Rick Steves Eats Barnacles in Santiago

A little light-hearted fare.

A serious question

I apologize for the political question in this forum, but something's been bugging me.

I don't have a hard and fast position on health care reform. I know doctors who are adamantly against it. I have a physical therapist brother who counters that the government (i.e. Medicare) is the only payer he can rely on to pay up without jerking him around. I have a friend in finance, who specializes in health care, who points out that those of us with HMOs have already given up a fair amount of choice, so the fear that a government-run single-payer system would destroy choice is sort of a moot point; most of us don't have any choice to begin with.

With me it comes down to what such a bill would do to my bottom line, and herein lies my dilemma: If all Americans are required by law to buy health insurance, wouldn't that destroy any incentive for employers to provide insurance for their employees? My employer gives us a choice between PPOs and HMOs. I opted to be covered by Kaiser because it's the most cost effective for me and my family; my personal contribution is minimal. If 'health reform' goes through, would that force me to buy my own insurance? If that is the case, my minimal contribution becomes maximal and the bill meant to help me ends up hurting me.

Does anyone out there have a sense of how all this is supposed to work, or is everyone as in the dark as I am?

Not sure how I feel about this

Governor vetoes bill to limit executive pay at UC and CSU.

CSU Privatized?

Editorial in the Sac Bee from a USC professor of higher ed. Is this a possible future?

Thanks for the offer

I do appreciate the "Goodfellas" offer. For better or for worse the file is in.

Truisms from Hita

Just re-read this for my Spanish Lit Survey, and it struck me as excellent relief from such serious concerns. The old Arcipreste surely dealt with equally noxious situations, though perhaps not exactly the same as tenure, furloughs, layoffs, publishing, and departmental politics.

Aristóteles dijo, y es cosa verdadera,
que el hombre por dos cosas trabaja: la primera,
por el sustentamiento, y la segunda era
por conseguir unión con hembra placentera.

Real Tenure?

Here is something I may have posted before but probably good to read again in light of recent discussions on tenure and job security. For the record, my institution is actually seeing record enrollments and we have a new president who seems to understand what the college needs and is willing to go after it. The college is also now ranked with top-tier liberal arts schools (for whatever that is worth) so I temper my recent criticisms with some good news. Nevertheless, I refuse to get comfortable in this age of budget cuts. I reread this article today: http://chronicle.com/article/Real-Tenure-Is-Portable/44851

Perils of going up for tenure

A "colleague" sandbagged me in his letter. Not unexpected in this case, but still annoying. I wouldn't mind so much, but this guy has a habit of calling me unprofessional while trashing me to students. I of course cannot respond in kind because that would be --- wait for it -- unprofessional, not to mention childish. How does one appropriately respond to insane, petty childishness in others without appearing to be insane, petty and childish himself?

Furloughs again

At least you all in the CSU are not working for less pay. You actually are getting mandatory days off so they don't have to pay you. Correct?

More for less?

This year and probably in coming years I am making less money than in previous years. When employees make less money morale tends to drop and consequently their productivity drops too. The one question I am asking myself this year is: Am I working more or as much as last year? A positive answer should give pause. Should I really work more or harder or the same if I'm earning less money? Maybe I should make different priorities? Maybe I should spend more time with my family, work on the house (which is the one asset that still has value at least for me) focus more rigorously on research and less on, heaven forbid, dare I say it--OK, I'll say it hushed tones--teaching or advising. Certainly I can take less time on committee work. But then again maybe this is the message in this economy and in the wake of the financial meltdown. To be fair, employers are struggling to balance their budgets too. It just seems that the "little guy" or "main street" has to bear the irresponsibility of a financial system that overleveraged itself, to put in mildly, and then gets bailed out because we can't function without them. To repeat Slavoj Zizek's recent query: What kind of society permits such blackmail?

For Zizek see Harper's Magazine, October 2009, "To Each According to His Greed" in the Readings section. It's online.

Golden Age?

My Hispanic Civ/Culture class just finished studying and discussing the Spanish Middle Ages. We are now into the so-called Spanish Golden Age. Maybe it's just me, but can anyone defend this label given the increased and ultimately absolute intolerance, fanaticism, more religious war, and economic mismanagement seen between 1500 and 1700? I understand the term may be more applicable to literature and fine arts, but I hardly see the relevance to political and social life. Is this still a valid term in critical circles? Is the term now Early Modern? The Middle Ages seem more golden than what immediately succeeded this period.

Furloughs etc.

Interesting situation out West. Here the college has suspended retiremement contributions resulting in a 5% pay cut. Other colleges and corporations have taken identical measures to balance budgets. I took a quick glance at the MLA job list last night. At the moment there are about 75 postings in Spanish. If memory serves, there were at least twice that many last year at this time. More listings will trickle in, but I'll be surprised if there are more than half as many as there has been in recent years. The list usually reaches a couple hundred postings.

Furloughs

For those of you not happily employed by the State of California, the word "furlough" may bring up images of soldiers on leave. In my case, it's professors on leave. We have two furlough days this month: the Friday before and the Tuesday after Labor Day. For me that works out to one instructional day and one non-instructional day.

In addition to four fixed furlough days throughout the semester, we're expected to choose another five, for a total of nine. There is something of a furor among the professoriat about whether we should be taking furloughs on instructional days (to make some sort of political point) or non-instructional days (so as not to harm students any further than they are already being harmed).

When I said I'm taking all of my non-fixed furlough days on non-instructional days, I was told "that's just what they want you to do." They (presumably, the nefarious powers that be) apparently are counting on the good will of professors who are unwilling to completely eviscerate their classes. On the other hand, by taking furloughs on non-instructional days, I'm not really taking days off, since I use those days for prepping.

At the UC, meanwhile, professors have been told that all of their furlough days will have to be non-instructional.

For those of my colleagues in the CSU system, what's your plan?

A Piece of the American Dream

A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to visit Mike and the family at their new home in Brentwood (not the Brentwood in West L.A., but the one in Northern California). Here are some pictures of the man of the family at their new abode.

Teaching philosophy revisited

Gentlemen:

I’m updating my Working Personnel Action File (WPAF), and I find myself revisiting my Statement of Teaching Philosophy. If you’ll pardon the random musing, I thought I’d throw a few things out there. I know I’ve broached this issue before, but I am interested in feedback.

I think we all recognize a certain amount of tension surrounding various related questions: What is the proper mission of a university? What role should a liberal education play in that mission? How do the Humanities fit into this mission? And, finally, what role does language education play?

I used to bemoan the “trade school” mentality of the modern university, believing instead that the value of a university education lies not in the marketable skills learned, but in other, less quantifiable areas. I really do believe that, more than marketable skills, a university ought to help students acquire habits of mind that will enable them to be better, more reflective, citizens.

Nevertheless, there are problems with that idealized view. Regardless of the ideal, the reality is that many, if not most, students think of a university education as a commodity. They are buying a product that promises them a) career preparation, b) a piece of paper that certifies that they have acquired career preparation and c) the enhanced stature that having that piece of paper (sometimes) brings with it. Our society has fetishized college to the point that many, many people who have no need for, nor business being in, college, find themselves paying for a product (the piece of paper) that gives them a certain amount of distinction or social capital, but that in the end has little value in terms of career preparation. Meanwhile, there are so many consumers of this product, that the weight once associated with it is diminishing.

So what does this mean in terms of a Teaching Philosophy? It is very hard to sell the Humanities as career preparation, but there still is a need for areas of study that will produce well-rounded citizens. I think my philosophy needs to recognize that students seek marketable skills, but that they may not recognize the marketability of the sorts of skills that the humanities provides. Language skills have particular “real world” applicability, but literature is less quantifiable. I used to say that the study of literature is not its own reward, but it might be more useful, from a marketing standpoint, to say that it provides students with critical thinking and analytical skills that are applicable beyond the realm of literature.

I recognize that these are not new ideas, but every time our department is asked to come up with a mission statement, or do an internal review of our programs, the reaction is whining and moaning. The attitude of many people is that the benefits of our programs are self-evident, so we shouldn’t have to go through the effort of “selling” them. I wonder, though, is that attitude is about to be overtaken by reality.

Accessorize your Utilikilt

Want to buy a Utilikilt, but afraid that your legs will get too cold (or perhaps are unfashionably mannish)? Try mantyhose. Surely there's a conference session here somewhere. How about "Control top and Subversive (E)masculinities: Applying Contemporary Scrotal Theory."

End of July

Will any of you be in the Southern California area end of July first part of August? Any plans of a writer's camp this year.

Moving on up

Here's our new pad, assuming the deal doesn't go south:


The picture makes it look much bigger than it actually is.

Cincinnati

Another high level meeting was held at an undisclosed location in Cincinnati. We hope to see more of you there next year.

Things you find on Google

You know you've made it when you're cited on Wikipedia. Well, not cited exactly, but my diss is among the many entries listed on the bibliography for the Conde Lucanor. In English, Spanish and Portuguese, no less.

Fun With Hapsburgs

I just saw this online. It has a lovely graphic outlining just why Carlos II was called El Hechizado.

Utah safari

I have recently been backing up files just in case some hacker with a nefarious purpose sees fit to reach down from the ether and destroy my hard drive. I'm imagining that this hacker, of undisclosed age, religion, and gender, spends his or her days in the bowels of an office building (perhaps belonging to the Partido Popular) occasionally emerging, blinking, into the Madrid sun for a bocadillo.

In any case, I found this photo in my archives. Taken in very early 2006, when a certain medievalist visited me, it proves once again that Spanish professors do have lives.

New Cid Translation

Just found this link on Arts and Letters daily. I know I'm the only medievalist among us, but thought it might be of interest, nevertheless.

Mission Statement

I'm thinking of drawing up a mission statement for our program. I hate the term, but I've increasingly felt like even with the new blood in our program we're wandering far afield from what we should be doing. Some of our faculty have not yet come to grips with the idea that we are not a research 1 institution, and we do not necessarily need or want to remake ourselves in that image. We do want to raise our program's profile, and we do want to raise and maintain high expectations for our students. At the same time, our efforts so far to remake our program have yielded more upper division topics courses at the expense of language courses. As a lit person, that seems fine. Except, I was really swayed by the article that was posted recently about the future of Spanish programs. I think it's true that most students (at least my students) are in it for the language, and would benefit from language instruction that is better integrated into the program. I think that's an area where faculty where some of our newer faculty (especially native speakers, believe it or not) do not perceive the need. We're very much into the idea of remaking the program into something that WE want, but haven't thought so much about what students want, expect, or need.

Any thoughts? What would you include in a mission statement?

Periodicals Directory

Have any of you used or heard of Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory? I was browsing it last night and it seems very useful for finding peer-reviewed journals. Our library has a subscription.

Scholarly Summit Held in Pasadena

Peninsularistas readers should know that there was a high-level meeting of rising young academic stars at Lucky Baldwin's pub in Old Town Pasadena last weekend. Important topics were discussed and crucial issues were resolved. The proceedings will be available soon.

Revising

I'm in the revising stage of a paper that's already been accepted for publication, and I just ... can't ... bring myself to want to settle in a do it. This sound familiar to anyone else?

Favorite trozo?

Anyone have a favorites snippet of Spanish verse? This is by no means my favorite, but for me one of the more evocative phrases comes from Polifemo: "pisando la dudosa luz del día." Don't ask me why.

More fun in Spain

Found this link on Drudge.

Spanish for Professions, et al.

Given the thread on the last post, I thought I would bring up the following. I had a conversation with a colleague who teaches at a couple of community colleges. She said that the structure seems very flexible: when there is more demand for classes, they simply hire more people and open more sections. That way they take advantage of all the people who want to go back to school during an economic downturn. Of course this assumes a pool of part-time lecturers. I know the way my university system functions that would not be possible. Is such flexibility desireable? Are there downsides?

Hispanic Studies Becoming Obsolete?

Since we seem to have a general theme going, I thought I'd ask if any of you saw this in the Chronicle? You have to be a subscriber to read it, but I've linked a listserv that has the full article.

Social Change again

I would argue that the swing to a "social change" agenda, whatever that might be, is not merely a result of '60's radicalism and Foucault, but is essentially a response to the changing role of education in the United States. Bear with me for a moment...: if the old Ivy League model of liberal education (which I only cite to identify an American version of Humanism) essentially prepared upper-class kids to be upper-class leaders in a classed society (all big assumptions, but accurate, I think, if overly-simplified), it necessarily had to fall apart when middle-class and working-class kids flooded the universities. In this sense, the "social change" model is simply a response of good teachers to higher education's imperative to prepare the next generation of leaders. Has college really become the new high school, as I've heard at least one Harvard-educated PhD argue with a disdainful "the barbarians are at the gate" tone? I don't know, but I think the article Dave posted below hits the mark when it talks about the demand for a 'practical,' usable kind of morality. What Hitler has in common with Mao and Gandhi is that all present stuff (texts?) to be studied, as do Teresa de Ávila, Francisco Franco and Juan Goytisolo. The Humanist's job is to critique, not just read, these texts, be they ancient or contemporary. I think moral critique is essentially what we do. It was definitely what Erasmus and company were doing.

Literature as Social Change

Who decided that teaching the classics is thought to be conservative and that teaching "moral values" is liberal? Can we teach the canon and still "promote social change?" Is this literature's "mission?" I'm horrified by this notion, but agree in principle with the new pragmatism spelled out in the MLA white paper and other places, particularly the hope that critical reasoning, close reading, and attention to language can transfer to criticism and analysis of other things.

Read on:
From the Chronicle of Higher Ed

Social Change Tops Classic Books in Professors' Teaching Priorities


[ mailto:robin.wilson@chronicle.com ]By ROBIN WILSON

A new national survey of faculty members shows that the proportion of professors who believe it is very important to teach undergraduates to become "agents of social change" is substantially larger than the proportion who believe it is important to teach students the classic works of Western civilization.

According to the survey, 57.8 percent of professors believe it is important to encourage undergraduates to become agents of social change, whereas only 34.7 percent said teaching them the classics is very important. Observers say the difference results from influences as diverse as conservative criticisms of curriculum and Barack Obama's call for social activism during his presidential campaign.

The survey found that, on the issue of classics and change, professors' opinions also vary by rank. Full professors are more likely than assistant professors to say teaching the classics is important, and assistant professors are more likely than full professors to say encouraging undergraduates to become socially involved is important.

A report on the survey, "The American College Teacher," was released Thursday by the University of California at Los Angeles's Higher Education Research Institute. The institute questioned 22,562 professors across many disciplines at 372 colleges and universities in the 2007-8 academic year about their goals for classroom instruction, and asked them how they spent their time and how satisfied they were with their jobs. The institute completes the survey every three years ([ http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i04/04a02501.htm ]The Chronicle, September 16, 2005).

Sylvia Hurtado, a professor of education at UCLA who directs the research institute, said the gap between those who value teaching Western civilization and those who value teaching students to be social activists reflects a shift in emphasis from the abstract to the practical. "The notion of a liberal education as a set of essential intellectual skills is in transition," she says. "It's also about social and personal responsibility, thinking about one's role in society, and creating change."

Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors, says he believes faculty members should teach the classics. "I teach American literature all the time, that's what I do," says Mr. Nelson, who is a professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

But he says that to many professors, teaching the classics has become part of a "conservative agenda" that they don't want to be part of. Conservative critics of academe, he says, "have poisoned the well for these subjects because they've gotten politicized and become symbols of a reaction against the progressive academy."

But Peter W. Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars, attributes the gap between Western civilization and social change in part to the influence of Barack Obama's campaign. He suspects that many professors have long believed that teaching students to be agents of change is more important than teaching them to value the classics. Few, however, have openly acknowledged that, he says. "There used to be something a bit shameful for a faculty member to take such an anti-intellectual position," he says.

But the 2008 presidential campaign, he says, changed that, giving "a sense of legitimacy to the idea that political action could and should trump traditional forms of intellectual inquiry."

The survey found other evidence that professors are increasingly interested in helping students develop morals and in helping them get a well-rounded education and form a commitment to their communities. In particular, 72.8 percent of professors think it is important to instill in students an appreciation for the liberal arts—nearly 15 percentage points more than said so three years ago. About 56 percent say it is important to instill an appreciation for community service—a nearly 20 percentage-point increase—and 71.8 percent say it is important to enhance students' "self understanding." About 70 percent say it is important to help students develop "moral character," 13 percentage points more than said so three years earlier.

The report says the shift may reflect the fact that faculty members are more aware of their role in helping students with "psychosocial" development in the wake of the murders at Virginia Tech and on other campuses.

"Faculty are just more attuned to looking at the whole student than they might have been before these incidents on campus," says Linda DeAngelo, assistant director for research at the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, which is part of the institute and which administered the survey.

The survey of professors also found that:

Female professors are more likely than male professors to say they spend 13 or more hours a week preparing for class, while men are more likely than women to say they spend 13 or more hours a week doing research and scholarly writing.
Younger professors are more supportive than full professors of offering remedial education for college students, and women are more supportive of it than are men.
Male professors are more likely than female professors to include students in their research projects.
Only one-third of all professors believe they have a healthy balance between their personal and professional lives.
A summary of the report is available on the institute’s [ http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/index.php ]Web site.

Quixote in translation

Any of you guys ever taught, or considered teaching, DQ in English? I've been so infected by the "target language" virus of our department culture that I feel sort of dirty and cheap just considering it.

Defending the Humanities

This article discusses some of the issues presented in the MLA paper recently posted.

propriety

What do you guys think of using the word 'shit' in academic papers? I'm citing in Spanish, but providing a translation in footnotes, and frankly, I can't think of a better way to write or talk about the use of the word 'cagar.' 'Crap' sounds too much like a euphemism, and 'excrement' sounds like I'm trying too hard to not say 'shit.' At the same time, I don't want to contribute to the continued degradation of academic discourse by being too cute with my use of four-letter words.

Renaissance Self-fashioning in DQ

Can any of you DQ specialists help me out with some examples of self-fashioning in DQ? I'm thinking of a line or two, which I can't find since I don't work with the text like some of ya'll, that goes something like "we know who we are but not who we want to be or become." It's very similar to Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The Joys of Weed

It is seems pipe smoking is making a comeback on college campuses. I'd like to think I had something to do with that...

An earful from the MLA

As promised, here is the 2008 MLA White Paper. I think it is excellent. It outlines a balanced but forward-looking position on reclaiming the importance of language and literature study in higher education.

Grades

The New York Times has an article about student expectations vis a vis grades. Just wondering what this august body feels about giving a C for an A effort. I sometimes suspect that I have fallen prey to the grade inflation monster.

Che

Has anyone seen Steven Soderbergh's recent movie on Che Guevara? It had a short run in selected theaters and was several hours long. It's supposed to be out on DVD about now.

Where do I go to invest?

Absolutely nothing to do with Spanish, but I thought I'd post this link about a splendid new product to be rolled out in India next year.

The Best Book in the World

I get annoyed at little things. Here's the latest. I don't know how many times I've read, in textbooks and even academic studies, that according to Cervantes, Tirant lo Blanc was the best book in the world. But even a rudimentary knowledge of narratology ought to make it clear that Cervantes says nothing of the sort; the priest says it. It may be true, and Cervantes may really have thought that, but the priest says it.

Ottawa anyone?

I just found this CFP for the Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies to be held in Ottawa in May. Today is the submission deadline. I'd like to go, pending acceptance and funding.

Film suggestion

I don't know if this is readily available, but maybe for our first film we should watch and discuss El Lazarillo de Tormes (1959). Damian and I saw this in Madrid some years back, and I have a copy from Films for the Humanities. If it's too hard to locate, though, we could view something else.

Virtual Film Fest

Last night I skimmed through a wretched little footloose-twenty-something 'comedy' called Gente Pez from 2001, and realized that I had no one to whom to kvetch about it. I'm not suggesting that we all watch that particular excretion, but it occurred to me that it might be fun to schedule a sort of virtual film fest, in which we all agree to watch a particular Spanish movie by a certain date, and then post about it.

Any takers? We could stick with Goya winners, or literary movies. We could even start with something we've all already seen. Lengua de las mariposas, anyone? Or, Mar adentro?

For example, in my opinion, Mar adentro is a well-made film that seeks to be thought-provoking, but that ultimately does not do justice to the big problem at its center. The film purports to explore the nuances around the 'right to die,' but in fact, it allows no nuance. The default 'correct' position is one favorable to the right to die. Those opposed to the 'right to die' on moral grounds are reduced to characatures. So despite the power of its performances (and Javier Bardem is great in it) it ultimately comes across as a one-sided jeremiad.

Are You Portable?

This article presents us the concept of "portable tenure." What do you think?

Adendum to Fish

I ran across an article on Stanley Fish's continuing crusade to banish politics from the Academy on this Chronicle blog. It's about an MLA session a month or so ago that I would have paid to see.

Dude goes too far

A finalist for our linguistics search, in conversation with students, stated that while she realizes that it wouldn't fly in Latin America, she prefers students to use "tú" with her. I believe her phrase was "el respeto no está en el pronombre". What do the esteemed readers of this blog think about this? I have to admit that I am of two minds. On the one hand, having gone to a hippie school where students never used anything but first names with profs, my urge is to level frivolous social hierarchies and empower my students. On the other, some might take it as an invitation to be less rather than more serious in their studies (whereas at my alma mater I think it worked in the opposite direction). Then again, the small percentage of my students who have studied in Latin American universities probably could not bring themselves to use "tú" with me. Another consideration is that my teaching style is definitely not as touchy-feely as my undergraduate education was: I want my students to begin developing a pretty clear set of communications and thinking skills, and to take away a personal yet solid understanding of certain texts and contexts. This may mitigate against any greater freedom gained by the use of the informal second person singular.

Doctor, Professor or Dude?

Joe Biden's wife has a Ph.D. Reporters are rather amused that people are referring to her as "Dr. Jill Biden," since she isn't a physician. This article brings up some interesting notions about the public perception of people with doctorates.

False Cognates

No doubt there are plenty of lists of false cognates out there, but I thought I'd ask in this venue: what are some that you find way overused by your students (of any level)?

One that immediately comes to mind is "actualmente."

Fun with Budgets

Good news is our upper level bureaucracy had its wages frozen (although in bureaucracy speak, that probably only means they will receive a reduction of their anticipated wage increase). Bad news is our three-year library reconstruction project, which finally got underway last semester, has been frozen. Ironically, a move that was intended to save money will end up costing the university money, since it's going to have to pay off the contractors to avoid a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, a mischievous colleague, who is usually wrong anyway, wondered aloud whether wage freezes would have an effect on tenure and promotion. Not a pleasant thought to contemplate.

So how are things outside of the lamentably goldless Golden State?

On the (not-so-good) Outlook for our Profession

See Stanley Fish's editorial on /review of his former student's new book, The Last Professors: The Corporate University and the Fate of the Humanities.

Speaking of film: El método

I just watched a film called El método, which was pretty weird. Think of a cross between Survivor and The Game, with a little Twelve Angry Men thrown in. The idea is a bunch of job applicants in Madrid are locked in a room together where they undergo various psychological tests until they are winnowed down to the one who will actually receive the job. This method of choosing a job finalist is where the movie gets its name.

On a psychological level, the film calls to mind those studies you read about that attempt to gauge how far ordinary, rational and supposedly moral people are willing to go in order to appease a supposed authority. In this case, how far are corporate drones willing to go in order to climb the ladder in a multinational company? All sorts of moral and social comprises are justified as just a part of the game; as a study of human behavior the film is at times revealing.

This leads to political aspect of the film that I find more troublesome. The whole episode is set against the backdrop of anti-WTO riots in Madrid. While the rioting of the masses shuts down the streets, the job applicants play their mind games far above in their high rise bubble. They are elevated above and alienated from the masses that they exploit, ultimately to be exploited themselves and spit back out. The job applicants are victims of a perverse method that dehumanizes them, a process paralleled by what is happening in the streets below. The film closes with a broken woman walking through the broken streets, both destroyed by multinational corporatism.

So in my view, whatever strengths the film has as a psychological study of human behavior are undercut by the heavy-handed and cliché-ridden message (not to mention a completely gratuitous sex scene). Still, possibly worth checking out.

DQ secondary sources

What are the best books by way of a reader's guide to DQ for someone who may be teaching it and may not have absolute confidence in his knowledge of the text and the critical tradition?

More youth and sardines

I believe this was the image to which Kent was referring.

Youth and sardines

I know this is a public forum, but I can't help commenting here on some photos that a certain medievalist posted in another blog, whose name I don't want to remember, of individuals who post here with some frequency. They were taken on a trip to Death Valley perhaps slightly more then ten years ago. What immediately strikes one on seeing these photographs again after long years is our apparent youth and the scruffy, beat-like air with which we carried it off. We look like construction worker amateur botanists on a 5 month pilgrimage to Santiago. There are 99 cent tins of sardines in evidence, if I'm not mistaken, and perhaps even a can of Vienna sausages.

More fecopoetics?

From an ad for suppositories meant to cure "intestinal torpor and kindred evils," such as constipation and piles, written sometime in the 1860s:

"As Sancho Panza said of sleep, so say I of your Gluten Suppositories: God bless the man who invented them!"

I think a whole paper could be written on the reception of Don Quixote by 19th-century popular culture.

Writing your journal article in 12 weeks

As some of you may know, I’ve been receiving a free monthly micro-newsletter on how to be a more productive scholarly writer from Wendy Belcher, now a professor at Princeton, and formerly editor of Aztlan published at UCLA. Her book on academic publishing, largely based on the class she taught on the same subject at UCLA, is finally coming out. I thought you might like to know. I took her class and thought it was very helpful. I can't imagine a better guide out there for scholarly writers in the humanities. She really demystifies what can be an obscure and frustrating process for many of us. You can look into it at www.sagepub.com Here's the full title:

Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success by Wendy Laura Belcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. January 2009. 376 pages. $29.95. ISBN: 9781412957014.

AP Reading

Anybody planning on going to Cincinnati in June?

Movies again

My colleague in English sets up her film class as a four hour course so the class watches the film together say on Monday for a couple of hours and then comes back on Wednesday for another two hours to discuss. The students must watch the film together. In a foreign language class I think you could justify taking class time to watch the film as if you were working through a difficult literary passage in class together. Watching, like reading, becomes the objective of the time spent in class with the film.

Rico's edition of _DQ_

FYI, Rico's edition of the Quixote (with copious prefatory essays, notes, and every other critical apparatus you can imagine) is now available gratis at CVC.

Favorite Student

If you recall, a student of mine submitted a paper that had been cribbed verbatim from an article by a well-known scholar in our field. I gave her a chance to submit an acceptable paper to me, but after several email exchanges it became apparent to me that she wasn't getting the message. I wrote a blunter message indicating why I couldn't accept what she had given me, and what I expected from a resubmitted paper, and she wrote back telling me that "su maldad de usted me hizo vomitar," that she is disgusted with me now that I have revealed my true face, that she never wants to see my face again. But it looks like she still might want to take me up on my offer to submit a new paper. Since I made the offer, I guess I still have to honor it, but I wonder how sympathetic a hearing she thinks she's going to get after this.

Movies in Class

I don't know if we've covered this yet, but I was wondering how you guys handle films in class. In the past, for the most part, I've avoided showing full-length films in class, because in general I see that as a waste of class time. I usually put movies on reserve in the library, and then just show clips in class.

For my culture class, I'm thinking of showing Alatriste, which I bought in Spain, and is unavailable here, because it does a nice job of recreating Golden Age Madrid, and Ay Carmela, which is set in the Civil War.

So, do you guys ever show films over several class periods? If so, do you provide a study guide, or some sort of pedagogical apparatus?

The Latest in Fecopoetics

Since Mike and I plan to present at Kalamazoo this year, I thought you might to check out this blog post on the cutting edge of Medieval Studies.