tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22234799.post115027858960090921..comments2024-01-13T23:32:12.331-06:00Comments on Slaves of Academe: Algunos viajesOso Rarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345231159759787852noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22234799.post-1150500092409730122006-06-16T18:21:00.000-05:002006-06-16T18:21:00.000-05:00or shall I say "blind to a lot of things" or "blin...or shall I say "blind to a lot of things" or "blinded by a lot of things" there, that's better.Texterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588575221365597436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22234799.post-1150472372554816952006-06-16T10:39:00.000-05:002006-06-16T10:39:00.000-05:00if you need to produce an income outside of academ...if you need to produce an income outside of academe (while you have a phd, or are finishing one) then you are more sensitive to what it means to bridge the 'real world' and the academy and the scholarly and the activist. those 'within' are - perhaps understandably -blinded to a lot of things.Texterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588575221365597436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22234799.post-1150374217556757642006-06-15T07:23:00.000-05:002006-06-15T07:23:00.000-05:00A beautiful post, indeed. Having completed my PhD ...A beautiful post, indeed. Having completed my PhD at a classic activist U, in the program most bursting with nascent scholar-activists, I wholeheartedly agree with you that we need to get real. I used to listen to them talk about "when the revolution comes" and think, "there isn't going to be a revolution if all you do is fight with each other about Marcuse in this tower" - and we really were in a tower, there. They were so full of their own activist-revolutionary possibilities that they failed to notice the university becoming a neo-liberal nightmare under their noses. It was all profoundly shortsighted. <BR/><BR/>I also think that the way universities love, as you say, their activist cachet can be particularly insidious these days. My PhD institution rested on a mythology from its founding days about its role as a progressive institution, all the while cutting its own heart out under this neo-liberal model. I think it was very convenient for the institution to perpetuate this myth, diverting attention from what it was really up to.Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09033740943173352249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22234799.post-1150319119466332152006-06-14T16:05:00.000-05:002006-06-14T16:05:00.000-05:00Hail, Amazon Sister! How can you think after bein...Hail, Amazon Sister! How can you think after being subjected to such early morning travels? I try to never get on board a plane before 11:00 am (I mean, even then, you still have to be at the airport at 10:00, which means getting up by at least 9:00!).<BR/><BR/>In terms of older faculty not responding to young faculty’s opinions, I always think that part of it comes with their experience in the classroom. When teaching, our ideas and thoughts almost never have serious challenge. I think our egos can get stuck in that mentality. Then, when we finally do encounter a challenge, some of us are totally unprepared to deal with it.<BR/><BR/>On a last note, whenever I see those flight attendants standing in the engine, I can’t help imagine that they are going to be sucked into it. It’s wrong, I know, but it is what comes to my mind.GayProfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11289510184782252498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22234799.post-1150314477285304452006-06-14T14:47:00.000-05:002006-06-14T14:47:00.000-05:00Oso Raro, Beauty is possible. After reading your p...Oso Raro, Beauty is possible. After reading your post I have no doubts. <BR/>Who are you? How do you manage to make sense out of everything? Does everything make sense or it is just your skillful use of language, the accelerated rhythm of your thinking? I’m struck by the questions you subtly crafted in this entry. I’m writing thank you for this wonderful and, actually, helpful post. I’ll quote you:<BR/>“How can the humanistic vision win the day, against powerful and ignorant forces arrayed against it? Another way of thinking this through is how can we actually find ways to think, to live as thinkers and intellectuals, in institutions increasingly dedicated to not thinking? How can we imagine a better place for ourseles and, perhaps, for our profession, that is, like fiction, a bit of a dream, the potentials of what is possible, and not (simply) some dreary documentary (we have had quite enough of that, it is called life). Most of us struggle to find our niche, but the important part is not to be afraid, of fighting or, alternatively, of leaving. Helen and Margaret [and OSO RARO] show us one way to do this.”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com