DCLioness left a comment on a recent post that contained an important word: deprofessionalization. I keep trying to figure out why it is that I shrink and do not grow in the profession the longer I work at the kind of institution I do, and deprofessionalization would be the answer. I know one is expected … More On deprofessionalization
It may just be my perception but it seems to me that the verb assumir is or embodies a Brazilian cultural value. People are always talking about the importance of taking responsibility, taking charge, assessing, declaring and facing the reality of a situation. It seems to me that much academic advice goes in the opposite … More Assumir
– Conferences with students. About 25 of them. – Started unraveling a bureaucratic mystery. – Received e-mail announcing the existence of a book which supports one of my theses. This was my research gesture for the day. – Continued to be very far behind on grading and syllabus revision post hurricane. No good deed goes … More What I did today, 8AM-8PM, on one cup of orange juice and one of coffee
Now it is fall. Fall means it is dry and sunny. I have always did liked the fall. I like studying in fall but in Reeducation that was considered a bad thing. Studying was something one must shed to find reality hidden beneath its shell, because Reeducation could not imagine study was at the core … More More about me and dat formerly, but only temporarily internalized whiteman
“I have coined the term post-fascism to describe a cluster of policies, practices, routines and ideologies which can be observed everywhere in the contemporary world. Without ever resorting to a coup d’etat, these practices are threatening our communities. They find their niche easily in the new global capitalism, without upsetting the dominant political forms of … More Gáspár Miklós Tamás
(…and so not wanting to start). This happens when: – I do not have a strong enough sense of authority in the project AND I do not realize this – I do not think of myself as the person in charge, but as a worker on the line – I do not think of myself … More On not knowing where to start
The main issue I have with teaching basic language courses in required programs and much taught languages is simply that it is an enormous project. From the fourth semester on up, it is just a class, but in the first three, when you have all the random students, the e-workbook, the interface with multiple sections, … More Another answer to Shedding Khawatir
I am a spontaneous person, I do things well off the cuff, and I can make good decisions quickly, but some of this is because I am so well informed anyway. I do not like to live by the seat of my pants. I do not understand why it is considered so healthy not to … More In an authoritarian culture
Every time someone tells me to “just do it” they are acting in their own interests and not in mine. I think it is some insidious American plot to reencode reflection as laziness or “procrastination.” Do not just do it, you will become a cog, someone else’s tool, or a workaholic. Step back and reflect. … More On just doing it
My colleague says it is a uniquely authoritarian institution in a highly authoritarian culture and region. She compares it to Mexico in the 1820s but after reading an article about Argentine culture under J.M. Rosas as cruel and terrifying I am starting to wonder whether we are really 1840s Argentina. “Just get a book, dear.” … More On why it is difficult for us to feel relatively whole and to get things done in a normal fashion
coldhearted scientist وداد 