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

Mon Feb 26 08:40:43 PST 2018

"Assessing their abilities and accomplishments in this regard was a matter
of judgment and so could not be quantified; it could be exercised only by
those capable of it."

I would say, "cannot be quantified simply".

Best,
Huw

On 26 February 2018 at 15:05, Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>
wrote:

> And here is a nice article that speaks to the bureaucratic logic that I was
> mentioning (the author refers to "the all-administrative institution"):
> https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/whose-university-is-it-anyway/#!
>
> A quote from it:
> "The revolution is over and the administrators have won. But the
> persistence of traditional structures and language has led some to think
> that the fight over the institution is now just beginning. This is a
> mistake. As with most revolutions, open conflict occurs only after real
> power has already changed hands."
>
> -greg
>
> On Sun, Feb 25, 2018 at 6:27 PM, Martin Packer <mpacker@cantab.net> wrote:
>
> > 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
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> 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
>