This month I’m going to switch-up this series just a bit, reflecting my growing submersion in scholarly literature. In addition to adoptions of dead trees, I’m also going to be chronicling the scholarly literature I’ve consumed. Keeping track of the literature in this way, I hope, is going to not only act as a personal archive but also a general provocation for my readership. The world of ideas, analysis, and criticism...

With only a month to go before my formal studies begin, much of my reading time has been focused on critical pedagogy, educational philosophy and cultural studies. Interspersed therein, however, I’ve managed to find a little time to feed my fondness of graphic literature and esoteric spirituality. Nevertheless, the bulk of this month’s adoptions are related to my research, with some inspiration from one of my heroes for good...

June was another busy month, with the added complexities of random life dramas. Now that school’s out there are no call-outs for us ‘employees-on-call’, and that’s left me scrounging to find new ways to exploit my labour. A previous employer has, thankfully, been “kind” enough to work me into their summer schedule. It’s a private college with a broad, global marketing plan. They draw students...

For most of us adapting to life’s changes can be extremely difficult. We are, many would claim, creatures of habit – locked in patterns of interaction, value hierarchies, and neurosis. Nevertheless, in spite of our difficulties with adapting to change it’s impossible for us to escape its intrusion. Even if we lived our entire lives confined and isolated from other people we would still undergo changes in our perceptive...

Several months ago, while drafting my proposals for grad studies, the concept for a bibliophile-centered series first crossed my mind. When I reflected on how I might personalize the series (i.e. aside from reviews), I thought it might be useful for tracking how our home library would grow over the year – or be impacted by grad studies. I wondered which sections would expand most, for example. This month’s instalment of Dead...

Every action – and inaction – of our lives is political. From the purchases we make, beliefs we act upon, and fears we internalize, we are inescapably political animals. In spite of this unavoidable social reality, various institutions and agencies claim ‘objectivity’ and ‘fairness’ are subverted by political biases, and encourage us to adopt ‘post-ideological worldviews’. News outlets try...

By any meaningful standard, April has been an incredibly productive month here at Sophrosyne Radical. Obviously, switching over to a new theme has been quite a process. All sorts of bugs and hiccups had to be squashed or resolved, and yet many tasks remain. Some plugins have been deleted and others have been added – hopefully adding critical functionalities. Bells and whistles are fine, but if the content isn’t worth...

This month’s adoptions follow a familiar pattern of punctuating significant events and taking advantage of good deals when they present themselves. However, there was a bit more foot-work involved this month than typical, as we adopted texts from more places than usual: The Banyen, Chapters, the Vancouver Public Library, and the University of British Columbia. ...