I had a good night hanging out with people who are passionate about citizen engagement at the Hamilton Civic League town hall tonight. The Townhall meeting and panel discussion was held at Westdale High School. There was fantastic organic coffee from Red Hill Coffee Trade. The subject matter was the Aerotropolis – a proposed expansion …
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What’s wrong with Canadian universities – part 2: How to reform them?
On April 15, I wrote a blog post about why I think Margaret Wente is wrong to say that universities are sitting ducks for reform because the system is overly focused on professors and research. She said that professors, because of a sense of entitlement and because of tenure, think that they are above the …
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Opera Hamilton – La Bohème!
Had a great night with Giacomo Puccini at Opera Hamilton tonight! Thanks to my friend Megan Coppolino of kitestring.ca, I was able to get a last-minute ticket. I think I may have found a new opera-buddy. What a lucky thing. Opera Hamilton is fantastic. Their La Bohème took me on the usual emotional roller coaster …
What’s wrong with Canadian universities – part 1
The university system is limping, that’s for sure. But it’s because of short-sighted decisions by policy-makers, not because of rebellious professors, as Margaret Wente would have us believe. I have been a professor of communication studies and French at McMaster University since 2001. In July of that year, I joined McMaster as the first professor …
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Laid out by a huge cold – but reading two books in King City!
I have had the worst cold that I have experienced in 10 years since Monday. My parents came over on Sunday night to help me clean my house. They like doing this, not because I am incapable, but it makes them feel they doing something productive, other than sitting around and visiting with me. I …
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Simplifying and focusing my life
I did a very stupid thing early this week and lost someone I care deeply about. A person who made me dream, who unlocked my creativity. A kindred spirit. It has shaken me to the core. I am still reeling from from it today. It has been a rough week. This has pushed me to …
Massive Artists Party at the Art Gallery of Ontario
This evening, my oldest friend, Stanley Yee, who’s President of the Dragon Fencing Academy, and I went to the AGO’s Massive Artists Party. It was a really nice night. Because Stanley and I are both members of the AGO Next Young Patrons Circle, we got to go to the pre-party, which took place in the …
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FRESH Symposium – CSMM@Mac!
Today I attended our Communication Studies and Multimedia students’ FRESH* Symposium, which features the best of their work in a poster format. It was fabulous. At 1.30pm, Dr. David Ogborn, a sound artist and professor of multimedia in my department introduced his laptop orchestra. That was a great moment. Listening to 1280 Lounge filled with …
The Hon. Paddy Torsney gives a guest lecture to CMST 3QQ3: Communications Campaigns and Elections
Today was an excellent day at Mac for me. Not only was it the last day of class and the end of a superb Level III seminar on Communications Campaigns for Not-for-Profits and Elections, but we had a distinguished visitor, my old friend, the Honourable Paddy Torsney. It was a real thrill for the students …
A text message ended a special connection
Today I received a text message that told me that someone for whom I care deeply, someone with whom I share a common outlook on the world and so many common traits and feelings no longer wants to communicate with me. I realise that I made errors, but actually feeling the stinging loss of a …
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