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Adventures in Academe

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | OCT 19 2020

In her final column for University Affairs, Dr. Riddell asks, how do we restore balance in higher education? We need to listen.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | JUN 19 2020

Together we can transform for the better if we can model purposefulness and empathy – and avoid saying everything is great when it isn’t.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | JAN 07 2020

It’s never been more urgent for students to learn how to harness the power of persuasion as a force for good.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | OCT 30 2019

There’s much to admire in Canada’s higher education system, but we can do so much better.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | AUG 23 2019

Audience members, like students, are key participants and crucial collaborators, not merely passive consumers.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | MAY 10 2019

The term is ubiquitous in university mission statements, but students seem to understand it differently than we do.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | JAN 16 2019

Perpetuating such a myth downplays the value of discipline, energy and effort.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | OCT 01 2018

Disruption does not occur without dissonance. The more disruptive the idea, the higher the likelihood of significant disturbance.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | AUG 08 2018

Normalizing failure without taking a hard look at the system within which it happens may do more harm than good.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | MAR 27 2018

Chaucer’s Arthurian story, The Wife of Bath’s Tale – with its governance model based on a roundtable – offers us a tantalizing clue on how to frame the issue.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | FEB 02 2018

As academics, we grapple with failure all the time and in a myriad of ways.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | DEC 01 2017

A postdoctoral teaching fellowship could be part of a multi-pronged approach to combatting increasingly challenging working conditions.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | SEP 28 2017

The saviour trope versus critical hope.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | AUG 18 2017

We do not pretend that there is a singular answer or indivisible truth. Instead, we must embrace complexity.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | APR 11 2017

How students respond to failure is a strong predictor of future success.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | FEB 07 2017

“Encountering different voices singing different tunes has the potential to create new and powerful combinations.”

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | DEC 06 2016

This fall I returned to teaching after a three-year hiatus. Two maternity leaves plus a sabbatical meant that, although I kept myself busy with other forms of scholarly activity, I had not stepped foot in a classroom for three years. That’s almost the lifespan of an undergraduate cohort, and in some ways the cultural imagery […]

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | OCT 05 2016

When I was pregnant with my first child, I experienced the usual mix of delight and trepidation that comes with impending parenthood. However, I was also concerned with how my pregnancy might threaten to disrupt the professional identity I had so assiduously constructed for myself as a young, female professor in the early stages of […]

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | JUL 27 2016

On faith, metrics and the neoliberal university.

BY JESSICA RIDDELL | APR 06 2016

Disciplinary experts have a responsibility to engage in nuanced thinking about teaching and learning.

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