Dr. Crazy has made an excellent argument for tenure based upon its benefit to institutions and to students. Meanwhile, the AAUP is calling for the conversion of non tenure lines to tenure lines, and I agree. They say in part: By far the best stabilization practices are those that include the rigorous professional peer scrutiny … More Academic Mondays: Conversion to Tenure
I am behind, but I am making progress on my book. I think what Reeducation wanted was fretting. It said it wanted introspection, but it wanted fretting. Its ideas in fact caused me to fret, but fretting is not useful. I think I should have started on this book long ago. The reason it is … More I, Professor Zero
Teaching these required freshmen courses is really depressing because people have such a punkish attitude and have clearly had such bad situations all their lives. At this university I was raised to feel sorry for these students, but I am no longer able to do so. I think the only answer is to make these … More On Finals
We also have in Louisiana several privatized prisons. At one of them, in the parish where my ancestor had some of his cotton land, there was a strike recently and I would like to know what happened. The Changeseeker offers some context. Axé.
I am not convinced it matters any more that politicians have our support, so my correspondence with Presidents is now utterly postmodern. Dear Mr. President, Due to your plans for Afghanistan and renewal of the Patriot Act, I have removed all remnants of November 2008 materials from all of my premises. I have disassociated myself … More My Letter to Barack
It is the weekend, so we will sing! I am singing that it was the last day of classes and that this has been one of the most interesting and by far the least terrible of all semesters I have been at my present institution. I am singing that next Friday I will be packing, … More Ponto de Iansã
We have not sung in some time, but now we are singing Revolution Rock. After twelve years of oppression I told the M.A.’s I had had it, I would no longer test from a commercial testing bank, I would make my own examinations and peg them to national standards. I said I was sure I … More Revolution Rock
I have so many things to do that it is hard to know where to start. It is hard to know where to start because realistically, there is not enough time to accomplish it all — if there were, I could start anywhere. I would prefer to just start anywhere but I must first discern … More Straitjackets of Normalcy
Following the suggestion of a reader, we will now have an open thread each Monday on a current academic keyword (e.g. “excellence”) or on other topics of very broad interest to academics. Today’s question is: what did you not learn in graduate school that you most wish you had? My answers are: how to teach … More Introducing: Academic Mondays
It is winter, and key limes are thick on the branches. Garlic is blooming, and soon there will be bright kumquats. Picking oranges, seeing how the tree branches had bent under their weight, I realized that the globes on Christmas trees represent fruit. Every winter we quote from the Archpriest of Hita. This year we … More En hiver: Archpriest of Hita
coldhearted scientist وداد 