Posts by Gina Barreca

April 24, 2011, 09:39 PM ET

Practical Tips for Surviving Academic Life, Part 4

By Gina Barreca

1. You’ve made a deliberate, dedicated, planned decision to be considered for promotion to “full professor,” right? Because if you haven’t, the whole process might not be worth the effort. Figure out why you want this—and then make a choice. 2. Although it’s not usually discussed in such raw terms, a lot of colleges and universities aren’t going to give you much of a raise, more of a jolt in terms of respect, or more sway in terms of political maneuvering because you’ve made this final step. When I told my best friend, who had offered comfort and support through the entire process, what I actually received in terms of additional pay for the promotion, she laughed for an entire two minutes—red in the face, sputtering, eye-wiping laughter. She apologized, of course, but then started up again because she couldn’t help herself. The amount of cash was so small that this... Read More

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March 28, 2011, 01:36 PM ET

6 Easy--and Not So Easy--Pieces of Advice for Grad Students

By Gina Barreca

It’s almost sad, but pretty much everything I’ve ever said to my graduate students—at least in terms of what they need to know to help them write their dissertation—can be summed up by the following points: 1. Choose your topic wisely. Your choice of subject is very much like your choice of mate. This will either be the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship or the start of a bad first marriage. You’re going to be living with it for a long, long time. One way or another, you’ll be spending serious time together. Don’t let outside pressures make your choices for you. Other people don’t know what is best because you—and only you—must have a certain amount of passion going into the process. Passion cannot be manufactured. You can’t assume it will come later on in the relationship. Researching and writing your dissertation is, in effect, the courtship period ... Read More

March 25, 2011, 12:17 PM ET

About the MIT, Women, and 'Unexpected Consequences' Article

By Gina Barreca

Every woman I know, whether she's in academics or in any other profession traditionally associated with men (meaning pretty much everybody who works outside the home and the child-care industry) has spent the week discussing the article in Monday's New York Times. In case you were out of town, or finishing a book, or giving birth, the piece focuses on the role of women at MIT. In 1994, MIT agreed that there "were wide disparities in salary and resources and a general marginalization of women" on its campus and made serious and significant efforts to change the situation. Recently, women at the Schools of Science and Engineering repeated the 1994 study of their schools as part of a two-day conference on the women of M.I.T. to help mark the institute’s 150th anniversary. The new study declares that “stunning” progress has been made, according to the Times, which is great. But—you... Read More

March 23, 2011, 10:33 AM ET

Elizabeth Taylor's Early, Unsung Role

By Gina Barreca

Forget National Velvet; forget Cleopatra. For me, Elizabeth Taylor, whose death yesterday was just announced in the New York Times this morning, will always be Helen Burns from the 1943 version of Jane Eyre, a role for which she received no screen credit. She's the tiny, sickly orphaned waif whom Jane Eyre befriends when they are at Lowood, the miserable school where poor, sweet-natured Helen Burns, who at least believes she is going to heaven when she dies, nevertheless knows enough about the world to warn Jane that she has too much faith in the love of human beings. I watched that movie—adapted from Bronte's novel by John Houseman, Aldous Huxley, Henry Koster, and Robert Stevenson—every 15 minutes as I was growing up. It was part of the "Million Dollar Movie" series on New York television and those old films played as if on a loop-tape. I grew up memorizing the lines because I... Read More

January 17, 2011, 06:52 PM ET

What Drives the Mommy Wars?

By Gina Barreca

The phrase "home schooling" is practically redundant: School is increasingly a mere diversion away from the academic agenda of many middle-class parents. Don’t you think there should be college courses, applicable towards a graduate degree of your choice, in how to handle the parents who are now taking up the valuable time, energy, resources, and patience of teachers? Not to mention the direct involvement of these parents in the increase of “cosmos” necessary to unwind at the end of the week, thereby raising cost-of-living expenses of the faculty in ways uncompensated by even the most liberal of school districts? As my friend Claire put it, “The phrase ‘home schooling’ is now sort of redundant. School’s become a mere diversion away from the academic agenda of middle class parents.” I’m hearing from teachers that it’s as if the kids comes to school with home... Read More

October 10, 2010, 06:29 PM ET

Snappy Advice From Classic Authors

By Gina Barreca

Packed with frantic passion, psycho ardor, manipulation, betrayal, faux class and, of course, money, money, money, classic works of fiction offer advice galore--if the reader knows the right questions to ask.

Timeless novels are more richly nuanced than television, more carefully plotted than films, and more reliable than mere celebrity-based self-help books.

Most readers already have a relationship to them, but they haven’t yet discovered how to make them into problem-solvers.

We can help.

Like “The Dummy’s Guides” series but for smart people—and based entirely on the writings of great authors while ignoring their usually rather dismal actual lives entirely so as not to muddy to literary waters—the books would be divided into categories.

These categories would include but not be limited to dating, education, weight loss, money management, leadership, friendship, family,...

October 4, 2010, 03:23 PM ET

Columbia University M.F.A. Professor's E-Mail Goes Viral

By Gina Barreca

Have you read the letter sent by the Columbia MFA professor to her former students at the University of South Carolina? You might want to read it in conjunction with Thomas Benton/William Pannepacker’s piece in The Chron titled "Why Do They Hate Us?"

It seems that the two pieces together do a fabulous dance macabre illustrating the death of the profession in much the same way, for example, that a set piece from the Cirque de Soleil might illustrate the death of a planet consumed by its own gas.

Pannapacker, as always, makes provocative points throughout his often-humorous article. I say “provocative” because as of 2:06 on Monday, October 4^th, over 113 readers have written comments in response to his assertions that non-academics despise academics. “I can't remember a time when professors, particularly in the humanities and social sciences—already the survivors of a 40-year depression in ...

October 1, 2010, 11:17 PM ET

Is That The Way, Uh-Huh, Uh-Huh, You Get Nervous?

By Gina Barreca

C'mon, folks. We've known each other long enough now, haven't we, to be honest?

Tell me the truth.

What scares you?

What gives you dreams about showing up to take an exam for which you haven’t studied? Even worse, what gives you nightmares about classes you’re not prepared to teach? What makes your stomach do the elevator-drop? What makes you bite your lip, or your nails, or the bullet?

What, in other words, makes you feel like you’re facing a Real Test?

I'll go first.

Tonight I could have attended my 35^th high school reunion. That would count as a pretty big test, right?

But I have another one coming up tomorrow night—and that one, surprisingly enough even for me, has me more worried. That's why I decided to skip the Oceanside High bash down on Long Island, which was, trust me, a pretty scary prospect in and of itself.

But I’m telling the truth when I say I’m more nervous about...

September 28, 2010, 06:40 AM ET

Can't Get Out of Your Own Way? Me Neither.

By Gina Barreca

It's one of those days: I can't believe how trapped I feel, how overwhelming every task appears, and how lousy my hair looks. It's all tangled together, of course, this sense of being unequal to the task of making it through the day. Trapped, overwhelmed, and unattractive: The Monday Trifecta. The fact that it isn't even Monday only makes it worse.

And I'm the humor lady, right? The irony isn't lost on me. I'm the one who spends her time talking about how fabulous everything is if only you can only see how the absurdities of life add to—rather than detract from—our lives. Hahaha. Ha.

OK, so let's figure this one out, shall we?

Let's start with the hair. It probably looks no different to anybody except for me, if only because not one person on earth is thinking about the top of my head. So what if I think I make Elsa Lancaster in The Bride of Frankenstein look like she's...