At the corner NUIT BLANCHE

At the corner NUIT BLANCHE
Originally uploaded by JoelRichardson

Fun evening at Nuit Blanche. We were a part of Joel's project. Unfortunately I can't find us pictured.

Possible Proposals

Reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man gave me the idea of exploring how art can be used by marginalized communities for emancipatory/liberatory purposes. This is quite general of course . It's also quite a diversion from my previous work which has largely been in mental health. Not sure yet how I'd sell it to an admissions committee or faculty member.

The Role of Staff in a University

I was giving this some thought yesterday. Staff are kind of the unsung heroes of the education system. They certainly don't receive the glory and honour given to faculty and they're not treated with the sort of curious reverence that students are afforded; yet they fulfill a vital function and without them the university would grind to a halt in a hurry.

I would also add that although they receive very few honours, they do receive a great deal of the blame when things don't go the way people want them to. When things take a long time or it's necessary to put in place unfavourable, occasionally foolish, policies, staff are expected to enact, carry out, and defend them to students and faculty who are effected. They are often treated as second class citizens by both students and faculty.

Moreover, when it comes to furthering the cause of social justice staff contribute as much as faculty or staff in that they create the conditions under which social justice happens. They DO social justice by organizing and collaborating with students and faculty to make happen events and microevents of resistence against the neoliberal creep that is affecting all universities.

PhD Update

Well today I asked a colleague if she’ll provide a reference letter. I’m not sure she’s OK with it. Her reaction was a bit like she’s just smelled something bad. I reassured her it was for other programs. Still not not an excellent sign.

I’ve got to work on narrowing down which programs I intend to apply to. It’s a real struggle finding appropriate part-time programs so I can continue working full-time. Sadly I can’t afford to go to school full-time although that would be my ideal situation.

Judges give Iraqi shoe thrower 3 years in prison

Judges give Iraqi shoe thrower 3 years in prison

Can you fracken believe this? Three years! He should have gotten a trophy.

Choose!

This is from the new United Way campaign. So, picture yourself as a woman in her autumn years. You have two choices, what appears to be grim death, or wearing a pink track suit with a matching visor. Admit it, it's a tough call.

Terry Jones on Weapons Manufacturing

The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh: An English Verison with an Introduction by Anonymous

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
An adventure story in the best tradition. I'd suggest that it might be better read as a poem but it's sooo difficult to translate poetry effectively, that's it's not unequivocal that this prose interpretation isn't the better way to go.



It's also interesting how many contemporary adventure stories, and indeed stories that come to grips with our mortality, draw on this epic: either intentionally or not.


View all my reviews.

This is very cool (and Canadian)