[Today's guest post is courtesy of The Byronic Man, another soul who's not-quite-fled the Academy for greener pastures. You may find his bio a bit suspicious (and just go ahead, ask him about the name) but his writing is very funny. And I'm sure he's not lying when he says he teaches, lives in Oregon, [...]
Archive for July, 2011
Education Secretary to Nation’s Youth: “Stop Getting So Many Fucking Degrees”
July 26, 2011Been reading too much Onion and Borowitz lately… WASHINGTON – Despite pressing budget talks, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan took a moment to address a burgeoning crowd of angry twentysomethings. Acknowledging that they are plagued by underemployment, Duncan took a moment to remind the “I’m special” generation that they are “basically a bunch of punk-ass [...]
You Stay Classy, Ivory Tower!
July 21, 2011I really enjoyed this week’s guest post, and had a great e-mail conversation with Dr. Karen about our different views of the world. I think it comes down to the fact that while her bad experience was centered around one particular campus culture, my bad experience was less limited: basically, empirical observation had led me [...]
Guest Post: Death of a Soul (On Campus)
July 18, 2011Dr. Karen Kelsky, my guest author today, not only left after getting tenure, she left after becoming the head of a department. And she’s even willing to admit that there’s some good in academia, but has no tolerance for delusion — which is why I asked her to post here. She’s also started a business, [...]
Tweeting for Dollars, University of Iowa Edition
July 13, 2011Yesterday I was making fun of the University of Iowa’s decision to have applicants Tweet instead of write a second college admission essay, and to reward the best Tweet with a full scholarship. But y’know, the more I think about it the more I like the idea. Part of my academic crisis was admitting out [...]
Horrible Bosses Was Great But It Gave Me Weird Flashbacks
July 10, 2011Don’t worry, this won’t become a movie review site. But it’s what I like to do with my free time and frankly, comedy was my academic specialty…and I happen to know that the pop culture stuff gets more clicks than the academic stuff, so if you’re reading this I hardly think you should be putting [...]
The Text is Dead, Long Live The Text
July 7, 2011I am currently obsessed with this video. I was shown it in during a discussion of how to get the kiddies interested in reading. It’s a tough question. That Shallows guy is right: we’re dealing with brain functions that have changed, and not IMHO for the better. I pointed this out, and there was a [...]
I Grade Larry Crowne
July 2, 2011The good news is that Larry Crowne was much more bearable than I thought it would be, mostly because the whole college element was basically just a backdrop for Larry Crowne’s personal journey thingamajigger. Sure, the movie was a little confused about its own quirk level but all things considered it wasn’t a bad way [...]
Do I Have To See Larry Crowne???
July 1, 2011The IMDB description of Larry Crowne: “After losing his job, a middle-aged man reinvents himself by going back to college.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. HAHA. Ha. Now that I’ve stopped laughing, I think I’m going to cry. Middle-aged is right. Nothing against the age (getting there myself) but the older you are, the stronger your delusions about what [...]