El Paraíso
13/12/2012
Here is an actual picture of the actual hacienda where Isaacs’ novel is set. It is wonderful but also quite uncanny to be able to call it up, just like that. Axé.
Category: Resources
Brave New Ph.D
10/12/2012
Here is a very good post on the proposed overhauls of Ph.D programs. Did you expect to get an academic job, though? At Berkeley we were always told not to expect to get jobs, and I fully expected my academic career to end when I filed my dissertation. This may be part of my problem … More Brave New Ph.D
Reading lists
09/12/2012
Here is a reading list for students considering graduate work in Spanish. Here is my list for students considering Latin American literature as a secondary field for the Ph.D in another literature. Like the SMT list, it is not a reading list for the actual examination, but a preliminary list. * Here is an ancient … More Reading lists
My horoscope challenge, and a film clip
06/12/2012
My current Breznyscope is quite good, and yes, it is all about freedom. We could, meanwhile, insert this clip in bad papers: Axé.
Light reading for while students take finals
05/12/2012
An interesting review of developmentalism and dependency theory. Students do not get enough research training and what I now do in these hybrid senior/graduate courses is precisely at the level of what I did in Comparative Literature 1A, 1B, and 40, the freshman and sophomore courses I taught as a graduate student. Marc Bosquet is … More Light reading for while students take finals
The problem of simplifying models
04/12/2012
Hattie is the one who really found this. Axé.
How do academics get alienated from their work?
30/11/2012
The answer to this question is easy. If they say research is not part of your job description it is not too bad. You can do research as your hobby and even keep a lot of it off the version of your vita you give them. If they say research is part of your job … More How do academics get alienated from their work?
Now I see
28/11/2012
…what has been going on. There is a certain kind of bad situation I can usually only tell I have because of how I feel from it, not what I see. You have to believe your senses. And I, if I am flashing back as I have kept doing intermittently for about three weeks, am … More Now I see
Coda on advice and its sources I
26/11/2012
I keep insisting, and I am sure I am right, that you in fact learned how to do academic work if you have a degree from anything like a reputable institution, and that you got it from the program itself. Where else do you get advice? This is the submerged question, since much of the … More Coda on advice and its sources I
Coda on the right to desire to aspire to feel inspired
26/11/2012
The right to desire to aspire to feel inspired is a human right I am surely the first to articulate, but that I have not invented since it is eternal. These are the main pieces of academic advice I have received: – Do not think you will get a job – Obey to get tenure – … More Coda on the right to desire to aspire to feel inspired
coldhearted scientist وداد 