See You in the Funny Papers

College professors have a well-known affinity for comic strips, but I have a feeling that this recent Wizard of Id strip won’t be going up on office doors or into PowerPoint slides on too many campuses.

When I saw it, it made me think about a colleague who told me that a relative of his, who is a farmer, once observed that he worked more during most days than a professor did in an entire semester (professors only teach 12 hours per semester, right?).

One of the problems we face as a profession is the perception that thinking is not legitimate work. It’s hard to compare jobs that include visible, sweaty, physical labor to reading, writing, and reflecting. I have to say, however, that writing a book is just as tedious and exhausting as any job I’ve ever had (and I’ve had some very physical jobs throughout my life, including four years as a dry cleaner’s assistant in a steam-heat environment); it’s just a whole lot less sweat-inducing. Teaching involves many bleary-eyed nights spent squinting at essays or late-night sessions in laboratories. Reflecting can be an emotional kind of work that alternately drains and invigorates.

In the current economy, it is more important than ever to communicate to folks outside the academy that our work is worthwhile and legitimate. How can we explain to people that what we do is “real” work?