I just went to the Globe's site and had a good chuckle when I saw this picture teamed with this headline:
Dion makes surprise Afghan visit
It literally looks like they are at a surprise party.
In other news, Philip Lee a professor of journalism at my undergraduate alma matter keeps a blog which has been focused on the current labour dispute there. I've found it really interesting/disheartening to read some of the commentaries from professors I either took courses from or worked with on Senate committees etc. and for whom I have a great deal of respect. (See for instance: Shaun Narine [see here as well], Tom Bateman, Elizabeth McKim, or Russ Hunt). I had, in all honesty, been avoiding informing myself too much on the issues of the current 'labour dispute' (not sure why but that feels like a potentially inauthentic term in some ways for this situation). However, being home in New Brunswick over the Christmas holidays really got me thinking about it a lot more. It's also disheartening insofar as I was in my final years at STU quite involved with the Students' Union and one of the last things I did on my way out of office was to work on improving relations between the Faculty's Union and the Students' Union whom for no real particular reason and for many reasons had no real relationship. At that point, the faculty were heading into negotiations which eventually ended in a bitter dispute the following academic year (2005) with a looming strike ever present. In any case, when I met with a then FAUST executive member to talk about general ways the two unions may work together, create a general dialogue to better inform each other on the other's work etc, and specifically to talk about their upcoming negotiations the conversation ended very quickly in me getting up to leave as I'd basically been told in no uncertain terms that "kid, it's us or them, pick your side and pick it now." I had no time for this blind ideology particularly as this was about 3 minutes into the conversation. I left and was followed down the hall (where classes were changing) by this particular faculty member yelling at me about how students who 'prop up the admin' are part of the problem, man.
As such, I found I was unsurprised by commentaries such as those featured on Lee's blog. I have been quite pleased to see a number of professors such as Shaun Narine or Tom Bateman make such eloquent commentaries on the dynamics within FAUST and amongst faculty members, I'm glad someone is taking these stands, if only to promote a more open and free discourse amongst an atomsphere that seems to have many of the hallmarks of my experiences of the 'new' 'new left.' That is, movements (whatever that even means) which purport to be all about concepts such as freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom to dissent, and respect for human dignity....unless you wish to do so within these groups/movements. No, then there is no room for dissent, you're merely 'part of the problem man.'
Amongst this intra-faculty disputing, if you will, what I've found to be most interesting (important) is that what seems to be emerging as a debate about the institutional raison d'etre,particularly in relation to issues surrounding research and teaching. If this is an accurate perception, I feel that the battles being fought are quite critical not only to STU but, at risk of being overly dramatic, the PSE system in Canada as a whole.
Having had some critical space since my years at STU it is so clear to me, in retrospect, how much the institutional focus on students and importantly - teaching - has had such a profound impact on my life in so many ways. I know I would never go to STU if I had the chance to go back in time IF the institution began to take on the hallmarks of so many of my friends' undergraduate experiences at larger research focused institutions where TAs a few years ahead of them teaching their courses was the norm, as were disgruntled professors who were taking time away from their research to teach (this is of course not all but, seemed to be the all too prevailing norm). Conversely, the education opportunities I had in both my BA and MA, while not from these large 'prestigious' research institutes in Canada, I feel gave me unparalleled opportunities and experiences (albeit not all that this master procrastinator and overworked individual took full advantage of). Of course, the quality of teaching varied by professor but, with the exception of one or two (of dozens) all of my professors were available and eager to meet with me, enthusiastic about their subject matter, engaging and well-researched. Moreover, nuances of the lessons and skills I learned from professors are still unfolding themselves in a multitude of ways to this very day (and I suspect will for some time).
In any case, this question about whether STU specifically should be shifting in its mandate with regards to the faculty has been of particular interest to me not only as a alumnus but, as a someone who is now aspiring to go on in a few years to earn a PhD with an aspiration to one day become a professor. I credit my time at STU as well as Saint Paul/U of Ottawa, with my personal privileging of desiring to pursue a career that would be teaching-based. I've always felt that in academia one ought to work to maintain a balance between the practical and the theoretical, and, that one of the primary benefits of academia is to play a role in enacting social change (particularly the humanities and social sciences). [Clearly, all academics, or other interested observers, may not share the later view; but I do suspect that most everyone within academia wants their life's work to be 'relevant' beyond the proverbial ivory tower.] For me, then, akin to my view of enacting social change outside of the walls of academia, I think enacting social change takes all types playing different roles. That is, people working ‘within’ the system and without. Clearly, research, (especially research that is action-orientated, or employs methodologies such as participatory action research, and/or is produced for numerous audiences) is critical to enacting social change. What has been surprising to me however, has been the lack of appreciation of a similar role for academics who privilege teaching in their careers. I do not tend to rank these two ‘types’ hierarchically as the mainstream PSE system seems to, placing teaching focused professors at the lower end (here I would acknowledge there are not only two, or that it problematic to portray professors' roles as having to fall one side or the other of a false bifurcation of 'research' or 'teaching'). For me, it’s simple, both are of clear importance and it is disheartening when teaching is not acknowledged as such. When I think of all the skills, insights, confidence, and drive to affect change in the world that strong liberal arts teaching instilled in me and then multiply this by the number of students moving through the hallways of institutions such as STU I see this as having just as much, if not more, of a potential impact to shift minds, to enact social change, to, as cheesy as it seems work to create a better world as research itself. As one of my profs used to paraphrase another academic - journal articles are generally read by 12 people - 6 of your friends and 6 of your enemies ....
While good old Socrates' 'all I know is I know nothing' generally resonates all too well with me, I also know that I do not want to see labour disputes like the one at STU result in Canadian universities shifting entirely away from teaching and strictly into factories pumping out paper (including students who are reduced to degrees and diplomas). I do not want institutions like STU to be unrecognizable to me if and when I eventually set out to embark on my career within academia. I want a chance to give to students what so many of my professors have given to me.
