tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post6155709892922597556..comments2024-03-25T16:59:28.263-04:00Comments on Works Cited: Anti-intellectualism, déjà vu.Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07898457401179147102noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-45158631835524914892012-05-08T22:35:11.962-04:002012-05-08T22:35:11.962-04:00Thanks for the condescension Jay. Good to know tha...Thanks for the condescension Jay. Good to know that we underclass should concentrate on marketing our marketable skills to some market or other rather than learning things above our station. <br /><br />Great impersonation of a neoliberal spambot, by the way.The Mathmoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06296125148552532321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-5836212127836360572012-05-07T19:32:20.053-04:002012-05-07T19:32:20.053-04:00I'm not familiar with the situation at your un...I'm not familiar with the situation at your university, but at mine shortfalls would be much better addressed by reining in facilities expansions and trimming management. I'd be surprised if your situation is different.<br /><br />Having said that, it's a tough economy and there are few indications it will get better soon. I think anyone who teaches at the collegiate level should consider a few questions, namely:<br /><br />1) What marketable skills are developed in my department?<br />2) Is there a market for students with these skills? Are last year's graduates living in their mothers' basements?<br />3) If no marketable skills are developed in the department, then a degree in this field is an expensive luxury. Will the students be able to afford it without hardship?<br /><br />If the answers aren't favorable, then there's a strong case for rolling back departmental offerings to a few electives. Poor and middle-class students would be far more empowered by a degree that leads to a good job.Jaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-22011662912366192872012-05-04T17:55:17.283-04:002012-05-04T17:55:17.283-04:00Your comparison of the Brainstorm post to the MLA ...Your comparison of the Brainstorm post to the MLA title mocking that has gone on in the press is spot on. It has calmed down in recent years, but I always get reporter calls about it. "Nope," I say. "I'm not responding to that. You can't take a title and make assumptions about the paper's or the field's worth. Just because it sounds weird to you doesn't say anything about the work itself." Then I say, "sheesh, go pick on the Chemists if you want to play the 'omg look at this title' game." And I give them titles like "Molecular Mechanics of Kink Formation in Lipid Monolayers." Maybe we should have that at the next MLA convention. Natalia can write "Automatons, S/M Sexuality, and Superficial Fatties."Rosemary Fealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-80894706448388469442012-05-04T15:45:34.963-04:002012-05-04T15:45:34.963-04:00Thanks, Natalia -- this is right on the mark. I t...Thanks, Natalia -- this is right on the mark. I too regularly look forward to Jen Howard's columns, and don't want to damn the entire publication. . . But. . . .<br /><br />What's surprising to me is how far Riley has gone with such slender qualifications. I don't think that all higher ed journalists need to have PhDs, but they ought to have some close-up experience with higher ed in all of its complex workings - administration, residential life/ student services, foundation, legal, non-trad students, online learning, librarianship, IT. Riley seems to be an idealogue, a pundit -- the kind of breezy commentator we're familiar with from partisan TV. I don't think her happily uninformed opinion should have a place in the CHE -- there are plenty of folks from all kinds of backgrounds who actually know things about the enterprise of higher ed -- why not hear from them on the blog? <br /><br />If we're bothering to read the CHE, we're looking for substance. Riley's commentary makes me think, why bother? (I'm responsible for ordering a subscription for my Center, and you can believe I'll think hard about it at the time of renewal. They seem to pile up on the shelf, unread. . . . )mlmcgillnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-78400551416459805602012-05-04T13:56:47.916-04:002012-05-04T13:56:47.916-04:00Hi Natalia,
I appreciate the frankness (and the s...Hi Natalia,<br /><br />I appreciate the frankness (and the shout-out). I want to put in a word for my CHE colleagues; there are a lot of excellent writers and editors here who take scholarship very seriously. I'd hate to see all that work get overshadowed by what's happened.JHowardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07445265840618161551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-84310144957580874822012-05-04T13:43:44.870-04:002012-05-04T13:43:44.870-04:00So how much are our cash-strapped universities spe...So how much are our cash-strapped universities spending on campuswide site licenses for this journalistic publication that has no obligations to higher ed? Surely that's money better spent elsewhere.Ryan Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08406223395348184663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-39843211471776129282012-05-04T13:06:57.176-04:002012-05-04T13:06:57.176-04:00The other aspect is that people like Coburn in the...The other aspect is that people like Coburn in the Senate routinely employ exactly this kind of faux analysis to judge the merits of NSF-funded research (i.e., it's not just humanities under assault) because they can't be bothered to read, much less understand the work in question.Kendallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09919146903106966178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-59272628591547117922012-05-04T13:06:24.033-04:002012-05-04T13:06:24.033-04:00One of the problems seems to be that Riley, a jour...One of the problems seems to be that Riley, a journalist who covers higher education, has cast herself in the role of <i>academic peer</i> to the scholars she attacks. Riley is clearly not this.<br /><br />The real problem is that the CHE put their imprimatur on Riley's piece. I am certainly entitled to stand in front of a Jackson Pollock painting and call it "stupid" and complain about how dumb and annoying it is to me that people take these paintings seriously. I doubt, however, that "Art In America" would publish my writing to that effect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-21155355893363211292012-05-04T12:31:55.408-04:002012-05-04T12:31:55.408-04:00You're right, Sarah, on both counts. I've ...You're right, Sarah, on both counts. I've been reacting to CHE links much in the same way as I would react to a Tom Friedman link for quite a while now (as in, "oh, no; it's CHE! Do not click!). It's not the fault of the actual reporters; it's due to the high percentage of writing under the global CHE masthead that is, in fact, pure trolling. I probably miss some great stuff because of this, but it's a necessary sanity-keeping measure.Nataliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954034499196842959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967476903991259470.post-40199450946837232012012-05-04T12:24:20.597-04:002012-05-04T12:24:20.597-04:00Great piece, Natalia, and spot-on in all sorts of ...Great piece, Natalia, and spot-on in all sorts of ways. I do think, however, that there are good reporters at Chronicle in addition to Jennifer Howard (who, yes, is marvelous). Their problem is that they've turned to subsidizing their reporting with the drek that is their opinion sections--the Review and Brainstorm. In choosing to drive traffic by anti-intellectual pandering, instead of their solid reporting, Chronicle has betrayed not only their academic readers, but their reporters.Sarah Wernerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06941029918210770136noreply@blogger.com