Comments on: If only I’d realized there was such an easy solution to all this work piling up in my office.

By: silbey

silbey — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:38:48 +0000

This may be a sign of something serious, and looming

You’re just noticing this now? The Republicans make a point of going after any group that opposes them. They start by demonizing them and then they get really mean. That’s what happened to the unions, that’s what’s happening to the trial lawyers and we’re in the early start of that with academics. David Horowitz’s funding didn’t just appear by magic.

By: ari

ari — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:28:40 +0000

Oh look, Eric just wrote what I said in the above comment. But with charts and sound effects.

By: ari

ari — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:20:40 +0000

But his prescription — stop working — is just so crazy. I really don’t get it.

By: bitchphd

bitchphd — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:14:11 +0000

motivations that seemingly haven’t occurred to Bauerlein: professional norms and expectations, community pressure, and because many academics really love their subjects of inquiry.

No, no, you don’t understand. If you *can’t be fired*, then it doesn’t “count.”

I really think that’s the gist of the argument.

By: Seriously, you cannot. « The Edge of the American West

Seriously, you cannot. « The Edge of the American West — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:12:06 +0000

[...] us mark, with our colleague Kelman, that in fact many such institutions have post-tenure review and can do bad stuff to you if you [...]

By: charlieford

charlieford — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:03:12 +0000

This may be a sign of something serious, and looming. The professariate, especially in the humanities, isn’t very secure these days–at a number of levels. It’s always been the case that the regular folk, and their representatives in state legislatures assembled, have regarded such rarified studies sceptically. But now, for budgetary reasons, as well as the war on terror–”if you read too much, the terrorists win, you know!”–the backs are ever closer to the wall. In this context, it’s almost predictable that there would be collaborators and quizzlings who throw in their lot with the oppressors in hopes of ingratiating themselves and securing their own position in the new regime.

By: Hemlock

Hemlock — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:42:29 +0000

I’d like to reiterate my praise for Prof. Kelman’s blog entry. If I understand him correclty, Kelman concludes that Bauerlein engaged in pyschological projection, defied logical reasoning, and guessed scholars’ motivations. Baurelein’s speculation seems more a reflection of his own motivations than anything else. I believe that conclusion proves cogent in many situations where a scholar acts on speculation rather than researching or initiating a dialogue with his or her subjects. I mean, even skepticism concerning the sources still begs the question: why wouldn’t the scholar at least attempt to research or just ask? In other words, speculating without researching is one thing (although I hope most would avoid it)…but acting on said speculation is quite another. Baurlein’s decision to write an article about the academy that begins with “it seems to me” is a good example!

By: New Kid on the Hallway

New Kid on the Hallway — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:39:04 +0000

Not at all! I was just amused to have company in my rant.

I think one of the things that galls me most is dismissing those (poor, unfortunate) people who teach 4-4s in writing disciplines (as if they’re a rarity!) but then suggesting that if he’s talking about tenured humanities folk in R1s, that research is elective. What?? Both because that is, in fact, what you’re expected to do, as a requirement of the job; but also because if you’ve made it that far you’re probably someone who loves research, and to be told that it’s really elective and if you pursue it energetically you’re really just making unnecessary work for yourself, well, that’s just ridiculous. (I realize the point he’s really trying to make is that if you do it because you love it, then shut up about how overworked you are, but man! if I’d ever been in a position to complain about the research taking up too much time, instead of teaching, grading, advising, going to department meetings, going to committee meetings, going to promotional college/dept. events, etc. taking too much time, I’d consider myself a lucky lucky woman… )

So, yeah, I think he was smoking something.

By: Vance Maverick

Vance Maverick — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:21:09 +0000

charlieford, I’m sure you can fix the URL by going to your WordPress profile page. If you want to.

I think I’m going to have to set up a page or blog of my own, because I find that googling my name now leads to this, and I’d hate for people to get the idea. I mean the wrong idea.

By: eric

eric — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:55:59 +0000

I was gonna comment on this, eventually, but you know, I was doing unnecessary work all day, “pushing” myself. And now Bérubé! has weighed in, what more is there to say?