I’ve been doing some thinking about what it means to teach at a community college compared to university teaching, which is hard to do without any experience there yet. I can make some predictions since I know the populations/demographics. This gem made me reflect: Feminist Pedagogy in Community Colleges Because of the pressures and external commitments of students at the two-year college, unless these same students are able to apprehend the course material and see its relevance early in the semester, they may become discouraged and either withdraw from the course or from school altogether. This makes me think I need to get on theRead More →

I have accepted a position at a community college starting in the Spring. It is a step down from a Research I and a step up from unemployment. As you can see, I still suffer the Research I snobbery without the stamina to survive it. Still, I can’t help that I’m so jaded about doing research. It’s just not in me. So much of it is dreck. I’m such a hypocrite. There’s a lesson here for me to learn, I am sure. I also hope that there will be opportunity for professional development at this new job. In any case, I’m looking forward to aRead More →

This article reports about a survey that reveals the biggest time wasters at work. The list is unimportant, but the survey itself suggests that our Protestant work ethic is kicking into hyperdrive. The article recalls something Susan Willis once wrote (at least I think it was Susan Willis) about how academics think of themselves as having it easy because we don’t have to work the way most people do, when actually what we should do is question the Protestant work ethic roots of the U.S. that unfairly demands so much from all workers. Right now it’s spring break and I should be in the UKRead More →

I have half the football team in my class. They greet each other with Sugarbowl-infused respect knuckles. Ten percent of the population is football players, twenty percent is black (which I believe is higher than the college population), and forty percent is male. It’s a difficult demographic for teaching a course topic in a state that denigrates black folk, valorizes football players, and barely acknowledges that women’s destiny can be something other than marriage. As Arsenio said some ten years ago, “hmmmmmm.” Well, this brings up a whole thicket of issues that I don’t know how to address: I wonder how many of them willRead More →