I'm torn between which metaphor best describes my life: either I'm a mouse on a treadmill, running in place, getting nowhere, or I'm a rat in a maze, going blindly down random paths in order to get that cheese, which, face it, isn't much of a prize. Consider this: I work a high-prestige, low-paying job… Continue reading A Mouse on a Treadmill or a Rat in a Maze?
Tag: academia
What I hate about books about videogames
There's been a burst of scholarly books about videogames in the past two years, and I've been going through as many as I can get my hands on. While there are astonishingly bright spots in individual books, the books overall have repeatedly been disappointing. I've begun noticing trends of things I hate about academic books… Continue reading What I hate about books about videogames
Fall 2006 Courses
For a lack of anything else intelligent to say at this hour, I'm posting descriptions for two of the undergrad courses that I'm teaching next fall: 21st Century American Fiction (ENGL 429:001) What innovative directions is American fiction taking in the new millennium? How have novelists and other writers reacted to the dominant events of… Continue reading Fall 2006 Courses
Professors, students, and emails
A recent article in the New York Times details some of the changes that email has wrought upon professor-student relationships in higher ed: At colleges and universities nationwide, e-mail has made professors much more approachable. But many say it has made them too accessible, erasing boundaries that traditionally kept students at a healthy distance. I… Continue reading Professors, students, and emails
Live Blogging at the MLA
I half-heartedly had wanted to live blog the MLA convention last week, but it just didn't happen. The last time I live blogged was the 2004 presidential debate, and I guess, in comparison, the MLA just wasn't worth the effort. That, and the fact that less than 24 hours after my own MLA presentation I… Continue reading Live Blogging at the MLA
Career Killing Blogs
Slate has a new article on academics who blog, Attack of the Career-Killing Blogs - When academics post online, do they risk their jobs? by Robert S. Boynton. The article mentions the infamous (among a very small circle of academic bloggers) Chronicle article, Bloggers Need Not Apply, which essentially argues that academics who have their… Continue reading Career Killing Blogs
A Fleeting Thought on Interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity is one of the enduring keywords of academia in the past decade. I've been hearing it praised for so long now and seeing so little actual evidence of it, that I'm beginning to think all the praise is simply wish-fulfillment. And like most wishes, the wisher probably wouldn't know what to do with it… Continue reading A Fleeting Thought on Interdisciplinarity