While talking with my friend Ron as he drove through Nebraska, I quoted him a James McMurtry song: “Out here in the middle where the buffalo roam/we're putting up towers for your cell phones.” If you don’t know how that sounds and can't place it within his critique of politics in "flyover country," stop what … Continue reading Out Here in the Middle
capitalism
Another Day in America
"Ah, America. We saw it. We tipped it over, and then we sold it." One of many unforgettable lines burned into my soul by this Laurie Anderson song from Homeland. Here's another: "And you, who can be silent in four languages; your silence will be considered your consent." That one tells the actual story of today's … Continue reading Another Day in America
The “Least Resistant Personality Profile” and Factory Farms
While studying rural communities that face poverty, shocking rates of cancer, and poisoned fishing waters from industrial pollution, sociologist Arlie Hochschild learned about a disturbing money making scheme. A “waste-to-energy conversion” company wanted to build plants that burn highly toxic and noxious smelling waste—what they called “locally undesirable land use.” The corporation paid half a … Continue reading The “Least Resistant Personality Profile” and Factory Farms
We Do Not Have to Live Like Rats Fighting for Scraps
When I started this blog, I imagined it as a place where I might gather and repost—when timely and appropriate—some of my earlier pieces that are “blog-friendly” in form, but scattered to the winds. I happened across one of these today, when I sent one of my students to a special issue of Dharma World … Continue reading We Do Not Have to Live Like Rats Fighting for Scraps
“Assessment” Continued: Academic Success Vs. Health and Well-Being
This is day 40 or more (depending on how one counts) of a major strike in British universities, which has been nearly ignored by the news. (This and this are exceptions to the rule.) It is also day four or more (depending on how one counts) in the aftermath of an attack on tenure at my … Continue reading “Assessment” Continued: Academic Success Vs. Health and Well-Being
David W. Noble, Beloved Mentor, Rest in Peace
What follows is lightly revised from a talk I gave in 2009 on the occasion of my teacher, David W. Noble, retiring from the University of Minnesota. David died on March 11, 2018. Here is an obituary, and no doubt David’s many friends and colleagues will weigh in with more ambitious scholarly reflections about his legacies. … Continue reading David W. Noble, Beloved Mentor, Rest in Peace
Assessment Part II: Drones Vs. Teachers, Prisons Vs. Students, and Universities Vs. Another Tax Subsidized Hockey Stadium
I hope I was clear in my last post, and in any case it bears repeating, that the logic of “assessment” is not tied narrowly to “student outcomes.” There are many levels: Teaching—not just classroom dynamics and teaching evaluations, but also determining curricula. This includes balancing resources across departments. levels (undergraduate vs. graduate), and colleges … Continue reading Assessment Part II: Drones Vs. Teachers, Prisons Vs. Students, and Universities Vs. Another Tax Subsidized Hockey Stadium
Against the Cruelty, Hypocrisy, and Irresponsibility of Trump’s Budget: An Open Letter
Dear Senator Corker, Senator Alexander, and Representative Duncan, Commonly I have heard people who are less pessimistic than I am about self-correcting capacities in the US political system valorize a turning point in the battle against McCarthyism. In 1954 Joseph Welch famously responded to Senator Joseph McCarthy: "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At … Continue reading Against the Cruelty, Hypocrisy, and Irresponsibility of Trump’s Budget: An Open Letter
“Resolved: Academic Jargon Is Bad.” Please Discuss
Recently I visited a UT class session that was discussing Judith Butler. This provoked the perennial complaints about Butler’s prose—leading toward the perennial observation that she once won an award for the worst written sentence of the year. I actually agree that prose by Butler—not to speak of her less insightful imitators and competitors who … Continue reading “Resolved: Academic Jargon Is Bad.” Please Discuss
MBE: Mark's blogging experiment 