Title: Re: paleonet Evolution & Health Sciences
Assistant Profess
possibly you can do the community and me
a favor and summarize the
main line(s) of the above-mentioned thoughts, particularly with
respect to academia.
From the context "University of Euphoria" appears to be not
the best
thinkable name. On the other hand a German saying (now adopted
from a large company) says: "Future is made out of / from
ideas".
Peter et al.
Changing Places is largely a send-up of the differences
between British and American universities as they existed in the late
60s and into the 70s. Rummidge is a back-water staffed by
lecturers with no publications and no Ph.D.s. Euphoria is a
hothouse filled with professors who are constantly publishing and
paying little attention to teaching. The student revolution is
in full swing at Euphoria in 1969 and its first rumblings are felt
that year at Rummidge. (Note: those who visited Berkeley before,
say, 20 years ago, will find 'Euphoria' to be an apt, if not euphonic,
pseudonym)
Small World is an examination of the international
community of professors who spend all of their time jetting from
conference to conference. The focal point of the book becomes
the quest for the ideal professorship, which is a no-rules,
sky's-the-limit budgeted, no teaching chaired endowed by ... UNESCO
(!). A parallel plot involves a young Irish lecturer pursuing
romance. The novel is chock full of references to Arthurian
legend and the Grail quest.
Nice Work details the relationship between a feminist
post-structuralist professor at Rummidge and a local industrialist.
The gap between idealism and pragmatism appears to be unbridgeable at
first, but elements of pragmatism and idealism soon appear in both
camps. Academia and the world of business do not, in the end,
seem to be that far apart.
Thanks to Andy Rindsberg for his list.
Bill
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William P. Chaisson
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627