Author Archives: trenthergenrader

Star Wars Canon Completion…Sort of

Posted on March 26, 2017 by trenthergenrader

Back in mid-October I decided on a project—I was going to move through the entire Star Wars canon in chronological order, hitting every film, TV show episode, novel, and comic from start to finish. I am now within two books … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Media, Reading | Leave a comment

Star Wars Lists

Posted on October 17, 2016 by trenthergenrader

I’m planning on teaching a Star Wars-themed, RPG-driven creative writing course at least once (hopefully/possibly more) during the 2017-2018 academic year. To that end I’m trying to get caught up on the new Di$ney-dictated Star Wars canon and also keeping … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Games, Reading, Role-Playing | Leave a comment

#TeachMeYouDid

Posted on May 4, 2016 by trenthergenrader

#TeachMeYouDid is a mashup of Star Wars and teacher appreciation, where people are encouraged to recognize the educators who made a difference in their lives and “woke up the Force in them.” I entered graduate school in 2006 envisioning myself … Continue reading →

Posted in Pedagogy | Tagged | 1 Comment

Collaborative World Building Explained

Posted on March 23, 2016 by trenthergenrader

I was asked by a student reporter to write something up that explains my world building class. I have no idea what the final article is going to look like or how much of this will be used, so I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Digital Media, Fiction, Games, Pedagogy, Role-Playing | Leave a comment

Initial Thoughts on Fallout 4

Posted on November 11, 2015 by trenthergenrader

I say with no exaggeration that Fallout 3 changed my life. It brought me back to videogaming in a serious way (I’d been playing the FIFA series, GTA, and little else) and demonstrated, in no uncertain terms, the importance role-playing … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Media, Games, Role-Playing | Leave a comment

My Research in a Nutshell, or Haters Gonna Hate

Posted on August 28, 2015 by trenthergenrader

Working on my third-year review document and I wrote this summary of my research. Thought I encapsulated it rather well, if I do say so myself, so I thought I’d share it here: My research resides at the intersection of … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Games, Pedagogy, Role-Playing | Leave a comment

Spring 2015 Speculative Fiction Workshop Reading List

Posted on June 22, 2015 by trenthergenrader

I posted this for some colleagues in the Creative Writing Pedagogy Facebook group. The books below are Jeff Vandermeer’s Wonderbook, Gardner Dozois’s Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection, and Paula Guran’s Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014. Happy … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fiction, Pedagogy, Reading | Leave a comment

Artwork from the Silmarillion

Posted on June 8, 2015 by trenthergenrader

I’m teaching a Tolkien course in the fall. I realize that The Silmarillion (which I was introduced to as an undergrad and quickly became one of my all-time favorite books) can be a difficult entry point into Tolkien’s work and … Continue reading →

Posted in Pedagogy, Reading | Leave a comment

What’s an RPG/fanfic Writing Workshop Look Like?

Posted on April 3, 2015 by trenthergenrader

Here’s what we did today in a 75 minute session of my Game of Thrones fanfic/RPG course. There were 17 people in class, making it a challenge to keep the story interesting for everyone. This covered the first day of … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fiction, Games, Pedagogy, Role-Playing | Leave a comment

On the Syllabus as EULA and Other Teaching Anxieties

Posted on August 27, 2014 by trenthergenrader

We’re an anxious bunch, academics, aren’t we? Cue a new school year and we’re (again) fretting over whether Google is making us stupid, if using laptops in class leads to shallow thinking, and generally whether electronics and digital media are … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Media, Pedagogy | Leave a comment