Is it ethical to frighten people for the 'greater good'?
Long before David Attenborough brought his soothing voice to the explication of animal behaviour for the BBC Life series, the North American television public had been introduced to the majesty and oddities of the natural world through Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. I remember lying on my stomach in my grandparent’s living room watching programs…
Tackling problems ranging from marketing eco-friendly practices to reducing plastic packaging
Camrose-area farmer Carolyn Herbert wanted to connect with her customers about the food she was selling them but wasn’t sure how best to do it – until some University of Alberta students gave her a hand. Thanks to the efforts of Augustana Campus students enrolled in an Applications in Sustainability course, her family farm now has a quarterly newsletter that highlights its…
Houses of worship are as much an essential service for our physical needs as grocery stores
Springtime – which includes observances like Easter, Passover and Ramadan – seems a good time to bust the popular Canadian myth that religion is a completely private, personal matter with little relevance for broader Canadian society. New evidence from the Angus Reid Institute, in partnership with the think-tank Cardus, indicates the opposite is true: religion…
DNA-based vaccine offers advantages that could make it easier to get into the arms of Canadians if approved
A made-in-Alberta COVID-19 vaccine is taking a major step forward on the path to Health Canada approval with the start of a Phase 1 clinical trial. Entos Pharmaceuticals, an Edmonton company led by CEO and University of Alberta researcher John Lewis, has shipped a vaccine for testing to the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology in Halifax. The…
When studying historical documents, it’s fascinating to observe that regardless of how a statement was received at the time it was delivered, messages of truth, integrity and greatness endure through the ages. My French class and I recently examined two speeches of note that were made on June 30, 1960, the day the Congo won…
Vast majority of athletics websites make it hard for people with disabilities to see themselves participating in sport, U of A researcher finds
Despite overtures to the contrary, para-athletes remain largely invisible within the vast majority of Canadian athletics websites, according to a University of Alberta study showing access to sport for people with disabilities is all but completely missing online. Danielle Peers, a professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation and Canada Research Chair in Disability and…
Canada’s creative lobby may have turned its back on the world but that doesn’t mean Canadians are joining them in their quest to hide
Canada’s creative lobby may have turned its back on the world but that doesn’t mean Canadians are joining them in their quest to hide behind a big wall of regulations aimed at protecting them from foreigners. A recent study by Ryerson University’s Faculty of Communication and Design, entitled Watchtime Canada: How YouTube Connects Creators and…
Education schools often tilt from one useless fad to another with little practical use in actual classrooms
In 1933, the retiring president of Harvard University, Lawrence Lowell, famously stated that his university’s school of education was “a kitten that ought to be drowned.” Of course, university presidents wouldn’t talk like this today. But Lowell was far from the only scholar to hold education schools in such low repute – and for good…
Donald Trump’s vision is myopic and shambolic, but there appears to be only the promise of more of the same in the future
It’s seven months into the Donald Trump presidency and what have we learned? Are things going as planned? Is there a plan? Does the future augur a new tomorrow or more of the same? There are a few home truths on broad display: our man loves to play golf, on his courses, in states where…
Born in Quebec, Bat Masterson set out to find adventure on America's frontier – and he found plenty, etching his name and deeds in the history books
It was through the cinema of my childhood that I first heard of Bat Masterson. But it wasn’t until I read Tom Clavin’s new book, Dodge City, that I realized Masterson was Canadian. Or at least he was by birth. Masterson entered this world in Henryville, Que., on Nov. 26, 1853, as the second of…