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[airball]

Hi All,

I think I know the answer to this one, but want to be sure. I have been invited for an on-campus interview at my dream school, a great little SLAC in the perfect location. While there I will, of course, give a research talk. My research deals with sex and popular culture, and my sources are fond of sexual insults of which the FCC would not approve.

It's not a religious school, so I don't have to worry about that, but is there any problem with dropping the F-bomb during the job talk? Since the quotations I use are supposed to be offensive, changing it to something more genteel would be bizarre.  So do I just go ahead and f*** this s*** up?

airball

[oseph]

As long as it is in the context of quotations, I don't see it being a huge problem, unless you have reason to believe that this SLAC is more conservative than most (or the faculty from a very far-removed generation).  I would provide a brief intro to the sources you're using and then say something like, "As you may know, profanity is not infrequent here, so I don't recommend taking the handout home to your mother."  It should get a little chuckle, and then you move forward, using it in the context of quotations or focused discussion of those quotations and trying not to use it too frequently elsewhere, even in a joking way.  One would assume they're aware that if they invite a candidate whose research is on sex and popular culture, the talk will involve adult material.

[larryc]

I'd include a warning/disclaimer at the start and then absolutely minimize the use of the F-bomb during the talk. And be ready for the question on how you would teach this material. Make it clear that profanity is not acceptable except when it is in quotes and essential to the lesson, which is hardly ever the case.

[yellowtractor]

We've actually had at least one, and possibly two, threads on this precise question in the past...but given the state of our search function I don't know how I'd even begin to search for them.  I tried to cross "profanity" with "job talk" via Google, but it didn't turn up anything.

Oseph is, of course, right.  The SC is presumably on at least nodding acquaintance with your scholarship, so they, at least, know what you do--and chose to invite you.  The key is not to bowdlerize your talk, but to contextualize your references in such a way that even potential colleagues for whom profanity might be disconcerting are able and willing to listen to your analysis.

Maintain a professional frame while acknowledging the nature of your material--again, as Oseph suggests.  If you use the  f-word in the context of a source, or analysis of that source, that's one thing.  If you just start shooting it off yourself to show how hip you are, your candidacy will tank.


(on preview):  Yes, yes, as Larry says--anticipate the question (especially at a SLAC) of just how you would use this material in a classroom.

[oseph]

We've actually had at least one, and possibly two, threads on this precise question in the past...but given the state of our search function I don't know how I'd even begin to search for them.  I tried to cross "profanity" with "job talk" via Google, but it didn't turn up anything.

Oseph is, of course, right.  The SC is presumably on at least nodding acquaintance with your scholarship, so they, at least, know what you do--and chose to invite you.  The key is not to bowdlerize your talk, but to contextualize your references in such a way that even potential colleagues for whom profanity might be disconcerting are able and willing to listen to your analysis.

Maintain a professional frame while acknowledging the nature of your material--again, as Oseph suggests.  If you use the  f-word in the context of a source, or analysis of that source, that's one thing.  If you just start shooting it off yourself to show how hip you are, your candidacy will tank.


(on preview):  Yes, yes, as Larry says--anticipate the question (especially at a SLAC) of just how you would use this material in a classroom.

Yes, some of my teaching requires mention of sexually-explicit and controversial material, and I just try to be very matter-of-fact about it and dwell on it as little as possible.  In some of my courses it is necessary to bring it up, so I say "this is how it is, and it is important that you know this for contextual reasons," and then I move on.  You might suggest something like this to the SC, who almost certainly will ask you, directly or indirectly, about use of this material in the classroom (unless we're talking Reed or something, and I don't think anyone there would care).

[zuzu_]

Found 'em!

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,33434.0.html

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,46097.0.html

[oseph]

Found 'em!

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,33434.0.html

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,46097.0.html

Zuzu's very helpful location of these threads indicates that as recently as 2-3 years ago, eyebrows would have been raised about the inclusion of profanity in a job talk.  In spite (although I don't think in contradiction) of the advice I gave above, I think you should take this to heart as a good indication of the diversity of reactions.  I would do everything you can to use the tamest examples possible, indicating that more explicit examples exist in spades but are not included in your job talk.  If the talk won't make sense without use of the profanity, do everything you can to tweak the talk's focus so that you can avoid it.  If you're still stuck, then your research is what it is, and just do your best to be mildly apologetic and very matter-of-fact, with minimal quoting of the profanity.

Do let us know what you end up doing and how it goes.  Best of luck.

[august_leo]

I could imagine saving a second version where you replace things so they are f*** (for example). Then, as you meet people if you feel they are too conservative, you can go with the *** version. You can make it subtle too. Greener_Pastures.ppt vs Greener_Pastures_[date].ppt

[airball]

Thanks everyone. I went back through the text and discovered that I can skip the f-bomb without doing any damage to either my argument or the historical record.

At a national or international conference I'd use it without a moment's hesitation, but in this case the downside is just too steep to take the chance.

airball

[systeme_d_]

I think that's smart, Airball.

Good luck to you!

[oseph]

Let us know how it goes!

[ursula]

Thanks everyone. I went back through the text and discovered that I can skip the f-bomb without doing any damage to either my argument or the historical record.

At a national or international conference I'd use it without a moment's hesitation, but in this case the downside is just too steep to take the chance.

airball

That's very smart.  Many people are offended (and not just at places that are "more conservative than most"), and it's just not worth it.  We actually had someone try using the 'F' in a talk here a couple of years ago.  It went over like a lead balloon, and some students even complained to the chair and the dean, saying that if this person were hired they'd encourage the rest of their families to attend other universities.  I certainly thought it detracted from the point of the talk, and was more like a two year old who had discovered how to say "poop" and wanted to keep doing it for attention.

[aandsdean]

Good luck, airball.

I reluctantly agree with the advice here, though, as I've mentioned here before, at my first job when one of the people from the RTP committee came to observe my class, it was our day for the Earl of Rochester.  We talked about "The Disabled Debauchee" (http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/debauchee.html) and "A Ramble in St. James's Park" (http://www.ealasaid.com/fan/rochester/ramble.html) and I got tenure anyway.

I expect it helped that we both had degrees from the same school (Wahoowah!) and watched football and hoops together.

However, dropping the f-bomb on six years' record of good teaching is probably different from a job talk. 

[pink_]

It might also be possible to ask the SC before you give the talk.  When I was out to dinner the first night, the SC chair asked if I had any questions about the job talk or what to expect, and that would have been a perfect opportunity to take the temperature of the situation.  But I agree that it's best to be safe here rather than sorry.

[oldfullprof]

Don't do this.  (Save it for your classes later.)  (I now am down to about two per class per semester.)