Let's begin with the title, which comes from a book edited by Peter J. Frost and M. Susan Taylor. The full title of the book is Rhythms of Academic Life: Personal Accounts of Careers in Academia. In this book, over sixty scholars at various stages of their careers reflect on the joys, frustrations, and pressures of academic life. Collectively, the sometimes humorous personal accounts offer a wonderful glimpse into this strange world of tenure and sabbaticals where status is reflected in three metrics: research, teaching, and service.
Similar to the book that is its namesake, the purpose of this blog as I originally conceived it was to give my friends and family a glimpse into my life as a scholar so that they could better understand what it is that I do. In addition to satisfying my desire to write, I figured it would also help clear up some of the confusion expressed by some of my non-academic friends. For example, there was the time I had to explain that though my official title is Assistant Professor, I do not merely make copies for and carry the bags of the real professor. I also hoped to shed some light on the mysterious things that I do on campus during the summer months when I am quite busy even though there are very few students on campus and I am not teaching any classes. (Some people call it research.) And while I do hope to get to some of these things, the first few posts have perhaps veered from this ideal. But it's still early. The blog will surely evolve. I don't see any reason to feel constrained by a title that is merely a reflection of a single previous thought. A title can evolve, just as a thought can evolve. I am free to go in any direction I'd like. This is reflective of the same freedom I experience everyday as a scholar—the freedom to create my own work and pursue my own intellectual curiosity. It's a wonderful life.
Showing posts with label miscellaneous musings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label miscellaneous musings. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
The American Tradition of Discourse
Though written by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1834, it just as easily could have been written in 2009:
"Scarcely have you descended on the soil of America when you find yourself in the midst of a sort of tumult; a confused clamor is raised on all sides; a thousand voices come to your ear at the same time, each of them expressing some social needs. Around you everything moves: here, the people of one neighborhood have gathered to learn if a church ought to be built; there, they are working on the choice of a representative; farther on, the deputies of a district are going to town in all haste in order to decide about some local improvements; in another place, the farmers of a village abandon their furrows to go discuss the plan of a road or a school."
"Citizens assemble with the sole goal of declaring that they disapprove of the course of government. To meddle in the government of society and to speak about it is the greatest business..."
And so it is today in town hall meetings all across the nation: the prospect of health care reform in the United States has engendered much discussion; some of it fruitful and some simply mean-spirited, some of it motivated by conviction and some motivated by political maneuverings. Yet despite all of its shortcomings, it is the very fact that we can have such open discourse that makes our nation great. So what one man saw and perceived as "meddling" is, in fact, a bedrock of American greatness—the opportunity to participate in self-governance; it is the opportunity to let one's voice shape one's destiny.
I'll try to bring some research relevance to this topic in the next installment.
"Scarcely have you descended on the soil of America when you find yourself in the midst of a sort of tumult; a confused clamor is raised on all sides; a thousand voices come to your ear at the same time, each of them expressing some social needs. Around you everything moves: here, the people of one neighborhood have gathered to learn if a church ought to be built; there, they are working on the choice of a representative; farther on, the deputies of a district are going to town in all haste in order to decide about some local improvements; in another place, the farmers of a village abandon their furrows to go discuss the plan of a road or a school."
"Citizens assemble with the sole goal of declaring that they disapprove of the course of government. To meddle in the government of society and to speak about it is the greatest business..."
And so it is today in town hall meetings all across the nation: the prospect of health care reform in the United States has engendered much discussion; some of it fruitful and some simply mean-spirited, some of it motivated by conviction and some motivated by political maneuverings. Yet despite all of its shortcomings, it is the very fact that we can have such open discourse that makes our nation great. So what one man saw and perceived as "meddling" is, in fact, a bedrock of American greatness—the opportunity to participate in self-governance; it is the opportunity to let one's voice shape one's destiny.
I'll try to bring some research relevance to this topic in the next installment.
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