In the last NEH seminar I attended there was a Brazilian scholar who gave a talk about the African cultural origins of “our Negroes,” as she said. White Brazilian scholars and European scholars of Brazil are very concerned about the negative influence Black persons and movements from the United States and, to some extent, the … More Sobre la expresión “nuestros negros”
I really will have to write my manual since I have so much to say. The question on advice is, what are the motives of the advisor? 1/ Sharing, and money. They are willing to sell expertise. Fair enough. 2/ Things people wish they had known: they wish to share experience and views. Of interest. … More Categories of academic advice
“Yeah, it’s as though the law nominally exists for us, but is held from us at the same time.” There is something about this. It is my evoke-and-elide thesis again. Things exist yet do not, and this appears to be a characteristic of modern states. I do not understand it yet but much of what … More Modernity and the law
One of the results of adjunctification is that undergraduates meet few professors, if any, and many are officially advised by academic staff and who have not been faculty. As a result of this they have to pay for coaching on how to get into graduate school and things like that; there are services like The … More On adjunctification, coaches and consultants
Warning! For the past four years I have not been invited to vote on tenure, fourth year review, or hiring. I am not the only one and I had decided not to take it personally. When I am on these committees they tend to vote my way, not because I have the power to force … More Symptoms of neoliberalization and complicity
Time time time: to some extent it is true, one is as harried as one wants to be. My overwhelmed friend teaches community college, 15 hours of class a week, 3 courses 5 days a week, plus meetings, office hours, planning, grading, and the exhaustion of working in a turbulent institution. That is of course plenty … More Fugue states
I do not like the conclusion of my piece — it is too incomplete. It makes it sound as though I am just going for quasi-unionization or something but that is not what I mean (I do *also* mean it but what I really mean is something else). I mean: get rid of the “employee” … More In need of revision
Now my piece is definitely finished, and I do like it. Of course it could take another form but I like this form, too, and I want to publish this version, not hold it until I have something longer, or more lasting than bronze. I thought I had made a decision but my most recent … More That Quandary
I want to apply for an NEH Summer Stipend for 2014. I can argue that my project fits into their Bridging Cultures program, and all. It has a funding ratio of 8% and that is from among people who are actually allowed to apply, after applying to apply. Our university can nominate two people. In the … More This is the sort of thing
Epigraph: message from random faculty member in another college, re my final report to the committee I quit: “Thank you for your time and effort. I know it was not an easy task but you did it with such grace and professionalism, when many would not have.” Now I have to practice what I will … More Et nunc
coldhearted scientist وداد 