Swift and Conversational Culture

Swift often noted his aversion to coffee-house conversation and to tavern talk, to gossip and company, and to being buried in Dublin in the years of his Deanship. Yet the popular myth of a morose, unsociable Swift belies both his engagement with various literary and political clubs in his early career and his participation in collaborative and experimental poetic games in his Dublin circles. This essay considers Swift’s involvement with three clubs in London (the Saturday Club, the Brothers’ Club, and the Scriblerians) and his writings on a number of fictional clubs (the Athenian Society, the Calves-Head Club, and a putative Society for the correction of the English language). While Swift wrote very little of his experience of actual clubs, the latter three, in addition to the Scriblerian Club as an imagined, rather than actual clubs, resulted in a number of defining poems and works in his career. When Swift settled in Dublin, poetry written and exchanged in a number of sociable circles characterised much of his published verse and gave glimpses of the circles and informal clubs which he formed among friends there. Although these poems are often dismissed as ‘trifles’, the essay argues that the poems are crucial for our understandings of ‘conversational culture’ or sociability in Swift’s Dublin.

Conversations with the Future: Creativity, Aesthetics and Industry Application in Anthropological Practice

This article presents a series of conversations with anthropologists working in collaborative, interdisciplinary settings and projects. It examines the changing role and place of anthropology on the island of Ireland, particular for early career anthropologists. With anthropologists now working in settings as diverse as business schools, health, music, documentary making and industry (to name but a few), early career researchers are now dealing with new challenges. In this piece, we map out a number of these debates and show how a multiplicity of anthropologies and practices are emerging on the island.

Visual Approaches to Property Law Pedagogy

Purpose - To consider a more visual approach to property law teaching practices. This will be achieved by exploring the existence of ‘visual learners’ as a student body, evaluating the use of more visual teaching techniques in academic practice, recognising the historic dominance of text in legal education, and examining the potential for heightening visual teaching practices in the teaching of property law. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews and analyses some of the available literature on visual pedagogy, and visual approaches to legal education, but also introduces an amount of academic practitioner analysis. Findings – This paper evidences that, rather than focusing on the categorisation of ‘visual learner’, the modern academic practitioner should employ the customary use of more visual stimuli; consequently becoming a more ‘visual teacher’. This paper demonstrates that these practices, if performed effectively, can impact upon the information literacy of the whole student body: It also proffers a number of suggestions as to how this could be achieved within property law teaching practices. Practical implications – The paper will provide support for early-career academic practitioners, who are entering a teaching profession in a period of accelerated and continual change, by presenting an overview of pedagogic practices in the area. It will also provide a stimulus for those currently teaching on property law modules and support their transition to a more visual form of teaching practice. Originality/value – This paper provides a comprehensive overview of visual pedagogy in legal education, and specifically within that of property law, which has not been conducted elsewhere.

Office of the University President Sous fonds: Dr. James A. Gibson

Dr. James A. Gibson was born in Ottawa on January 29, 1912 to John W. and Belle Gibson. At an early age the family moved to Victoria, B.C. where John W. Gibson was a director of the Elementary Agricultural Education Branch, Department of Education. Gibson received his early education in Victoria, receiving a B.A. (honours) at UBC in 1931. In 1931 he was awarded the Rhodes scholarship and received his B.A., M.A., B.Litt and D. Phil at New College, Oxford. This was to be the beginning of a long and dedicated relationship with the Rhodes Scholar Association. Upon his return to Canada, Dr. Gibson lectured in Economics and Government at the University of British Columbia. In 1938 he was married to Caroline Stein in Philadelphia, and the same year joined the staff of the Department of External Affairs as a Foreign Service officer. Within twenty minutes of his arrival he was seconded to the Office of the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for External Affairs, W. L. Mackenzie King in charge of War Records and Liaison Officer. This was a critical time in the history of Canada, and Dr. Gibson experienced firsthand several milestones, including the Royal Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939. Dr. Gibson was present at the formation of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945, being part of the Prime Minister’s professional staff as well as attending conferences in Washington, Quebec and London as an advisor to the Canadian delegation. Gibson contributed many articles to the publication bout de papier about his experiences during these years. After his resignation in 1947, Gibson joined the staff of the fledgling Carleton College, as a lecturer. In 1949 he was appointed a professor and in 1951 became Dean of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Gibson acted as President from 1955 to 1956 upon the sudden death of Dr. MacOdrum. In 1963 Dr. Gibson accepted the invitation of the Brock University Founders’ Committee, chaired by Arthur Schmon, to become the founding president. Dr. Gibson guided the new University from a converted refrigeration plant, to an ever expanding University campus on the brow of the Niagara Escarpment. Dr. Gibson remained firmly “attached” to Brock University. Even after official retirement, in 1974, he retained the title President Emeritus. Gibson’s final official contribution was an unpublished ten year history of the University. In retirement Gibson remained active in scholarly pursuits. He was a visiting scholar at the Center of Canadian Studies, University of Edinburgh; continued his ongoing research activities focusing on W. L. Mackenzie King, the Office of the Governor General of Canada, and political prisoners transported to Van Dieman’s Land. He remained active in the Canadian Association of Rhodes Scholars, becoming editor from 1975 to 1994 and was appointed Editor Emeritus and Director for Life in 1995 in honour of his dedicated and outstanding service. In 1993 he was awarded one of Canada’s highest achievements, the Order of Canada. Gibson retained close ties with Brock University and many of its faculty. He maintained an office in the Politics Department where he became a vital part of the department. In 1996 Brock University honoured Gibson by naming the University Library in his honour. James A. Gibson Library staff was instrumental in celebrating the 90th birthday of Gibson in 2002, with a widely attended party in the Pond Inlet where many former students, including Silver Badgers. The attendees also included former and current colleagues from Brock University, Canadian Rhodes Scholars Association, family and friends. Gibson was later to remark that the highlight of this event was the gift of his original academic robe which he had personally designed in 1964. In 2003 Dr. Gibson moved to Ottawa to be near some of his children and the city of his birth and early career. In that year “two visits to Brock ensued: the first, to attend a special celebration of the James A. Gibson Library; his late to attend the 74th Convocation on Saturday, October 18, 2003. A week later, in Ottawa, he went for a long walk, returned to his residence, Rideau Gardens, went into the lounge area, took off his coat and folded it up, put it on the back of his chair, sat down, folded his hands in his lap, closed his eyes, and died”. With sources from: Carleton University The Charlatan, Gibson CV, and Memorial Service Programme

Non-University Higher Education and the Relationship of Its Graduates and the World of Work: Colombia

The non-university sector has been part of the Colombian higher education system for more than 50-years. Despite its long years of existence, it has never occupied such an important role within the education system as the one it is having today. Therefore, the aim of this work is to analyze the development of the non-university sector in the framework of the country’s social, educational and economic demands. Likewise, its actual situation and certain aspects of the relationship between its graduates and the world of work, i.e., graduates’ employment characteristics, the relationship of higher education studies and their work, as well as their early career success, are examined. In order to generate the required information, a graduate survey was carried out in Atlántico (Colombia). The target population was graduates from higher education institutions registered in Atlántico who were awarded a technical, technological or professional degree in 2008 from any of the following knowledge areas: Fine Arts, Health Science, Economy-Administration-Accountancy and similar, and Engineering-Architecture-Urban planning and similar. Besides, interviews with academic and administrative staff from non-university institutions were carried out, and higher education related documents were analyzed. As a whole, the findings suggest that the non-university sector is expanding and may help to achieve some of the goals, for which it is widely promoted i.e., access expansion for under-represented groups, enhancement of the higher education system, and the provision of programs pertinent to the needs of the market. Nevertheless, some aspects require further consideration, e.g., the sector’s consolidation within the system and its quality. As for the relationship between non-university higher education and the world of work, it was found to be close; particularly in those aspects related to the use of knowledge and skills in the work, and the relationship between graduates’ studies and their work. Additionally, the analysis of the graduates’ in their early career stages exposes the significant role that the socioeconomic stratum plays in their working life, particularly in their wages. This indicates that apart from education, other factors like the graduates’ economic or social capital may have an impact on their future work perspectives

Australian law students' values: how they impact on ethical behaviour

This paper focuses on the values that underpin legal practitioners' behaviour. In a globalising legal profession information about the values bases' of lawyers is critical to understanding the ways in which a "justice agenda" (arguably, a primary responsibility of the profession) may be sustained into the 21st century. However, there has been a dearth of research into the value systems of lawyers or law students. This paper attempts to investigate what values are characteristic of the mass of Australian lawyers in their last year of law school. It is part of a larger longitudinal study, now nearing completion, which aims to provide longitudinal information about the value sets of these same law students, as they become early-career lawyers and to understand how their values develop or degrade over time.

Getting out of deficit: pedagogies of reconnection

The fact that children growing up in poverty are likely to be in the lower ranges of achievement on standardised literacy tests is not a new phenomenon. Internationally there are a myriad of intervention and remedial programmes designed to address this problem with a range of effects. Frequently, sustainable reforms are curtailed by deficit views of families and children growing up in poverty. This article describes an ongoing research study entitled "Teachers Investigate Unequal Literacy Outcomes: Cross-Generational Perspectives", which made teacher researchers central in examining this long-standing dilemma. It outlines the research design and rationale, and analyses how two early career teachers worked their ways out of deficit analyses of two children they were most worried about. It argues that disrupting deficit discourses and re-designing new pedagogical repertoires to reconnect with children's lifeworlds is a long-term project that can best be achieved in reciprocal research relationships with teachers.

Reciprocal mentoring across generations: sustaining professional development for english teachers

This article draws on a collaborative research project entitled Teachers Investigate Unequal Literacy Outcomes: Cross-generational Perspectives, funded by the Australian Research Council 2002-2004 and awarded to Barbara Comber, University of South Australia and Barbara Kamler, Deakin University. The university researchers invited early career teachers in their first five years of teaching, and late career teachers with at least twenty-five years experience, to collaboratively explore the problem of unequal outcomes in literacy. Over a period of three years, the teacher researchers conducted audits of their classroom literacy programs and the effects on different children; case studies of students they were most concerned about; and redesigns of their literacy curriculum and pedagogy.  Bev Maney and Ivan Boyer collaborated as research partners in the context of their work together as English teachers at Portland Secondary College, Victoria. This paper is based on transcripts of their many conversations with one other and the research team and is represented as an interrupted conversation with the university researchers. Here they critique current models of professional development and the effects of standardised testing and argue for the importance of serious teacher conversations and ongoing school-based research.

Preparing Australia's future lawyers: an exposition of changing values over time in the context of teaching about ethical dilemmas

This study investigated what values may be influential to decision making in relation to ethical behaviour for early career lawyers. It adopted a longitudinal approach to investigate how values develop or degrade over time as final year law students move into their first two years of employment or further study. To this end, the study investigated the role that tertiary education and employers fulfill in building and perpetuating ‘appropriate’ professional values? Results demonstrate that, in general, ethical behaviour was not uniformly reinforced over time in the workplace. The undertaking of pro bono work stands out here. Results suggested that certain behaviour relevant values may develop or degrade over the early years of the Australian lawyer's career. The implications of results are discussed in the contexts of ethics education in a tertiary context and the continuing education and regulation of the legal profession.

Almost there : empirical insights into clinical method and ethics courses in climbing the hill towards lawyers' professionalism

Results of a study into the relationships between values and ethical behaviour for early-career legal practitioners - effect of gender, clinical experience and prior ethics education - implications for ethics education in tertiary institutions and after admission to legal practice.

From 'ECR' to 'strategic academic' : reconstucting personal narrative as institutional text

In response to a report that universities focused more on research performance than teaching performance, the Australian government in 2003 introduced a number of policy initiatives including the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund. To establish their eligibility to bid for allocations from this fund, many universities introduced teacher training programs as an integral part of their probation and promotion practices for new academic staff.

As an 'Early Career Researcher' I am currently participating in such a program, in which I must familiarise myself with institutional policies on governance, compliance, and strategic direction, and develop a career plan to position myself to achieve my personal career goals while advancing the organisational and strategic goals of my institution.

This paper uses an institutional ethnographic analysis of my experience to explicate the processes by which an Early Career Researcher actively participates in developing new ways of knowing that construct how I think, talk and write about myself, my goals and my professional work. I argue that developing the required career plan involves producing a text based account that renders selected parts of my work and professional identity visible in terms that are ultimately determined by government policy on higher education.

Property development

David Cadman’s Property Development has long been the standard textbook on the commercial property development process in the UK, and with this fifth edition the book is brought completely up to date for a new generation of readers. Accessible to students of all disciplines within the built environment, the book is geared directly towards students of property development at undergraduate or graduate levels. It provides a clear and practical overview of the property development process, together with critical analysis of the key issues faced by property professionals today.

The fifth edition retains the established structure of previous editions, by focusing on land acquisition, development appraisal, finance, planning, construction, market research and promotion. Additionally, reflecting changes in practice, there is also new material on the environmental impacts of property development, with a chapter on Sustainable Property Development, and on the growth of international working in the property sector. Excellent case studies, which are enhanced by discussion questions, illustrate the process at work. This fully revised and updated edition of a classic text for all property development students will also be of interest to early career professionals and those pursuing a professional degree in the industry.