Posts from — November 2004

Photos of the Week – Index of Previous Photos: “”

(Via .)

some people just do not have common sense… but then again in certain circumstances neither do i.

Graduate students and publication: “There are interesting discussions going on at Leiter Reports about if, when, and where graduate students should publish and, on a related note, which philosophy journals are “responsible.” (There’s more on the latter issue here.) In English studies, at least, there are all sorts of fantasies about what the “typical” aspiring junior faculty member’s CV looks like. Thirty articles! A book contract with Yale University Press! Her very own fan following, complete with newsletter! (Er, you’re confusing AJFM with Judith Butler.–Ed.) From both my own experience on search committees and what I’ve gathered from friends at other schools, these fantasies (or more moderate versions thereof) have little to do with what actually shows up in the search pool. Book contracts? Almost never, unless AJFM has been holding down a visiting professorship somewhere. Book reviews? Perhaps a couple, more if–once again–AJFM is not fresh out of the graduate school oven. Conference presentations? Often plentiful, but I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that they’re often too plentiful, especially if they haven’t been revised into something more substantial. (A former professor of mine once suggested that it’s a good idea to keep a ratio of one article for every three or four conference papers; otherwise, it looks like you’re just scattering ideas around like rice at a wedding.) Encyclopedia or other reference entries? Usually one or so. Articles? At least one, maybe two, rarely three–again, more for someone who has been teaching for a bit.

That being said, the ugly truth of the matter is that there is no agreed-on standard for “how much is enough.” People can get hired at Research I campuses with no publications whatsoever, but get tossed out of a “lesser” school’s search pool for precisely that reason. A campus with a 5-5 teaching load may look askance at someone who has already knocked out four articles, while one with a 3-3 may be pleased. Publishing a seminar paper that’s out of your field may earn your brownie points over here, but eliminate you over there. Nevertheless, most search committees don’t expect or even want a graduate student who has already been responsible for the death of several trees, especially if said graduate student has published in journals with poor or non-existent reputations.

Now, “should graduate students be publishing?” is an entirely different question altogether. In an ideal world, my answer, in fact, would be “not until they’re near the end of their dissertation research.” (Before you ask: no, I didn’t publish anything as a graduate student, although I did attend a couple of conferences.) This isn’t an ideal world, unfortunately, and efforts to alter the current state of affairs don’t seem to be catching fire.”

(Via The Little Professor.)

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i am wholy against this strategic approach and consideration. look, either you have it… or you don’t…, go for it if you do, don’t if you don’t. what will matter in then end is whether you are actually who you are aspiring to be or not…. that will either get you published or not, likewise a job or not. there is nothing out there that will get you ahead or behind of the game other than your own work and that really probably matters quite a bit less than you think it does. everything else is already set in other people’s minds…… or so i’d estimate.

The Village Voice: Cartoons: Mark Fiore: Thanks-for-Nothing Turkey by Mark Fiore: “”

(Via .)

Untitled Document: “”

(Via .)

Kevin reports on this amazing, one-person-can-make-a-difference story…: “Kevin reports on this amazing, one-person-can-make-a-difference story
from Ukraine:

IN A SIGN OF THE TIMES, UKRAINIAN TV INTERPRETER MAKES BOLD ON-AIR MOVE

Ukraine’s state TV channel wasn’t broadcasting demonstrations by
hundreds
of thousands of supporters of Viktor Yushchenko, the pro-Western
candidate
who believes that the presidency was stolen from him through
government-sponsored fraud, so the channel’s sign-language interpreter
adopted guerrilla tactics to break the information blockade. Conspiring
with her makeup artist, Ms. Dmytruk tied an orange ribbon inside her
sleeve. Orange is the color of Mr. Yushchenko’s campaign, and of the
spreading protest movement that many Ukrainians now call the Orange
Revolution. Then after interpreting the news broadcast for the deaf on
Nov.
25, Ms. Dmytruk bared her wrist. “Everything you have heard so far on
the
news was a total lie,” she says she told viewers in sign language.
“Yushchenko is our true president. Goodbye, you will probably never see
me
here again.” But a funny thing happened on her way to oblivion… she
was
greeted with hugs from her shocked colleagues and even the station’s
technicians and the staffs of the daily children’s show and other
nonpolitical programs decided to join the strike over the coverage,
some of
them inspired by Ms. Dmytruk’s broadcast. A few hours later, the evening
newscast opened with a pledge to resist censorship in the future. Ms.
Dmytruk was also back on the air the next morning. Management at the two
other main television networks caved in the same day and allowed
balanced
reporting. The break of the government’s stranglehold over mass media
proved a turning point in Mr. Yushchenko’s campaign to annul the
official
results of the Nov. 21 election.
[SOURCE:
href="http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110168408811185171,00.html?
mod=todays_us_page_one">
Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Yaroslav Trofimov
yaroslav.trofimov@wsj.com]
(requires subscription)
See also:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/28/international/29media.ready.html?
oref=login

“

(Via A blog doesn’t need a clever name.)

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we need more people like this person in the world.

Black is White . George Will is…: “

Black is White. George Will is joining the chorus of attack on the universities: Academics, such as the next secretary of state, still decorate Washington, but academia is less listened to than it was. It has marginalized itself, partly by political shrillness and… [Leiter Reports]

Ahh. I was all set to write something about this but anyone who thinks and who has read George Will knows that he is the absolute model of modern day pundit. Meaning that facts and knowledge enter little in their world.“