Breaking Radio Silence
After more than three months of not updating this blog, I am not certain who my readership is. I have some people in mind who I hope will read this and I imagine a few readers who get here by following the randomised “next blog” button, as well as people who google things like “radio silence” and find themselves reading something that might penetrate the sternest of foil hats even if it is not technically about radio.
For those I hope find their way here, first an apology. I don’t mean to keep anyone in the dark and I don’t mean to make excuses – for today’s entry, inconsistent intentions. So, second, the explanation.
About seven weeks ago, I moved to a lovely village in the Northeast of England to take up a position as a lecturer in a good university. It was a transatlantic move. Moving always takes more time and energy than one plans for (yeah, excuses) and I have found myself pulled in too many different directions to manage to get important things done. The job itself is great – I’m having a ball but I’m working all the time. The real “culture shock” is that you expect to work hard at a new job – I’m teaching two courses that are new to me (though I am familiar with the material), I have examined one PhD thesis and have taken on a quasi-supervising role in another, I’m going to all the “induction” meetings for new staff (are we induced yet?), and I’m working on a research paper that is due to be delivered at a conference at the end of March. But for someone who has been working at a job for a while, there are demands that are just routine and that don’t necessarily get mentioned to someone who is new. So, for example, I’ve also had an unexpected parade of undergrads through my office looking for a supervisor for research projects and I’ve had some grading to do as a “second reader” for material taught last semester. All this in the first thee weeks of the term! Since I arrived, I have had to take care of all the ordinary things like opening a bank account, finding a place to live, getting a phone, gas, electricity, water and sewer, and internet access, as well as beginning a demanding new job. I won’t mention my personal life! There are a lot of fires that want putting out, and a few more that want stoking.
But I really don’t want to complain about my work. The thing is, many people outside of academia perceive us to be arrogant do-nothings: what do we have to do besides show up and transmit our absurd ideas to a captive audience once a week? Well, admittedly, there are a few arrogant do-nothings in this profession, but there are also a lot of really hard-working and self-sacrificing people. It’s all too rare that the latter folks get the recognition they deserve. Anyone in this profession (just as in most professions) can name colleagues whose work is copious but pedestrian and who succeed for those very reasons; and others with amazing minds and formidable talents who nonetheless find themselves feeling precarious. It’s not right when success depends so much on lucky breaks.
I really like coming across blog entries that point to other good entries. Last week, thanks to Holly, I read a lovely blog entry at woman in comfy shoes about ordinary lives. It got me thinking again about my interest in everyday life. I will be trying to reflect on daily life here in the future, as a way to process my experience.
For those I hope find their way here, first an apology. I don’t mean to keep anyone in the dark and I don’t mean to make excuses – for today’s entry, inconsistent intentions. So, second, the explanation.
About seven weeks ago, I moved to a lovely village in the Northeast of England to take up a position as a lecturer in a good university. It was a transatlantic move. Moving always takes more time and energy than one plans for (yeah, excuses) and I have found myself pulled in too many different directions to manage to get important things done. The job itself is great – I’m having a ball but I’m working all the time. The real “culture shock” is that you expect to work hard at a new job – I’m teaching two courses that are new to me (though I am familiar with the material), I have examined one PhD thesis and have taken on a quasi-supervising role in another, I’m going to all the “induction” meetings for new staff (are we induced yet?), and I’m working on a research paper that is due to be delivered at a conference at the end of March. But for someone who has been working at a job for a while, there are demands that are just routine and that don’t necessarily get mentioned to someone who is new. So, for example, I’ve also had an unexpected parade of undergrads through my office looking for a supervisor for research projects and I’ve had some grading to do as a “second reader” for material taught last semester. All this in the first thee weeks of the term! Since I arrived, I have had to take care of all the ordinary things like opening a bank account, finding a place to live, getting a phone, gas, electricity, water and sewer, and internet access, as well as beginning a demanding new job. I won’t mention my personal life! There are a lot of fires that want putting out, and a few more that want stoking.
But I really don’t want to complain about my work. The thing is, many people outside of academia perceive us to be arrogant do-nothings: what do we have to do besides show up and transmit our absurd ideas to a captive audience once a week? Well, admittedly, there are a few arrogant do-nothings in this profession, but there are also a lot of really hard-working and self-sacrificing people. It’s all too rare that the latter folks get the recognition they deserve. Anyone in this profession (just as in most professions) can name colleagues whose work is copious but pedestrian and who succeed for those very reasons; and others with amazing minds and formidable talents who nonetheless find themselves feeling precarious. It’s not right when success depends so much on lucky breaks.
I really like coming across blog entries that point to other good entries. Last week, thanks to Holly, I read a lovely blog entry at woman in comfy shoes about ordinary lives. It got me thinking again about my interest in everyday life. I will be trying to reflect on daily life here in the future, as a way to process my experience.
posted by spike at 6:12 am
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