A new faculty member faces his demons
Category Archives: in the news
Where are PhD Supervisors in the Conversation about Adjuncts?
I’ve been in lots of online conversations about adjunctification, and somebody always asks why we keep producing more PhDs than the market will bear. The answer? Crickets. I’ve just realized it’s a meaningless question — at least, the ‘we’ part … Continue reading
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It Comes Down to Stovewood
Young leftists. On the one hand they’re in the news too often as intolerant, illiberal, and not valuing free speech. Some of them get minimum-wage cafeteria workers discharged when their ethnic food comes from the wrong class, make jokes about burning political opponents alive, … Continue reading
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Biology Leads the Way in Graduate School Transparency
I could not be prouder of my discipline than I am today, after reading about the movement for transparency in graduate school outcomes. Anybody who cares enough to read my blog will know that I’ve gotten so desperate about the … Continue reading
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Complicity and Naming Buildings
When I joined my current school, we only had one building named after a person. It was named after St. Clare of Assisi, who I knew only as the patron saint of television. In recent years, the school has gone … Continue reading
Forget ‘Wellness,’ let’s Do Stuff
Here’s an interesting article about debates on the concept of ‘wellness’ from the latest Chronicle of Higher Education (sorry, behind a paywall!) One of the things I like most about it is that the author welcomes vigorous debate about the … Continue reading
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Let’s do the Time Warp Again
Last night this song was playing on the radio as I drove home. This morning I was reminded of it again as I read the medical news in order – I hoped – to keep my pathophysiology notes up to … Continue reading
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Cat Valente’s Excellent Idea
The Hugo controversy has died down a lot, and instead of merely being mad at each other people are beginning to come up with interesting ideas. I particularly like Cat Valente’s proposal for a set of awards that specifically reward … Continue reading
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When do we get to talk in private?
So apparently this week’s news is that administrators at the University of Illinois used personal email accounts to discuss the Salaita case. I have to say, I don’t blame them one bit. They had a situation in which whatever they … Continue reading
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You know you’ve read too much academic commentary when…
Every piece of academic commentary I’ve read this week has seemed to be going around in circles so fast that it was about to disappear up its own arse. Folks are mad at a faculty member who said that increasing … Continue reading
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A Science Prof’s Take on Trigger Warnings
Brute Reason has an interesting post this morning about how people use trigger warnings. However, it becomes less convincing when it discusses the academic setting. Here’s where I started to shake my head: When people condescendingly claim that college students … Continue reading
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