On a snowy day in January, I asked students to tell me what was the first word that came to mind when thinking about mathematics. The two most quoted words were “calculus” and “equation”. When I asked the same question to a room full of professional mathematicians, none of these two words were spoken; they […] … learn more→

Recently, the University of Adelaide used a special exemption under the Equal Opportunity Act to advertise eight academic positions in the faculty of engineering, computer and mathematical sciences for women only. This raises questions about why a university might take this approach. While Australia has had gender equality legislation for 30 years, there has been very slow progress towards […] … learn more→

Fellowship applications are hard. They force you to stand alone. You are often applying early in your career, when you feel like you don’t have much to skite about. The temptation to puff yourself up is overwhelming – then you read back on it and it makes you want to vomit, just a bit. On […] … learn more→

People tend to look at you weird if you have four kids. And people tend to look at you weird when they find out you’re doing a PhD. So you can imagine that I have had a generous share of strange looks over the last few years. Common reactions would include: ‘Are you crazy??’ ‘You […] … learn more→

Identity politics has been an issue on campus for as long as I’ve been in higher ed. It used to be primarily in hiring, where we were “motivated” to hire people with certain genitals or skin color, on the basis that there “weren’t enough” of such in associated positions. I confess for some time I […] … learn more→

Repeated efforts to improve public school education across Canada — curricular enhancements, increased accountability, intensified literacy and numeracy initiatives — are failing to improve student achievement. In the province of Saskatchewan, student achievement results have flatlined and only 43.2 per cent of Indigenous students are graduating on time. Saskatchewan’s results are not atypical. In her analysis of Programme […] … learn more→

Since foreign studies are no longer limited to the study of grammar, translation and literature of the foreign country in question, students enrolled in Licentiate LLCER and LEA also follow courses of “civilization”. LLCER actually wants to say, according to the official nomenclature, Foreign and Regional Letters, Literatures and Civilizations (and LEA, Applied Foreign Languages). […] … learn more→

Writing plays a significant role in helping students put together their ideas and develop their thinking skills. In order to improve their knowledge and adapt to the demands of the working environment, students need a lot of practice and as often as possible. When it comes to writing, there is always the thought that it […] … learn more→

It’s the end of summer as I write this, so things are pretty quiet on campus. A recent study touched on a few things I’ve wanted to mention about today’s campus which never seem to make the news much: Study: ADHD drugs do not improve cognition in healthy college students Drug use is pretty heavy […] … learn more→

Students who have benefited from the Erasmus mobility program are happy to use the terms “adventure” and “travel”. But they are far from being like bohemian characters portrayed by writers or filmmakers. Often mentioned as the main reason for going abroad, learning a foreign language is generally seen as a way to increase one’s chances […] … learn more→