When I started graduate school at Berkeley, I’d actually never visited the campus, at least not that I can remember. (My parents think we may have driven through it on a vacation trip to California when I was seven or eight years old, but I don’t remember.) I arrived in California in August 2000, and [...]
Tags: berkeley
Posted in personal | 1 Comment »>I read a book recently where one of the characters kept having a very specific kind of premonition. Every once in a while, he would do something, and then suddenly know that he would never do that thing again. “This is the last time I will ever pet a dog,” that kind of thing. It’s [...]
Posted in academic, personal | 9 Comments »>Things that do not inspire confidence, number one: All of the lights on my hallway are off. I don’t think it’s an electrical problem, since the lights in my office work. It does, however, create the vague impression that I’m working in some kind of horror movie set. Things that do not inspire confidence, number [...]
Tags: berkeley, technical difficulties
Posted in academic, personal | No Comments »>I’ve had a string of days full of tiny irritations–each little thing is insignificant on its own, but as they accumulate I start to feel like I’m being nibbled to death by cats. I’ve locked myself out of my campus office five times in two days, locked myself out of the house once, and even [...]
Tags: berkeley, comedy of errors, powerpoint, teaching, teaching evaluations
Posted in academic, personal | 6 Comments »>Ishi Courtyard. Originally uploaded by Susan Groppi
Tags: berkeley, photos, picture-a-day
Posted in personal | No Comments »>When I was growing up, I knew all of our neighbors, and we all knew each others’ business. I don’t want this to sound all halcyon-days rural-utopia; I grew up deep in the heart of suburbia, and I think that the local culture on our street was an exception rather than the rule, even for [...]
Tags: berkeley, neighborhood, new jersey, personal history
Posted in personal | 2 Comments »>Autumn in Berkeley. Originally uploaded by Susan Groppi
Tags: autumn, berkeley, photos, picture-a-day, trees
Posted in personal | No Comments »>Outside Tolman Hall. Originally uploaded by Susan Groppi
Tags: berkeley, photos, picture-a-day
Posted in personal | 1 Comment »>I’ve mentioned my courses already, but in case anyone’s interested, the course websites are up and running. History 30A: The History of Premodern Science History 103S/103D: Science and Fiction in Twentieth Century America If any Berkeley students are reading and are interested in taking either of these classes, welcome! History 30A is currently full, but [...]
Posted in academic | 1 Comment »>Somehow, it’s August already, and the start of the semester is rushing towards us. I have two courses at Berkeley this fall: a lecture course on the history of premodern science (the same course from last fall) and an undergraduate seminar. The seminar should be interesting–last fall, I taught a seminar on Darwin and social [...]
Posted in academic | No Comments »>
Recent Comments