There were several interesting discussions floating around the academic blogs last week. Just thought I would pass on a couple of links to those who travel in different circles:
1. Blogs are a one-way ticket to unemployment. See Tribble, Drezner, and Bitch PhD.
I just wrote and rewrote several responses to Tribble. All back spaced. As much as I despise the author’s pomposity and underlying suspicion of creative, intellectual energy, I am going on the market next year and I have to hold back. This is why the Invisible Adjunct never revealed her name.
What is striking about this discussion and the ongoing discussion about conservatives in academia, is the common feeling that thought is restricted. That academia is a place where only certain accepted doctrines are permissable, only writing that has been approved of by a committee can be published, and that personal life, be it religion or family matters, must be kept far below the surface. The purpose of tenure was to protect the unique thinker, but instead it is used as a means to protect the status quo.
Have I said too much?
2. Loved this discussion about marginal notes. See Ancarett for all the relevant links.
Apt. 11d 
That article depressed me to no end. A friend sent me this to cheer me up a little, but it only does so much.
What’s the news on IA, by the way? Anything come of her secret plan?
LikeLike
I don’t really think you’re badly outside of the – I live in Arlington Virginia and one of the people who was raised here told me about the ‘zone of consensus’, and that was the physical area where black people could live. Mostly old freedman’s villages. I think there’s a ‘zone of consensus’ for thought space in the academy, and I don’t really think you are outside it. You look to me to be in the middle to left of the Democratic Party. So I don’t think you have too much to fear.
There are stories in the Volokh area about someone being not-considered for a law school professorship because s/he had clerked for Thomas, and suggestions that identifiable Mormons may have a tough time.
The conservative blogger at http://neuro-conservative.blogspot.com/ has discussed his fear that he would not get a job if his politics were known, and is blogging anonymously for that reason.
So, I think it’s a problem for people whose views are outside the academic mainstream, but I don’t think you are.
LikeLike
Agreed, Dave. Most of my political opinions aren’t outside of the academic mainstream. And I’ve been smart about avoiding one or two topics on the blog.
However, and a big however, I have talked extensively about my kids and how much work I put into raising them. I talk about how I think the workplace must bend to the needs of the family. I have discussed how I made a career sacrifice to benefit my kids. None of those posts are going make me a hot commodity in a tight job market.
Thanks for the Althouse link, Russell. I can’t think of how anything you have written would hurt you in the future. No news on the IA and I’m curious, too. I’ll have to find out.
LikeLike
Seems like the best way to go is incognito. Most of those old guys aren’t up for Blogs. Part of it is a Technology thing. They can’t do it, and they don’t see the use in it. They fear the unknown. Laura is right about talking about family and kids; this has been standard in the academy for decades. Women are supposed to be spinsters with cropped hair and clipped fingernails. The silverbacks, and especially the older women, don’t like fertility displays. Keep it under cover.
LikeLike