2) trans. In extended use: to select the performers or performances to be included in (a festival, album, programme, etc.); (also) to select, organize, and present (content), as on a web site

(definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary! Use this resource BC provides for you!)

I tend to take the long view. Perhaps my profession and habits of living (both what I teach—students in the process of becoming, and research—early English texts old in their habit of being) predispose me to think situating our life in history helps us gain perspective. As a “together” action, curate and curation inspire me by being an act of both selection and preservation at the same time. It is the ultimate in “having your cake and eating it too;” a curator limits content, but allows for the work also to be fundamentally limitless as all curated is worthy of preservation (a point I hope to come back to repeatedly; boundaries and limits in writing sometimes give us, paradoxically, more freedom). 

I want us to use multi-media platforms to reflect the age in which we find ourselves; but I would like the discussions and conversations to reveal the fullness of the historical experience of writing in a group. Please do not feel tied either to questions of today or yesterday; at its best, these platforms should facilitate the conversation, not become a divisive discussion about the value of the platform itself.  Here, I hope we will discuss the past, present, and future of authorship and who we are as creators of text. 

 Intentionality and longevity are tied together in curation; one must contemplate not only the ephemeral, but also the enduring. Starting the project of “multi-modal” curation of our class experience before we even meet for the first time—excites me yet leaves me ready for the group work to begin in earnest. I hope these spaces become natural and organic places for intentional conversation born out with a sense of longevity and intentionality. 

I have included the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) definitions of curate above, but from now on, when it is your turn to take the curator’s role, expand, challenge, correct, and limit our perceptions. My hope is that we continue to circle around this notion, coming closer and closer to what we see as a specific definition for our class. Because, as with the idea of author, I think curate is essentially an action, the “doing” will be invaluable for knowing what you think of it.

This entire multi-modal project will be a group experiment; we may find bumps, roadblocks, or hiccups along the way. Think of what you are putting out into the world: select the productive and interesting, preserve the good, and post with the long view in mind. Above all, I ask that you remember to be kind to one another. 

I am looking forward to hearing from each one of you in this space in the weeks to come. Cheers! CBB