tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post4833077946195156907..comments2024-02-17T07:59:18.705-08:00Comments on Grad Student Madness: Is Academia Suited for Us Weirdos With Catholic Tastes?Rufushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-18422890390098186832007-06-09T01:55:00.000-07:002007-06-09T01:55:00.000-07:00The Fauves: Also a good example of doing the thing...The Fauves: Also a good example of doing the thing that makes your spirit effervesce, and not the thing that is academically approved.<BR/><BR/>I came across this commentary: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/06/wired_science_w.html by David Brin discussing the not only desirability but necessity of anti-specialization. He seems to regard it as a necessary balance to the extremes of specialization, given that specialization is highly productive behavior.Hollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10593117152792976823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-83314102414115470612007-06-08T14:43:00.000-07:002007-06-08T14:43:00.000-07:00It's good to know that others have found themselve...It's good to know that others have found themselves wandering the library while they were supposed to be researching. Actually, today I supplemented the required reading with a book on fauvism and a few issues of Salmagundi. <BR/><BR/>I think what got me thinking about this was the Sontag collection- she wrote about everything under the sun! Actually, whenever I read her essays, I notice how non-academic they are- on one hand, I think this because they're a bit sloppy and disordered; on the other hand, I think this because they're so wide-ranging and exuberant.<BR/><BR/>Maybe the trick is to become an essayist.Rufushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-39066117027430065112007-06-07T22:13:00.000-07:002007-06-07T22:13:00.000-07:00greg is right. i spent three whole days reading a...greg is right. i spent three whole days reading about soil science--I'm in religion, now--just because it was more interesting than my dissertation.<BR/><BR/>that said, i think there's a balance once can strike between becoming a narrowly defined specialist and becoming a well-informed generalist who happens to have a specialization. Don't ask me how or what the hell that means. I just think it can be done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-66755704462769679492007-06-04T14:02:00.000-07:002007-06-04T14:02:00.000-07:00Well, this is how you could get past the problem o...Well, this is how you could get past the problem of nobody reading esoteric or academic subjects- just include smut. Of course, it could go the other way and assure that nobody would read it.Rufushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-24162371632513796462007-06-04T11:25:00.000-07:002007-06-04T11:25:00.000-07:00I saw a picture of Larry Flynt today, he probably ...I saw a picture of Larry Flynt today, he probably needs a successor soonish. He looks like he died about 6 weeks ago. Publish whatever you want, PLUS porn. <BR/><BR/>In fact, how about an academic journal of pornology?Hollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10593117152792976823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-36994612099109378512007-06-04T09:48:00.000-07:002007-06-04T09:48:00.000-07:00Holly- I think the applied structure has helped me...Holly- I think the applied structure has helped me to be more rigorous about the things I'm studying. Of course, that also makes it a lot harder to complete articles on anything because I'm more accutely aware how little I know on any subject. I really do think academics should be discouraged from publishing a lot more than they are. Certainly I've read too many history books that read like a good journal article stretched to a thin manuscript.<BR/><BR/>Greg- Plan B is a tough one. I've been thinking that taking up freelance writing on the side might be a good back up plan. Certainly, it would be fun to write for a few magazines that I can think of. I'd still like to publish the sort of magazine that I'd like to read because I can't find it anywhere. But, from what I've heard from Emily, publishing is damn near impossible. And, if all that doesn't work, there's always pornography, right?Rufushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-66641133230931423232007-06-04T07:15:00.000-07:002007-06-04T07:15:00.000-07:00It is a scientific fact that if you are writing a ...It is a scientific fact that if you are writing a dissertation that EVERY single book in the library on other subjects will be more interesting. I actually thumbed through some conference proceedings on marine shipping storage containers once.<BR/><BR/>In terms of liking to wade in knowledge and discovery while eschewing the political and bureaucratic aspects of academia, that is called autism and many professors have it. <BR/><BR/>Certainly, I can relate. I don't want to spend my life writing for grants. I like teaching, but really only to students who like learning, which is the minority.<BR/><BR/>I'm afraid that overall the whole institution of higher education has lost the plot. Sure there are bright and shining counter-examples, but they are three standard deviations and an airmail stamp away from the norm. I do occasionally feel like becoming a professor is essentially riding the falling bomb ala Slim Pickens. <BR/><BR/>What was plan B?Greg von Winckelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00187475294800057360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-26780561307352816162007-06-03T23:45:00.000-07:002007-06-03T23:45:00.000-07:00Specialization has been made to seem necessary, th...Specialization has been made to seem necessary, there is a laundry list of fields, developments, and Nobel prizes that would not have come about without it. However, your summary of what's not working for you are the precise reasons I did not choose academia. It seemed inevitable that I would one day get in front of a microphone at an art historians' confererence and announce very seriously to a roomful of dyspeptic junior professors that most likely the best outcome for everyone concerned would be to systematically destroy every portable work of art aged more than 500 years. Then I would methodically work my way through the PowerPoint presentation about why and how, with good diction and trying to remember not to make "Umm" or "Hmm" noises.<BR/><BR/>The bureaucracy is maddening, and clearly a challenge to anyone with better things to do. However! It also seems that no one is going to pay anyone to explore their catholic interests in solitude, without at least the pretense of serving a learning sandwich to the youths. And, no matter how much I loved working at the bookstore, I actually read fewer books while I was there, and could do almost nothing to further my interests in life, because having a job I enjoyed actually took up too much time & energy. Obviously, I can't speak to anyone else's experiences, but I now begin to suspect that the applied structure of academia might actually have helped me. And now I feel like I'm too far outside it to get in, even if I wanted that, which I'm STILL not sure I do.<BR/><BR/>But to answer your other question, the fine-tuning is great if you are OK with discarding so many other areas of interest. Seems rare that people can specialize AND maintain vigorous contact with the world at large. It was never possible to know EVERYTHING, but we are also well past the point where a person can read all the books, or see all the movies, or engage in all the discussions. There's just too much out there, so it kind of seems like choosing one's battles is wise.<BR/><BR/>Probably the way to go is stay in academia until you've published enough books to support your habits, and then skip the teaching, do the research, and just write about things that are interesting to you.Hollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10593117152792976823noreply@blogger.com