Author Archives: NomadWarMachine

Materiality

Posted on 12th October 2013 by NomadWarMachine

I’ve been reading Michael Billig’s book Learn to Write Badly:How to Succeed in the Social Sciences and very much enjoying his discussion of nominalisation, and why it can be such a bad thing in the Social Sciences (because it leads to ambiguity … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Writing | Leave a comment

Rhizomatic MOOCS?

Posted on 10th October 2013 by NomadWarMachine

Anyone who knows me (probably) knows that I’m very taken with Deleuze and Guattari’s idea that knowledge is rhizomatic, not arborescent (think strawberry, not tree).  I’ve been thinking a lot about MOOCs over the last few weeks, and writing some … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, MOOC, Philosophy, Rhizomes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

eAssessment Scotland Conference 2013

Posted on 24th August 2013 by NomadWarMachine

I spent yesterday at the 5th annual eAssessment Scotland conference at Dundee University.  This is the third year I’ve attended, and it was odd not to be presenting for once (2 years ago Kenji asked me and Steve Draper to … Continue reading →

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Facebook, subjective well-being, and use

Posted on 19th August 2013 by NomadWarMachine

There’s been a lot of hype in the media recently about a report that apparently show that using Facebook makes you miserable.  It’s making for sensational headlines, so the appeal to journalists is obvious, but what should we think about it … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences, Facebook, Social Media | 1 Comment

International Conference on Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education

Posted on 12th August 2013 by NomadWarMachine

I was due to attend this conference back in June, but due to being suddenly signed off sick I was unable to attend.  However, my co-presenters Niall Barr, Lorna Love and Shazia Ahmed did present papers at the conference which … Continue reading →

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On Procrastination

Posted on 2nd August 2013 by NomadWarMachine

I was in my garden yesterday planting flowers and generally avoiding doing any research on the grounds that the plants couldn’t wait (not true – they’d have been fine till the weekend).  I began to think about the ways in … Continue reading →

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On Blogging

Posted on 1st August 2013 by NomadWarMachine

I’ve been ill recently and not getting around to doing anything – even blogging was too much to cope with.  I say even, but actually it is hard to get into the habit of blogging regularly (finding anything to say, … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | 1 Comment

Intrinsic interest

Posted on 16th March 2013 by NomadWarMachine

I’ve been asked to think about what intrinsic interest is for my PhD cluster* and I thought the best way to stop this topic annoying me and stopping me from getting on with what I am meant to be doing … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Philosophy, Plato, Wittgenstein, Writing | Leave a comment

Faith, Howp, Luve

Posted on 20th October 2012 by NomadWarMachine

Still on the search for that perfect wedding reading, and out with Scots Lit pals last night.  I’d been adamant about not wanting owt trite at our wedding, such as 1 Corinthians 13 1-13, when Andrew suggested a reading from … Continue reading →

Posted in Love, Poetry, Wedding | Tagged | Leave a comment

Being Wittgensteinian

Posted on 14th October 2012 by NomadWarMachine

When I did my first degree I also worked in a factory for a couple of days of the week.  This meant that I could guarantee spending 2 hours at a stretch sitting at a machine with nothing to occupy … Continue reading →

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