The campus at the center of the McLuhan story — where McLuhan taught from 1946, where Innis chaired Political Economy, and, in Bob and Cameron's reading, the anti-environment that keeps producing structural opposites, Peterson against McLuhan a half-century on. It recurs less as a place than as a lineage and a set of parallels. New to it — start with dialogue 25 for the McLuhan–Peterson parallel.
Across the dialogues
Framed as a machine for structural opposites — McLuhan and, fifty years later, Peterson, both "media interval thinkers"
Bob casts the university as a producer of structural opposites — McLuhan explaining the disappearance of visual space, and Peterson fifty years later trying to save it, both "media interval thinkers" off the same campus.
"can we save visual space?"Bob Dobbs, The Resonant Interval, Dialogue 6 (17 Dec 2020), 1:30:54
Made the ground of the McLuhan–Peterson parallel — both Alberta-born, both back from the U.S., both taught for decades and viciously attacked there; Theall's "five colleges, five religions" anti-environment
Cameron grounds the McLuhan–Peterson parallel in the institution — both Alberta-born, both returned from the U.S. to teach here for decades, both "viciously attacked by colleagues in Toronto."
"taught briefly in the United States before they came back to the University of Toronto"Cameron McEwen, The Resonant Interval, Dialogue 25 (10 Jun 2021), 1:03:17
Bob relays Theall's account of the campus as a uniquely generative anti-environment — dynamic centers "generating insights far beyond themselves" that keep producing "the next big guy."
"five colleges, five religions, and a very anti-environment."Donald Theall, read by Bob Dobbs, The Resonant Interval, Dialogue 25 (10 Jun 2021), 1:17:12
Cited as a publisher in its own right — McLuhan's 1971 "Hijacking of Cities, Nations, and Planets" in its Varsity Graduate
Bob cites the campus as a publisher in its own right — McLuhan's 1971 article appearing in its Explorations.
"The Hijacking of Cities, Nations, and Planets"Bob Dobbs, The Resonant Interval, Dialogue 26 (17 Jun 2021), 1:09:09
Connections
McLuhan arrived in 1946 into a milieu where Havelock's notion of the epyllion was already "abroad."
Innis chaired Political Economy here; Easterbrook, McLuhan's Winnipeg friend, later chaired the same department.
Bob and Cameron cast Peterson as McLuhan's structural opposite from the same campus — another Alberta-born professor, attacked by the same colleagues.