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
I am from the ocean but now I cross rivers. Such a good sunset over the Mississippi coming from campus to Maringouin tonight, and I still do not know nearly enough about rivers. Axé.
One of the main reasons wealth makes people unhappy is that it gives them too much control over what they experience. They try to translate their own fantasies into reality . . . an enervating and disappointing pastime . . . learning and growing are very difficult with wealth because they depend on experiences in … More An interesting perspective.
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
The academic advice with which I do agree is, never put any time or energy and especially not intellectual effort into program development. One of ours has been cancelled after piteous cries from the selfsame university that we help them save it. Every minute spent helping would have been better spent on research. I was … More With (another part of) the party line, most emphatically.
I am sorry, everyone, but preparing class is one of the best things you can do and it saves time. I’ve often tried not to, being told that every minute spent on it is a minute I could be writing, but it is so exhausting and it takes so much energy to just walk on … More Against the party line.
I found a tree trimmer, made a deal, and withdrew $600 from one of my hidden savings accounts to pay for it. This completes house projects of the greater size, while I work up to (a) half a roof and (b) exterior paint. Each of these is to be paid for by summer teaching plus … More Spring
I am reading on Alcides Arguedas, about whom I knew relatively little. I learned the most amazing thing I have learned all semester: he thought that through education, the Indians of Bolivia could be transformed into Swedes! This is something like Macunaíma, bathing in the magic pool and turning into a beautiful, white prince. * … More Alcides Arguedas
I am of course tired of writing about academic advice and about Reeducation. I feel I have said everything I could say, and that anything new I could say would take time to write that I would rather use for almost anything else – academic work, housework, recreation. My perception for the week, though, is … More Sondé miroir
coldhearted scientist وداد 