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[prof_smartypants]

The idea that 6 hours of lecturing per week implies roughly 6 total hours spent on teaching is a little out there.

Then what do I have to look forward to when I get tenure? I was really counting on that.

[grasshopper]

I'm still laughing at this. I'm imagining the luxury of a job where I could get paid $125,000/year to work 6 to 9 hours/week, and could spend the rest of my time jetting off to useless conferences in Italy and Mexico where I would sip sherry and talk about whatever I happened to be thinking about on that day.

[untenured]

Most surprising are the university faculty that willingly give the author delicious quotations.

How long did it take her to write that article anyway, one hour?  That was probably her only 'publication' that day.  Sure there's editing and such, but that's no time at all.  What an easy job.

There are a lot of comments about her article.  Apparently she is getting the publicity authors like this so desperately want.

Untenured

[pournelle]

This shows that we need to educate people about a) how good university teaching differs from high school teaching, for example and b) why ample research time should be regarded as vital for producing professors who can educate at a high level.

That said, she raises at least two very important and uncomfortable issues.

1) The insanity--viewed from a systemic perspective--of every regional and master's university aspiring to r1 status, and of every lower ranked r1 aspiring to elite status. (I write as someone at an institution of the latter type.)

2) The overproduction of scholarship, one consequence of which is that it becomes not only hard but in praqctice no longer even expected that someone will keep up with the work even in one's own subfield. More true for some big mla subfields than for say classics, but a serious problem: This is a condition in which even the best work is often unreadable (for practical purposes). The book requirement for tenure is another indicator of how pegging humanities research to a sciences model has wreaked havoc. (I speak as someone who has--alas--played the game, with a book and a bunch of articles. I'm beginning to regard academic writing as a kind of bad habit I need to discourage in myself.)

[dolljepopp]

The ignorance exhibited in the Globe article is truly frightening.




The delicate bouquet and subtle flavour of good sherry is best appreciated while sitting.


Or lounging...

[henry_adams]

A salary of $125,000, six months off a year, and annual trips to Italy?  Where do I apply?  Why didn't my dissertation director tell me about this?  Why doesn't he apply?

[grasshopper]

I think this is my favourite comment:

The University system is not set up to promote teaching, it's true. But it's not because there's too much sherry drinking and guffawing among clever men with elbow patches.

Although my university does promote teaching, there is not nearly enough guffawing in elbow patches. Schmarika, if you're reading this thread, I suggest that we petition for a Cross-Disciplinary Committee of Guffawing and Witty Banter. 

[erictho]

The University system is not set up to promote teaching, it's true. But it's not because there's too much sherry drinking and guffawing among clever men with elbow patches.

Although my university does promote teaching, there is not nearly enough guffawing in elbow patches. Schmarika, if you're reading this thread, I suggest that we petition for a Cross-Disciplinary Committee of Guffawing and Witty Banter. 

Sadly, although my uni does promote teaching, we are lacking not only in guffawing and witty banter, but also sherry *and* elbow patches. You can, however, see the occasional prof chuckling while drinking beer in jeans.

[mad_doctor]

The University system is not set up to promote teaching, it's true. But it's not because there's too much sherry drinking and guffawing among clever men with elbow patches.

Although my university does promote teaching, there is not nearly enough guffawing in elbow patches. Schmarika, if you're reading this thread, I suggest that we petition for a Cross-Disciplinary Committee of Guffawing and Witty Banter. 

Sadly, although my uni does promote teaching, we are lacking not only in guffawing and witty banter, but also sherry *and* elbow patches. You can, however, see the occasional prof chuckling while drinking beer in jeans.

HAhaha...  What?!  You mean your local faculty guild doesn't provide sherry and elbow patches?  Witty banter is a prerequisite for membership in our chapter, so we don't have any problems in that area...