Clint Gardner

Sustaining Writing & Writing Centers Adapting & Growing Under Challenging Conditions November 7, 2014 Canadian University of Dubai Thank you and good afternoon. I've been told by very reliable sources (students) that funny cat videos get people’s attention and help you make new friends.  Since I want to do both, here goes nothing. But if that didn’t get your attention, here’s another one. Sorry for that. But I did get your attention, right?  Getting the attention of people isn't always the easiest thing to do. I think we know that as teachers. In the classroom, I find that starting with writing tends to get everyone’s attention, and gets them focussed on the subject matter  In the spirit of engaging you with my subject matter this afternoon, like the inveterate teacher of writing that I am, I’m going to have you do a bit of writing.  About a month or so ago, I was chatting online with my writing center colleague

Day 1:  Dubai November 6, 2014 Salt Lake valley from 10,000 feet The flight to Dubai was long. I left Salt Lake City at 10 am our and arrived in Dubai at 8 pm local time. That's 10am mountain time. I was traveling for 24 hours, in other words. The flight from DC to Dubai took 12 hours. I had no idea airplanes could fly so far for so long. We flew over Syria and the disputed areas in Iraq. I thought about surface-to-air missiles and the horrible fate of Malaysian Airlines flight 17 the whole time. When I arrived at the Dubai airport, I made it through passport control with an very entertainingly official passport agent, who loved his stamps, and could shuffle through a passport with precision. He found page seven of my passport with alacrity. His shuffling of a passport would put a Vegas black jack dealer to shame. He clearly enjoyed his job, and was extra happy to provide my visa stamp. I learned later that passport control jobs are a job of honor for young male Unit