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

[Glassman, Michael]

By the way, the fact that Russ Ackoff doesn't seem to realize this is a century old debate fought by some of the most influential educators in history sort of makes the point about the dangers of STEM education and how it limits us.

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Huw Lloyd
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2018 8:57 AM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship

Perhaps this will help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzS5V5-0VsA

I'm not sure I'd use Ackoff's terms (wisdom), yet the meaning is appropriate. The word play he uses also potential obscures the genetic basis for the distinctions. I suppose he is endeavouring to provide pithy expressions to summarise more complex processes.

Best,
Huw

On 26 February 2018 at 13:32, Glassman, Michael <glassman.13@osu.edu> wrote:

> Hi Huw,
>
> Thanks for the response. I'm not really sure I'm understanding what 
> you are trying to say. I was going to say what I think, but I'm not 
> sure I have enough of a grasp of your point for it to be effective.
>
> Michael
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@ 
> mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Huw Lloyd
> Sent: Monday, February 26, 2018 5:28 AM
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: (non)grieving scholarship
>
> Hi Michael,
>
> The issue can be explored in terms of effectiveness. Superficial 
> approaches may succeed (technologically) yet inevitably create messes 
> through a lack of awareness of integration issues. Knowing how to 
> design well entails much improvement in this awareness, with the 
> broader (rarely
> touched) reaches of design encompassing the developmental and 
> ecological requirements of the practitioners, users, resources, pollution etc .
> Operationally, however, one can be deemed useful without awareness of 
> this, and the majority of "technological" work is undertaken in 
> ignorance of integration issues.
> Instead efficiency becomes a priority which is reinforced through 
> bureaucratic procedures. Really, one would probably lose the majority 
> of technologically focused workers in a technical discussion of 
> developmental design. It probably can be considered relatively 
> advanced knowledge, yet it can be reached tractably through technical 
> problem solving. How one would come to an awareness of integration 
> issues without STEM practice (graduating on to systems knowledge) is a 
> different matter, probably only vaguely and ineffectively. Hence the 
> basis for knowledge is not necessarily different between social 
> science and STEM, rather there is a difference in focus, with the 
> asymmetry being derived from their different foci and what is required 
> to be effective. If one considers that the value of social science is 
> in realisation of effective organisation, then it follows that this 
> necessarily requires relatively advanced practices to achieve effective results.
>
> Best,
> Huw
>
> On 26 February 2018 at 01:15, 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
> > >
> >
> >
>
>