I Now that assistant professor from my other department has written about 30% of our grant and done a really good job of it, too. If we win, it may be because of him and I am tempted to write our (i.e., my other) department chair to say so. When I first met this assistant … More Laughing and Singing
I really feel like sending a memo to my department chair but (a) this is Saturday, (b) it has not been solicited, and (c) everyone else has apparently written related memos this week and I doubt one more, no matter how good, true, or beautiful, would be helpful. So I will publish the main points … More Comme Undine
All my Portuguese students this semester are women. I threw the men out in the spring by giving them Bs. They were good but not serious. I am dealing with two Golden Boys right now — you know the type, they were designated Golden Boys at birth. They have had advantages and that is why … More On Golden Boys
I really, really understand that academic work is work. I have never doubted it and never not said it. I have been defending my broader field as work since freshman year, and my narrower field as work since graduate school. I have had to prove that what I do is work in more ways than … More Manifesto, Again
What did you teach today? This semester I am teaching: Spanish 2 (30 students) Spanish 3 (50 students) Portuguese Reading and Composition: for seniors in Linguistics, and graduate students preparing for the reading examination (5 students) Latin American Film: one of those hybrid senior/graduate courses, a highly diverse group (15 students). I am also Secretary … More My Grading Innovation
It is hardly that I do not agree that academic work is work. I have been quoted as saying so on the front page of the Los Angeles Times and that was because of handing out union cards. It was decades ago, and you can tell that to have been allowed to say it on … More Still Mo’ Woikin’
Let’s call what we do WORK, and let’s stop wearing white monogrammed dinner jackets when we do it. Once again: the problem I have with that sentence is that I never didn’t call it work or wear a white monogrammed dinner jacket to do “it.” Writing is fun, publishing is easy, teaching is a pleasant … More More on the Question of Work
The pictures in that video would have looked exotic to me at one time but they no longer do, as such scenes can still be seen. Someone else says: I’m tired of the confidence, the guys who act as if the wind is at their backs, all of which cloaks the true effort involved. Let’s … More Ain’t It Hard
Addendum, Part A: I regularly get people into good PhD programs in my field and many of them, as well as those whose dissertations I directed or was on, now hold good jobs and high ranks. My advising question, below and now in red, has to do with the social sciences. I am still soliciting … More Further Anti-Advice to New Faculty, and an Advising Question, Revised
The other reason I resent all the advisors who preach about how you should do a poor job teaching is that well known professors gave very responsible courses, that I took as an undergraduate, at one of the premier research institutions in the world. They had good materials, they prepared interesting essay questions, they did … More Vitriol, Part x(n)
