Your mind and you are our Sargasso Sea

People make anti-resumés of rejections, which are interesting since they show the submerged iceberg below the polished tip. Another anti-resumé would be of achievements that don’t “count,” that would not make it into either the resumé or the anti-resumé, but that are achievements nonetheless. A very great deal of my time goes into such things. … More Your mind and you are our Sargasso Sea

Marc B.

I would like to write on his Facebook feed, where he is ranting about “morally panicked literature professors” — That’s ridiculous, and actually the reactions to tv when it came in were more subtle and interesting (I notice you don’t mention it). I am tired of having students who can’t read but are only trained … More Marc B.

Nostalgia

What I miss about the jobs I have had in R-1 institutions is feeling like an adult. You work calmly with adults. Elsewhere being constantly badgered, accused, pulled down, yelled at, interrupted, and having to work through the frantic irrationality of others really drains and disorients me because it activates the traumatized state of childhood, … More Nostalgia

On tenure

They have made it too difficult to get. Why should you move across the country to a less than desirable job on the theory that it will be stable and will be a space in which you can do your work, just to be tossed out — particularly when it is not a job that … More On tenure

Fan base

Here is more for my article on the language of neoliberalism: for sports teams, one no longer says fans but “fan base.” The marketing department has taken over, and the “fan base” isn’t the fans but the media- and marketing catchment area. Axé.