This post is a collection of some of my favorite cartoons about academic life, most of which come from the Jorge Chan website PHDComics.com. Enjoy.
Category: Faculty
Being a Scholar
This post is an overview of the book I published last spring. It’s available on Amazon both as an e-book and a paperback. The title is Being a Scholar: Reflections on Doctoral Study, Scholarly Writing, and Academic Life. Below is the book’s introduction, which provides the rationale for the book and summarizes the eleven pieces that you will … Continue reading Being a Scholar
Caitlin Flanagan — Colleges Aren’t Teaching Students How to Think
This blog post is an essay by Caitlin Flanagan recently published in Atlantic. Here's a link to the original. If colleges were in fact teaching students how to think, she says, then they would be encouraging students to consider the best arguments on the other side of the issue they are most ardent about. Colleges … Continue reading Caitlin Flanagan — Colleges Aren’t Teaching Students How to Think
Lust for Academic Fame
This post is an analysis of the engine for scholarly production in American higher education. The issue is that the university is a unique work setting in which the usual organizational incentives don’t apply. Administrators can’t offer much in the way of power and money as rewards for productive faculty and they also can’t do … Continue reading Lust for Academic Fame
Stanford Statement on Israel and Palestine
This post is the statement issued on October 11 by the president and provost of Stanford. To me, it's the best such statement by university leaders that I've seen in response to the Hamas attack on Israel and the ongoing battle in Gaza. What I like is that they stay focused on the issues on … Continue reading Stanford Statement on Israel and Palestine
Buy Me a Chair
This post is a lovely essay about that central academic institution, the endowed chair. It's written by a professor who wants one. Every professor does. Not because it brings money and power but because it offers the key form of academic compensation -- a little bit of fame. It picks up on a theme I've … Continue reading Buy Me a Chair
My New Book: Being a Scholar
This post is a preview of my new book, which I recently published with Kindle. It's available on Amazon both as an e-book and a paperback. The title is Being a Scholar: Reflections on Doctoral Study, Scholarly Writing, and Academic Life. Below is the book's introduction, which provides the rationale for the book and summarizes … Continue reading My New Book: Being a Scholar
Reflections on Weber’s “Politics as a Vocation” and the Role of the Professor
This post is a reflection on Max Weber’s “Politics as a Vocation,” which he gave in 1919 at Munich University. “Science as a Vocation” is the other famous speech he gave at Munich in 1917, which I posted here three years ago. Compared to the science lecture, it’s very long — 23,000 words — so feel free … Continue reading Reflections on Weber’s “Politics as a Vocation” and the Role of the Professor
My New Book Is Out: Being a Scholar
This post is a preview of my new book, which I just published with Kindle. It's available on Amazon both as an e-book and a paperback. The title is Being a Scholar: Reflections on Doctoral Study, Scholarly Writing, and Academic Life. Below is the book's introduction, which provides the rationale for the book and summarizes … Continue reading My New Book Is Out: Being a Scholar
Nathan Greenfield and Val Bur– The Influence of Institutional Prestige in Faculty Hiring
This post is a piece by Nathan Greenfield, reporting on a major study about the influence of institutional prestige on faculty hiring in the US. His article was first published in University World News. Here's a link to the original. He focuses on a new research analysis recently published in Nature. The study, conducted by a … Continue reading Nathan Greenfield and Val Bur– The Influence of Institutional Prestige in Faculty Hiring
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 