Apparently responding to the recent spate of academic “quit lit,” Matthew Pratt Guterl writes: Let me tell you why not to quit. You’ve been told that the university is a back-breaking neoliberal machine. That it encourages a certain solipsism and inhibits any sort of solidarity. That it will wall you off from colleagues and comrades. That … Continue reading Tired of academic quit lit? Another view on academic labor.
First, go read Tenured Radical’s post from yesterday. I’ll wait. Doesn’t President Barack Obama’s speech at the University of Michigan remind you of the time that George W. Bush went to Notre Dame and Bob Jones and told them to stop being such one-issue whiners about abortion? Or like that time he went to Haliburton and … Continue reading The beatings will indeed continue until morale improves
I don’t have any special knowledge of what’s going on there–to be clear, I went to Penn by the way, which is in Philadelphia and on the entirely other end of the state of Pennsylvania. I’ve never been within 60 miles of State College, to my knowledge. (Like most Penn grads, it rankles me to be associated … Continue reading Brief thoughts on Penn State
Via my colleague Nathan Citino who reads the New York Review of Books, we learn that Tony Grafton has written a thoughtful review of the raft of books on the “crisis” of higher education in the United States published recently. He dislikes the polemics that pick one enemy–the lazy-a$$ed faculty who allegedly never teach, or the … Continue reading Tony Grafton on the higher education crisis, and your turn to talk back!
Good morning, y’all! It’s another changeable day here in southern Maine, so just in case I end up spending the day at the beach and you don’t, here are a few items that will keep you entertained indoors: First of all, have you been reading Tenured Radical lately? It’s difficult to keep up with that … Continue reading Saturday round-up: slutty college years edition
Well, someone is getting a raise at Baa Ram U. this year–just no one on the academic faculty: Four years ago, Colorado State athletic director Paul Kowalczyk could envision this moment, a time he would look upon his men’s basketball program with equal parts pride and hope, and reward a coach for taking ashes and … Continue reading Priorities
This is the first of the 2010-2011 academic year’s series, Excellence Without Money(a term coined by the b!tchez at Roxie’s World in their series on the high cost of not funding higher education.) For the full archives at both blogs, click away on those links, darlings. I’ve been doing a little thinking about the effects of … Continue reading The net effect of the "high cost of higher ed" argument
Over Ten Million Served: Gendered Service in Lanugage and Literature Workplaces is a new book edited by Michelle A. Massé and Katie J. Hogan that raises two old questions: 1) Why don’t academic workplaces value service and honor it in career advancement to the degree it should be, and 2) How is this undervaluing of … Continue reading I didn't wake up angry about my six-hour per week job.
Luxury seats at brand-new multimillion dollar college football stadiums aren’t selling out! (Via Inside Higher Ed.) But that’s not the only misplaced priority among the Gopher faithful–here’s an interesting tidbit about the University of Minnesota’s new boondoggle: The poor economy, however, may not be the only reason for the slow sales of premium seats at … Continue reading Call the whaaaaaaaaaambulance–the drunks need a ride to the drunk tank.
