academic work
Charles Bazerman (bazerman who-is-at humanitas.ucsb.edu)
Mon, 1 Jan 1996 11:52:32 -0800 (PST)
Angel,
the struggle to find rewarding legitimate purposes for research
and publication is something we all need to address. I agree that many
never escape the immediate social and psychological rewards of their
specialty to addreess why they do it. On the other hands the general
projects of some disciplines and specialties are better formulated and
more clearly justifiable than that of others, so one's doubts may not be
so nagging. With other fields, the social justifications that supported
the rise and public maintenance of the field may be more questionable or
residual, which put the question of why one would want to research and
publish more forcefully. And Robin's observations that in many
circumstances and without other reasons, research and publication is a
form of insitutional imposition fostering minimal, marginal participation
in a purposeless endeavor. Not publishing then makes much more sense if
you won't get fired for it. Also writing and working in areas that might
not lead to academic reward and may even be stigmatized, may nonetheless
be the appropriate fulfillment of your academic calling--textbook,
politics, software, college issues, syllabus and class materials,
dialogue with students.
Chuck