Today I returned to my office at McGill for the first time since February 2020. There was stuff in the fridge that I’d left in 2020. The most frightening thing was some store bought hummus that had not developed any visible weird molds on it. I did not taste it–it is almost more disturbing that …
Author Archives: Jonathan Sterne
McGill faculty: if you don’t provide Covid accommodations to your disabled, high-risk, or ill students, nobody will
Here are some things concerned faculty ought to know about McGill’s return to campus happening next week (or in three weeks, depending). Faculty need to step up and be the ones to provide accommodation for students who need it. The university is NOT currently accommodating students who are high risk or who live with people …
Translation of McGill’s Return to School Announcement into English
For most years since 1997, I have taught a first year university intro to communication studies course. While I don’t often focus on interpretation of media messages or public relations–there are lots of other things to cover–sometimes it’s a good exercise. To keep myself in shape, I thought I would practice on McGill’s latest announcement …
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Zoom Teaching: Omicron Edition (or, the ballad of Mr. Twinkles)
We are in what feels like semester 1 trillion of Zoom teaching. I don’t know about you, but I’m still talking with people about engaging students online. Here are a few things that have come up. It’ll be elementary for some readers but useful for others. This post is adapted from a conversation I was …
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So that was 2021
What a tough year. And I had it easy! All I had to do was not catch the virus. I succeeded on that front. But like lots of others, I was also tired a lot of the time and sometimes stressed out, and didn’t get to spend time with people I wanted to spent time …
Trevor Pinch and Gratitude
On December 16th, my friend and colleague Trevor Pinch passed away. Plenty of people knew Trevor better than I did. But Trevor helped me to understand what it means to be a person in the academic world. The most important thing I learned from Trevor is gratitude. I don’t mean the platitudinous “practicing gratitude” thing …
On proceduralism and disability
Last week Collegeland had a podcast on universities denying accommodations to faculty, staff and students that featured guests Bess Williamson, Aimi Hamraie, and me. It’s recommended listening if you are interested in higher education and the politics of disability. While I was away in the forest, I finally got an email from McGill’s HR acknowledging …