The long-running weekly publication offers depth, broad perspective on a variety of issues, and doesn’t shy away from controversy
The Spectator is a United Kingdom weekly first published in 1828. This purportedly makes it the longest-running magazine of its kind in the English-speaking world. And while the primary focus is current affairs, the Spectator’s subject matter ranges further than that. There’s lively coverage of books, music, film, TV, food and travel. From time to…
Instead of renaming schools, we should educate students about the legacy behind their current names – good and bad
If some petitioners get their way, Cecil Rhodes School will be no more. The Winnipeg school would still exist, but under a new name. No doubt most Canadians who hear about this have one burning question: Who is Cecil Rhodes? Rhodes was a 19th-century British politician who served as prime minister of Cape Colony, a…
Students learn best when they develop strong personal connections with their teachers. We need to stop dwelling on worst-case scenarios
One thing we’ve learned this year is that global pandemics have a big impact on teaching and learning. In mid-March, regular kindergarten-to-Grade-12 classes across Canada were suspended and instruction moved online. While schools in some provinces partially reopened in June, this doesn’t mean things are back to normal just yet. Students gained limited access to…
The ability to fail, to think critically and to learn from one’s mistakes aren’t generally taught in school
A wise person recently told me, “People don’t care what type of degree I have. They care what mistakes I have made and what I learned from them.” There’s typically a correlation between rising unemployment and increased enrolment in colleges and universities. But this year, due to the move towards closed campuses and increased online…
Pushing back against emboldened righteousness isn’t a task for the timid. J.K. Rowling is not timid
J.K. Rowling – the British author who created the stunningly successful Harry Potter series – is a political liberal. In 2008, she donated £1 million to the U.K. Labour Party. In 2016, she campaigned for Remain in the Brexit referendum. She’s a professed admirer of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. And so on. Despite these…
Foreign students spent about $23.6 billion in Canada last year and much of that income will be lost as a result of COVID-19
Some industries are obvious victims of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn. Everybody knows that businesses in the travel and hospitality sector, especially at the international level, have taken a serious if not lethal blow. Even with government aid, airlines, cruise ships, hotels and tourist attractions will have great difficulty rebuilding and even…
New $5-million federal investment will bring together top wildfire scientists to help manage ecosystems, protect communities
The University of Alberta will be home to a federal government network whose mission will be to make Canada more resilient to wildfire. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s Canadian Wildfire Strategic Network, in which the federal government is investing $5 million, will bring the best minds in wildfire science together to train students,…
Much like first aid and CPR, bystander naloxone training is one of the best tools available to save lives, U of A experts say
Who needs a free naloxone kit? Just about anyone who might come across an opioid overdose, according to a range of University of Alberta experts, including a pharmacist, the head of campus security, a student volunteer and a public health scientist. Alberta Health Services first made the kits and training available for free to the…
Why the COVID-19 pandemic feels familiar to Suzanna Wagner, who wrote her thesis on Canadian nurses in the First World War
Defending her master’s thesis just two days before COVID-19 forced the University of Alberta to close was strange enough. Receiving a call from the Edmonton Journal for her take on the pandemic was downright surreal. “It’s really odd as a historian to suddenly have people in the current media asking, ‘Tell us what happened in the past,’” said…
Government needs to be thinking about smart investments to make applied education safe and accessible
The important role of front-line workers has never been more apparent than over the last several weeks. They include nurses and personal support workers, paramedics and other first responders, technology professionals and skilled tradespeople, and those working in advanced manufacturing or supplying us with food. These have been the people with the skills and know-how…
The Spectator is a United Kingdom weekly first published in 1828. This purportedly makes it the longest-running magazine of its kind in the English-speaking world. And while the primary focus is current affairs, the Spectator’s subject matter ranges further than that. There’s lively coverage of books, music, film, TV, food and travel. From time to…
