So again, it is: their political problem is not my psychological problem, or should not be. And it is political. Also: the psychological problems they have created with their politics are not my responsibility to solve. For instance, if they have made someone feel awful, I do not have to become a sacrificial victim to … More The program

The Reeducator said this and also said I was too intellectual, too “thinking.” (Thinking was bad, because it involved reason, which to him meant false reason and rationalization, and of course he was very anti-intellectual.) I didn’t understand what he meant, because I have deep feelings and also a lot of emotions; I was insulted … More “Feel your feelings”

I don’t ever want to feel as I did [yesterday] again. Or for the past 27 years living in Lafayette. Therefore, this is what I have to say to the Cajuns of that Cajun Renaissance: yes, I have a PhD, and if you say so, yes, it’s better than yours. Yes, I’ve got broader academic … More Epistle to the Cajuns

Right, in a broader sense the revolution I’m in was lost 50 years ago and I know it. But my not wanting to be defeated is this: I don’t feel like quitting the university without another university job, it’s just that in my particular department religious adoration of the suffering Cajuns is required at all … More Something I said to a friend

Axé.

From a Cajun friend: “There is a certain variety of active ignorance that is treated as virtue by white Louisianians. You hear them browbeat each other over their shitty beers at get-togethers, etc.” That’s exactly it. On French vs. Spanish, Spanish is far more cosmopolitan, and French is far more standardized.Spanish has more tenses, more … More The political analysis

I am looking for fellowships for certain classes of students, in particularly non-US graduate students at US institutions. One for fieldwork in a third country (i.e. fieldwork they couldn’t just do while home on school breaks, let’s say they’re from Japan and are doing a U.S. PhD in Latin American Studies). One for work in … More Fellowships

I would love to say to tourists: Aspects of the Cajun adoration to which I object include the fleur-de-lys and the nostalgia for empire, along with the desire to parlay that into becoming kings in a new, corporate empire. If you want credit for being a poor peasant and you’ve decided to become a king’s … More Further sacrilege