I'm baffled about the goal of this site.
Not for my sake; I know why I come here.
Q: But why do you? And I direct it to all sorts of readers, those who are correspondents, the busy commenters, those who are newbies, lurkers, the "others," who apparently email mods but don't write in. What do you get from this community? What value does CM have for you? And as Bubba always seems to demand, be specific!
I think the blurb, "What is CM?" at top right says it pretty well. CM gives me the opportunity to VENT, as an alternative to choking to death some idiot who richly deserves it.
ReplyDeleteSomething particularly bad for me when I was a new faculty member was the feeling that the lunatics had taken over the asylum. CM reassures me that it isn't just me. Higher ed really has in recent decades become appallingly corrupt, and in so many ways.
I come here to revel in the often-pained community. I share both the frustrations and the [occasional] joys. I always hope for words from the likes of Yaro, but take commiseration in even the most jaded voices. Until I don't; then I back away for a few days, but I always come back, because, as Frod says above, it isn't just me, and that is worth knowing.
ReplyDeleteVenting, snark and smackdown are high on the list. The chance to call bullshit on the bullshit is important to me, though I recognize that it generates some of our more vigorous dustups.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the conversation with a cast of characters that I've come to know and recognize. I miss some of those who've left.
One of the things I like/hope to talk about from time to time is how uni's/colleges have so many ridiculous perverse incentives and conflicting demands. Like upholding standards while focusing on student retention. Like paying research profs the big bux not to teach and paying adjuncts peanuts.
And a good larf. Nobody does April Fools like College Misery.
I am reassured that there are others far worse off than I am.
ReplyDeleteWhat BB said. CM is my version of the old calming exercise -- you know the one:
ReplyDeleteImagine yourself sitting next to a tranquil mountain stream. The sun is bright, the birds are singing, and the water is so clear that you can see the face of the person whose head you are holding under the water...
Ditto to what everyone said: venting, smackdown as wishful thinking, etc.
ReplyDeleteThis site helps keep me sane. More than once I've read people's descriptions of their troubles with students, admin, etc, and recognized exactly what I've been going through. It's very reassuring to know it's not just me. I'm sick of beating myself up as though these things are my fault.
Many thanks to all the contributors, mods, and regular commenters.
Reading CM reassures me that I'm not alone in madness that is higher ed, that others have similar experiences. I also come here for advice and to gain insight into alternative ways of thinking about/approaching problems. This is the only blog where I read the comments because they are often just as great as the posts.
ReplyDeleteSame as everyone else above. It's helpful to hear how other profs articulate and deal with the issues I'm facing, too.
ReplyDeleteI never understood all the handwringing over "what CM is supposed to be" and how the comments section is a Hobbesian dystopia where people are horribly mean to each other, and "RYS was better", and on and on. Sheesh. You don't get to demand that a public, collective effort turn out to be exactly what you envision that it should be at every moment and in every way. Scroll bar, y'all.
1. Same as all of the above.
ReplyDelete2. Students at the most prestigious and selective R-1s don't behave any differently than the working-class/working-poor students at my cc.
3. But the students at my cc almost never blame their teachers.
I need some of those!
DeleteAs I have said before, I use CM as an aggregator on all things higher ed. I don't always have time to read the higher ed journals, but CM keeps me in the loop. I also love the co-misery. I have often said to myself, "That could be me!" I love having this forum to share our career highlights and low lights.
ReplyDeleteI like to check to see if I am acting like a snowflake
ReplyDeleteCM is the canary in the coal mine -- if it's not happening to me yet, it will.
ReplyDeleteCm lets me publish (not perish). See there? I just did it again.
ReplyDeleteCM gives me hope, in a warped way, that there is still intelligent life in the academy and it's still worth it to keep up the good fight.
ReplyDeleteMy beloved wife teaches college classes. This gives me a better understanding of what she has to deal with.
ReplyDeleteIt's a comfort to know that what I see at Across the Seas U is common to college students everywhere. It keeps me from indulging in delusions that the grass would be greener if only I had a job on the other side of the Atlantic. Now I'm sure that it wouldn't.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I've come to a deeper appreciation of the good side(s) of teaching here thanks to the misery shared by those teaching back on the mother continent. Keep up the good fight, everyone!
Pretty much what everyone else said: a safe(r) place to vent, a chance to see what the bigger picture looks like, a chance to interact with people at different kinds of institutions and at different ranks/in different tenure statuses, and see what the whole enterprise/mess looks like from their point of view. Pace what's-his-name in the comment thread a few posts up (who seems to be annoyed not to find his own privileged echo-chamber reproduced here), I think we have a pretty good cross-representation of academics here, and, because people are able to be more honest about how their positions affect their lives (professional and otherwise) than they would be if they were speaking directly to those at their institutions, we all get to see things from the perspectives of those in other positions. That's a major plus, I think.
ReplyDeleteThat, and the humor. And the colorful swearing.
When this site was RYS and I was still a textbook editor, I came here to see what people weren't telling me on my campus visits. Now that I no longer work in academic publishing (YAY), I'm still here. Perhaps it's my way of comforting myself after not getting into grad school all those years ago; I can tell (i.e., lie to) myself with, "See, if you *had* become a professor, you'd be miserable!"
ReplyDelete