Getting ready for the C’s, planning classes

Tomorrow at a god awful hour of the morning, I board a plane that, through a series of other destinations, will eventually get me to San Francisco. At least, that’s the plan-there’s a chance the snow will decide otherwise. But most likely, I’m off to the C’s. This is not my first conference, but it [...]

Tackling the Research Question

At the start of the semester, I had a research question planned out. It was basically asking what the future holds for technology, and how we can prepare for using that technology in the classroom. Since then, I’ve refined things a bit. And in the interest of clarity, I’ve broken it down into a list [...]

A tough week: Empiricism, the workplace, and Wicked Environment Problems

Quite a bit of reading this week. Much of it was outside of what was assigned for class. But I’ll get back to that. First, let me talk about Mary Sue MacNealy’s Strategies for Empirical Research in Writing and the three articles I read.

The Burning Question

When I was in college, I came to the conclusion that the only way to really go through with a PhD was to have a burning question, something that kept me up at night, that demanded my constant consideration. I should say that by ‘came to this conclusion,’ I mostly mean that I was told [...]

Too soon to celebrate, but I have champaign on hand anyway

I’m writing this as a separate post because it isn’t set in stone. It isn’t certain. But it is possible. The long and short of it is that I may be asked to write a chapter in a book on Biomedical Defense, and that I may publish my MA thesis at least once, if not [...]

Passing time and thinking about Immortality

There is not as much research being done as I had hoped there would be. I wanted to get back into academic reading, and start posting regularly to this blog. Unfortunately, or fortunately, my brain decided, as it often does over the summer, that I need time off. So I haven’t been able to read [...]

Deep Economy by Bill McKibben

The end of the semester was coming, I had finished my thesis, and I didn’t really have any more grading to do for my classes. So I was pretty much done. But instead of just taking time to break and let my brain recharge, I picked up a pair of books. One of them was [...]

The ultimate technology

Years ago, I read K. Erik Drexler’s book Engines of Creation: The coming age of nanotechnology. Aside from the cold war paranoia in the book (and there was a lot of it), there was a lot of very intelligent talk about nanotechnology and what it could accomplish. Lately, I’ve been seeing a few science fiction [...]

Technology vs. Environment

Lately, I’ve been noticing a very interesting trend. In those few times when I watch TV (I’m not pretentious about it, it’s just that there is very little on that I like, and most of what I do won’t be back until the fall) I’ve noticed some commercials that are trending towards the green. Clorox [...]

One foot firmly on the threshhold, packing up

I’m very nearly finished my thesis. I achieved the non-content goals (4 pages of citations, more than 40 pages of text) without problem, and I believe I’ve answered all (or most) of the comments I was given on an older draft. Point is, I’m feeling like it’s almost over. The End is Nigh! but in [...]