I read on Torontoist that Banksy, famous British street artist and social commentator is coming to Toronto to promote a new documentary “Exit through the bakeshop.” Here are some of his works that have been appearing around Toronto. Here are some more. Also, there was a poster campaign on Queen West. I admire his social …
Category Archives: Academic Life
Cute old Disney video about identity politics
This eight minute video seems tailor-made for use as an example in a cultural studies honours paper … Thanks to Arun Jacob for the link.
Happy Mothers Day! A party in King City with my family.
I like feasts like Mothers Day, because I get a chance to spend time with my extended family in a relaxed way. I like parties that focus on a person or a theme. They have a warmth and ease that regular get-togethers sometimes lack. If people have had a rough week, their trials can sometimes …
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Measuring up for tenure and promotion at McMaster
Today we had an interesting discussion in our tenure and promotion committee meeting around documentation. For those of you who know about how secretive universities tend to be, and how much word of mouth tends to rule the roost, you’ll be surprised to learn that universities are moving to a system where less is done …
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[Belatedly] commemorating tenure with a pen
I picked up a gift from my grandmother today. A gift that she had given me money to buy a few years ago when I was granted tenure by McMaster University. She is terribly ill right now, perhaps in the beginning of a sad slow decline. In many ways, she was the person who raised …
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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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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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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 …