Last night, I was finally able to view Apple’s recent education event from New York City. Yes, I had read about their announcements and downloaded iBooks Author and the new iTunes U, but hadn’t realized just how potentially game-changing these new tools are for what I do.
About Gerald Lucas
Updates
A large chunk of my holiday was spent in geek mode. Yes, I partook of holiday spirits, exercised a bit, and relaxed — but I needed to do some pretty significant updates to some outdated servers that I’m responsible for on campus. This is a record of what I did to breathe new life into my obsolete equipment.
Our Gadget Complicity
Last night’s This American Life featured a show about the working conditions in China that are a direct consequence of our — the West’s — need for gadgets. And while one company alone is not to blame, this show examines Apple’s relationship with Foxconn.
Resolute
I know I’m a few days late for New Year’s resolutions, but the spring semester beginning tomorrow seems more like a point of a new beginning than an arbitrary day on a calendar. So, with that, I propose the following.
The Subversive Education
Real education is subversive. It’s about nuance and irony — the challenging of the status quo. This is what I do.
Forced Separation
It started yesterday: boxes that had begun appearing in the hallway were being moved out. The Humanities Department is finally no more. We are now the English Department and the Department of Media, Culture & the Arts. The former is moving upstairs. It’s sad.
Occupied?
Want to fix our current economic crisis? Start with higher education. I look at a root cause of America’s current class anxieties.