So far I have seen one set of militarized police, wearing ski masks in a marked truck with machine guns mounted on it. I saw another set of, I suppose, army, in camouflage, but their truck was not marked so they could have been extralegal paramilitaries for all I know. Axé.
An important principle of Reeducation was that you should do what was uncomfortable. This was because what you thought right was necessarily wrong, and also because you had surely never stretched to do anything differently before. There are several reasons why this idea did not apply to me. Here are some of them, listed in … More A Reeducated Postscript
Z: I am very busy and do not want to change textbooks for our multi-section course. Whiteman: It is selfish of you to give research and more advanced courses a greater priority than this course sequence, and to value current pedagogical practice over the comfort of the older M.A. instructors. Z: Actually, it is selfish … More A department chair
Incidentally, it is blissful not to be Reeducated, although I am still shaking some dust off myself. It is different because one can just move ahead and do things, without having to limit action and vision somehow. Reeducation believed in a number of false dichotomies. You could either accomplish things or be «happy», either think … More La liberté
This just in: «Remember [Tropical Town] when we realized we were in a hotel on top of the movie theater? when the drunk guy who passed out in the restaurant turned out to be the owner?» These are the words of the friend with whom I travelled through [Tropical State] when young. We were both … More Incredibly serious advice to new faculty.
ON SAYING NO The reason I like the Eastern and Central time zones less than the Mountain and Pacific ones is not just that the landscape improves west of the Mississippi and then again west of the Rockies; it is that in daily life I feel these time zones to be less sexist. There in … More More on my experiences of sexism
My professors had no idea how to work anywhere but an R1. By the time I got the Ph.D I had taken courses at five universities, but they were all R1 so that was the world I knew. The standard advice for professors is about how to work at an R1 and I am constantly … More Toda la vida
I am not a full professor at an R-1 but I am beginning to realize that for a series of reasons having to do with the kinds of experience I have had, I am one of the savviest people there are. I was born savvy and trained that way, and when you add to that … More Yet further advice
Clarissa: “More maturity to have a child than to have an abortion” is my favorite statement of the week. The stupidity of these people is daunting. I actually meant less maturity — you need less maturity to have a child than to have an abortion, which is why if you are underage a judge needs … More Hazel-Eyed Girl
I do not have time to fiddle with Blogger so as to be able to comment on Shedding Khawatir‘s post, so I have to post about it. I am not interested in language teaching the way she is, but I have had the same problems about it. Shedding Khawatir complains of the professors and lecturers … More On language teaching
coldhearted scientist وداد 