October 7, 2009 – 10:07 pm
Princeton postdoc Amin Ghaziani writes of his decision to have his undergraduate class, “Queer Theory and Politics,” demonstrate against the National Organization for Marriage and then reflect upon and analyze the demonstration for class. The writeups–in the CBSM Newsletter and in Gay and Lesbian Studies–are thoughtful, informed, and thorough. Together they demonstrate that this exercise [...]
September 21, 2009 – 11:03 am
I’m on the committee to select the book UNC will recommend that incoming students read and then discuss during orientation. The selection has been controversial before, and sometimes not, and I enjoyed the committee last time. However, I’m concerned that too often we pick pretty straightforward narrative journalism about some case that doesn’t really challenge [...]
November 12, 2008 – 1:21 pm
Here are some of the things that annoy me in papers, presentations, etc., and that I’m apt to edit out or mark on manuscripts/papers I’m reviewing/grading:
Comprise vs. compose
Split infinitives
Use of “they” as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun
Use of the second person, just about ever
Use of “natural” or “human nature” as (implicit or explicit) cause of outcomes
Which [...]
September 8, 2008 – 8:21 pm
How happy am I that the student skateboarding toward me as I walked to my car after work hopped off his board to say hello, I’m in your class, and recommend a film I’d like, based on my lecture on how sociologists see things? Very happy. Thanks, dude.
September 4, 2008 – 2:42 pm
In case you’re not seeing a pattern, or the irony, there’s a close-up…
All right, I need y’all’s sage advice. I’m going to have my first-year seminar this fall maintain a blog as part of their course work, and I need a name. The seminar is “Citizenship and Society in the United States,” and it’s focused on political participation, writ broadly, but using the election as a consistent [...]
From Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s Nudge:
To analyze this question, let’s start with a simple example inspired by a wonderful poem by Shel Silverstein entitled “Smart.” The poem is fun as well as brilliant, so if you have a computer nearby, we suggest that you type “Smart” and “Shel Silverstein” into Google and read [...]
From someone who is ABD. This is a very liberal paraphrase (you will note that the language is strongly shakha’s), but still accurate, I believe.
I have two committee members who don’t get along. They pull me in different directions. They’re not really interested in what the other person suggests, and sometimes even seem to pull [...]
March 27, 2008 – 12:21 pm
Not that I post often, but I haven’t been posting at all lately. Not that I need to offer an account, but I am about to do just that: I’m being bullied.
I thought that there was something wrong with me if I could be bullied by colleagues and students, but it turns out that I’m [...]
From a midterm evaluation in my undergraduate course, “Environment, Health, and Society”:
“This class seems to give me the chance to learn some new, outrageous fact every week.”
From grad students, a series of questions that I have compiled into one big mess. Basically: how do you build a network and does it matter what kind you build?
People keep telling me how important it is to “build networks.” I understand why. I just don’t understand how. So, how do you go about “building [...]
February 27, 2008 – 12:38 am
From a student:
I’m a few years away from the job market. But not THAT far away. What matters? Everyone I talk to alternates between telling me how hard it is to predict the job market while acting surprised that I’m not doing what I “should”. So, what “should” I do? What matters on my CV? [...]
February 20, 2008 – 11:12 am
Our question of the week: How do you “break up” with your adviser? If you feel like the relationship isn’t going well, and you’ve already made the decision to go with someone new, what is the best way to do this without upsetting the adviser?
February 19, 2008 – 9:49 pm
Tonight I participated in one of our residence hall’s “dinner in a dorm” events. This is actually my second time, but it was different because I was invited by one of my lovely students. Previously, when I — along with other new faculty — attended a similar event, I was paired with a hall official. [...]
February 15, 2008 – 8:04 am
Another of my pet peeves is starting an academic paper by referring to the dictionary definition of something. “According to Webster’s Dictionary, X is defined as…” How many times have you read that sentence in your life? I suppose it is a lousy, boring, but minimally acceptable way for an undergraduate to start [...]
