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

On priorities

This is what I learned about priorities. First education: Service and leisure come first. Creative and lucrative work are ornaments that enhance your service potential, or that are parts of leisure. (I was always dissatisfied with this hobbycraft version of life.) College and graduate school: Research and creative work are first, teaching and lucrative work … More On priorities

On efficiency

This has to do with my having traumatized myself by ignoring what was really going on and trying to say my problem was “time management.” The thing is that I do not want to be efficient. I don’t want to sit down with one eye on the clock and try to rush. I don’t want … More On efficiency

Third world intellectuals and metropolitan culture, et des idées

1/ In the 80s, I was always very taken with Said because he would talk about things my Comparative Literature program would not. I liked the articles “Third World Intellectuals and Metropolitan Culture”, “Travelling Theory,” and other things in Raritan; I liked things in Salmagundi. I should think about this, the fact that these photocopies … More Third world intellectuals and metropolitan culture, et des idées

What I will do

This is not the kind of goals list that is recommended. One is supposed to have writing or creative goals isolated, but that presupposes that things in the background, are in the background. I have lived like that, too. But my list of goals has to do with looking beyond what is absolutely necessary on … More What I will do