Gene Fant

Public Discourse has posted Michael Hannon’s review  of Nathan Harden’s book “God and Sex and God at Yale,” which explores academe’s obsession with the glorification of sex in Ivy League settings.  The essay, like the book, is frank, so be forewarned.  . . . . Continue Reading »

The non-believing intelligentsia’s obsession with scripture seems sadly comical.  Watching and listening to the so-called New Atheists like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris makes one think that these public intellectuals are convinced of the utter lack of substance of the Bible and biblical . . . . Continue Reading »

Among the shining experiences of my doctoral work was a genuinely transformational course:  “Seminar in William Faulkner,” shepherded by Dr. Noel Polk, one of the world’s pre-eminent scholars, who passed away this past weekend.Non-Mississippians cannot fully understand how my . . . . Continue Reading »

When I sat for oral examinations in my master’s degree in English, where I concentrated in creative writing, one of the questions was about how I approach foreshadowing in my short stories.  Foreshadowing is the way that writers hint about upcoming events or twists in a story.  For . . . . Continue Reading »

One of my rock-ribbed beliefs is that we are to learn from academic pursuits, not merely about them.  Since I teach literature, I tell my students that we are to learn from our stories and apply those lessons to their lives.  Because college-educated persons have the responsibility and the . . . . Continue Reading »

One of my guilty pleasures is The Big Bang Theory, a sitcom about a group of socially inept science geniuses.  Having walked the halls of academe for over two decades, I can associate friends with the primary characters.  One scene caught my eye recently, where a main character plays a . . . . Continue Reading »

As a literature professor, one of the challenges I face is helping students to see that “fiction” and “falsehood” are not interchangeable terms.  Just because something is fictional does not mean that it is, per se, untrue; fiction is imaginative prose that may or may . . . . Continue Reading »

When I was in doctoral work, I enjoyed taking courses from professors who smoked because they took longer breaks (our seminars met once per week, with a break about halfway through the session).  This was the time when we got to know our classmates, which greatly enhanced class discussions.One . . . . Continue Reading »

Over the holidays, my wife and I saw two movies, both on the recommendations of trusted friends: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Hugo.I was, pre-children, a pretty hard-core film buff.  One week in college I cut an entire week of classes for a science fiction film festival, something . . . . Continue Reading »

I’m a bit out of my depth when it comes to international affairs, but the convergence of two deaths over the weekend bears commentary.  North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il and former Czech president Vaclav Havel both passed the bar into eternity and their leadership could not have been more . . . . Continue Reading »