coldhearted scientist وداد

Now I am coming up to the end of my second non-depressed month. I can see that part of not getting depressed is just mental health hygiene, as Clarissa says, and that includes, importantly, having resources for this and most importantly, knowing how not to internalize oppression.

On the question of time, I now see exactly how much work I can do and lead a reasonable life. I can teach well three advanced undergraduate or graduate courses, three preparations, if they are in fields I actually work in, and if I do not have an extra-heavy service burden, and if I primarily read for research, writing steadily but not very much. In that situation I can also live well and have time to handle any house, family, or prisoner crises that may arise.

That is, however, a light load, lighter than what would advance me. In the fall especially, we have more work than this. For structural reasons the experience for research faculty in my subunit is like being new assistant professors every time. Things are always that chaotic, that much in quantity, and that new. It is exhausting and dispiriting, and it is never clear what we should do about it.

Here is where academic advice is wrong: it assumes that we simply have not learned to delegate and to be efficient. In fact, we are overworked, underfunded and frustrated no matter how many “corners” we “cut,” and we are under-functioning no matter how much we push ourselves. Not allowing people to say it is overwork, insisting it is all a problem of their lack of skill, is inaccurate and unfair. That, as we already know, is the main reason I so dislike academic advice.

Related is what someone said to me, academic advice is not actually advice for the long term, it is something you say to people you feel or have decided are just having an exhaustion crisis or being petulant, to quiet them down and get them to go away, or to teach them to shoulder the blame for what you have done to them or to their unit. If true, this would explain a great deal.

#OccupyHE.

Axé.