can learn."
I'm really grateful for @profdgd.bsky.social 's extremely thoughtful review in @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social today
as he writes -- "It’s enough to make the heart skip a beat."
I'm really grateful for @profdgd.bsky.social 's extremely thoughtful review in @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social today
as he writes -- "It’s enough to make the heart skip a beat."
Reposted by Douglas Dowland
"The finished product of a close reading exudes confidence, obscuring how much of close reading is uncertainty." @profdgd.bsky.social on "Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century." https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-problem-of-the-parlor/
October 21, 2025 at 3:20 PM
"The finished product of a close reading exudes confidence, obscuring how much of close reading is uncertainty." @profdgd.bsky.social on "Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century." https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-problem-of-the-parlor/
In Monday's Los Angeles Review of Books.
October 19, 2025 at 2:36 AM
In Monday's Los Angeles Review of Books.
In my mailbox today, a book well worth reading.
October 6, 2025 at 5:39 PM
In my mailbox today, a book well worth reading.
