Author, Environmentalist Bill McKibben at Endicott College Feb 9th 7pm
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From my course blog.
The new semester starts on Monday at both places I’m teaching this semester: the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Endicott College. As such, I’ve had to update my syllabi. Among other things, I’ve adopted the newest (second) editions of both the textbook and reader I use in my Introductory Sociology classes. It’s funny that one of my friends recently asked “How do you keep it fresh?” Well, that’s one way. It wasn’t exactly a “rototill,” but the updates were substantial enough to give me pause. I’ll leave rototilling to my upper level course. I’ve just become aware of a textbook I may want to adopt for that, replacing the current aging entries. They’re not bad books, it’s just that a lot has happened since they were published, and they haven’t been updated.
But this is but one of the biannual rituals of teaching. Others include closing out incomplete grades from the previous semester, and I have had a few of those. So no, I haven’t really been “off” this week. While it’s been a slower pace than when I’m teaching four or more courses, I have had a single-pointed focus that has not been leisure.
I can think of no better way to observe this ritual than with an internet meme, courtesy of the free meme generator app I got from the Mac App Store.
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Ye gads! I just learned I won the “Duck Pluck” raffle to benefit HAWC. We took a chance that our rubber duck would be plucked from the pond during the annual regatta, and I earned some cash.
(via Endicott College - Event Details View - Annual Regatta: Pirates of the Ponds!)
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I bet this has more to do with the parking. Guess I have the day off.
Endicott closed 01/27/111/27/2011 5:56 AMDue to the snow storm, Endicott will be closed on Thursday 01/27/11.
(Source: icancstructures)
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Endicott College - Event Details View - Founder’s Day with Special Guest Leilani Munter So now I know how a NASCAR driver could be an environmentalist: by sponsoring an acre of rainforest with every race, by obtaining green economy sponsorship, by instigating a discussion about climate change on the NASCAR website and a whole host of other things. What a great way to make a difference among people other than the choir.
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In clinical practice, many people suffering from depression improve after taking antidepressants. But the evidence indicates that much of that improvement is a placebo response. Antidepressants do work in the sense that many patients in clinical practice show substantial improvement. However, if the standard is efficacy in comparison to placebo, the best available scientific evidence suggests that antidepressants do not work very well. Given their cost and side effects, the psychiatric community and the general public should not be satisfied with antidepressant medications that provide only a marginal benefit over placebo.
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Antidepressants: Do They “Work” or Don’t They?: Scientific American Clinical psychologist John Kelley is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Endicott College and an Instructor in the Psychiatry Department at Harvard Medical School whose research focuses on placebo effects in medicine and psychiatry. |
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on
I’m at Endicott College’s Center for Teaching Excellence and about to hit the road. About an hour ago, I got word that power had been restored at home. We were without it for about 12 hours, and I was starting to worry.
Things that go Whumpf in the night:
The largest limb fell off the willow tree in the backyard last night, just before the power went out. I’ll post photos when I have time to take them.
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