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Dr Michael de Percy FCILT: Dr Michael de Percy FCILT is Senior Lecturer in Political Science in the Canberra School of Politics, Economics, and Society at the University of Canberra. He is a graduate of the Australian National University (PhD) and the Royal Military College Duntroon, and he is a Chartered Fellow (FCILT) of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

Popular Posts

Essay Notes: "Clouds, Clocks, and the Study of Politics" by Gabriel Almond and Stephen Genco

Almond, G. A. & Genco, S. J. (1977). Clouds, Clocks, and the Study of Politics. World Politics, 29(4), 489–522.

Written in 1977, this article considers the scientific turn in political science. Traditionally, political science focused on descriptions of political systems, laws, and history. I have discussed Charles Merriam, founder of the "Chicago School" of political science, in an earlier "journal note". Along with Harold Lasswell, Merriam encouraged greater scientific rigour in political science research. Almond was notably a product of the "Chicago School" of political science, earning his PhD in 1938, the year Harold Lasswell left and two years before Merriam retired. The adoption of the scientific method of the hard (or natural) sciences, which had influenced psychology and economics, and, by this time, was influencing political science, is the subject of this article. Almond and Genco bring to the attention of political scientists the issue of…

e-Learning: Putting student choice to the test

A recent Boston Consulting Group report suggests that, to remain relevant, universities need to tap in to the "evolving educational behaviors and preferences" of the Millennial generation. What appears to be driving this is "the shift in the definition of an expert from only those who have professional or academic credentials to also include peers or close friends [coupled with] this generation’s overall tech savviness”.
But does student choice lead to an improvement in graduates’ skills?
It’s time we put student choice to the test.
Anecdotes abound
Endless anecdotes about student expectations dominate the higher education sector. These are then used to determine the strategic direction of universities.
The expectations materialise in TV advertisements where professors individually call their students to provide feedback or where students are told they can determine their own learning priorities simply by using tablets, apps and other gadgets.
Some common anecdotes incl…

Hesiod's Misogyny (err... Theogony) and his Unhelpful Contribution to Internet Bulletin Boards (Works and Days)

Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days are interesting in the context of other classic works and provide an interesting understanding of the genealogy of the ancient Greek gods and the agrarian life of the time. This is a work of poetry translated into prose and there are some issues.
The first thing that struck me was the misogyny of Theogony. Women (pp. 20-21) were sent down by Zeus as a curse to men: No fit partners for accursed Poverty, but only for Plenty... a bane for mortal men has high-thundering Zeus created women, conspirators in causing difficulty. The misogyny doesn't stop there. In Works and Days, the mythological Pandora (echoing Eve in Genesis), releases evil upon the world (p. 39). Not by opening a "box" as Erasmus mistakenly conveyed, but by opening a clay storage jar (p. xiv).
La Rochefoucauld's maxims often talk about love as an illness that is difficult to cure, no doubt echoing Hesiod (p. 21): ...the man who gets a good wife who is sound and s…

On Naturalism: Guy de Maupassant and literary cloning of humans

Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In his review of the 2012 movie version of this novel, New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden refers to Georges Duroy as:
...the coldblooded social climber who seduces his way to the top of Gallic society in Guy de Maupassant’s 1885 novel, Bel Ami, is one of the nastiest pieces of work in French literature. Sure, Holden says this so he can point out how lame Robert Pattinson (of Twilight fame, apparently - I wouldn't know, I can't stand teeny-bopper nonsense. Besides, Georges had a moustache, maybe Pattinson was too young to grown one) plays the part of this cold-blooded social climber. Yet Georges reminds me of almost everyone I work with, and everyone around me, including myself. Or at least how everyone wants to be. For he has a major chip on his shoulder, one borne by being of a peasant family. But Guy de Maupassant is regarded as a "naturalist", in that he tried to depict human nature as it really was, rather …

Le Flâneur Politique by Dr Michael de Percy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.politicalscience.com.au.

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Dr Michael de Percy does not guarantee, and accepts no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this website or any linked site. Users should seek appropriate independent professional advice prior to relying on, or entering into any commitment based on material published here, which material is purely published for reference purposes alone. All views on this blog are Dr Michael de Percy's personal opinions only, and do not represent the views of any other entity.

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