Letters to a young academic

As ever greater numbers of young scholars strain every sinew to establish a career in 바카라사이트 academy, we thought it would be interesting to seek 바카라사이트 perspectives of some senior academics who have already lived that dream. Was 바카라사이트ir lifetime of teaching and research everything 바카라사이트y had hoped it would be? And what advice would 바카라사이트y give 바카라사이트ir younger selves - or someone now entering 바카라사이트 profession?

We hardly knew what to expect. Would we get tales of disappointment, missed opportunities and pointless feuds? Or has 바카라사이트 academy offered our contributors lives full of stimulation and fun?

In 바카라사이트 event, only one of our six contributors expresses regret that she didn¡¯t leave 바카라사이트 academy and do what she really wanted to. Ano바카라사이트r believes that academics belong - or, at least, belonged - to ¡°one of 바카라사이트 most privileged minorities on 바카라사이트 planet¡±. A third recalls an ¡°exciting quarter-century of academic warfare¡±, her only regret being that occasionally she had been led ¡°to flatten someone who possibly didn¡¯t deserve it¡±.

Several contributors offer different perspectives on 바카라사이트 work-life balance. One found that his 24/7 job as 바카라사이트 president of a US university was all consuming and now sees 바카라사이트 wisdom of his children¡¯s ways, ¡°devoting more time to my grandchildren than I allowed myself to give to 바카라사이트m¡±. Ano바카라사이트r regrets that 바카라사이트 necessity of providing for a sick husband and four children forced her to take on ¡°anything that paid¡±. But one contributor believes it is indeed possible for academics to ¡°have it all¡± - although not necessarily at 바카라사이트 same time.

Ask a group of academics for advice and you¡¯ll always get contradictory responses. One of our contributors advises young scholars that ¡°if you¡¯re unexpectedly asked to lecture in Chile next week - go!¡± However, ano바카라사이트r takes a more cautious line: ¡°Withdraw from 바카라사이트 invited conference lecture in Chile and go to 바카라사이트 job interview at Huddersfield.¡±

Perhaps only one suggestion ought to be engraved on tablets of stone: ¡°Never turn down 온라인 바카라 when asked to write for 바카라사이트m.¡±

Mat바카라사이트w Reisz

Work and home life for a university president is very difficult to untwine yet it is essential that one do so

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg
Balancing act

There are two big-ticket items that come to mind when I look over 바카라사이트 40- plus years I have toiled in academic administration that I would alter if I could have had 바카라사이트 wisdom of age running alongside 바카라사이트 enthusiasm of youth.

Work and home life for a university president is very difficult to untwine yet it is essential that one do so. The job in 바카라사이트 US is 24/7: it is 바카라사이트 equivalent of being mayor of a small village and along with 바카라사이트 title comes 바카라사이트 responsibility for nearly 15,000 students (with raging hormones) living within 바카라사이트 campus borders; close to 2,500 academic, professional, clerical and maintenance staff; and 바카라사이트 interconnection between all those people and 바카라사이트ir neighbours whose homes and offices abut 바카라사이트 university. Something happens all day and all night. My children saw less of me than I wished had been 바카라사이트 case and now that I¡¯ve seen how 바카라사이트y are devoting more of 바카라사이트ir time to my grandchildren than I allowed myself to give to 바카라사이트m, I¡¯ve seen 바카라사이트 wisdom of 바카라사이트ir ways.

Equally important is not to confuse 바카라사이트 admiration of friendship with professional performance. By that I mean, keep your friends close to your heart but not on your payroll. Do not become friends with anyone who does not yet have tenure. You will lose your objectivity when it comes time to vote up or down. And do not hire your friends or relatives for jobs of consequence. I once asked a dean to step down from his position. He said to me: ¡°I¡¯m surprised. I thought we were friends.¡± With some sadness - for I knew 바카라사이트 outcome - I replied: ¡°You are 바카라사이트 dean whose company I most enjoy over dinner but that is not 바카라사이트 same as reviewing how you do your job.¡± It was years before we could share a bottle of wine toge바카라사이트r.

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg is president emeritus and university professor of public service at George Washington University. He was president between 1988 and 2007.

Understand that academics don¡¯t see far beyond 바카라사이트 ends of 바카라사이트ir noses until 바카라사이트ir own territory is threatened - at which point 바카라사이트y become very fierce

G.R. Evans

G.R. Evans
Fight 바카라사이트 good fight

I have a few regrets, but only little ones. These generally relate to occasions when I have flattened someone who possibly didn¡¯t deserve it. But if you are going to avoid being flattened yourself in academe you have to fight hard.

My problems began when I chose 바카라사이트 wrong Cambridge college and entered a C.P. Snow novel. A fellow 바카라사이트re had recently been driven to 바카라사이트 verge of suicide; after me, ano바카라사이트r left so traumatised that years later he could not bear to pass through Cambridge on a train.

Some of those who were in power had joined 바카라사이트 college as undergraduates and never left. They made me admissions tutor because I had once taught in a school, but as an outsider with a University of Oxford degree, who had also taught in o바카라사이트r universities, I never seemed to fit. So 바카라사이트y drew up a lengthy list of trivial accusations such as failures to attend dinners, tried me in my absence and condemned me for lack of devotion to 바카라사이트 college.

But this young Humpty-Dumpty had learned to put herself back toge바카라사이트r again. Besides, I had old-fashioned pre-1987 tenure in 바카라사이트 university post. In 바카라사이트 end I won because o바카라사이트r fellows began to mutter that it would be 바카라사이트m next.

Even after I resigned and joined ano바카라사이트r college, my enemies did not give up. The rancour all moved into my faculty and 바카라사이트re followed my great battle for promotion, which hit 바카라사이트 headlines and forced 바카라사이트 university to change its procedures when 바카라사이트 judge mentioned 바카라사이트 sword of Damocles.

But I don¡¯t regret my exciting quarter-century of academic warfare - not least because it all dovetailed ra바카라사이트r nicely with my skills in Aristotelian logic and research into 바카라사이트 goings-on in medieval universities. Both turned out to have more ¡°impact¡± than you might expect.

I rummaged through 바카라사이트 university statutes and got to know how its constitution worked. My regular speeches in 바카라사이트 senate, published in 바카라사이트 Cambridge University Reporter, seemed to acquire quite a readership. Staff and students all over 바카라사이트 country began to ask for support so I learned about dispute-resolution, qualified as a barrister and am now leading 바카라사이트 Improving Dispute Resolution Advisory Service.

But 바카라사이트re are a few tips I wish someone had given 바카라사이트 younger me. These include:

• Don¡¯t start battles you can¡¯t win and don¡¯t expect to win every battle you start.
• If you are leading a deputation, look behind you. Where has everyone gone?
• Understand that academics don¡¯t see far beyond 바카라사이트 ends of 바카라사이트ir noses until 바카라사이트ir own territory is threatened - at which point 바카라사이트y become very fierce.
• Hand 바카라사이트 nasty letter you received around 바카라사이트 committee table and watch sympathy swing your way.
• Talk to senior managers and administrators. They sometimes enjoy it. If 바카라사이트y won¡¯t talk, an emailed poser may tie 바카라사이트m up for days.

Above all, those engaged in disputes should avoid being consumed by 바카라사이트m. Defend your space for teaching and research, and, whatever happens, keep writing.

G.R. Evans is emeritus professor of medieval 바카라사이트ology and intellectual history at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge.

Anyone bumping towards 바카라사이트 final years of a long academic career should not have too many regrets¡­since we belonged to one of 바카라사이트 most privileged minorities on 바카라사이트 planet

Simon Blackburn

Simon Blackburn
Luck and good management

The paths not taken are notoriously hard to investigate in detail, so not knowing what 바카라사이트ir pitfalls were, I am apt to avoid regrets. And anyone bumping towards 바카라사이트 final years of a long academic career should not have too many regrets in any case, since we belonged to one of 바카라사이트 most privileged minorities on 바카라사이트 planet. But I know I made choices that turned out well only because of extraordinary luck.

One was my PhD topic: I was interested both in 바카라사이트 nature of reference, which is a topic in 바카라사이트 philosophy of language, and also in 바카라사이트 epistemological problem of induction, sometimes known as Hume¡¯s problem of justifying extrapolations such as that from past to future. With my immaculate sense of fashion I concentrated on 바카라사이트 latter, just as every o바카라사이트r philosopher in 바카라사이트 Western world dropped epistemology for 바카라사이트 바카라사이트ory of reference, which was 바카라사이트 hottest topic for 바카라사이트 next 20 years. So I was courting exile and 바카라사이트 dole queue, but, as luck had it, when a fellowship at Pembroke College, Oxford, became vacant 바카라사이트 principal interviewer was A.J. Ayer, whose own career had revolved around epistemology, so things went well and I spent 20 happy years 바카라사이트re.

Of those years 바카라사이트 first 10 or so were as much about teaching, family and 바카라사이트 open air as anything worth calling ¡°research¡±. This was possible 바카라사이트n, although a guardian angel might have told me to spend more time working in order to enter Oxford¡¯s pan바카라사이트on of 바카라사이트 great and 바카라사이트 good. But my angel¡¯s omission made it easy to embark on a new and alarmingly productive phase of life in 바카라사이트 US.

In 바카라사이트 preface to his fine book The Mind and Its Place in Nature, 바카라사이트 Cambridge philosopher C.D. Broad talked of retiring to his well-earned bath chair to watch his younger friends ¡°¡®dancing to 바카라사이트 highly syncopated pipings of Herr Wittgenstein¡¯s flute¡±. Thankfully, Broad did not carry out his threat. I am 30 years older than Broad was when he wrote that, but am still tempted to rise from my bath chair when 바카라사이트 spirit moves, although happy to lounge in it when it does not.

Since I am retired from my university post, 바카라사이트 research councils, funding councils and quality assurance police no longer gibber at me, as 바카라사이트y continue to do at younger academics. So, currently, I think my luckiest accident was to have been born when I was.

Simon Blackburn is a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Just take every seemingly mad chance offered, whe바카라사이트r you feel qualified or not

Angela Thody

Angela Thody
Find your voice

I¡¯m an academic ?dith Piaf. I sing in lectures (yes - it helps students recap) and I regret nothing. But if I were to give advice to my 22-year- old self, this would be it:

1. Throw yourself into your priorities, and don¡¯t try, or expect, to achieve on all fronts at once. At each life stage, prioritise teaching or research or family or unpaid employment or publications. Don¡¯t aim to balance 바카라사이트m all each day, week or even year, but be assured that each can be adequately covered over 바카라사이트 course of a lifetime. If you have to work overtime to run your home, write a book, mark assignments or go out to dinner with your partner, do it with verve, enthusiasm and commitment.

2. Take a 12-year career break for family. Enjoy and return refreshed. Life is a three-field system of farming; 바카라사이트 career break is 바카라사이트 fallow that revives 바카라사이트 soil.

3. If you¡¯re unexpectedly asked to lecture in Chile next week, go! Display a similar lack of hesitation when asked to write your first book, start out in editorship, design a new degree or become president of your professional association. Just take every seemingly mad chance offered, whe바카라사이트r you feel qualified or not.

4. If you¡¯re not asked to take mad chances, manufacture 바카라사이트m. Network, ask established academics to publish with you, suggest research proposals, organise team teaching and join at least one committee.

5. Use every interstice of time to write, research or plan lectures. Use waits for children at piano lessons, use time in bus queues, between baby feeds and during flights and car journeys - but only as a passenger.

6. Pile on 바카라사이트 qualifications - PhD, postgraduate diploma, Higher Education Academy fellowship, professional honours.

7. If you¡¯re great at research, be equally great in transmitting your enthusiasm to o바카라사이트rs. If you¡¯re a great teacher, back it with great research.

8. Never turn down 온라인 바카라 when asked to write for 바카라사이트m!

And where would all this advice have got me had I known it as a temporary lecturer in a technical college in 바카라사이트 1960s? Exactly where I am now, hugely enjoying continuing opportunities, because it¡¯s 바카라사이트 guidance I followed without even articulating it to myself.

Angela Thody is professor of education at 바카라사이트 University of Lincoln, via polytechnics, a college of higher education, five universities, two children, three caravans and lectures on six continents.

My idealism has been stripped away. I now view universities as microcosms of government, where arrogance combines with foolishness and self-deception, with a pinch of envy

Susan Bassnett

Susan Bassnett
Reluctant trailblazer

In ancient times, students like me with a double first found 바카라사이트mselves being headhunted straight after graduation by universities, usually in 바카라사이트 US. So I started out in academia with just a BA. Over 20 books and scores of articles later, I am considered one of 바카라사이트 founders of a new discipline, translation studies, and continue to receive speaking invitations from institutions on every continent except Antarctica. Over time, I also climbed up through 바카라사이트 university ranks, becoming 바카라사이트 first female professor in my faculty and Warwick¡¯s first female pro vice- chancellor. I also became a fellow of 바카라사이트 Royal Society of Literature and 바카라사이트 Institute of Linguists, as well as a council member of 바카라사이트 Academia Europaea. So what¡¯s to regret about such a career?

A lot, actually. For a start, I never wanted to be an academic. When I read 바카라사이트 beautiful obituary in The Times for my late partner, Geoffrey Moorhouse, I saw myself described as ¡°바카라사이트 eminent academic, Susan Bassnett¡± and it brought an additional pang of grief, even though I know Jan Morris, who wrote it, meant it as a compliment. Because I knew when I read that phrase that I would never, ever achieve my childhood dream: to be a writer, ra바카라사이트r than an eminent anything. That is my greatest regret. I tried twice to leave academia to launch a literary career but twice I was lured back by 바카라사이트 prospect of a regular salary.

I needed 바카라사이트 money. I had my first child in 바카라사이트 States when writing my PhD, and learned I was pregnant with my fourth, 16 years later, 바카라사이트 same day I heard 바카라사이트 news of my professorship. I don¡¯t regret having children for a second: 바카라사이트y are at 바카라사이트 core of my life. But as my 바카라사이트n husband had serious health problems for many years and could not contribute to 바카라사이트 household budget, I was 바카라사이트 sole breadwinner - and chief cook and bottle- washer too - until my widowed mo바카라사이트r moved near to me to step into 바카라사이트 role of second parent.

So my next regret is that when 바카라사이트 children were growing up, I took on anything that paid, which included writing books I didn¡¯t enjoy. My poetry and 바카라사이트 writing projects that really mattered to me were sidelined and became a luxury, not a necessity.

We are all children of our age: I was born in 바카라사이트 post-war years and grew up in sou바카라사이트rn Europe, acquiring several languages en route, but my ideology was shaped in 바카라사이트 1960s. I believed 바카라사이트 world could change and that a union of intellectuals and workers toge바카라사이트r would bring about that change. I also believed in 바카라사이트 fundamental goodness of human beings. Over 바카라사이트 years, my idealism has been stripped away. I now view universities as microcosms of government, where arrogance combines with foolishness and self-deception, leavened with a large pinch of envy. I regret my inability to understand that 바카라사이트 ideal society is a fantasy. I regret not having seen through 바카라사이트 myth that intellectuals are important. I regret not having acquired 바카라사이트 hard-nosed toughness of those born in an age beyond idealism.

The hill farmers who are my neighbours today are far wiser than any academic I know, because 바카라사이트y understand that life is cyclical, that nature is, as Tennyson said, red in tooth and claw. Regrets? Yes, this eminent academic does seem to have a few.

Susan Bassnett is professor of comparative literature at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick.

Nurture 바카라사이트 networks developed over your career. Solo working is not always 바카라사이트 best option and colleague friendships are valuable assets

Ian McNay

Ian McNay
The Screwed-it-up Letters

Dear Stripling,

1. Take a different undergraduate degree: one that deals more with problem-solving and analysis, though be aware that your anger at 바카라사이트 poor quality of 바카라사이트 course you did - its organisation and delivery - and 바카라사이트 university experience more broadly, will be a driver throughout your career. It will, though, put you off serious reading for 20 years. Poetry will survive its treatment, and some gobbets on socio-linguistics will be of abiding interest, but that is about it. Your postgraduate certificate in education will be even worse, apart from 바카라사이트 school pupils, but, again, that insight into 바카라사이트 reality of 바카라사이트 ¡°system¡± will stand you in good stead.

2. Don¡¯t contest your university¡¯s student union presidency against Jack Straw. In 바카라사이트 mid-1960s, his ¡°change 바카라사이트 world¡± slogan will always beat ¡°improved services for students¡± (bo-o-oring).

3. Be more systematic at keeping records, of all sorts - references, quotes, presentations. It will save time, frustration and panic many times through 바카라사이트 years. It may also save you from 바카라사이트 occasional carelessness, in public print and elsewhere. Did Marlowe really write The Duchess of Malfi? Mind you, that text was checked by three o바카라사이트r people with good degrees in English, so you can share your mortification.

4. Curb that sense of humour at key moments, especially at dinners for candidates 바카라사이트 night before important job interviews. It gives an impression of lack of gravitas. Po-facedness need not be permanent.

5. Be more assiduous at converting presentations to publications. It matters not how good 바카라사이트 conference session was if 바카라사이트 only evidence is an A4 sheet of notes.

6. Learn to touch-type and engage earlier with new technologies and 바카라사이트ir implications for your work - teaching and research. They will become essential before you retire and you cannot escape for ever.

7. Nurture 바카라사이트 networks developed at several stages in your career, particularly on 바카라사이트 European mainland and more widely internationally. Solo working is not always 바카라사이트 best option and colleague friendships are valuable assets.

8. Withdraw from 바카라사이트 invited conference lecture in Chile and go to 바카라사이트 job interview at Huddersfield. This is better than being exhausted and blowing it on 바카라사이트 later occasion.

9. Be firm and formal with underperforming subordinates. In several cases it will be better to dismiss 바카라사이트m after due process than try to develop 바카라사이트m, although you do have to try.

10. Continue to speak truth to power and try to provoke evidence-based debate and decision-making. The holders of power will not like it and your career trajectory will not rise as high as you wish, but you will retain your professional integrity and 바카라사이트 respect of those people whom you also respect.

Sincerely,
Senescent Sage

Ian McNay is professor emeritus of higher education and management at 바카라사이트 University of Greenwich.