[Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship

Martin Packer mpacker@cantab.net
Sun Feb 25 17:27:49 PST 2018 

On STEM and social science:

<<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24/opinion/sunday/doctors-revolt-bernard-lown.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24/opinion/sunday/doctors-revolt-bernard-lown.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region>>>

On measures of learning:

<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/opinion/sunday/colleges-measure-learning-outcomes.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/opinion/sunday/colleges-measure-learning-outcomes.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region>>

Martin




> On Feb 25, 2018, at 8:15 PM, Glassman, Michael <glassman.13@osu.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hi Huw,
> 
> Perhaps the opposite is also true though.  STEM researchers can better understand what they are doing if they are well versed in the social sciences. Understand the history and the meaning of what they are doing so they do not act as androids (sorry, been watching the Aliens trilogy of late). Perhaps we made the wrong calculation. We have lost control of our great STEM innovations because the people using them don't understand the social webs that they create.  So we have people pushing xMOOCs (whatever happened to MOOCs anyway) as saving education (and also a bundle so everybody gets tax cuts, wheeee!), saying that they are good because they can reach many, the proverbial long tail, with great education (Harvard, Stanford).  Yet nobody asks the question, "Why is this a good thing." There really isn't much supporting this in earlier distance education.  There is actually more evidence of how dangerous it is (Participatory Action Research).  
> 
> Michael
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Huw Lloyd
> Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2018 7:32 PM
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
> 
> I would ask, what makes you think you have an ecology (or niche)? It seems that the notion of topologically derived ecologies is still bandied about since Bronfenbrenner (1977), though I do not know whether he managed to refine (overhaul and improve) his notions into something integrated and agent-centric. One does not provide an ecology or an environment. The environment is different for everyone, a simple consideration of a rock-face or climbing wall is sufficient to grasp this -- the so called environment (the rock face) is different to each climber, their environment is that which is appropriate to them which includes contexts well beyond what is established in an institution. From what I can gauge, historically, slack was deliberately introduced into courses to afford personal enquiry.
> There was the basic work and then there was the genuine enquiry. Who in their right mind wants to write an exam essay on a question they are expected to pre-write and repeat by memory? Why would someone who enjoys thinking about their subject want to go through that kind of impoverished tedium? These systems are obviously geared for "delivery".
> 
> Perhaps the biggest cultural shift can be achieved through instituting joint and personal enquiry. A teacher that stands before their class and delivers their subject inevitably obscures and obstructs the process of enquiry, although many students will have learnt from a young age that this is what to expect and demand. Engagement with genuine problems rather than what students are expected to do is the basic orientational issue. Dispose of grades, then anyone who isn't interested is free to go home.
> 
> The advance of STEM research is probably a good thing for social science.
> For productive work, social science must understand the structure of STEM based work, in addition to bureaucratic processes and circumstances for creative work. Sticking one's head in the sand over STEM-like research serves merely to perpetuate the impoverished side of social science. It reminds me of the scene in Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in which a couple lack the wherewithal to fix a dripping faucet that gives them grief and instead choose to ignore it. Though it was a very long time ago, Pirsig's book may have contributed to my understanding of quality and might be thought of as an exploration of some social issues pertaining to technical enterprises. Another good text to appreciate quality more directly, probably outside the formal area of STEM, is Alshuller's Innovation Algorithm.
> 
> Warm regards to you Henry, Greg, Alfredo.
> 
> Best,
> Huw
> 
> On 25 February 2018 at 22:39, Alfredo Jornet Gil <a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
> wrote:
> 
>> Greg, Huw, and others, I do often get worried that in the formals and 
>> informal meetings at our department (department of education), 
>> conversations tend to focus on the "micro" developments that you 
>> mention (students, grades, getting a next grant, getting that paper 
>> published, making sure you've got enough) most of the time, and not so 
>> much on what society we would like to have, and how our institution 
>> could/should contribute to that. I do not have any suggestions on the 
>> type of studies that you ask about—dealing with how ecologies of 
>> scholarship in academia lead to given developmental dynamics—other 
>> than the classical studies in STS, like Latour & Woolgar's on 
>> laboratory life, or S. L. Star's. But when I look forward at what lies 
>> between me (or anyone in my institution) and a change in the way this 
>> institution has impact in the life of many, what I see is lots of 
>> routines, habits, documents, and paperwork entangled in the middle, 
>> such that the idea "mediation all the way through" makes all the 
>> sense. And seeing things that way (from the ecological perspective), 
>> makes the possibility of changing things to look actually feasible, or 
>> more accurately perhaps, imagine-able. I'd like to continue being part 
>> of the ecology to be able to be also be part of its changing it. I 
>> hope others will bring more specific literature to bear. I am already downloading some of Peter Sloterdijk's to read.
>> 
>> Alfredo
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ________________________________________
>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu 
>> <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of Greg Thompson 
>> <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>
>> Sent: 24 February 2018 17:45
>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
>> 
>> I appreciate Huw's concern about academia and the push to orient to a 
>> broader and more systemic concern with "development". I think that 
>> this is what institutions of higher education are supposed to have, 
>> right? - at the very least a concern for the development of individual 
>> "students", but also, one would hope, a concern for "development" at a 
>> longer timescale (e.g., how to be a better society, a better world). 
>> They certainly tout these in their promo materials.
>> 
>> And yet, in practice, these institutions often fall back on 
>> bureaucratic or economic logics. Bureaucratic logic goes something 
>> like, "just publish (in "good" (i.e., high impact factor) journals), 
>> who cares what you publish so long as we can count it to determine its (and your) 'value'(!)".
>> 
>> As for the economic logic, I was just talking with Rick Shweder the 
>> other day about this issue and he expressed the concern about the push 
>> towards STEM education at the expense of all else and the way that 
>> STEM buildings are slowly starting to take over his campus (the 
>> University of Chicago - a place that was long held to be a hold out of 
>> liberal arts education - apparently they now have an engineering 
>> program). He suggested that this is tied to an early 80's court 
>> decision that gave universities ownership of patents developed on their campuses.
>> 
>> To my mind, this calls to mind a concern with ecologies of development 
>> (across the shorter and longer timescales). What are the ecologies 
>> (social, economic, political, etc.) within which development (at these 
>> various
>> timescales) occurs in our world today? This is really a question of 
>> what is possible and/or what is likely with regard to becoming. What 
>> are the forms of life and forms of development that are sustainable 
>> given the larger ecologies in which that development happens?
>> 
>> And for thinking through that problem, I've had a hard time thinking 
>> of anyone who has better thought through this problem than Marx - at 
>> the longer timescale of development, that is (Vygotsky would, of 
>> course, be better at thinking through development at the shorter 
>> timescale of ontogeny).
>> 
>> I'd love to hear others' thoughts on those who have studied activities 
>> that can begin to shed light on these ecologies of development 
>> (particularly at the longer timescale). Any thoughts/suggestions? I 
>> would imagine this work considering various kinds of institutions that 
>> run the gamut - from venture capitalist firms to non-profits to 
>> governmental institutions to institutions of higher education. I would 
>> presume that each of these kinds of institutions would have a local 
>> ecology within which they work, but I am tempted to imagine some kind 
>> of global meta-ecology (perhaps Marx's "global
>> capitalism"?) within which each of these local ecologies operates. I'd 
>> be curious about actual research that has been done documenting the 
>> nature of these ecologies - e.g., what kinds of resources are 
>> available to be exploited? What kinds of possibilities are there for 
>> different forms of life? What institutional organisms can thrive? 
>> Which are dying off? (and just to be clear, I am intending a 
>> biological/evolutionary nature of the metaphor).
>> 
>> It seems that this kind of work would be most likely to have been done 
>> by folks in the CHAT world, but perhaps the scale (of time and space) 
>> is a bit beyond the scales that CHAT folks prefer to consider?
>> 
>> (I should add that I've recently discovered the work of Peter 
>> Sloterdijk's Bubbles trilogy and am curious if anyone has any thoughts 
>> on the value of his approach - it seems to fit very well with Marx and 
>> with CHAT/Vygotsky, my only initial concern was that he seems to fly a 
>> little fast and loose with pyschoanalytics at times - not a serious 
>> problem, but perhaps in a few places).
>> 
>> Sympathetically,
>> greg
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Tue, Feb 20, 2018 at 1:57 PM, Huw Lloyd <huw.softdesigns@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Well, I would say there is more to it than simply transfer-ability, 
>>> which might be thought of as a good bureaucratic requirement. Really 
>>> what is required is genuine development -- reorganisation of thought 
>>> and
>> learning.
>>> That is what is significant at a personal level, which is also the 
>>> basis
>> of
>>> insights and creative work (i.e. personal knowledge rather than 
>>> second
>> hand
>>> knowledge). The researcher in the blog article does not evince this 
>>> (with allusions to the nature of her training). There is the history 
>>> school children learn, which largely concerns the use of memory, and 
>>> then there
>> is
>>> the history of conditions, relations and processes, which concerns 
>>> protracted thought. This developmental emphasis is what is lacking 
>>> in institutions which is why I have frequently pointed it out.
>>> 
>>> This principle apples to "secure" jobs too. The jobs I have walked 
>>> away from have been due to the overly narrow scope, where I felt it 
>>> was necessary to be far more ambitious to achieve modest 
>>> satisfaction, an ambition which included achieving the wider scope 
>>> within the norms established. Similar issues pertain to my 
>>> peripheral engagement with academia. Twenty years ago, after 
>>> completing a masters in cognitive
>> science
>>> (a good year), I decided against pursuing any further formal 
>>> education
>> with
>>> any immediacy due to my sense that what I was encountering in the 
>>> subject (and related subjects) was fundamentally wrong or 
>>> inadequate, but I couldn't quite discern what that was. So, for me, 
>>> I had no interest in furthering the academic course at the time, 
>>> because I was concerned with understanding, doing, discovering and 
>>> development, not being a "good researcher". I was and am 
>>> uninterested in the trappings of academia, what it looks like from 
>>> the outside (with dubious ethics of promoting those in society who 
>>> least need it) -- hence I am not too bothered about where the 
>>> experiences come from. After all, if you want sound knowledge then 
>>> it should be validated in places where it counts (in action), not in an echo chamber of words.
>>> 
>>>> From my (developmental) perspective academia appears to be 
>>>> chockfull of
>>> unproductive thinking. The lack of systems understanding in the 
>>> social sciences (which has been pointed out by key persons for two 
>>> generations)
>> I
>>> find to be quite incredible. This, as far as I can see, is the 
>>> panacea to the stasis and lethargy that I have seen in certain 
>>> institutions, where there are people in secure jobs with no interest 
>>> in revitalising an institution (perhaps the same people who rely 
>>> upon their status for authority). In the UK, in the social sciences, 
>>> the whole social science infrastructure is built upon a notion of 
>>> quality that is ignorant of systems -- that is the degree to which 
>>> unproductive thinking has
>> penetrated
>>> social science.
>>> 
>>> Yet there is much more to it still. Recently I have also come to a 
>>> surprising awareness that developmental prerogatives have rather a 
>>> significant amount in common with spiritual ones. So I would offer
>> broader
>>> advice than Michael's of staying clear of hardship. It may be that 
>>> in
>> that
>>> "nadir" something surprising may be discovered. For anyone with a 
>>> passion "job security" is not a goal, at best it is a means to an 
>>> ends, at worst
>> it
>>> is an obstacle.
>>> 
>>> Over and out. :)
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> Huw
>>> 
>>> On 20 February 2018 at 07:12, Alfredo Jornet Gil 
>>> <a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Huw, Helena, and all,
>>>> 
>>>> thanks to you both for taking the discussion where I was hoping it 
>>>> to
>> go
>>>> further: first, towards a reflection on the nature of training 
>>>> academic scholars go through as it concerns the classical problem 
>>>> of learning "transfer"; and then, as it regards the question of 
>>>> academic freedom
>>> (which
>>>> actually may be the same question, just taken in a language more
>> adequate
>>>> to an ecological understanding of the problem). This is absolutely 
>>>> not
>>> just
>>>> an individual problem. And, on that matter, I should be clear that 
>>>> I
>> am a
>>>> privileged in a privileged land, where, despite all uncertainty 
>>>> and
>> pains
>>>> that my family have gone and go through, I have today a good 
>>>> background
>>> and
>>>> network, and probably better prospects than the majority of junior
>>> scholars
>>>> out there. Not that I have earned this privilege for nothing: my
>> migrant
>>>> history and that of my family is all connected to an effort and 
>>>> quest
>> to
>>>> get better chances of academic opportunity in this market Helena 
>>>> talks about. But my personal story, as that of the historian in 
>>>> the article shared or of my French astronomer friend, are relevant 
>>>> in as far as
>> they
>>>> help us reflect on just those questions. They really also make one
>> wonder
>>>> on the sense of the term "academic freedom", for the latter term 
>>>> cannot
>>> be
>>>> about doing whatever research you want to do independently of some
>> market
>>>> conditions and societal needs and economy. We may then pose the
>>> questions,
>>>> what type of "freedom" is the "freedom" current systems (of 
>>>> incentives,
>>> of
>>>> ISI lists) afford, and what type of system could allow for another
>>> meaning
>>>> of the term "freedom"?
>>>> 
>>>> Not to get too abstract, I guess that those reflections may be 
>>>> best pondered along concrete cases, if people is willing to take 
>>>> on Helena's suggestion to share particular stories of all that 
>>>> goes into getting
>> into
>>>> secured academic job positions, or else, of pursuing (in)dependent
>>> careers
>>>> outside/at the borders of/across academia.
>>>> 
>>>> Alfredo
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> ________________________________________
>>>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu 
>>>> <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
>>> 
>>>> on behalf of Helena Worthen <helenaworthen@gmail.com>
>>>> Sent: 19 February 2018 19:19
>>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>>>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
>>>> 
>>>> In the interests of widening the discussion:
>>>> 
>>>> I’ve described my work history before on this list — basically, 
>>>> moving from teaching literature and writing (with stopovers in 
>>>> landscape architecture and theater production) to concern about 
>>>> the working conditions of teachers, especially academics in higher 
>>>> education, the
>> 75%
>>>> who are contingent/adjuncts. The concern is both for the people
>> employed
>>>> this way and for the integrity of the institutions that employ 
>>>> them. I eventually engaged this concern by working with and for 
>>>> the labor
>>> movement,
>>>> ending up first working for the garment/apparel workers union in 
>>>> Philadelphia and then at the Labor Educaiton Program at the U of
>>> Illinois,
>>>> from which I retired in 2010.
>>>> 
>>>> The new twist to this story is about the employment of academics 
>>>> on short-term contracts in Viet Nam, under conditions that seem to 
>>>> be increasingly frequent in the “developing” world, where the 
>>>> market for education is booming. University World News http://www.
>>>> universityworldnews.com/  tracks this phenomenon and includes
>> occasinal
>>>> critical articles about the competition for rankings. The 
>>>> university
>>> where
>>>> my husband and I have been teaching on and off since 2015, Ton Duc
>> Thang
>>> in
>>>> Ho Chi Minh City, recruits professors from all over the world with 
>>>> a promise of $2,000 per month US — but extending their contracts 
>>>> depends
>> on
>>>> producing articles published in journals on the ISI list; the 
>>>> nature of this list is worth taking a look at. The impact of this 
>>>> practice on the culture and student body is not all bad.
>>>> 
>>>> My point here is to place the issue of the challenge of getting a 
>>>> tenure-track job in a global context. This is not just an 
>>>> individual problem.
>>>> 
>>>> I’m willing to go further down this line of discussion. However,
>>> academics
>>>> are often reluctant to reveal and compare their working conditions 
>>>> on
>> an
>>>> “academic” discussion list. Maybe by putting up the issue of what
>>> academic
>>>> freedom requires, and how these requirements fare in the global 
>>>> market
>>> for
>>>> higher education, we can shed the embarassment of revealing 
>>>> information about our own experiences with getting the brass ring 
>>>> of a full-time, secure job.
>>>> 
>>>> Let’s see if anyone picks up on this. Maybe I’m being too vague.
>>>> 
>>>> Helena Worthen
>>>> helenaworthen@gmail.com
>>>> Berkeley, CA 94707 510-828-2745
>>>> Blog US/ Viet Nam:
>>>> helenaworthen.wordpress.com
>>>> skype: helena.worthen1
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On Feb 19, 2018, at 9:19 AM, Huw Lloyd 
>>>>> <huw.softdesigns@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> The article describes accumulating large amounts of knowledge
>>> pertaining
>>>> to
>>>>> history, which (the author maintains) cannot be turned to other
>>>> endeavours.
>>>>> This, no doubt, is true for her. If, however, her approach to
>> studying
>>>>> history had been systemic, then there would have been a powerful 
>>>>> form
>>> of
>>>>> re-application and continuity in any work that was turned to. 
>>>>> Perhaps
>>> the
>>>>> same can be said for "phd/postdoc training". If it cannot be 
>>>>> reused
>> or
>>>>> isn't enabling, what, substantively, is it?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Best,
>>>>> Huw
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On 18 February 2018 at 18:32, Alfredo Jornet Gil <
>> a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> Really inspiring words and work, Francine. I do see community
>> colleges
>>>> and
>>>>>> many other educational settings apart from universities as 
>>>>>> really
>>>> valuable
>>>>>> and exciting opportunities; the PhD and following postdoc etc
>> training
>>>> in
>>>>>> universities, however, tend to be very much targeted towards a 
>>>>>> very
>>>> narrow
>>>>>> spectrum of positions, or at least that's been my experience. I 
>>>>>> am
>>> very
>>>>>> happy that this thread may widen that scope and make visible 
>>>>>> other
>>>> paths.
>>>>>> And as Mike suggested, it would be very interesting to hear 
>>>>>> from
>>> several
>>>>>> others who have followed distinct trajectories apart from the 
>>>>>> phd-postdoc-assist/assoc. prof-prof, and yet made a career in 
>>>>>> touch
>>> with
>>>>>> most of what was developed in the junior (phd and few later) years.
>>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>> Alfredo
>>>>>> ________________________________________
>>>>>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.
>>> edu>
>>>>>> on behalf of Larry Smolucha <lsmolucha@hotmail.com>
>>>>>> Sent: 18 February 2018 06:20
>>>>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>>>>>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Message from Francine Smolucha on a scholar's life with or 
>>>>>> without
>>>> academia
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Alfredo,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> There are other jobs that pay well (sometimes with tenure and 
>>>>>> early retirement benefits) - besides professorships at four 
>>>>>> year colleges
>>> and
>>>>>> universities.  Administrative and support staff positions pay well.
>>> And
>>>>>> don't overlook community colleges, technical colleges, and 
>>>>>> public
>>> grade
>>>>>> schools and high schools. There is also the private sector and
>>>> government
>>>>>> jobs.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> As a 'low status' community college professor, I managed to
>> translate
>>>>>> Vygotsky's
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> overlooked writings on creativity (back in the 1980's) and
>> introduced
>>>> his
>>>>>> theory of creativity to academia.  I got early retirement at 
>>>>>> age 53
>>> and
>>>>>> continue to write and publish. While my Ph.D from the 
>>>>>> University of
>>>> Chicago
>>>>>> gave me academic bona fides, it was the quality of the 
>>>>>> scholarly
>> work
>>>> that
>>>>>> ultimately mattered.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I was always inspired by the harsh circumstances of Vygotsky's 
>>>>>> life
>>> and
>>>>>> how he still kept on writing.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> [When I felt really sorry for myself, I would actually say 
>>>>>> "Well at
>>>> least
>>>>>> I am not coughing up blood"]
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> So many of his works were not published in his lifetime, he did not
>>>>>> collect a royalties check, and    they say he was depressed at the
>> end
>>>> of
>>>>>> his life.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I leave you with this quote from an ancient Sufi mystic -
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> You can't always get what you want but you can get what you 
>>>>>> need
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> .
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.
>>> edu>
>>>>>> on behalf of mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu>
>>>>>> Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2018 7:07 PM
>>>>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>>>>>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Yours is a quandary shared by your generation, Alfredo.
>>>>>> Being allowed to teach and conduct research in a quality 
>>>>>> institution
>>> is
>>>> a
>>>>>> great privilege and an
>>>>>> increasingly rarer possibility.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> There are several people on this list who have organized their 
>>>>>> lives
>>> to
>>>> be
>>>>>> independent scholars
>>>>>> while staying connected to the core institutions of 
>>>>>> disciplinary
>>>> training.
>>>>>> It might be nice to hear
>>>>>> the variety out there.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> It appears pretty certain that the situation is going to get 
>>>>>> worse before/if it gets better.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> What can the collective experience of xmca come up with that 
>>>>>> would
>> be
>>>>>> useful to the many
>>>>>> of you caught in this meat grinder?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> mike
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Sat, Feb 17, 2018 at 4:49 PM, Alfredo Jornet Gil <
>>>> a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Good luck then, Wagner!
>>>>>>> A
>>>>>>> ________________________________________
>>>>>>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
>> <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.
>>> edu
>>>>> 
>>>>>>> on behalf of Wagner Luiz Schmit <wagner.schmit@gmail.com>
>>>>>>> Sent: 18 February 2018 01:07
>>>>>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture Activity
>>>>>>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> This just hit me in the spot...
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Wagner
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Feb 17, 2018 9:48 PM, "Alfredo Jornet Gil" 
>>>>>>> <a.j.gil@iped.uio.no
>>> 
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> I have not been able to contribute to this list as much as 
>>>>>>>> I'd
>> like
>>> to
>>>>>>>> lately, among other things, because I need to find a job, and 
>>>>>>>> I
>> need
>>>> to
>>>>>>>> make sure that I have checked all those boxes that selection
>>>> committees
>>>>>>>> will check (enough first-authored publications? in good 
>>>>>>>> enough
>>>>>> journals?
>>>>>>>> enough leadership in projects? teaching? supervising? 
>>>>>>>> acquiring
>>> funds?
>>>>>>> more
>>>>>>>> than all others candidates? and more than
>>> favoured-for-whatever-other-
>>>>>>> reasons
>>>>>>>> candidates?). So I have been doing all I can these weeks to 
>>>>>>>> fill
>> up
>>> a
>>>>>>>> competitive CV, for my contract is about to expire.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> And, although I did not think that it was particularly well
>> written,
>>>> it
>>>>>>>> was both relieving and discouraging to read this article (see 
>>>>>>>> link
>>>>>> below,
>>>>>>>> which I take from the facebook wall of a colleague who I 
>>>>>>>> think
>> also
>>>>>>>> subscribes this list). The article makes visible the pain 
>>>>>>>> scholars
>>> go
>>>>>>>> through when, after so many years of digging and digging and
>>> digging a
>>>>>>>> little (but deep!) hole, may after all have to leave it and 
>>>>>>>> find
>>> some
>>>>>>> other
>>>>>>>> thing to do. In Canada, I met a French astronomer who was 
>>>>>>>> moving
>>>>>> through
>>>>>>>> the world with his lovely family, short-term project after
>>> short-term
>>>>>>>> project, getting better and better at what he worked on
>> (apparently
>>> he
>>>>>>> was
>>>>>>>> among the few who had expertise in computer modeling 
>>>>>>>> simulating
>> some
>>>>>>>> astronomic events) , and finally having to step out academia 
>>>>>>>> last
>>> year
>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>> find something else to do, for his family no longer could 
>>>>>>>> stand
>> the
>>>>>>>> constant uncertainty and travelling. It could be me soon. And 
>>>>>>>> that
>>> may
>>>>>>> not
>>>>>>>> be a bad thing, or even a thing in itself, but the story 
>>>>>>>> seems to
>> be
>>>>>>> quite
>>>>>>>> endemic to academia and may be interesting to some of you:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-Everybody-Loses-When/24
>>>>>>>> 2560
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Alfredo
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
>> Assistant Professor
>> Department of Anthropology
>> 880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
>> Brigham Young University
>> Provo, UT 84602
>> WEBSITE: greg.a.thompson.byu.edu
>> http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson
>> 
> 
>

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