The Academic Writing Platform for the Middle Common Room.
A travel guide and a (cognitive) map: a neuroscientific fable from a world of open borders Have you ever gone into a different room, only to forget what you were doing? Have you ever been bewildered while travelling somewhere very different, or perhaps while studying or attempting something new? Perhaps Read more…
As an Educationalist, I have had to endure questions from non-specialists that allow me to prove that I am not training to become a teacher, but I am trying to provide new insights that challenge the way teachers do the teaching. Hence, my interest pedagogy, but more specifically in critical Read more…
Art is a complex concept to define. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, art is: ‘The expression or application of creative human skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power’. The definition provided Read more…
As humans living on one fragile planet, how are we to view one another, our diversities and complexities, and where are the vocabularies that help us flesh out a full-bodied understanding of an interconnected, functioning worldwide human community? Are there systems of education that can cultivate such visions and vocabularies? Read more…
Westminster Bridge, London. Photo by Hugo Sousa on Unsplash Today, humans will extract almost 100 million barrels of oil from the Earth. The size of this continuous flow of black sludge is difficult to visualise but let’s try; combined with the extraction of coal and natural gas, the flow rate of fossil fuels Read more…
How do people from high-context culture talk about the elephant in the room? Hong Kong is such a place trapped in sensitive political issues in recent years. How do Hong Kong people express their political opinion, and how do listeners perceive such implicit information with little misunderstanding? The answer is the language they use.
Vance Tan, Editor-in-Chief of the MCR Ex Aula Research Journal is now accepting submissions from all MCR members for publication in Hilary 2020, in the fields of: Humanities Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Medical Sciences Social Sciences Entries of no more than 800 words should address the importance of your Read more…
During a winter evening last year, I found myself alone in an empty Kyiv park with my friend, Maria. We stood by a concrete pedestal where a statue of Vladimir Lenin was once mounted. It had obviously been torn down and the remains were scattered at our feet. Looking at Read more…
Nuclear power is a contentious political issue and it is something that most people hold a strong opinion on. Some people are against nuclear power as a result of the severe consequences of nuclear power plant disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima (when 14m waves from a tsunami led to a Read more…
I just got back from the swimming pool. When I was in the pool, I very vividly recalled my memories from my childhood when I used to swim competitively. Why did this distant, abstract experience feel so powerfully familiar? As I finished pondering this bizarre feeling, it occurred that I Read more…