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This essay remembers Robert Cowen by refusing to settle him. Rather than summarizing his contributions, we follow his trickster moves through comparative education: tilting frames, delaying endings, haunting centers, resisting usefulness, and stepping aside so others could leap. Drawing on his writings, footnotes, metaphors, and shared encounters, the essay treats style as method and mischief as epistemic practice. What remains is not a settled legacy, but an invitation to keep comparative education slightly off balance.
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Silova et al. (2026) studied this question.
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