Comments on: jeremy’s sure been quiet lately

By: jeremy

jeremy — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:06:01 +0000

The silence of Jeremy’s everywhere must come to an end!

By: newsocprof

newsocprof — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:30:59 +0000

Well, now I’m just obsessing about whether or not I am a “known” reader… or not. :)

By: jeremy

jeremy — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:38:32 +0000

Sherkat: I’ve had a couple people wonder if I was talking about them.

(Note to all who are known readers of this blog, I would not passively-agressively-non-call-out-call-out a known reader like that.)

By: sherkat

sherkat — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:34:18 +0000

Bastard!! Damn, I’ve been meaning to update that stupid statement for five years. It was from an old tenure document from 1995, and was barely revised when a secretary wanted something within 10 minute. Then it was hacked by our ESL web person when overflow didn’t fit…So, today, I did it. I revised my statement. Thanks!! Huh? you mean it wasn’t me? I’m shocked!

By: eszter

eszter — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:02:55 +0000

The NU diversity statement was implemented fairly recently, is my understanding.

Yes. This is my fourth year on our admissions committee (I’ve been on it every year since coming here except for last year when I was away) and this is the first time I’ve noticed it. I have found it interesting, both sociologically speaking, as you note, but also as a way to learn more about applicants.

By: newsocprof

newsocprof — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:28:06 +0000

I’d love to read the ‘maybe sometime’ post, sometime. I’m doing admissions this year as well and am struggling with the same problem.

By: jeremy

jeremy — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:34:42 +0000

Carly: If it’s purely a hobby, can one ever actually be a lazy blogger?

OW: Excellent point about the distributional issue. The NU diversity statement was implemented fairly recently, is my understanding. My presumption is that it’s at least partly responsive to court rulings about the use of diversity criteria in admissions, although that’s speculative on my part. So its substantive rationality– in terms of the problems of applicants assessing how they would be actually distinct from the existing student body–may not be the overriding concern.

By: olderwoman

olderwoman — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:44:07 +0000

Re white diversity statements, I’ve been counseling my son & his girlfriend about these. My son is White, his girlfriend is of mixed White & Asian ancestry; they are both going male dominated fields with a high representation of Asians as well as Whites. In both cases, they were totally confused about what to write. In both cases, I suggested that they begin by saying: I don’t know what your students are like so I don’t know how I will add to diversity, but let me tell you about me and my background. Our dept does not ask for these statements, so I don’t have a sense of how people in general deal with them in sociology. There is a kind of illogic about asking somebody how they will fit into a distribution they are not already part of and may not have direct knowledge about. I do ask my undergrads to say, on their first-day survey, how they will be able to “add to the diversity of opinion and experience in class discussions.” These are only 1-2 sentences and I’ve been throwing away the forms each semester so I don’t have a stockpile for data. Some students do have the wit to say that their experiences in all-White small towns provide one touchpoint for diversity, but most don’t.

By: carlyconfused

carlyconfused — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:21:19 +0000

When I first started my blog, I kept a word document of ‘bloggable things’, intending to use it as a back-up when I couldn’t come up with good ideas. I don’t think I ever actually used any of those things. This is mostly because I am a very lazy blogger, I think.

By: jeremy

jeremy — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:15:14 +0000

Yes, although inside my head is never especially peaceful (and perhaps non-coincidentally, I never am an especially good sleeper).