In convivial institutions (and the societies they make up) modern technologies serve ‘politically interrelated individuals rather than managers’. (Illich 1975: 12). Such institutions are characterized by ‘their vocation of service to society, by spontaneous use of and voluntary participation in them by all members of society (Gajardo 1994: 716). Ivan Illich (1975a) uses “convivial” as … More Illich, again
In the spring, I will teach Tuesdays and Thursdays. All classes are senior level, the easiest level, and I have taught these particular courses before. Mondays, I will do research and then prepare classes. Wednesdays, I will do research, prepare classes and occasionally attend a meeting. I will grade and hold office hours Tuesday and … More Spring Semester
I am harvesting blood oranges. Usually they are killed by hurricanes or frost, but now there are very many, red and sweet. We are finishing the semester, so of course it is orange-time. The academic advisors keep saying you must save time, “protect” it like a fortress, but with all due respect to time, I … More On Space
After twenty years I have figured out of whom I could have asked the question I had. I really had not thought of it. I was very frustrated because I asked so many people whom I might ask, and none even recognized my question. But in at least some cases, it might have been that … More Que sais-je?
One thing abusive people often do is find something which is not a problem and try to say it is, or find a small problem and say it is much worse than you realize. Below I give some ridiculous examples of this, but I notice that people try it all the time in more subtle … More Reminder and footnote
Caffeinated enough at last I must move on for the day and do not have time, now, to do justice to this worthy project but I will say: 1- I am from an academic and cultural elite. One of my ancestors, the 19th century immigrant (everyone else had already been here for centuries), had a … More For Historiann and Tony Grafton
So I am still mystified. It seems the main thing people did not learn how to do in graduate school was to write, and that they suffer while writing.What I did not learn in graduate school was how to teach K-12, and I suffer while teaching. There are people who do not suffer while teaching. … More Et encore, encore
This blog is about getting over Reeducation, which had several elements – one of which was the academic advice given advanced graduate students and assistant professors, advice I misunderstood because it didn’t really apply to me. In the same period I had a psychotherapist who, unbeknownst to me, was also an AA sponsor; in AA, … More On Academic Advice
It was for a while the case that rest did not rest me but now it does because I am in serious resistance against Dat Whiteman, the result of which is that rest really is rest. Ergo: resistance enables rest and does not disturb it. Axé.
Remember as you read this: all of my stories are mixed in terms of place and time, and my characters are distorted composites created as types; you do not know for sure how many universities I work for or have worked for, or from whose traits my composite characters have been built; I am a … More Still More on Why I So Dislike Teaching Foreign Languages
coldhearted scientist وداد 