Updated Ramblings
It's official, my hard drive has crashed and I lost (almost) everything off of it. Ironically I was in the process of backing up my pictures when my computer crashed, so I had a partial copy of my files. Most of my pictures are gone, but at least I have a good assortment up on my site, so it's not a total loss. Plus, I have another 21+ months to take more pictures than I will ever be able to sit down and sort through.
The middle of the week has passed and the weekend is fast approaching. No major plans, other than pricing out a new hard drive and probably going to a few movies. Jill (my room-mate) is heading to Paris for the weekend, so I'm looking forward to a few nights of sound sleep (and the absence of the daily 6:45am alarm...). After never having to share a room my whole life, this past 3 months of having as many as 19 roomies a night has been an experience to say the least. The two main things I have learned from it all is that anger and frustration at the "snoring guy" crosses all language barriers, and that the bottom bunk is prime real estate.
Straying from my usual "day in the life of me" entries I wanted to comment on a recent e-mail that I got a past professor (who just happens to be my favorite from my time at UBC). Read on if you have the time, but I know this will be quite irrelevant to most.
When asked about my time and education at UBC the one experience that always comes to mind first is Integrated Science 451: From Perplexity to Complexity. Very easily, this could have been an incredibly boring lecture. Instead, it was a class that went beyond reading a text book and reciting back facts for a grade at the end of the term. Long story short, I loved the class and it was all due to the prof., Micheal Baumann. His methods were unconventional, to say the least, but it challenged us to approach problems from a different point of view and find our own answers to questions that we usually just take for granted (ex. Why do we have the voting system that we do? Is it really the best method? What other options are there? etc.) Of everything that I took away from UBC, it is the lessons from this class that have influenced my life the most.
Aside: Some of you may have heard about the prof. that sent back his PhD to Martha Piper (the President of UBC at the time) as an act of protest (in a previous and unrelated matter) - this was Michael.
The day before last I received an e-mail from Michael and I have posted it in its' entirety below (I do not know if all UBC students got it or not):
OPEN LETTER
Dear Dr. Toope, Dear UBC students,
I shall be brief.
In mid-December a complaint was filed against me at the Office of the Dean of Science here at UBC. As a result, I was called into the Dean's Office to explain my unconventional teaching style, particularly for isci 451, a course I developed within the Integrated Sciences Program. I defended my approach politely, although, as the complaint was anonymous, with reservations. Last Friday, Dr. Spiegelman, the Director of the Integrated Sciences Program, informed me that the Dean's Office has issued an order that bans me from teaching at UBC. Why has the ban been imposed?
Two possibilities:
(A) I'm a just another incompetent teacher. [This should be easy to prove/disprove. Unfortunately, in order to disclose the teaching evaluations of Dr. Paul Harrison and Dr. Ian Cavers, respectively, I will have to invoke the Access to Information Act.]
(B) I do not bow my head to the administration.As I was quite annoyed with myself the morning after my meeting with Associate Dean Harrison, I sent him an email(http://www.baumann.ca/mypapers/harrison07.doc) that day, which contains several questions that remain unanswered. Apparently, as I learned from Dr. Spiegelman, it was this email the Dean's Office "took great umbrage with", and not my teaching style per se. Unfortunately, if the ban imposed on me is based on point (B) above,the issue becomes a question of Freedom of Opinion and Expression as laid out in both, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and, of course, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Interestingly,the latter was drafted by a Canadian, John Peters Humphrey.) (I should mention here that in the Winter session of 2004/2005 Dr.Cavers already unsuccessfully tried to muzzle me, which I consider not only a violation of my basic human rights as an individual, but also one against my duty as an intellectual. It also goes against UBC's mission as declared in its mission statement.)
I trust that the President's Office will act upon this information, and remain yours truly,
Michael Baumannmichael@baumann.ca
(604) 722-1859
TO MY STUDENTS (feel free to distribute)
I never ask for favours, but now would be a good time to voice your support. Ultimately, this is not about me, but about YOU. One paragraph, one sentence, anything will do. Go straight to the president (presidents.office@ubc.ca; cc to me). This case is in HIS mandate, so disregard the flunkies in the middle. Never forget that the road to Auschwitz was paved with indifference.
Tuum est,
Michael Baumann
LINKS:My course website: http://www.baumann.ca/451
UBC's mission statement: http://www.ubc.ca/about/mission.html
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (in particular Part 1,Paragraph 2: Fundamental Freedoms):http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/Charter/index.html
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (in particular Article 19): http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
I am not usually drawn to speak out in such instances, but I took personal offence to the actions of UBC against Michael. I understand that we are only being presented one side of the story, but I wouldn't hold my breath to hear a spokesperson from the University defend their actions. I have already written my letter to Dr. Toope and believe that he will be doing a great disservice to UBC, namely it's students, if he carries through with this dismissal. I found it much to rare to of an event to have a professor/lecturer that actually took an honest interest in the education (academic and personal) of their students and it will be a shame to lose Michael Baumann.
The middle of the week has passed and the weekend is fast approaching. No major plans, other than pricing out a new hard drive and probably going to a few movies. Jill (my room-mate) is heading to Paris for the weekend, so I'm looking forward to a few nights of sound sleep (and the absence of the daily 6:45am alarm...). After never having to share a room my whole life, this past 3 months of having as many as 19 roomies a night has been an experience to say the least. The two main things I have learned from it all is that anger and frustration at the "snoring guy" crosses all language barriers, and that the bottom bunk is prime real estate.
Straying from my usual "day in the life of me" entries I wanted to comment on a recent e-mail that I got a past professor (who just happens to be my favorite from my time at UBC). Read on if you have the time, but I know this will be quite irrelevant to most.
When asked about my time and education at UBC the one experience that always comes to mind first is Integrated Science 451: From Perplexity to Complexity. Very easily, this could have been an incredibly boring lecture. Instead, it was a class that went beyond reading a text book and reciting back facts for a grade at the end of the term. Long story short, I loved the class and it was all due to the prof., Micheal Baumann. His methods were unconventional, to say the least, but it challenged us to approach problems from a different point of view and find our own answers to questions that we usually just take for granted (ex. Why do we have the voting system that we do? Is it really the best method? What other options are there? etc.) Of everything that I took away from UBC, it is the lessons from this class that have influenced my life the most.
Aside: Some of you may have heard about the prof. that sent back his PhD to Martha Piper (the President of UBC at the time) as an act of protest (in a previous and unrelated matter) - this was Michael.
The day before last I received an e-mail from Michael and I have posted it in its' entirety below (I do not know if all UBC students got it or not):
OPEN LETTER
Dear Dr. Toope, Dear UBC students,
I shall be brief.
In mid-December a complaint was filed against me at the Office of the Dean of Science here at UBC. As a result, I was called into the Dean's Office to explain my unconventional teaching style, particularly for isci 451, a course I developed within the Integrated Sciences Program. I defended my approach politely, although, as the complaint was anonymous, with reservations. Last Friday, Dr. Spiegelman, the Director of the Integrated Sciences Program, informed me that the Dean's Office has issued an order that bans me from teaching at UBC. Why has the ban been imposed?
Two possibilities:
(A) I'm a just another incompetent teacher. [This should be easy to prove/disprove. Unfortunately, in order to disclose the teaching evaluations of Dr. Paul Harrison and Dr. Ian Cavers, respectively, I will have to invoke the Access to Information Act.]
(B) I do not bow my head to the administration.As I was quite annoyed with myself the morning after my meeting with Associate Dean Harrison, I sent him an email(http://www.baumann.ca/mypapers/harrison07.doc) that day, which contains several questions that remain unanswered. Apparently, as I learned from Dr. Spiegelman, it was this email the Dean's Office "took great umbrage with", and not my teaching style per se. Unfortunately, if the ban imposed on me is based on point (B) above,the issue becomes a question of Freedom of Opinion and Expression as laid out in both, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and, of course, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Interestingly,the latter was drafted by a Canadian, John Peters Humphrey.) (I should mention here that in the Winter session of 2004/2005 Dr.Cavers already unsuccessfully tried to muzzle me, which I consider not only a violation of my basic human rights as an individual, but also one against my duty as an intellectual. It also goes against UBC's mission as declared in its mission statement.)
I trust that the President's Office will act upon this information, and remain yours truly,
Michael Baumannmichael@baumann.ca
(604) 722-1859
TO MY STUDENTS (feel free to distribute)
I never ask for favours, but now would be a good time to voice your support. Ultimately, this is not about me, but about YOU. One paragraph, one sentence, anything will do. Go straight to the president (presidents.office@ubc.ca; cc to me). This case is in HIS mandate, so disregard the flunkies in the middle. Never forget that the road to Auschwitz was paved with indifference.
Tuum est,
Michael Baumann
LINKS:My course website: http://www.baumann.ca/451
UBC's mission statement: http://www.ubc.ca/about/mission.html
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (in particular Part 1,Paragraph 2: Fundamental Freedoms):http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/Charter/index.html
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (in particular Article 19): http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
I am not usually drawn to speak out in such instances, but I took personal offence to the actions of UBC against Michael. I understand that we are only being presented one side of the story, but I wouldn't hold my breath to hear a spokesperson from the University defend their actions. I have already written my letter to Dr. Toope and believe that he will be doing a great disservice to UBC, namely it's students, if he carries through with this dismissal. I found it much to rare to of an event to have a professor/lecturer that actually took an honest interest in the education (academic and personal) of their students and it will be a shame to lose Michael Baumann.
posted by Trevor Schofield at 8:56 p.m.
2 Comments:
Sorry for my bad english. Thank you so much for your good post. Your post helped me in my college assignment, If you can provide me more details please email me.
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