…before they kick me out of this nice computer lab that’s closing in 30 minutes. In all the excitement of moving to Charlottesville, I missed the ritual anniversary post. But it’s already been just over a year since I started the old version of this blog. Who’d’ve thought it? Everything has been happening a lot […]
"Wanted: Really Smart Suckers", by Anya Kamenetz of the Village Voice, should be required reading for all aspiring graduate students. Particularly this quote from comp lit Ph.D. Dan Friedman: "I didn’t know what I was getting into. It would have been different if I had known. You’re committed to your subject and you think, I […]
Some of the associate professors who remain were the good hires of yesteryear who didn’t manage to find the jobs they once longed for. Many of them now spurn the academy in general, reserving their special contempt for the graduate students who teach our service courses (two a semester!). I’ve even heard some colleagues voice […]
Since ther’s no helpe, Come let us kisse and part,Nay, I have done: You get no more of Me,And I am glad, yea glad with all my heartThat thus so cleanly, I my Selfe can free.Shake hands for ever, Cancell all our Vowes,And when we meet at any time againe,Be it not seene in either […]
Prompted by a comment by Susan on this post about academic writing (among other things) at Frogs and Ravens, I’ve been thinking about intellectual communities. Specifically, I’ve been trying to envision what "my ideal intellectual community … would look like," to borrow Susan’s terms. The following is a provisional attempt at defining my own ideal […]
Gosh. People are linking to my recent Simpsons post and my visitor traffic has gone way up. Hi, everyone who came here to read about the Bart Simpson Ph.D-taunting scene (including the person who got here by Googling "simpsons bookaccino"). Now I feel like I should be especially clever and witty for your benefit. But […]
From tonight’s episode of The Simpsons: [Marge, Bart, and Lisa go to their local "Bookaccino" superbookstore.] LISA: I’m going up to the fourth floor, where the books are!BART: I’m going to taunt the Ph.Ds! [Bart approaches the three workers at the espresso bar, all of whom wear glasses and bored expressions.] BART: Hey guys! I […]
Today Salon.com‘s advice section features a letter from "Panicked Prospective Ph.D. Candidate", who is applying to a raft of Ph.D. programs but has become paralyzed with anxiety. Writes PPPh.D.C: "I don’t know if I can handle being rejected by every single school I have chosen — not that I would go off the deep end […]
Wouldn’t "The Independent Scholars" be a great name for a band? Not a rock band, but an early-music band that plays dance hits of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. (I am a Renaissance person, after all.) Like the Folger Consort or the Newberry Consort, only maybe with more bawdy songs. (And on period instruments; I’m […]
I’ve applied for a job. A non-professorial job that would still allow me to do research — in my field, no less. It’s an administrative position at an independent, well-reputed research library, and they want a new Ph.D. who works in Renaissance studies, which I do. And it’s in a city where I’d actually quite […]