WELCOME TO THE ACADEMIC PUB! Where everybody cites your name (but still has to look at your conference badge) BURGERS AND OTHER MAINS The Adjunct: The leftover half of someone else’s over-cooked burger. Special sauce made from tears of rage and frustration and topped with shredded rejection letters. Server will promise . . .
Read MoreI didn’t know how much I hated the term “independent scholar” until people began to use it to describe me. I left academia four years ago to try to make it as a full-time writer; when anyone asks me what I do, I say, “I am a writer.” Academics, however, still seem . . .
Read MoreWell, hello there. I’m Mr. Wolf. I solve academic problems. Sometimes colleagues, advisers, administrators, or students send you egregious emails or behave in an outrageous manner — yet, you don’t want to ruffle feathers. Mr. Wolf is here to help. I’ll say what you want to say but can’t. I’m not here . . .
Read MoreOver the past few weeks I’ve been party to several conversations about blogging, its role in the field of history, and in academia in general. What is the point? some people ask. Why would anyone do this? Blogging invites trolls; it doesn’t help anyone get tenure; it’s a ton of work. Yes, . . .
Read MoreThis past weekend’s football frenzy—the NFL playoffs (huzzah for the Patriots!) and the college football championship game (congratulations to THE Ohio State University)—got me thinking about how much Americans love this sport, and how extensive the cultural and media infrastructure is that aids and abets this love. And then I started thinking: . . .
Read MoreIt is a truth universally acknowledged that historians are not particularly fashion-forward. The sartorial stereotypes persist: the tweed jacket with elbow patches for men, the flowy linen ensembles for women. Glasses. Sensible shoes. A fine layer of chalk dust covering all. While I haven’t seen many elbow patches lately, it is true . . .
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