Author Archives: Robert Basil

The angry period. When texting.

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Robert Basil

Writes Clair Landsbaum in complex.com: It’s much easier to be aggressive over text because you’re not face-to-face with the person you’re talking to, and people are finding new ways to express that aggression via the humble period. A new study … Continue reading →

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CMO.com’s 2015 Guide to the Social Media Landscape

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Robert Basil

CMO’s always valuable social media infographics and slideshows have been staples in my classrooms the last few years, in particular its “Social Media Landscape” series. The one for 2015, thumbnailed above, takes a bit of a new approach, focusing on “overall … Continue reading →

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Photogrammar: An historical treasure trove

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Robert Basil

This photograph, shot in April 1943 by Marjorie Collins, is part of a delightful & important project in which more than 100,000 images – taken from 1935-1944 by photographers working the Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information – … Continue reading →

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Free textbooks and other resources for students and educators

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Robert Basil

Students who suffer under the burden of high tuition and large student loans need all the financial help the world can provide them. For my upper-level communications classes the last couple of years I have been using an excellent online … Continue reading →

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The “trick to ambiguity”

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Robert Basil

From the great Language Log: Most of the ambiguity contained in normal language use is passed over without any awareness on the audience’s part of the potential for double meanings. If one of the two intended meanings in an ad … Continue reading →

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Needing Readers

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Robert Basil

In my classes, as well as in my career as a “communications guy,” I stress the requirement that all written pieces be read by one or several people prior to submission or publication. My friend, the scholar Jonathan Mayhew, has … Continue reading →

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The Muse

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Robert Basil

I’m not a great creative individual by any stretch, but I do respect my muse and do *not* screw with it. My friend kat passed along this letter by musician Nick Cave, which he wrote to MTV in 1996, in … Continue reading →

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Doing the reading …

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Robert Basil

Although I am sure there *are* professors who have estimated how long it will take their students to complete their assigned tasks – written assignments, presentations, homework activities, project research, and textbook reading – I doubt I know any who … Continue reading →

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Peruse this …

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Robert Basil

I recently finished a pretty good book, The Lexicographer’s Dilemma: The Evolution of ‘Proper’ English from Shakespeare to South Park, by Rutgers Professor Jack Lynch. It provides a helpful history of the English language dictionary (other European languages had dictionaries long before … Continue reading →

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Oh, British Columbia … You are consuming your seed corn

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Robert Basil

My province’s teachers have lost a big battle. From the Vancouver Sun just now: VANCOUVER – The provincial government has scored a major victory in court, with the appeal court Thursday overturning a judgment that would have restored class size … Continue reading →

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