Archive for work-life
Some meaning
I’m lucky I’ve been able to extend my teaching career a bit, at University Canada West, after taking Kwantlen‘s retirement buy-out. My two advanced professional communications classes this term are really wonderful. A special bonus is that one of the classes starts at 8AM on Monday morning.
It was a good day.
I received another royalty cheque yesterday. The textbook Dave Ingre and I wrote has been in print and in continuous use for almost nine years. That’s a long time for a textbook.
My fall classes at University Canada West have been lovely. Going into this week I had been in quite a funk, but my two classes earlier this week revived my spirits. My students rescue the best in me.
LeAnne Flaherty
A few days ago I had the good fortune to chat (via Skype) with advanced undergraduate students at Brooklyn College. Our topic was “parapsychology.” The gifted and nimble instructor of Psych 3585 was LeAnne Flaherty, who was a student in that same class the last time I was invited (by my genius brother-in-law Frank Grasso).
It is such a good class and important topic to study and discuss.
The syllabus says, “Students in parapsychology will learn and practice the concepts and methods of critical thinking used in the science of psychology. Parapsychology is a branch of empirical psychology that has made controversial and not widely accepted claims about the nature of the human mind and human mental abilities. … Through the critical examination of the peer-reviewed parapsychology literature and lectures on the history and methods of parapsychology, students will develop the background knowledge and use skills psychological scientists and scholars use to judge the evidence for extraordinary scientific claims.”
This is a superb way to teach some of the most important things you need to learn at university: critical thinking, the scientific method, and intelligently and ethically communicating findings and argument across disciplines and cultures. …
Brooklyn College knows how to do it right. Thank you to Leanne Flaherty for the invitation and to her students for being so involved and amazing.
LeAnne passed away a few weeks ago. Her friend Daniella wrote on the GoFundMe page she set up for LeAnne: “We all loved Lea so much and will miss her terribly. Let’s carry on her spirit of love, kindness, and silliness in our hearts as a way to keep part of her with us, and to help navigate a world that can be so unfair and difficult.”
I found LeAnne to be a charming and generous and truly friendly person – a terrific colleague, too. I liked her very much. And I could see how much her students loved and admired her.
She was still young. This really hurts.
Miles Basil’s new gig
After seven or so years living in Nashville and working at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, my gastroenterologist son moved to the Boston area with his truly marvellous wife and my two super-alive grandsons. You can book an appointment with my son here.
Dr. Miles Basil received his medical degree from the University at Buffalo prior to completing his residency at Boston Medical Center. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, after which he remained on as staff attending in the Center for Human Nutrition and Celiac Disease clinic. Dr. Basil has an interest in general gastroenterology, colon cancer screening, and celiac disease. Dr. Basil joined the faculty at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in 2024 and is an active participant in student and resident education.
2025
Next year, at summer’s end, I will be retiring from Kwantlen Polytechnic University. I will remain open to other contract opportunities elsewhere after that, but this will be it for me as a full-time prof. The decision conveys my acceptance that I am just not the marvellous teacher I used to be: The oil in my olive is no longer extra-virgin, and my students and I share fewer and fewer references in culture and in history.
A friend wrote me earlier: “Give a special mindfulness to every day in the classroom. These years that defined you will no longer be your lifescape. You are a teacher and took that as a trade and an obligation quite seriously and you got a lot of joy from it. Just savour all the days between now and when you’re over the wall.” I will.
My favourite Trotskyist website …
… has changed its homepage design.
I always learn a lot from these people.
Catching up with Thanos
Your favorite editor standing by his university‘s Entertainment Arts hallway, on the Richmond campus.
Crossing the Fraser River in the early morning
There is almost nothing I love more than taking the Amtrak Cascades train south and across the border. Coming back up north, to Vancouver, comes close, though.
A complex feeling stretched over time
I’ve been a truly fervent fan of Stanford University’s women’s basketball team since the early-mid 1990s, during my second span of time at that school. A former student of mine helped manage the team, and she gave me floor tickets to some of the home games. That was it for me – I was a lifer.
Last night the coach of that Stanford team, the great Tara VanDerveer, won her 1203rd college game (in front of the home crowd) – more than any other college basketball coach, man or woman, surpassing Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke. In front of the crowd after the win, she said,
I want to bring attention to the wonderfulness of these players that work so hard and I’m so jealous because I never got to do what they get to do, but I’m able to watch a little girl’s dream play out through them. I’d be outside shooting by myself and thinking about what it could be like to play in front of a full arena and have a great game like this, but I never got to do it. But I’ve got the best seat in the house and I love it. [h/t Michelle Smith (McDonald)]
Bittersweet.
The work international students must do in B.C.
Several years ago my late Kwantlen colleague Arley McNeney organized a class project in which her students presented research on the challenges international students at our school face. I was embarrassed when I read their report; I had been so clueless, about so much, regarding the lives of my own students. I was particularly alarmed by the report’s findings illustrating how many international students faced continual food insecurity. There were additional widespread problems these students face, including precarious living situations (usually far away from a KPU campus) and abusive work environments.
This week The Tyee published what can be read as an update of the report prepared by Arley’s class: “Cash Cows and Cheap Labour: The Plight of International Students.” One disquieting theme: Students recruited internationally were shocked by how many hours they needed to work outside of school simply to survive in Canada. One study surveyed
1,300 international students at Langara and the College of New Caledonia in Prince George. They found the vast majority of students were working, and many were struggling. Only 28 per cent of surveyed Langara students said they had enough cash to meet their basic needs.
In theory, international students need to show they have the financial means to support themselves for one year in Canada. Since the early 2000s, that figure has been set at tuition, travel costs and $10,000 in cash. The federal government has recently announced that figure will double to $20,635.
But McCartney said the government likely knew for years that the $10,000 threshold was far too little to make ends meet, especially in cities like Vancouver, where the cost of a vacant rental unit stood at $2,373 a month as of last year.
The result was that students, either by plan or by necessity, found jobs. …
“At the end of the day, I think that we all believe students shouldn’t have to work 40 hours a week to pay for their rent, their groceries, their food. I wish that was the reality,” Chirino said. “But when you look at their fees and how much they have to pay, that simply isn’t feasible.”
At least 90% of my international students have jobs, very often more than one job. But it is not rare for me to hear growling stomachs in the classroom.
A couple of weeks ago, our university president, Alan Davis, wrote an open letter to the university community on this topic:
We have done significant work to improve the experience for international students in the past few years, but we also heard what you said [in a recent large survey] and there is more to do….
This won’t be an easy road. The federal and provincial governments are taking a close look at international education and some of the changes they are making or might propose could have a significant impact on KPU. While we’ve been gradually increasing the diversity of our international student population and we’ve seen a softening of international enrolment, the emerging external factors provide additional complexity in forecasting future trends.
Our annual student satisfaction survey repeatedly shows a higher proportion of our international students have more positive views of KPU than domestic students across several important metrics, including supporting student success and feeling part of the community. We have some strong foundations, but we will build on them in a careful and considerate way.
Blue Blocker
My friend @bfwriter told me I could clean up my Twitter feed with this Chrome extension.
I’ve been spending more and more time over on the Threads platform, though, to see reporting from the war in the Middle East.
The right tone and focus, I think
From my university’s president just now:
Colleagues,
The events this past weekend in Israel and Palestinian-territories have been profoundly disturbing. While we respect the right of Palestinian people to address legitimate grievances as well as Israel’s right to defend itself, indiscriminate violence against innocent civilians is unconscionable.
Undoubtedly, some of you will have been deeply affected by these events. The following supports are available to the KPU community.
For students:
- TELUS Health Student Support app provides KPU students with unlimited, free, 24-hour access to trained counsellors available in several different languages in addition to other wellness resources and information.
- KPU Counselling Services are available online or by phone for students. Please visit us online to book an appointment or for more information.
- KPU Student Resources ‘Quick Guide’ – a quick guide to online information and resources for all KPU students.
For employees:
- Homewood Health, KPU’s Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) provider, is available to help with counselling and other services.
During these periods of global upheaval, please take time to think about those around you: your colleagues, your students, your friends and your family. Please support those in need and encourage them to seek assistance.
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Fall term …
… starts today at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. I have 85 new students, and life is very good.
Teaching
This week I start my twenty-first year of teaching at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Artificial Intelligence technology like ChatGPT has required that I prepare a layer of adaptations to my curriculum this semester. It will be a new experience and perhaps a fun one.
I started university teaching forty years ago, at Stanford – as a graduate student TA in Larry Friedlander‘s famous Shakespeare class. Heavenly bliss (and no personal computers, let alone no internet). I went on to create and teach my own classes there.
Before Kwantlen and after my initial Stanford years, I had taken a couple of lengthy breaks from teaching but stayed in the same mental neighbourhood (writing, editing, mentoring, and publishing). I have always known what I wanted to do.
It’s a sweet gig!
Applications for two full-time regular faculty positions in my department – Applied Communications – are being accepted until February 10. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please encourage them to apply. This is the link to the job posting. Kwantlen Polytechnic University is a fine place to work.
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