{"id":11837,"date":"2016-03-16T06:36:16","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T13:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=11837"},"modified":"2016-03-14T15:38:20","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T22:38:20","slug":"know-your-profs-d-bradley-muir-strives-for-authenticity-not-product-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2016\/03\/16\/know-your-profs-d-bradley-muir-strives-for-authenticity-not-product-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Know Your Profs<\/em>: D. Bradley Muir strives for authenticity, not product development"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Know Your Profs<\/i> is an ongoing series of profiles on the instructors at Camosun College. Every issue we ask a different instructor at Camosun the same 10 questions in an attempt to get to know them a little better.<\/p>\n

Do you have an instructor that you want to see interviewed in the paper? Maybe you want to know more about one of your teachers, but you\u2019re too busy, or shy, to ask? We\u2019re here to help: just email editor@nexusnewspaper.com and we\u2019ll add your instructor to our list of teachers to talk to.<\/p>\n

This issue, we talked to Camosun Visual Arts prof D. Bradley Muir about the importance of final critiques in the creative process, parking tickets, and, uh\u2026 abducting the neighbour\u2019s cat.<\/p>\n

\"Camosun\u2019s<\/a>
Camosun\u2019s D. Bradley Muir (photo provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1: What do you teach and how long have you been a teacher at Camosun?<\/i><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve taught Visual Arts at Camosun for 11 years. I teach many different studio- and lecture-based courses\u2014film and video art, film history, art theory, drawing, painting, sculpture, animation, and photography. I come from an interdisciplinary studio art background and really love how the Visual Arts department here educates from that location and that we provide such a diversity of approaches and perspectives for our students.<\/p>\n

2: What do you personally get out of teaching?<\/i><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a difficult question. For me, teaching is one part of many in a community-based social\/intellectual experience. It might sound clich\u00e9 to say it, but I am as much a learner as I am a teacher. So I suppose what I get out of teaching is that I have the fortune of continuing to learn and exchange ideas.<\/p>\n

3: What\u2019s one thing you wish your students knew about you?<\/i><\/p>\n

I would hope that anything that I wish them to know I would tell them or demonstrate in some fashion so they could see it. I suppose, though, that in the spirit of disclosure, I could admit that I actually like cats and that I am a lover of all animals, not just dogs. In fact, my neighbour has a lovely cat that I have been attempting to abduct, but it won\u2019t give me the time of day.<\/p>\n

4: What\u2019s one thing you wish they didn\u2019t know about you?<\/i><\/p>\n

That I\u2019m not as funny as I think I am.<\/p>\n

5: What\u2019s the best thing that\u2019s ever happened to you as a teacher here?<\/i><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have bests or favourites. Even the attempt to consider this question floods my memory with a montage of events, students, and moments that are the reasons why I love teaching here. With that said, I am always amazed at the results our students are capable of creating at the end of each semester. I think that is why I love final critiques and our year-end exhibitions and film screenings. It\u2019s always wonderful to reflect on what our students create.<\/p>\n

6: What\u2019s the worst thing that\u2019s ever happened to you as a teacher here?<\/i><\/p>\n

Oh, parking tickets! It\u2019s the worst when one parks in the same place every day for months, forgets their parking permit, and is not reminded with a note but rather a ticket.<\/p>\n

7: What do you personally see in the future of postsecondary education?<\/i><\/p>\n

What do I see? Or what do I hope for? I hope that education will return to its roots and social function. That institutions will promote the pursuit of learning. Learning to better ourselves and our world through knowledge. Not a knowledge that leads to a job or product development but rather a knowledge that is based in questioning, wherein the prior may occur but is not the central focus or obligation.<\/p>\n

8: What do you do to relax on the weekends?<\/i><\/p>\n

I coach and support the sports interests of my two boys. They are 10 and five and by extension keep me feeling young. A dream weekend is when my partner, sons, and I all get up to Mt. Washington\u2014rare but invaluable. I also love preparing and enjoying food and wine with friends and family. Throw in some studio time and Dallas Road with our dog and it\u2019s a great weekend!<\/p>\n

9: What is your favourite meal?<\/i><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have favourites. I consider myself an \u2018opportunivore\u2019\u2014I love food, I love eating. If it\u2019s made well and with consideration I\u2019m sure I will love it. Waiting for that to happen at school without the aid of the food trucks.<\/p>\n

10: What\u2019s your biggest pet peeve?<\/i><\/p>\n

Uninspired outcomes. I\u2019m all about authenticity and commitment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Know Your Profs is an ongoing series of profiles on the instructors at Camosun College. Every issue we ask a different instructor at Camosun the same 10 questions in an attempt to get to know them a little better. Do you have an instructor that you want to see interviewed in the paper? Maybe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","category-march-16-2016"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11839,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11837\/revisions\/11839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}