Let’s get back to it. There’s catching up to do but in the meantime, I invite you to join me in the middle. Here are some thoughts from the past week. Reproducibility As part of my Interfaces seminar this term, I am having students do their projects around a process I called “hermeneutic reverse-engineering” (this …
Category Archives: Academe
It’s been awhile
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 …
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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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 …
Here’s what our (and probably your) university should do about disability during the pandemic
Proposed immediate solutions for faculty and staff: Allow people to decide for themselves how to teach or do their jobs while the pandemic continues. This may include online or hybrid solutions. This disburdens multiple levels of administration. It places a slightly greater burden on Teaching and Learning Services, but only to support the level of blended …
Aaaand, some good news
The latest cancer update is that after this week’s CT scan, everything is steady and controlled, which is how it’s been for awhile. Sometimes I wonder if I should even keep doing these updates unless something goes south. Here’s where we are at. I’m on a kind of oral chemotherapy called a TKI. It works …