KAMLOOPS – The co-author of No Place to Learn: Why Universities aren’t Working, a controversial book that argues most universities place too much emphasis on specialized research and too little on teaching, will speak at TRU April 5.
Tom Pocklington, Adjunct Member of the Board of the TRU Centre for the Study of Canada and Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta, will deliver a free public lecture entitled, “From College to Knowledge Factory: Why Canadian Universities Aren’t Working,” at 3 pm on Wednesday, April 5 in the Alumni Theatre of TRU’s Clock Tower building.
“This topical presentation represents several years of research into campuses across the country,” said Ginny Ratsoy, coordinator of TRU”s Centre for the Study of Canada, which, along with the TRU Faculty Association, is sponsoring the talk.
The theme of No Place to Learn is that Canadian universities, especially the large ones classified as “medical/doctoral”, have seriously distorted their priorities. They are obsessed with research, and most professors are now primarily researchers rather than teachers. Teaching and learning now run a poor second.
The presentation will focus on three questions: How did this decline occur? What reforms are necessary and possible? Since reform will not come about overnight, what advice can we offer now to students who want the best education possible?
Pocklington received his B.A. from the University of Toronto and his Ph.D. from Indiana University. He taught in the Political Science Department of the University of Alberta from 1961 until 1998, when he took early retirement. His principal area of interest is political philosophy, but he is a generalist rather than a specialist, and he has a special interest in the teaching of introductory courses in universities and colleges. He also has an abiding interest in aboriginal politics, and was acting director of the University of Alberta’s School of Native Studies in its first year of operation. In 1997-98 he was President of the Canadian Political Science Association.
For more information, please contact Ginny Ratsoy, English and Modern Languages Department, at (250) 828-5238 or by email.
