Re: Reference to JDS by Paul Thomas Anderson


Subject: Re: Reference to JDS by Paul Thomas Anderson
From: Jim Rovira (jrovira@drew.edu)
Date: Thu May 09 2002 - 11:55:58 EDT


Don't really know how to further respond to you. You asked me to check my
own department in reply to a post in which I described my own department
:). I suppose you meant to ask me to check my own department about the
makeup of *other schools*? Drew isn't the only school I've looked at. And
it's pretty funny to me that will, in an earlier post, said the Dean of his
dept. was a female Woolf scholar.

I think it's a mistake to too carefully distinguish between HS teachers and
college level academics -- who trains the HS teachers? :).

I'm Puerto Rican, and I was told upon exiting the institution in which I
received my BA to make the most of it. I was told that one institution in
So. Cal. hired a guy fresh out of grad school to be a DEAN of all things --
simply because the institution was located in a densely hispanic area and
he was a competent hispanic scholar.

PC obsession, we both recognize, is widely disseminated. To think it
doesn't affect the makeup of faculty and admininistration is a bit silly...

Jim

Cecilia Baader wrote:
>
> --- Jim Rovira <jrovira@drew.edu> wrote:
> >
> > The context was that a talk show host asked me why Salinger wasn't so
> > important to academia. She asked me that because I was a token
> > representative of academia on the show. Being a token representative of
> > academia on the show, I didn't get a whole lot of airtime ;). I think I
> > was asked two questions, and that was one of them.
>
> My opinion still stands. By asking why Salinger is unimportant to
> academia, the conclusion that must immediately follow is that his work is
> less important than, say, Updike and all his Rabbit Goes to the Bank
> books.
>
> > But going beyond that, which authors academia considers important IS
> > important. I agree it's not ALL important, but it has its importance
> > and its place. What teachers teach as "literature" becomes a standard
> > in society whether we like to admit it or not. And we pretty much ALL
> > go through this system, at least through HS, so this omnipresent POV
> > does indeed have its effects.
>
> What *teachers* teach, Jim, not academics. My argument rests on the
> difference, especially since Salinger is taught in most high schools.
>
> > I would like to add that the American Unviversity English Department
> > that's "headed exclusively by white males" is a thing of the past.
>
> I think you should check my original post, since I've been misquoted. And
> this is the sort of argument that always arises when men speak of
> equality. "I know one woman who has a high position," they say, and they
> neglect to look at things like the number of full professors who are women
> is a much smaller percentage than there are women working in universities.
> Go ahead. Poll your own English Department and then come back to me and
> tell me if I'm wrong.
>
> > If it was PC obsessed it wouldn't be headed by white males.
>
> Sorry. Doesn't wash. The most PC obsessed people I've known have been
> white males.
>
> > And when it is, the white males feel terribly guilty about it :).
>
> Ha. They only feel guilty when they're caught.
>
> > I'd tend to disagree that the most interesting discussion I've had about
> > books has ever been on any listserve, but honestly, the word
> > "interesting" tells me nothing -- except about the personal preferences
> > of the person using it, which is usually meaningless to me, being
> > different from my personal preferences :). What's interesting to me is
> > what I'm concerned about :).
>
> I'm sorry, but my own personal preference is that I cannot take seriously
> any argument that ends in a smiley.
>
> However, if I were to take it seriously, I'd say that I began and ended my
> post with the notification that it was a rant, i.e., my own opinion,
> clearly labeled as such.
>
> I'm just saying.
>
> Gosh, you'd think by reading this that I'm a raging feminist, but really
> I'm not. I'm just female. Stick around in this body for long enough and
> you almost can't help yourself.
>
> I really should be doing work right now.
>
> Regards,
> Cecilia.
>
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