This is the news (as reported by AP), and this is what Ashley Morris says about it. Morris’ post includes a copy of Tulane President Scott Cowan’s comments on the matter. Cowan says Tulane followed its Faculty Handbook very closely. But I have read Tulane’s Faculty Handbook (in its pre-Katrina version). It was a very … More AAUP Censure
I I wrote a page of my paper, and then I went to the store. I wrote another page, and then I took the rest of the day to write in my novel, which has no schedule and no publisher, and which would not count at work since I was not hired as a “creative … More La lentitude aujourd’hui
I Another book I would like to reread is Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo. I think of it now because I have realized that academic writing is easier than blogging. I started blogging to jump-start academic writing, but their relationship seems to have reversed itself. This might be a sign of success. My scholarly texts would … More Jazz Poem, Voodoo Aesthetics
“Fighting that bears no fruit” is what Nezua dislikes about lo académico. It is the best concise diagnosis of the problem I have seen. It took me about five years of professordom to finally understand: these people want to complain and struggle, but they do not want to resolve problems. There is also the penchant … More “Fighting That Bears No Fruit”
I I went to graduate school because the woman at the career center said that looking for a real job was a full time job, and that getting one would take about six months of full time looking. This gave me great pause, since it meant I would have to spend the last six months … More Des mauvais grisgris académiques
For ridiculousness, one of my favorite academic experiences of all time was the telephone call I received from a senior person in Women’s Studies who announced that I was the least oppressed person on the faculty: no husband, no children, not a woman of color, not disabled, not gay. As the least oppressed person, it … More Patriarchal Women I
I I want to hire and I want to hire somebody good, and mine is not the nation’s most attractive university. In our state 29% of children live below the poverty line and another 24% live in low income families. At the salaries we offer, a family of four on one assistant professor salary would … More On Calling References
Although I am not among those who say they “love” teaching, one thing I genuinely like about my particular academic job are the students. I have so many interesting and marvelous stories and vignettes about them that I have a near total ban on describing them here, on the theory that if I began to … More Graduation Story
More poetically than I, Anne Waldman asks whether it is illuminating to think of poetry as a career, or in relation to careers. The connection to institutions. To commerce. The origin of the word career in chariot races. I would rather think of trajectories than races. Freeing the work from both competition and from establishmentarian … More Career Poets
To: All Interviewees From: Professor Zero Re: How To Keep Me From Voting “No” Outright Date: Forever 1. Keep your hands away from your face when you are speaking. I have seen as many as 80% of candidates per day cover their mouths, cradle their heads in one arm so that half the audience cannot … More On MLA Interviews and Campus Visits
