New and continuing students--just a quick word about looking for classes. One of your best bets will be reviewing the syllabi and deciding what you want to take for almost four months. What do you need to take, want to take, and avoid. A good indicator after your degree requirements and talking to advising, is the syllabi. Do the readings look interesting? You should also talk to your friends. Nothing beats a "tried and tested" opinion. However, make sure you ask someone who is not only honest about the prof, but also honest about the effort s/he put into the class.

With that in mind, note that those various sites that give opinions or rates about instructors tend to field the students that hated the instructor or loved the class. There is usually no happy medium. To that end, I have avoided those sites for almost three years, but just took a quick look at a few pages. And, again, from the non-scientific results can attest to the haters/likers posting.

I'll quote from Abba, "Take a chance on me." My courses are not an easy ride--you will work for your mark. In my smaller courses (60 or less students), I will learn your name, I will encourage you to come to office hours, and you will enjoy the lecture/discussion style in the smaller courses. I've had a few students recently come to my office to introduce themselves--savvy move. Come by and say hi, and know that you are part of the UVIC community and part of a great department on campus--Political Science.

What do we have--10 or 11 days until the new term! Enjoy the last week or so of Summer!

I'm finishing up day 1 of a faculty workshops and really impressed with UVIC's focus on teaching. This is a great place for students who really want an opportunity to engage in great, scholarly endeavors with faculty, librarians and other staff on campus.

UVIC also offers students many different resources: writing centre, learning commons, counseling services (help/skill building workshops), resource centre for students with disabilities, and so much more. I'll stop cheerleading for UVIC.

The term starts in about 16 days and I've noticed lots more students around campus today. I had more advising questions today, as well. The air is cooler at night and in the morning--Fall is coming. This means a few things: long lines at the bookstore, cafe/bibliocafe on campus, as well as at the advising centre.

Plan accordingly and try to get to the bookstore this week or the start of next week to get your books. You should have a nice mix of used books to choose from early on for most of your courses. Unfortunately, I've adopted some books hot off the press, so used copies won't be as prevalent for my three courses: 103, 313A and 335. There should be some used _Approaching Democracy_ textbooks, though.

The other thing that students should think about is being prepared to ease into the new term seamlessly--attend your courses and tutorials and by all means introduce yourself to your professors. This might mean that you come by office hours with a question or just a quick hello.

Welcome to the new term! This is the first of a series of posts about the Fall 09 term.

This blog update is for the Poli 103 people. The Moodle site for the course looks great. The publisher uploaded expanded case studies, flashcards (you can upload to your iPod), sample m/c test questions, summaries, key thinkers (no women-we'll chat about that), as well as other useful tools. Thanks to Oxford University Press and a great text book, and staff support. Our book is Introduction to Politics by Robert Garner, Peter Ferdinand and Stephanie Lawson. We also have other readings, that you can find on the course syllabus.

I have a sense of excitement for the impending term.

I'm sitting her catching up with my usual spate of political blogs and am again struck by how powerful misinformation is. I'm referring to the "death panels" and how according to some polls half or nearly half of most Americans believe the misinformation and outright lies. Here is a link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/19/poll-nearly-half-of-ameri_n_263065.html

A quick shout out to Canadians, this is not to say that Canadians or any other citizens of other countries are immune to misinformation. I am not casting aspersions on Americans and even as an American, I can occasionally be introspective!

On a related note, the town halls this month have been a veritable circus--free speech in action, yes, but healthy democracy? We'll definitely chat about that in 313A next month. I'll end noting that current political events really makes teaching 313A engaging. Hope to see you (UVIC students) in the class. In 103 Democracy is the main topic of examination.

And, have no fear, based on the high enrollments and equally high wait list, I will be teaching the course during the Summer 2010. The term will be May/June--most likely the three days a week session: Mon, Tues, Thurs at two hours each day.

Just finished catching up on the NYT and was really sad to read about the flood of people in my home region (Southern Calif) trying to get free health care. I know that the health care in my new home (Canada) isn't perfect, but here health care seems like something that almost everyone has access to. I realize some folks won't get all they need. And, I waited more than 9 months for surgery...

Health care is controversial in the US due to the various polarizing ideals about it. Is h/c a right or privilege that you must pay for? Should a democracy ensure that people have access to h/c? If you have a moment, look at the major American political parties and their views about h/c.

Cheers-

We have 30 days until the new term begins at UVIC. Faculty, staff, and students need to enjoy these last, precious 30 days before we resume another fun-filled term at UVIC.

I for one, am getting ready for Spring 2010. I'm prepping Poli 413: Feminist Political Thought and allegedly working on my own publications. I say allegedly, as I keep on getting hampered by the consequences from a recent car accident.

I'm also easily distracted by current politics and pop culture. Quite the combination. A perfect new dramedy would be about vampire politicians. ;)

Back to the grind!

Welcome to my blog about my courses, politics, and popular culture.