I woke up in cool sunlight thinking what it would be to be in California or New Orleans with a research day rather than Maringouin with a low-level teaching day ahead. Yes, it is different, very different, and it is false that all academic jobs are the same or that all are inspiring. Before coming … More Milan Kundera
“I really feel I learned in your class. You are a great teacher.” I tend to think I am not, or should not be, yet that if I am not, I am in danger; or if I am it is because I have put in effort that should have been placed elsewhere. I am clearly … More What a student said
…the first day I came to work here. “You radiate confidence and self-respect and it is though the wind had blown in with another kind of air, startling, disconcerting.” Now years later a graduate student said: “It is important I not be critical as I am at the beginning of my career, whereas you are … More What a colleague said
I woke up in sunlight thinking of what it is to walk across a large university campus with energy. I thought of what it would be like to go to the library first thing — to a library with holdings. I listened to the radio in the car and they were interviewing a doctor who … More Vino el día
Et une semaine de bonté, peut-être. Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté, Luxe, calme et volupté. Axé.
Hoy le ha entrado una astilla. Me viene, hay días, una gana ubérrima, política. These are the poems I would like to present this week. That pain that is so often just below the surface. “You are in crisis,” someone said. “You are so calm and meditative,” said another. “You are in a panic,” said … More Questo, e questo; París, y 4, y 5
¡Cima de la delicia! Todo en el aire es pájaro. Se cierne lo inmediato Resuelto en lejanía. ¡Hueste de esbeltas fuerzas! ¡Qué alacridad de mozo En el espacio airoso, Henchido de presencia! El mundo tiene cándida Profundidad de espejo. Las más claras distancias Sueñan lo verdadero. ¡Dulzura de los años Irreparables! ¡Bodas Tardías con la … More Primaveral
It is true, professors are flowers and have to have sun, water, nice soil and time to read. You cannot jail someone below ground, sentence them to sacrifice and penitence, set them on a time-clock and expect a good result, even if the advisors say that is what is needed. I caught a glimpse of … More Stamani in un urna d’acqua
Still, if we are slipping from liberalism to fascism, and if radical democracy or socialism is nowhere on the political horizon, don’t we have to defend liberal democratic institutions and values? Isn’t this the lesson of Weimar? I have labored to suggest that this is not the right diagnosis of our predicament: it does not … More Wendy Brown
Everyone advises and pontificates, and what they say is wrong from the point of view of anyone with any discipline, any hedonism, any love for life and any sophistication. So I will give the anti advice. Advice: don’t read, write. Truth: reading is research. Do not try to produce without doing research. Advice: only work … More How to work and live
coldhearted scientist وداد 