Category Archives: Academia

Teaching by example

April 27, 2008 – 9:54 pm

A science teacher friend told me that “teaching by real life example” is all the rage these days. People have to run around the room pretending to be electrons, rather than learning about electrical current in the abstract. It’s supposed to make learning more “approachable” and easier. A creditable aim, but I am afraid that [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Education | Comments (3)

Student evaluations

March 18, 2008 – 10:49 pm

I think I’ve mentioned the phenomenon of student evaluations before on this blog. Sometimes, as I’ve explained in the earlier post, I’ve received some very amusing ones. Most have been pretty positive although I have received some critical evaluations. Never anything really soul destroying…yet. Other times, the positive ones balance the negative ones exactly (eg, [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Education, Law, Society | Comments (4)

Sartorial style and the law

March 16, 2008 – 11:00 am

I was reading a post at Pete Black’s Freedom to Differ on the dress of law professors. It did make me laugh. Certainly, when I went to teach, I consulted a friend on what she thought I should wear. I was somewhat anxious.
My initial plan had just been to wear the same suits as I [...]

By Legal Eagle | Comments (3)

Ideology, law and teaching

March 14, 2008 – 9:43 am

As I am a university lecturer, I was interested to read about the Young Liberals’ campaign to “out” left-wing lecturers. That seems to miss the point to me: it’s a bit unpleasantly reminiscent of a McCarthyist witch hunt.
I have to say that in law school I had a variety of lecturers, from open Marxists to known advisers [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Law, Politics, Society | Comments (6)

Plagiarist law students, beware…

December 18, 2007 – 2:14 pm

A friend sent me this interesting case, Re Legal Profession Act 2004; re OG, a lawyer [2007] VSC 250. It concerns both fitness to practice law and plagiarism at university.
In my first year of teaching, I was shocked to come across what appeared to be plagiarism (material which seemed to have been copied verbatim from the Internet). Fortunately, [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Law | Comments (10)

Astro Girl triumphs

December 18, 2007 – 11:41 am

I’ve got a job for next year. Phew! It’s still just a contract job, but it’s great to have some security!

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Personal | Comments (4)

A mild case of sesquipedaliophobia?

December 11, 2007 – 2:01 pm

Usually, no one could accuse me of sesquipedaliophobia. I love long words. In the car this morning, I was thinking about unusual words which I love: crepuscular, schadenfreude, ghyll, avoirdupois, lamellar, peripatetic, fulgent…
However, I don’t usually drop those words into my academic writing. I recognise that they are unusual words, and that there may be [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Fark! | Comments (6)

A mutual agenda

December 4, 2007 – 10:01 am

Well, this post is probably a bit late given the stunning victory by Labor in the Federal election. But maybe it’s good to have time to mull over things. I feel nervous dipping my toe into the political quagmire surrounding unions: but here goes nothing!
On the way home from work, I drove past a billboard [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Personal, Politics | Comments (6)

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot… and Oliver Cromwell the vandal

November 22, 2007 – 7:18 am

As promised, three sets of Oxford images for readers’ entertainment. First up is a set I took after dodging a day hitting the books. While the light was good, I clambered up St Mary’s bell tower. She’s Oxford’s official ‘University church’, and classes were once held there.
Archbishop Cranmer (he of ‘Book of Common Prayer’ fame) [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in History | Comments (21)

Being an un-person

October 11, 2007 – 4:41 pm

I really hate being a sessional lecturer. Most of the time, I feel like I’m an un-person as far as this university is concerned. I do not have a proper office; I have to squat in the office of whichever person happens to be on leave at the time. I do not have a proper [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Personal | Comments (12)