Author Archives: Robert Basil

The Cannabis Curriculum

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Robert Basil

From my visionary university.

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“The Personal Essay”

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Robert Basil

From the wonderful Atrios: Generally, when any part of education rewards students for being confessional, you are going to attract/reward students who are comfortable with the genre of personal confession. It’s a weird thing to ask of students, and a weird … Continue reading →

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10% and “the crisis in knowledge”

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Robert Basil

Writes Jonathan Mayhew: Knowledge is under attack from several fronts at once. In science itself, it is due to corporate corruption and the inherent bias toward interesting but possibly false results. There was that paper about how most scientific findings are false.  … Continue reading →

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“Pedagogy of Delinquency”

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Robert Basil

From my friend Clarissa: There are several foundational principles to the pedagogy of delinquency. Respect. These are kids who value respect like nothing else in the world because it’s so rare in their world. Respect yourself, respect them, and accept … Continue reading →

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Alpha

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Robert Basil

The end is the beginning.

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Hello, business communicators!

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Robert Basil

My fall semester starts tomorrow. I have two online sections of Advanced Professional Communications. These are fun classes. Teaching at Kwantlen Polytechnic University has been such a blessing.

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“We Agree …”

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Robert Basil

“We agree much more than you think.” This was Niels Bohr‘s kind way of indicating profound disagreement with a colleague’s point of view.  The genial physicist knew that the literal truth of that statement – after all, all scientists would … Continue reading →

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And VPL has a lovely twitter feed

Posted on August 25, 2018 by Robert Basil

https://www.nocontest.ca/2013/12/19/vancouvers-commonweal/

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Independent Creativity: Making Yourself Successful

Posted on August 25, 2018 by Robert Basil

The wonderful Molly Crabapple explains what she has learned, in fifteen paragraphs. Here are a half dozen: Companies are not loyal to you. Please never believe a company has your back. They are amoral by design and will discard you at a … Continue reading →

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Saudi Students and “Veblen Goods”

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Robert Basil

I’ve had a number of superb students at Kwantlen Polytechnic University from that country. This is awful news. From Inside Higher Ed this morning: Saudi Arabian students in Canada are caught in diplomatic crossfire. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education is … Continue reading →

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