The move in Canadian academia to “decolonize” or “Indigenize,” and commit to broader frameworks of reconciliation, pertains to how work is done within universities, as well as how universities engage with broader communities. Commitments aim to increase the visibility of Indigenous academics, including hiring of Indigenous faculty members and staff, but they are also about the […] … learn more→

When I started my podcast, Studies in Taylor Swift, in the spring of 2021, I felt that I was simultaneously helping to invent, and trying to catch up to, the academic discipline of Taylor Swift studies. Though there wasn’t much published on reading Swift as literature, I had no trouble finding guests who had some kind […] … learn more→

Many of us remember vividly being yelled at or feeling threatened by a family member, a teacher, or a boss. Terrifying experiences often get imprinted in our memory; remembering frightening events is essential to avoid them in future. It is a normal reaction that promotes our survival. This strong connection between fear and memory may lead […] … learn more→

Measuring the number of steps you take every day; tracking your heart rate, your pace or average ascent while jogging; memorizing the total distance you cycle over the course of a year and sharing it with an online community. These practices have become commonplace in the world of sport, even for amateurs. This digitization of […] … learn more→

When we play chess or cards, we can feel like we are racking our brains. But is it true that they stimulate our mind? Can playing board games help us train memory, attention or impulse control? Play, in addition to a recognized right of childhood, is what allows us to learn from our environment from an early […] … learn more→

Artificial intelligence (AI) carries with it the seeds of major impacts in many sectors of society over the coming decades. Some of these effects could be positive, others less so. When ChatGPT was released , the teaching profession, proud of its integrity and high ethical standards, feared that AI could expand opportunities for student cheating . The question remains relevant. Some […] … learn more→

Advances and research in the field of education do not usually have as much impact or be as immediately useful as those that occur in the fields of health, science, technology and engineering. Education is not an exact or experimental science, and although neuroscience has a lot to say about how our brain assimilates information , the truth […] … learn more→

In our house we have a favourite story about the time our toddler was dragged from the National Portrait Gallery kicking and screaming “I want to see more paintings!!!” She needed lunch, we had to go, but she really loved the “Nick Cave Gallery”, as she called it, with his luminous portrait by Howard Arkley on display. […] … learn more→

ChatGPT has become popular throughout the year 2023. Its ability to generate content, with a series of prior textual instructions, not necessarily very extensive, has caused both astonishment and despair in the educational environment. In the academic world (schools, institutes, vocational training centers and universities) there has been concern when thinking that a generative chatbot could replace […] … learn more→

Mark Twain apocryphally said, “I’m in favor of progress; it’s change I don’t like.” This quote pithily underscores the human tendency to desire growth while also harboring strong resistance to the hard work that comes with it. I can certainly resonate with this sentiment. I was raised in a conservative evangelical home. Like many who […] … learn more→