Author Archives: Robert Basil

Our Work Is Everywhere

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Robert Basil

Portland, Oregon artist Syan Rose’s book ‘Our Work is Everywhere: An Illustrated Oral History of Queer & Trans Resistance,’ is breath-taking and profound. I went through it slowly over the course of three days, letting these voices and insights try … Continue reading →

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I wish I had written this.

Posted on April 10, 2021 by Robert Basil

Back in the day a journalist for the Norfolk Pilot newspaper got his copy back from his editor with this note: “Sorry it’s so short but a certain amount of muck, spleen, libel, hogwash, garbage, neologism, prurience, presumption, assumption, half-assumption, … Continue reading →

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design + ways

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Robert Basil

My Kwantlen colleague Arley Cruther‘s essay “An Incomplete History of My Teaching Body” is breathtaking, beautiful and profound. Just published in a collection called “Voices of Practice: Narrative Scholarship from the Margin,” Arley’s piece starts this way: My summer pandemic … Continue reading →

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It will be so good to get back in the classroom.

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Robert Basil

I will not be able to hide my tears.

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When in doubt …

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Robert Basil

… draw a distinction, says Jay Rosen.

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J. Hillis Miller

Posted on February 14, 2021 by Robert Basil

Professor Miller was a genial man whose ardent advocacy of the “deconstruction” movement in literary and cultural criticism was notable for his uncommonly graceful prose style. His early book “Poets of Reality” was a revelation to me my first year … Continue reading →

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You got to dance with who brung you

Posted on February 2, 2021 by Robert Basil

A year or two ago a colleague who teaches business classes at my university suggested allowing students – whose term projects focused on opportunities in nations where English was not the predominant tongue – prepare their final reports/portfolios/presentations in Cantonese, … Continue reading →

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The mess of thinking

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Robert Basil

Inaccurate interpretations of a particular data-point can nonetheless provide metaphors that describe a lot.

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Picturing the news

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Robert Basil

Peter Maass of The Intercept asks a really good question: “Why have Americans seen relatively little imagery of people suffering from Covid-19? While there is a long-running debate over the influence of disturbing images of death and dying — whether … Continue reading →

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Being on paper

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Robert Basil

One of my favourite publishing ventures is the “Certain Days: The Freedom for Political Prisoners” calendars, “a joint fundraising and educational project between outside organizers in Montreal, Hamilton, New York and Baltimore, with two political prisoners being held in maximum-security … Continue reading →

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