White Hot

Another of the reasons I do not work with ‘feminist’ or Women’s Studies faculty is that so much of their energy seems to go into justifying the boorish behavior of men. “He means well,” they say, “and he is surely struggling with his behavior and attitude.” The rejoinder “Consider what he did” falls upon deaf … More White Hot

May Day

Given that this is the situation, should I our should I not bother to put more time into AAUP and, or and/or, committee work for Academic Senate? AAUP is in my opinion permanently valuable, but for various reasons the charge the Academic Senate would like to give me is more attractive to me personally. Yet … More May Day

The Hot Eight

It is the weekend, so we are singing. Today we rather incongruously practiced danzón behind the stage while waiting for the Hot 8. Resignation is not one the Hot 8′s strong points. I, however, have discovered that resignation, that machine to reproduce ideology and the social order, is all the rage. People call it “acceptance” … More The Hot Eight

On Collegiality

I would like to return to a portion of a comment in the CHE thread on tenure: What the faculty lack (and what is helping to erode the academic freedom and tenure system) is collegiality. No, not in the sense used by administrators (and faculty) to deny an outspoken faculty member tenure. Real collegiality — … More On Collegiality

Aesthetics of Hunger

After returning from a well heeled conference at a well heeled university attended by mostly well heeled professors I returned home refreshed, without a care in the world but the knowledge that I had spent $70 in restaurants that I do not have room for in my budget this month or next, and that this … More Aesthetics of Hunger

I Object

I People are very critical of women who are being abused physically. Why do they not just leave … why do they then get into another abusive relationship … and on, and on. “They are sick, that is why!” shouts the chorus in glee. The chorus forgets to consider how many predators there are, and … More I Object