I congratulate today, especially: a) all Pell grant recipients and others who graduated despite very difficult circumstances; b) all current and former members of the armed forces of the United States, despite my disagreement with their mission; c) anyone who has had to work offshore or at other forms of rough oilfield work, either before … More Upon graduation
Answers I gave to questions today included: – No, you cannot get that type and level of Federal funding for individual research in a field in which you have no education or practical experience. – No, what a class collectively pays in tuition and fees is not the amount an adjunct gets paid per course. … More Philistines
My professors had no idea how to work anywhere but an R1. By the time I got the Ph.D I had taken courses at five universities, but they were all R1 so that was the world I knew. The standard advice for professors is about how to work at an R1 and I am constantly … More Toda la vida
I am not a full professor at an R-1 but I am beginning to realize that for a series of reasons having to do with the kinds of experience I have had, I am one of the savviest people there are. I was born savvy and trained that way, and when you add to that … More Yet further advice
Dear Administration, Everything you have heard about me, namely that I am a devil from the University of California, is true. That sturdy Golden Bear, whose football games I disdained back in the day, watches me from the sky even now. If you give me the faculty I want from this campus, I can recruit … More California forever.
I do not have time to fiddle with Blogger so as to be able to comment on Shedding Khawatir‘s post, so I have to post about it. I am not interested in language teaching the way she is, but I have had the same problems about it. Shedding Khawatir complains of the professors and lecturers … More On language teaching
The academic advice with which I do agree is, never put any time or energy and especially not intellectual effort into program development. One of ours has been cancelled after piteous cries from the selfsame university that we help them save it. Every minute spent helping would have been better spent on research. I was … More With (another part of) the party line, most emphatically.
I am sorry, everyone, but preparing class is one of the best things you can do and it saves time. I’ve often tried not to, being told that every minute spent on it is a minute I could be writing, but it is so exhausting and it takes so much energy to just walk on … More Against the party line.
Dear Department Chair, It is true what you say, that I believe my opinion on this matter is more valid, and should hold more weight than your sidekick’s. The reason for this, however, is not that I have more degrees and a higher rank than does your sidekick. The reason is that I read book … More Practicing for next year.
In Eastertide, as we are. On the progress toward death as a process of healing. My new favorite film, Biutiful. Sanjinés, referring to Borda and Saenz and then back to Benjamin, on the corpse. “Everything corpse-like falls away from the body piece by piece.” Sanjinés’ book is the most truly erudite thing I have read … More Muerte. a. muerte.
coldhearted scientist وداد 