Biography of Learning

Ron Burnett is president emeritus at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver and was appointed to the Order of Canada.

"In this most impressive volume, Burnett draws from his distinguished career as a teacher, artist, scholar, and administrator, to remind us that learning is fundamental to human thriving and an endeavour that requires rigorous study to remain pertinent and effective in changing times. A Biography of Learning will appeal to any reader interested in understanding more about how we learn, why we learn, and what it takes to learn well." - Lorne M. Buchman, President Emeritus, ArtCenter College of Design "Against our contemporary backdrop of quantifiable metrics and codifiable learning outcomes, Ron Burnett delivers an impassioned – and refreshingly personal – case for the wonderful messiness of teaching and learning. Unpredictability, ambiguity, chaos, contingency, technological disruption, and serendipity – it turns out that a deep engagement with these unruly forces will be essential to creating lasting impact in the classroom. But more than that, he demonstrates the transformative effect that radical openness and care can have in cultivating ‘the prepared mind.’" - Jamer Hunt, Professor of Transdisciplinary Design, The New School "Capacious in its approach, and an audacious call to action – where serendipity, play, and dialogue are as central to critical pedagogy as planning learning outcomes – A Biography of Learning is an urgent provocation to radically reimagine education in the context of rapid transformations in communications technology, as well as a self-reflexive account of Burnett’s half-century as an educator and administrator in the fields of film, media, visual arts, and communications." - Scott MacKenzie, Professor of Film and Media, Queen’s University

• Prelude: Artificial Intelligence and TimeIntroduction: A New School – A New Learning Paradigm?   Part One1. Biography, Learning, and Play2. Knowledge, Memory, and Living Archives3. The Classroom, Generational Change, and the Expansion of Disciplines4. Film Studies, Hiroshima Mon Amour and Window Water Baby MovingPart Two5. Learning with and against TikTok and AI: The Algorithmic Challenge6. Science, Truth, History, and Learning7. Learning with New Tools8. Transposition, Translation, Transformation, Serendipity9. Chance, Bricolage, Symmetry10. The Radical Impossibility of TeachingPart Three11. Learning, Consensus, and Social Media12. Symptom FieldsPart Four13. Budding Visions and New Spaces for Learning14. The Communication of Ideas through Video15. Making, Being, Learning16. Designing a New Campus for Emily Carr University of Art and Design17. Studios, Outcomes, and VisionConclusionEndnotes