I had to write a professional blurb about myself and I wrote: I teach primarily X but have also taught Y, and I publish primarily on A but have also worked on B. This was ostensibly because the blurb was written in connection with a proposal on Y and B, not X and A (which … More On self-presentation and gender
I have so many words written, and so many intuitions, and so much research done, and so much left to do. But getting a certain piece of writing done is essential, because it will allow me to work out a key idea. I am writing this abstract so that I can then write the paper … More The abstract
Others have written shadow resumés of failures, but mine is of roads not taken. In the years in which I was realizing what my real interests were, I had these intuitions: 24-25. Realize I wanted a B.S. in Economics, and to go from there. (What I could have done, with my M.A. and partial Ph.D. … More My shadow resumé
I was negotiating something for us with another university and the administrator on the other end said, “I can see that you are doing the job of ten people.” They saw it that quickly. I need higher student evaluations and more publications but I am doing the job of ten people. They saw it that … More Ten people
We had a guest and I was immersed for four days in my real academic life, the one I would have had if I had done as I saw fit. This academic life has roots here and in Latin America and in activism as well as academia. Everything seemed so easy, and I had so … More Agua
This post, and the comments on it, are very important. My problem, however, is how to get all the service done for 9 people when only 2 people have the necessary skills and these 2 people are the ones who most suffer if service is not done (we then have to clean up the resulting … More On service
He has published a book on the relations between Southern and Caribbean literature, and now he is working on the tropical sublime. And a friend of mine got a Guggenheim this week. These are the kinds of activities that interest me. Axé.
What would help me would be not to have this constant feeling of doom. The university will be defunded, your program will close, your workload will rise, the things you do in good faith will turn out to be wrong. I have worked in stable environments and in environments where I did not have to … More What would help
At last, someone agrees with me and does not needle, preach or scream about “time management.” I who graduated a year or two early from high school, I who finished college in four years and graduate school within “normative time,” I who took more than one unattractive tenure-track job over well-paid contingent positions in desirable … More The slow professor
Sitting at a desk reading and taking notes on a quiet morning, looking out at a gravel road. The sky is gray but not dark, and the air is mild. The refrigerator hums and there is alternative radio. It is the same as it ever was. I thought that when I became a professor there … More Sans titre
coldhearted scientist وداد 