Author: Bianca Falbo (Page 3 of 3)

I thought I’d do the homework as well, and write a blog post introducing myself.  I’m an Associate Professor in the English Department, and I teach a variety of classes here including Literary Questions (ENG 205), Literary History (ENG 206), Intro to Children’s Literature (ENG 218), Writing Genres (ENG 250), 19th C. British Novel (ENG 341), Studies in Writing and Rhetoric (ENG 250), and The Dog Course (soon to be offered as an FYS).  I’m also the Director of the College Writing Program.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, attended Swarthmore College (a small liberal arts college not too far from here), and then went to graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh.  I came to Lafayette in 1998, and I’ve lived in a few different spots on College Hill since then.  After growing up in the suburbs where you hopped in a car whenever you wanted to do something or go somewhere, I love living in a neighborhood where most of what I do is within walking distance.

I like that some of your introductions have included introductions of the non-human animals in your lives.  Very appropriate for our topic this semester.  🙂  So let me introduce my crew.  My husband and I live with two parakeets, Vinny and Rocky, and two dogs, Arlo and Katie.

When I’m not being a professor, I’m usually gardening, knitting, reading or doing something with my dogs.  You may run into us on campus.  The dogs love to hang out there because they can always find two of their favorite things:  food and tennis balls.

I thought I’d provide you with some context for our essay author John Berger.  Berger is a person of many talents and diverse interests.  Born in London in 1928, he left school at the age of 16 to study art.  In the 1950s, he turned from painting to writing.  He is the author of a dozen novels, the most recent of which won the distinguished Booker Prize.  He is perhaps even better known for his writing about art and culture.  One of Berger’s most influential (and popular) books, Ways of Seeing (1972), was concerned with how we look at images.

In the essay you read for our class, he is also concerned with looking–in this case why (and how) we look at animals.  As you might be able to tell from the essay you read, particularly the final pages, Berger draws as a critic on concepts and ideas from Marxist criticism.  “Why Look at Animals?” was published in the leftest periodical The Guardian in 1977.

A recent interview with Berger, also published in The Guardian, provides more information about his life and work.

Sources for this post

Wroe, “John Berger:  A Life in Writing.”  http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/apr/23/john-berger-life-in-writing
Cuba, “John Berger–Ways of Seeing.”  http://douglascuba.blogspot.com/2010/05/john-berger-ways-of-seeing.html