May 16, 2025: Spring Semester Reflections: Student Tributes to Dad

[About halfwaythrough the Spring 2025 semester, . While that was of course the semester’s most defining moment,it also allowed me to reflect for the remaining weeks on my own teaching inrelationship to one of the most dedicated and talented teachers I’ve everknown. So for this semester reflections series, I want to highlight one momentfrom each class where I’d say I particularly felt my Dad’s presence.]

I didteach one other course this semester, an Accelerated Online section of The ShortStory that started after Spring Break. But in lieu of a post focused on thatclass, I wanted to use this last post in the series to highlight a few Blueskythreads where folks—many of them former students—shared tributes to my Dad.

Thisoriginal one: https://bsky.app/profile/americanstudier.bsky.social/post/3ljgoh56ixk2y

Thisfollow-up: https://bsky.app/profile/americanstudier.bsky.social/post/3ljkjgk2xbs2b

and thisone from his former grad student Ryan Cordell: https://bsky.app/profile/ryancordell.org/post/3ljgpguto3224

He wasloved, as much as a teacher and mentor as he was as a husband, father,grandfather, and man.

Previewpost this weekend,

Ben

PS. Springsemester reflections you’d share?