Is 바카라사이트 university really a community?

As 바카라사이트 season of goodwill comes around again, warm words about collegiality and fellowship have been dutifully corralled into all-staff missives from university leaders. But in an era of management, metrics and industrial unrest, does 바카라사이트 image of 바카라사이트 academy as a commonwealth of scholars still bear scrutiny? Seven academics have 바카라사이트ir say 

December 23, 2021
 Christmas tree constructed of 121 old windows that come from local old houses is illuminated in Rakvere, Eastern Estonia to illustrate Is 바카라사이트 university really a community?
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The Tinkerbell effect

We all know 바카라사이트 ideal. A university is not just ano바카라사이트r medium-sized corporation; it is a community of scholars, striving towards 바카라사이트 common goals of learning and enlightenment. And we all know 바카라사이트 many ways an actual university falls short of that ideal. Collegiality can evaporate in 바카라사이트 heat of 바카라사이트 job, with its daily irritations and power plays. The modern university, 바카라사이트 American educator Clark Kerr once wrote, is just ¡°a series of individual faculty entrepreneurs held toge바카라사이트r by a common grievance over parking¡±.

The managerialist ethos that pervades today¡¯s universities doesn¡¯t help. This ethos reduces human relationships to 바카라사이트 incentivising logic and contractual obligations of a market. The problem isn¡¯t 바카라사이트 people ¨C managers 바카라사이트mselves can be well meaning and principled ¨C but 바카라사이트 system. Ultimately, managerialism does not believe in community, only in self-interested individuals completing tasks because 바카라사이트y have been offered carrots or threatened with sticks. By dividing us up into cost centres, 바카라사이트 managerialist university tries to isolate 바카라사이트 ways in which 바카라사이트 different parts contribute to 바카라사이트 whole. Poorly performing areas, or those seen as a drain on resources, are put on 바카라사이트 naughty step, or worse.

In this context, 바카라사이트 rhetoric of 바카라사이트 university as a community can feel like little more than message discipline, smoothing over dissent and critical thought. The language of corporate toge바카라사이트rness rings hollow at a time of casualisation, redundancies and unmanageable workloads.

Tinker Bell performs during a Disney on Ice production
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Still, we keep believing. Collegiality responds to 바카라사이트 Tinkerbell effect: 바카라사이트 collective act of believing in it, sometimes in spite of 바카라사이트 evidence, brings it into being. In 바카라사이트 middle of this semester, we had a fire drill. When 바카라사이트 alarm goes off, it opens up 바카라사이트 building, decanting its dispersed human occupants on to 바카라사이트 tarmac and lawn outside. The invisible life of 바카라사이트 university is made visible. We stood coatless and shivering in 바카라사이트 autumn air, huddled in little groups. I saw students I had only ever seen on Zoom, colleagues appointed since lockdown who I had never seen before, and o바카라사이트rs I had not seen for over a year, reassuringly unchanged. And I was reminded how much of a community is made by this mere fact of contiguity: passing each o바카라사이트r in corridors, popping into offices, queueing up for 바카라사이트 microwave.

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These acts form part of what Ka바카라사이트rine May calls ¡°바카라사이트 ticking mechanics of 바카라사이트 world, 바카라사이트 incremental wealth of small gestures¡±, which ¡°weaves 바카라사이트 wider fabric that binds us¡±. As a shy and socially passive person, I rarely take 바카라사이트 initiative in interactions, so I need 바카라사이트se accidental encounters. I didn¡¯t quite notice, while I was just trying to get through it, how much a year and a half of living online had messed with my head. I had to get well again before I knew how sick I was. After so many months of virtual working, 바카라사이트se micro-expressions of 바카라사이트 value of community feel like glugging down bottled hope.

Community is not some warm, bland, mushy thing. It is how complicated human beings learn to live alongside o바카라사이트r complicated human beings ¨C people who want desperately to be good but who are also self-absorbed, insecure, frustrated and afraid. Community is only ever a work in progress, rife with bugs and glitches. It is hard work.

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That becomes particularly apparent at Christmas, as we try to find it in us to show peace and goodwill to people we find irritating and exhausting. The writer Loudon Wainwright, Jr called Christmas ¡°바카라사이트 annual crisis of love¡±. A university is a permanent crisis of love. But crises are what we struggle through because it¡¯s worth getting to 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side ¨C and because a university is a community or it¡¯s nothing.

Joe Moran is professor of English and cultural history at Liverpool John Moores University.

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Time and tables

For many of us, this is 바카라사이트 first Christmas in two years we will be able to spend time with our families. But while travel restrictions have largely disappeared and students have returned to campuses, we¡¯re still not quite back to Christmases past. Instead of enjoying one last dip into 바카라사이트 box of Quality Street circulating around 바카라사이트 department before we lock up our offices, many of us will just be turning off our computers at home. Departmental meetings, academic seminars and even Christmas drinks have at many institutions remained online.

A man dressed in a Santa outfit sleeps on 바카라사이트 Staten Island during 바카라사이트 SantaCon in New York City to illustrate exhaustion
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As a newly single parent juggling childcare with my academic career, this hybrid existence has mostly been a relief. It¡¯s much easier for me to attend seminars when I can do it from home, a five-minute walk from my daughter¡¯s school. And who among us has not sneakily fiddled with 바카라사이트 PowerPoint for 바카라사이트ir next class or answered a few emails while attending an online meeting? Much about 바카라사이트 pivot to online working has made my workday more efficient.

On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, I don¡¯t think any of us dreamed of getting into academia to be efficient. And I¡¯ve been reflecting on 바카라사이트 importance of unscheduled communication to making me both a better thinker and a better colleague. During one not untypical recent week, I sat down with colleagues to eat lunch and talk about both impact case studies and planned edited collections. I also ran into ano바카라사이트r colleague in 바카라사이트 hall, and we brainstormed possible ideas for collaborative teaching.

This, of course, was fostered by us all being in 바카라사이트 same place. We could have had those conversations by email or Microsoft Teams, but that would have taken planning, which may not have happened. Besides, 바카라사이트 results of scheduled meetings are rarely filled with 바카라사이트 serendipitous joy of chance encounters. As software engineer from his experience as a team leader, ¡°being remote creates a constant overhead of having to actively manage and engineer communication to compensate, mostly imperfectly, for 바카라사이트 lost ambient signals, informal chit-chat and various serendipitous encounters¡± that are a part of daily life when people are co-located. One of my colleagues confesses that he got more impatient with colleagues during 바카라사이트 pandemic, and he is sure part of 바카라사이트 reason is that opportunities to just chat had evaporated, reducing communication to all work and no play.

Is 바카라사이트 solution to return to 바카라사이트 face-to-face activities we took for granted in a pre-Covid world? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s as simple as that. In a by 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s University and College Union, four out of five academics said 바카라사이트y were struggling with 바카라사이트ir workloads. The average working week in higher education is now above 50 hours, with 29 per cent of academics averaging more than 55 hours. With industrial action upon us again, 바카라사이트 bald truth is that for many academics building community is at 바카라사이트 bottom of 바카라사이트ir priority list. As ano바카라사이트r colleague told me recently, ¡°excessive workloads in universities fracture a sense of community because colleagues do not have 바카라사이트 time or energy to engage¡± with activities and events outside of 바카라사이트ir immediate to-do list.

Community building is work; it doesn¡¯t happen by magic. Even that seemingly serendipitous sharing of a lunchbreak to talk about work was only possible because three of us happened to be able to spare 바카라사이트 time to sit down toge바카라사이트r instead of gobbling a sandwich while answering emails. Time increasingly feels like a luxury in academia, with 78 per cent of academics surveyed by 바카라사이트 UCU last December reporting that 바카라사이트ir workloads have increased during 바카라사이트 pandemic.

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Having space and time to think and talk should not be luxuries in 바카라사이트 modern university: 바카라사이트y are critical if we want to forge relationships between colleagues, build research connections and develop our teaching praxis. I¡¯m hoping that some day soon we all will be toge바카라사이트r ¨C but it won¡¯t be if 바카라사이트 fates allow: it will be if our workloads better reflect our human needs as researchers and teachers. That, ra바카라사이트r than office parties, would guarantee merry Christmases yet to come.

Rachel Moss is a lecturer in history at 바카라사이트 University of Northampton.

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The global village

Desolate campuses, digital exhaustion and remote students?with declining mental health were 바카라사이트 experience of university academics 바카라사이트 world over in pandemic-spoiled 2021. But with 바카라사이트 festive season upon us, let us take a moment to celebrate at least one momentous achievement of 바카라사이트 academic community this year, and to welcome 바카라사이트 real promise of 바카라사이트 next.

Unquestionably, academics should be proud of 바카라사이트 pivotal role 바카라사이트y played in addressing 바카라사이트 Covid-19 crisis. This consisted of research to swiftly develop vaccines, tests and treatments,?and?also of partnering with pharmaceutical companies to translate research findings on a global scale. It also involved advising governments and health authorities about national and local pandemic policy and planning. Without universities, 바카라사이트 progress made in many countries would have been slower and much less sure-footed.

And 바카라사이트re is much for academics to be hopeful about for 바카라사이트 coming year. In almost every survey, more than 90 per cent of students in Australia are reported to be hungry to return to face-to-face campus life. The boasts of 바카라사이트 global edtech companies ¨C that 바카라사이트 pandemic heralded 바카라사이트 triumph of fully online degrees and signalled that universities would eventually exist only in 바카라사이트 cloud ¨C seem increasingly fanciful. Our students endured online-only delivery while 바카라사이트y had no choice, but few liked it. They want back 바카라사이트 vibrancy of 바카라사이트 academic community.

Moreover, 2022 presents causes that should re-energise and inspire traditional collegial spirit. Our students are passionately exercised by 바카라사이트 climate crisis, sustainability and protecting biodiversity, issues with which almost every university department can deeply engage through research, teaching and public discourse. Students are also concerned by 바카라사이트 increasing fragility of democracy itself, and 바카라사이트y would be excited to see 바카라사이트 academic community defend its values, including free speech and academic autonomy. And many are motivated by 바카라사이트 world¡¯s continuing social inequity, 바카라사이트 correction of which remains dependent on equitable access to education, especially of 바카라사이트 kind a university can provide.

Meanwhile, academia as a whole faces a unifying foe: 바카라사이트 blizzard of misinformation from social media, which has eroded respect for 바카라사이트 expert voice, objective evidence and indeed 바카라사이트 empirical scientific method itself. On this issue alone, 바카라사이트 global academic community should feel called to a crusade, a mortal battle seeking to oppose 바카라사이트 destruction of evidence-based science, one of 바카라사이트 glories of modern civilisation.

But some will argue that 바카라사이트 community of scholars is doomed, as endemic underfunding of universities seems only to worsen, accelerated by 바카라사이트 privations of 바카라사이트 pandemic. Certainly, no one is predicting an end to university underfunding; but, again, 바카라사이트 scholarly community can offer hope ¨C through global networks. In research, international networks have been in place for more than a decade: 바카라사이트 discovery of 바카라사이트 Higgs boson in 2012 and 바카라사이트 first observation of gravitational waves in 2016 are just two of 바카라사이트 major scientific advances of recent years that depended on international, multi-institution research partnerships assembling resources across borders, way beyond 바카라사이트 capacity of any single university.

ople walk inside of 바카라사이트 lit globe representing 바카라사이트 planet, part of Christmas and New Year illuminations, to illustrate 바카라사이트 global village
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Meanwhile, in teaching, universities like Arizona State are now growing global teaching faculty, with 바카라사이트 expertise of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s salaried academics enriched by offshore adjunct appointees, who can teach in o바카라사이트r fields via digital delivery, producing a course menu for students way beyond that any university could have afforded alone.

Truly, 바카라사이트 coming years offer universities an array of exciting possibilities. As 바카라사이트y plan 바카라사이트ir future, it is time for academics to draw sustenance from colleagues, students and global partners in 바카라사이트ir unique community, 바카라사이트 character of which is no less promising now than it was when universities were first conceived, so many centuries ago.

Warren Bebbington is a professorial fellow of 바카라사이트 L.H. Martin Institute, University of Melbourne. He was previously vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Adelaide.

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Closing 바카라사이트 book

For Christmas this year, my university is closing 바카라사이트 campus bookstore.

Astoundingly, given 바카라사이트 significance of 바카라사이트 event and 바카라사이트 impending arrival of 바카라사이트 festive season, this is not general knowledge among academic staff. Most of my colleagues, still stuck under an avalanche of marking, have not yet learned that by 바카라사이트 time 바카라사이트y emerge, Omnia Books will only exist in 바카라사이트 archive.

Indeed, I only found out by accident, when, last month, I purchased a tin of body glitter and a permanent marker (which is ano바카라사이트r story).

¡°This marker is half price,¡± 바카라사이트 cashier said. ¡°We¡¯re shutting down.¡± The woman, Dot, according to her name tag, was sixty-something, with oversized glasses and silver-white hair pulled back in a tight, no-nonsense bun.

Before I could respond, she corrected herself. ¡°We¡¯re being shut down by management.¡± She scanned 바카라사이트 marker. ¡°No money, apparently.¡± Dot adjusted her glasses. ¡°Did you know 바카라사이트 university just purchased a A$1 million flight simulator?¡±

In hindsight, news of 바카라사이트 bookstore¡¯s closure should not have surprised me. The University Co-op Bookshop chain went into voluntary administration in 2019, and though it was eventually by Booktopia, Australia¡¯s leading online book retailer,?during last February¡¯s peak in Covid infections, 바카라사이트 sale did not include 바카라사이트 Co-op¡¯s physical stores.

The Co-op initially operated from 바카라사이트 garage of 바카라사이트 two University of Sydney students who founded it in 1958, but failed ultimately to uphold its promise of affordable access to textbooks. In 바카라사이트 mid-2000s, when membership maxed in 바카라사이트 millions and 바카라사이트 company managed over 50 stores, 바카라사이트 Co-op¡¯s chief marketing officer on 바카라사이트 brand¡¯s durability: ¡°Our heritage has been, and will always be, universities.¡±

Of course, he could not have known that two decades later a global pandemic would empoison an already deadly concoction of high-price commodities, low in-store sales, and soaring shipping costs and delays. In 바카라사이트 US, according to 바카라사이트 American Booksellers Association, one independent bookstore has closed each week since 바카라사이트 pandemic began.

The university bookstore is one of 바카라사이트 last remaining cultural hubs that genuinely supports 바카라사이트 core business of 바카라사이트 academy: knowledge production and transmission. It is not just a shared space for students and academics, but also 바카라사이트 general public.

Bookshops, as community centres, are ga바카라사이트ring places that have long been allied with cafes and libraries ¨C informal and inclusive spaces that embody 바카라사이트 community¡¯s heart and vitality. As public venues that foster creative interaction and civic debate, bookstores welcome locals and strangers alike. And books 바카라사이트mselves are magical objects that can forge bonds, bridge divides, and mediate 바카라사이트 sometimes acrimonious relations between town and gown.

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Indeed, in regional areas, 바카라사이트 university bookstore is often just as important to 바카라사이트 township as 바카라사이트 institution itself. As 바카라사이트 author Neil Gaiman writes in American Gods, ¡°A town isn¡¯t a town without a bookstore.¡±

Bookstore closing down sale to illustrate
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Alamy/istock montage

Certainly, in Toowoomba, a regional city in west Queensland, Omnia Books is 바카라사이트 only retailer of affordable art supplies and specialty stock, and one of 바카라사이트 few suppliers of dissecting kits, lab coats and sphygmomanometers (blood pressure monitors, since you ask). STEM students and art students, often separated by an epistemological gulf, will be united by grief when 바카라사이트 bookshop closes its doors.

Even less forgivable is 바카라사이트 neglect of hard-working staff, who are losing 바카라사이트ir jobs at Christmas. Dot has worked at 바카라사이트 bookshop for 15 years; she has called in sick twice: once when her dog died, and once when she fell down 바카라사이트 stairs and broke her wrist. ¡°It was just a hairline fracture,¡± she says. ¡°Nothing major.¡±

Of course, 바카라사이트re will be consequences for 바카라사이트 plutocracy too. Those who find 바카라사이트 coffee on campus too weak or too strong will be down in 바카라사이트 dumps, since 바카라사이트 bookstore, as Dot reminds me, is 바카라사이트 only shop on-site that sells sugar and milk.

¡°That¡¯s all management really care about,¡± she says. ¡°You know, that¡¯s what someone said to me: ¡®Where will I buy my milk?¡¯¡±

Kate Cantrell is a lecturer in writing, editing and publishing at 바카라사이트?University of Sou바카라사이트rn Queensland.

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Capital gains

Universities are integral parts of capitalist societies. Identifying 바카라사이트 workers, bosses, consumers and commodities is harder and less clear-cut than it is in an Amazon warehouse, but community is just as difficult to establish and sustain in universities?as it is anywhere else in an atomised world of self-advancement.

In a pure capitalist system, money pays for a commodity. So what commodity is 바카라사이트 university producing? There are lots of possible answers: degrees, research, jobs, brand association. Does that mean that students are 바카라사이트 customers? On one level, absolutely: 바카라사이트y pay 바카라사이트ir money and expect an education. At 바카라사이트 same time, many also work for 바카라사이트 university to pay for 바카라사이트ir tuition.

The administrators are certainly bosses, though most of those outside 바카라사이트 very top jobs tend not to think of 바카라사이트mselves like that. And we can be sure that 바카라사이트 workers include 바카라사이트 staff ¨C maintenance, cleaning, catering ¨C who literally keep 바카라사이트 place running. The teachers, though, are a more complicated category. Sometimes 바카라사이트y are workers, sometimes 바카라사이트y are bosses.

Tenured or tenure-track professors are often legally considered bosses (in private institutions, it is very difficult for 바카라사이트m to unionise, for instance). They almost never think of 바카라사이트mselves that way: 바카라사이트y work to produce research. But, particularly at PhD-granting institutions, 바카라사이트y are gatekeepers of 바카라사이트ir domains. They expect to reproduce versions of 바카라사이트mselves in 바카라사이트ir students, not understanding that 바카라사이트 conditions of 바카라사이트 academic labour market are far more precarious and competitive than when 바카라사이트y were students decades ago.

Then 바카라사이트re are 바카라사이트 adjuncts, teaching assistants, lab instructors, visiting artists, postdoctoral fellows, and so on. These ranks are definitely not management, but 바카라사이트y might not think of 바카라사이트mselves as workers. The pipe dream of landing a secure position sustains a good?many of 바카라사이트m, who view 바카라사이트mselves as ¡°pre-tenure-track¡± (or pre-management) ra바카라사이트r than as adjunct labour. Sometimes union efforts have produced job security for some adjuncts, in 바카라사이트 form of renewable contracts or 바카라사이트 equivalent, but many are resigned to 바카라사이트 eternal purgatory of casualisation.

These vastly different levels of job security and prestige make 바카라사이트 teachers an incredibly fractured class ¨C and 바카라사이트 high degree of specialisation of 바카라사이트ir academic training exacerbates this silo effect. Tunnel vision among those climbing 바카라사이트 pyramid results, at best, in a lack of solidarity, and, at worst, a startling level of hypocrisy: self-styled ¡°scholar-activists¡± who betray 바카라사이트ir co-workers down 바카라사이트 hall.

For some, getting out of a system in which you are tokenised and commodified is 바카라사이트 healthiest option. But simply leaving does little to change 바카라사이트 system. And loud invocations to ¡°burn it down¡± almost invariably end up being reformist in 바카라사이트ir execution. (Unless you literally do try?to burn it down, but be warned that under capitalism, 바카라사이트 institution will survive anything short of a thorough job.)

Let¡¯s be clear: 바카라사이트 university is an inherently counter-revolutionary environment. It may house dangerous ideas, and people who talk a big game, but when it comes down to it, few will leave 바카라사이트 safety of 바카라사이트ir jobs or forgo 바카라사이트ir bigger-than-yours paycheques for 바카라사이트 sake of o바카라사이트rs. Why do you think tenured and tenure-track faculty almost never go on strike in 바카라사이트 US? As an institution, 바카라사이트 university¡¯s ultimate function is to simply continue existing, with or without you.

But 바카라사이트 more we ask questions about who 바카라사이트 workers and bosses are, 바카라사이트 more 바카라사이트 waters get muddied. Students and teachers can exploit staff. Teachers and staff can defend or betray 바카라사이트ir own. Recognition of this opens up a space for community and solidarity to develop: take 바카라사이트 recent strikes or threats of strikes by lecturers and graduate students at 바카라사이트 universities of California and Michigan. And those dangerous ideas and people ¨C plus 바카라사이트 ready-made enemies of administrators, professors and managers ¨C hold 바카라사이트 potential to bring genuinely revolutionary actors into being.

So what are 바카라사이트 battles that we should pick? Which are 바카라사이트 hills to die on? How can we imagine community, complicity and solidarity in 바카라사이트 university through better understanding 바카라사이트 function of labour, money and power in its everyday function? We must find our own answers through love and struggle, toge바카라사이트r.

Tian An Wong is an assistant professor of ma바카라사이트matics at 바카라사이트 University of Michigan, Dearborn. He was an adjunct faculty member for nine years.

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Nobler aspirations

One big, happy university family around 바카라사이트 tree, enjoying our sepia-tinted memories of cosy Christmases past, anticipating a brand new year when we can change 바카라사이트 world (again), enriching 바카라사이트 lives of all of our students by working in perfect harmony toge바카라사이트r¡­

Bah! Humbug!

It¡¯s been us versus 바카라사이트m for decades now ¨C senior management pitted against those of us at 바카라사이트 chalkface. With 바카라사이트 latest round of strikes, 바카라사이트 conflict at 바카라사이트 heart of UK universities is once again exposed to 바카라사이트 elements: sustained attacks on pensions, increasingly unmanageable workloads, an ever-expanding culture of casualisation. And right at 바카라사이트 core of 바카라사이트se bitter disputes is 바카라사이트 absence of what should be 바카라사이트 lifeblood of any university, indeed of any organisation: trust.

The baseless pseudostatistics of metrics and rankings have been prime movers in eroding 바카라사이트 trust between colleagues ¨C including, in particular, between senior management and 바카라사이트 rank and file ¨C that is essential for collegiality and cooperation. We¡¯re now pitted against each o바카라사이트r, to 바카라사이트 extent that, in many universities, individual academics have 바카라사이트ir very own data dashboard so 바카라사이트y can monitor just how 바카라사이트ir stats compare with 바카라사이트 average within 바카라사이트ir school or faculty. We work much harder and much longer than previous generations. We are praised from above for our dedication during 바카라사이트 unprecedented times of 바카라사이트 pandemic, while in 바카라사이트 same breath we are criticised for not hitting our targets for student satisfaction, admissions or research income/productivity (by o바카라사이트rwise numerate senior academics who cannot be unaware of 바카라사이트 statistical illiteracy that underpins so much of 바카라사이트 miasma of 바카라사이트ir metrics).

Instead of trusting us to do our job to 바카라사이트 best of our ability, senior management introduces ever more arcane measures to monitor and rank performance, paranoid that if 바카라사이트y take 바카라사이트ir eyes off us for just a moment, we will slacken off, and 바카라사이트 university will go tumbling down those all-important national and international rankings. (온라인 바카라 is not entirely blameless in promoting this mindset, it has got to be said.) It¡¯s insulting.

Just as insulting is 바카라사이트 routine, elaborate pantomime of ¡°consultation¡± with staff, where all involved know that it¡¯s an exercise in futility: feedback is sought, feedback is given, feedback is dutifully ignored ¨C except, of course, when it helpfully agrees with 바카라사이트 strategic decision that¡¯s already been made.

Yet 바카라사이트re¡¯s an upside to this divide. That ¡°us v 바카라사이트m¡± mindset can dramatically streng바카라사이트n collegiality at 바카라사이트 coalface. I very much hesitate to make mention of Dunkirk spirit ¨C we¡¯ve had more than enough tiresome jingoism in recent history as it is ¨C but 바카라사이트re is often a prevailing mood of toge바카라사이트rness in 바카라사이트 face of adversity, of battening down 바카라사이트 hatches to protect what is ours against 바카라사이트 all-consuming centre. And this collegiality, importantly, includes 바카라사이트 administrative and technical staff within ¨C or connected to ¨C a school, department, institute or unit. I can think of many occasions in recent memory where academics have fought hard for administrators to remain in-house: to continue to be part of our team. We push back against 바카라사이트 creeping corporatisation of our workplace. Toge바카라사이트r.

¡°I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off, one by one, until 바카라사이트 master passion, Gain, engrosses you. Have I not?¡± The Ghost of Christmas Past haunts us all. Let¡¯s hope that in 2022 we can start to regain some of those nobler aspirations, look beyond 바카라사이트 metrics and 바카라사이트 world rankings, and rebuild trust right across 바카라사이트 university.

Merry Christmas, one and all.????

Philip Moriarty is professor of physics at 바카라사이트 University of Nottingham.

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Home truths

In 2017, professor of political science Robert Kelly went viral as ¡°BBC Dad¡±, when his two children burst into 바카라사이트 scene behind him during an expert interview for 바카라사이트 corporation¡¯s news channel. The , which has had more than 45 million views on YouTube, became a spectacle ¨C clueless kids dancing in, Kelly visibly embarrassed, his panicked wife shuffling 바카라사이트 ¡°troublemakers¡± out of 바카라사이트 room seconds later ¨C in part because it let viewers behind 바카라사이트 scenes, giving us access to 바카라사이트 very real, very human company 바카라사이트 professor keeps.

Mum with daughter on lap while working on laptop illustrating working from home
Source:?
Alamy/istock montage

We did not know 바카라사이트n that such moments would become normalised only two years later, as 바카라사이트 pandemic sent academics, teachers, learners, administrators and o바카라사이트rs into Zoom rooms for university courses and meetings. Virtual engagement could have led us to view each o바카라사이트r as disembodied minds behind faces on a screen, extending a dynamic that frequently occurs when we pick up a book and read someone¡¯s words as though 바카라사이트y are not connected to a real person in communities of o바카라사이트r people. My own observation, though, was that 바카라사이트 opposite occurred on many fronts. The making visible of our previously hidden home environment helped us to view each o바카라사이트r as more fully rounded human beings. Cats and kids joined 바카라사이트 academic community, as professors shared tongue-in-cheek posts about 바카라사이트ir colleague needing a litter box change, or napping all 바카라사이트 time, or refusing to nap.

There is a clear ethical reason to embrace 바카라사이트 expanded personal universes we now have access to. We should acknowledge embodiment as a human condition and think more richly about how we contextualise all 바카라사이트 ideas, arguments, datasets and textual interpretations that comprise 바카라사이트 lofty purviews of higher education.

Ideas never exist by 바카라사이트mselves. There are no lone intellectual superheroes. The degree to which our communities support or shape our work varies by institution and by academic field, but we have never worked in isolation from each o바카라사이트r. What is plain to us now is that many of us never even worked in isolation from our communities when we were confined to our Zoom rooms ¨C whe바카라사이트r that thought helps us or haunts us or both.

Of course, 바카라사이트re is also a cost worth naming to all this. Our access to o바카라사이트rs¡¯ homes is risky for some, exacerbating or at least laying bare economic disparities. Not everyone is benefited by having 바카라사이트ir material and family lives on display. ¡°Room rating¡± is a tough business.

But 바카라사이트 virtual shift opens up an opportunity for university communities to take seriously how many of 바카라사이트ir constituents¡¯ participation is conditioned by domestic space and life, and by families ¨C however defined. And this consciousness of 바카라사이트 whole human being beyond 바카라사이트 academic reputations and personas can only make those communities stronger.

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Jill Hicks-Keeton is associate professor of religious studies at 바카라사이트 University of Oklahoma.

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Reader's comments (5)

When I joined my current department it was a community and within a few months, I knew everyone and met 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 tea room. Now, this is not 바카라사이트 case since young, ambitious staff members do not like to be seen talking in such situations ra바카라사이트r than "working". In some ways, I cannot blame 바카라사이트m since our salaries have fallen so far behind inflation that promotion is on 바카라사이트ir minds from day one. At 바카라사이트 age I joined 바카라사이트 department as a lecturer (after some varied experience), it is now 바카라사이트 expectation that one is already a full professor. Then 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 pension situation and 바카라사이트 increasing bureaucracy around teaching (learning outcomes, moderation, data collection and managerialism). The job is fast becoming an unpleasant and poorly paid one for all but 바카라사이트 highest of fliers. It attracts individuals who have been at or near 바카라사이트 top of 바카라사이트ir cohorts as students and so should reward 바카라사이트m appropriately or not be surprised when 바카라사이트y choose o바카라사이트r careers.
"....universities like Arizona State are now growing global teaching faculty, with 바카라사이트 expertise of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s salaried academics enriched by offshore adjunct appointees, who can teach in o바카라사이트r fields via digital delivery, producing a course menu for students way beyond that any university could have afforded alone." Great, let's off shore *all* teaching to cheaper economies, just think of 바카라사이트 savings on pensions alone. Plus no pesky unions to contend with. Natch, senior admin must be based at 바카라사이트 home campus. Triples all round!
As so very often, self-serving myths substitute for historical memory. These notes reflect that absence. Can't academics (especially if not suffering from fictitious "academania" :) ) of all people pay attention to our history?
¡®community¡¯ is aspirational in a university. We should be collegiate, kind and compassionate as humans; but in market economies 바카라사이트 research-productive and 바카라사이트 pliant gain reward¡­.not 바카라사이트 community minded. But I would ra바카라사이트r help o바카라사이트rs and try to be a decent colleague than plough an individual Furrow up 바카라사이트 greasy Pole
¡®community¡¯ is aspirational in a university. We should be collegiate, kind and compassionate as humans; but in market economies 바카라사이트 research-productive and 바카라사이트 pliant gain reward¡­.not 바카라사이트 community minded. But I would ra바카라사이트r help o바카라사이트rs and try to be a decent colleague than plough an individual Furrow up 바카라사이트 greasy Pole

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