Apr 27, 2007

Gospriyomka and NCATE

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When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985, one of the first things he did was establishing a highly centralized federal quality police. I...
1 comment:
Apr 20, 2007

Time density

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Time is not like a constant stream; it varies greatly in density. Today, for example, Jenni, Jeanie, Eugene and I were able to formulate a l...
Apr 13, 2007

The clouds glide by

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When I get too busy, I slow down. This is probably a way of calming myself, and fighting anxiety. I will either read a book that has nothing...
Apr 6, 2007

The ethics of rumoring

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Rumor is essential to any community’s life. It’s the oldest and one of the most efficient means of group communication. People select the mo...
1 comment:
Mar 30, 2007

Time Management and Sorry

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This is going to be short one. I am really behind on many things, which makes me think about my poor time management skills. Or, rather, abo...
Mar 23, 2007

The Lake Wobegon Effect

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Here is what Wikipedia says : The Lake Wobegon effect is the human tendency to overestimate one's achievements and capabilities in relat...
1 comment:
Mar 9, 2007

The “B” Word, or How do you know what you say you know

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I always encourage my students to use the “B” word in their speaking and writing – “Because.” When you act as a consumer or as a voter, your...
Mar 2, 2007

Notes from AACTE, or American Absurdities

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I was at AACTE conference over the last weekend. One of the most intriguing general sessions was a critic of neo-liberal approach to educati...
1 comment:
Feb 22, 2007

On Scholarly Productivity

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Some people find joy and satisfaction in research and writing, while others have found happiness in other things. I don’t believe tenured li...
Feb 16, 2007

Memories and time

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The deepest, most carnal memories come uninvited. Triggered by a particular sensation, such a memory pierces your entire life like a threade...
Feb 9, 2007

Symbolic violence

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Pierre Bourdieu has introduced a fascinating notion of symbolic violence, “the violence which extorts submission, which is not perceived as ...
1 comment:
Feb 2, 2007

Merit, Shmerit, or “Evaluate not and thou shall not be evaluated”

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It’s that time of the year when all university faculty in two thousand plus colleges across this great nation are getting ready to evaluate ...
Jan 26, 2007

Why are we poor?

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Lately, there has been much talk about money and the budget. The University leadership is trying to make the budgeting process transparent, ...
Jan 19, 2007

Midwives, matchmakers, Napoleon, and Kutuzov

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Mamtchmakers and midwifes: that’s what managers are. The truth is, in a complex organization, managers don’t rarely come up with creative id...
Jan 12, 2007

On failings of humans

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Well, we’re back in full force. Vacations are really nice; Svetlana and I drove to Seattle to see both kids and our future son-in-law and hi...
1 comment:
Dec 15, 2006

On the Money

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Can you believe this? This is my blog #24. The basic principle of a market economic system is that there is some feedback loop: those who pr...
Dec 8, 2006

What makes a problem hard to solve

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Here are an examples of hard to solve problems: 1. Two starving sailors on a life-boat are deciding who to eat first. Each has a veto p...
Dec 1, 2006

UNC’s Organizational Culture and Change

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I have been here for 5 month, so perhaps I can be allowed to make some observations on UNC’s organizational culture. The balance is positive...
Nov 19, 2006

Community and innovation: On the Academic Plannign Process

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The University has embarked on a massive academic planning process. The idea is to hold a series of conversations among faculty and administ...
1 comment:
Nov 10, 2006

Neo-prog’s Educational Agenda

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Here is what the next Democratic presidential contender might include in his or her platform in the “education” section. If a Republican one...