English Professors Invite Anyone to Contribute to Presidential-Inauguration Blog

Got thoughts about, praise for, or criticisms of the festivities celebrating Barack Obama’s inauguration? Are you in Washington and eager to offer a quick report or photograph from the scene? Submit any of the above to a new blog created by two English professors at Miami University of Ohio, who say they will not turn away any on-topic submission. In fact all submitted items are automatically posted to the blog.

The professors call the project “a radically inclusive inaugural anthology,” but it’s basically a straightforward experiment in participatory journalism. They call it Post_Moot.

Dozens of people from around the world, many of them professors, have contributed since the blog fired up this weekend. The creators, William R. Howe, a visiting professor of English, and Chris Cheek, an associate professor of English, sent word about the project to several academic e-mail lists to seek submissions.

The professors thought up the project after reading about the controversy over Mr. Obama’s choice of the Rev. Rick Warren to give the opening prayer at tomorrow’s swearing-in ceremony. Many gay-rights supporters have criticized the selection of Mr. Warren, who opposes gay marriage. “I was thinking, Well, wouldn’t it be great to work on an anthology of contributions that was radically inclusive, instead of trying to be tight in its political correctness?” Mr. Cheek said in an interview today.

Some of the messages posted to the blog attempt humor, like one titled “Lines Rejected for the Inaugural Speech.” It reads: “What if the answer really is blowin’ in the wind?” One or Mr. Howe’s favorite submissions is a photograph of Obama posters in Brooklyn.

To join in, send an e-mail message to postmoot@gmail.com, or use a form on the blog. Or you can look up the professors on Twitter and send them a note via the micro-blogging service. —Jeffrey R. Young