A question has been rattling in my head for several hours: is Molly actually this clueless about how this part of the academy operates? The comic is funny, but it doesn't seem to align with her self-actualized character manifest in other situations. Perhaps the selection bias of the re-runs have made this more obvious.
I propose an alternative punchline, not that it's better: "Wow, I must have gone to the wrong T&P meeting. That was the 'Torment and Persecution' committee."
She does seem pretty naive in this area, doesn't she? Sadly, with poor graduate mentoring (I'll resist adding "is there any other kind?", since I know at least a few exceptions who prove the rule), I think it's possible. She's quite confident in her interactions with her students, which could be the product of significant teaching as a grad student; I'm not sure that, even in the whole series, we see much to suggest she's equally confident/mature in her ability to navigate departmental/university politics.
You've touched on an important point. I think it's more than just graduate mentoring that broke down. Her department head -- whose endorsement she'd almost surely need to go up for promotion -- should have prepped her. Ditto her faculty recommenders.
A question has been rattling in my head for several hours: is Molly actually this clueless about how this part of the academy operates? The comic is funny, but it doesn't seem to align with her self-actualized character manifest in other situations. Perhaps the selection bias of the re-runs have made this more obvious.
ReplyDeleteI propose an alternative punchline, not that it's better: "Wow, I must have gone to the wrong T&P meeting. That was the 'Torment and Persecution' committee."
Dang subject-verb agreement. *has made
DeleteShe does seem pretty naive in this area, doesn't she? Sadly, with poor graduate mentoring (I'll resist adding "is there any other kind?", since I know at least a few exceptions who prove the rule), I think it's possible. She's quite confident in her interactions with her students, which could be the product of significant teaching as a grad student; I'm not sure that, even in the whole series, we see much to suggest she's equally confident/mature in her ability to navigate departmental/university politics.
DeleteYou've touched on an important point. I think it's more than just graduate mentoring that broke down. Her department head -- whose endorsement she'd almost surely need to go up for promotion -- should have prepped her. Ditto her faculty recommenders.
DeleteI just chuckled and turned to Beetle Bailey.
ReplyDelete- Cal