We were all accused, and accused ourselves so much of arrogance but really it was only that we had other professional obligations. Those of us who said we had not been trained to work at colleges or community colleges and other non research entities were not “being arrogant” but merely stating facts. I have no … More “I have other professional obligations,” or, on “arrogance”
What they say — “apply to everything, be willing to go anywhere,” — is utterly wrong. You should apply in this order: R1, R2, D1, nothing below that and nothing that is not a university. What they say — “R1 institutions are the hardest ones to get tenure at,” is utterly wrong. They are the … More Advice to graduate students
The other thing we were saying at that conference I went to a few weeks ago was that we had met some really mean and also supercilious people in academia and that that was why we had tried to get away from it. Colleague: Where do you expect to publish this book? Professor Zero: Routledge. … More On promise
This is, essentially, what I mean to say. I have not been much of a passive reader since the fifth grade, because I started writing in the sixth. In particular, I only occasionally read long novels for recreation; I do not normally find them relaxing or interesting, and I have to be relaxed and entertained … More Moria on Reading and Writing
There are things like editorial boards that I am on, and forget to say I am. I have to remember them, as we are coming up on annual report season. I do not like looking at my vita and things like that, and part of being in that writing group is to “disenchant” them, just … More J’oublie
If I did not have such a heavy service load or such a broad teaching range at the upper division to graduate level, and if we had an actual language program in place such that I knew what our goals and preferred methods actually were, then I might, despite the fact that this is very … More Untenable I
The question in the students’ book was: have you ever said yes to something when you meant no? I would not normally have a profound thought about this question but because it came up in an academic venue, and somehow I have profound thoughts during this very basic class — they float somewhere near the ceiling, … More On saying yes and no
I want it. The reason I do not have it is that there are so many obstacles to rationally managed teaching and service placed here. This is done because the University, as it has said in writing, does not support my fields. One must be less and less kind and negotiate less and less, and … More I want more research time.
The other point to be made is that doing things in the academically prescribed way: rushing, taking “shortcuts,” going through the motions superficially, saying things you do not believe — is boring. Things become interesting if you give them attention, and anxiety producing if you do not give them enough time. If I explained this … More …and furthermore, it is boring!
“You have to learn to be a good prison guard,” said my colleague after visiting my lower division class, but that is precisely the reason I want to leave academia. I am not interested in being a prison guard at all, and to the extent one is expected to be that or a social worker, … More “You have to learn how to be a good prison guard”
