A genre of tweet has been gaining steam the last couple weeks, about the complete meaninglessness of academic job application documents or processes. It's all a crap shoot, argues this line of thought. Further, the collapse in hiring has only exposed … [Read more...] about Nihilism Was Inevitable
Alt-University Critique
Toxic Hope
This story was shared by a reader recently. They have given me permission to share it here anonymously. Rarely have I seen the sickness of the PhD apparatus so clearly articulated. "Toxic hope" is another way of saying Berlant's "cruel optimism" … [Read more...] about Toxic Hope
A Year of “Reckoning”: On Geographers (Not) Doing Abolition – Guest Post
By: The Graduate Geographers’ Collective (1) Introduction Amidst the COVID19 pandemic, the New York Times declared that the national protests against police brutality, and specifically against Derek Chauvin’s murder of George Floyd, … [Read more...] about A Year of “Reckoning”: On Geographers (Not) Doing Abolition – Guest Post
Romancing the Academy for Fun and Profit, Part II – Novelist Guest Post
By Verity Lowell. Verity Lowell is a professor and occasional curator. She likes imagining and describing a world where art, ambition, and history provide the background for diverse and steamy love stories, mostly about women falling hard for … [Read more...] about Romancing the Academy for Fun and Profit, Part II – Novelist Guest Post
Bullying in Academia: A Disheartening Q and A
KK: This is a dialogue that happened on Facebook this week. If you ever wanted a window onto academic bullying... this is it. The responses are shared with permission. Where names are listed, commenters actively REQUESTED this for transparency's … [Read more...] about Bullying in Academia: A Disheartening Q and A
What Does (Or Should) It Mean to be an “Academic”? ~ Guest Post
by Dr. Chris Winstead Chris Winstead is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Utah State University. He has been on the USU faculty for seventeen years. He was born in North Carolina (USA) in the late mid-20th century, … [Read more...] about What Does (Or Should) It Mean to be an “Academic”? ~ Guest Post
Picket Lines – The Professor is Zen Guest Post III
by Esther Freinkel Tishman, PhD, BCC (she/her) Esther Freinkel Tishman, Ph.D, BCC is an ordained Zen teacher, a full-time interfaith chaplain, a scholar of archetypes and religion, and a certified mindfulness instructor. She is also a … [Read more...] about Picket Lines – The Professor is Zen Guest Post III
Why Is It Always the Historians?
"Why is it always the historians?" I muttered to myself after another little dustup on Twitter, another historian posting some jaunty, gaslighting, evasive, disaster-normalizing, "fellow-historians, give me your best advice for advisees applying to … [Read more...] about Why Is It Always the Historians?
#NotDyingToTeach
#NotDyingToTeach #ProfessorIsOut I spend a lot of time on Twitter and these days, you can't go a day without seeing another academic--often a tenured prof--announcing their departure from academia. We really are in a Great Resignation. While I have … [Read more...] about #NotDyingToTeach
Nice Kitty – The Professor is Zen Guest Post II
by Esther Freinkel Tishman, PhD, BCC (she/her) Esther Freinkel Tishman, Ph.D, BCC is an ordained Zen teacher, a full-time interfaith chaplain, a scholar of archetypes and religion, and a certified mindfulness instructor. She is also a former dean, … [Read more...] about Nice Kitty – The Professor is Zen Guest Post II