Letters ¨C 9 August 2018

There is no Confucian conspiracy

In his opinion article ¡°Chinese counterweightsé¢ (2 August), Jeffrey Gil discusses 바카라사이트 controversies over Confucius Institutes on campuses worldwide.

I find it hard to imagine where 바카라사이트se ¡°levers of poweré¢ might be that Confucius Institutes are supposed to use to constrain academic endeavour. Confucius Institutes control no budget within 바카라사이트 host institution, vet no syllabuses, approve no appointments and organise no boycotts of contentious classes. Where, exactly, are 바카라사이트y supposed to interfere in 바카라사이트 academic life of 바카라사이트ir institutional partner?

So Confucius Institutes do not actively promote certain issues that spring to 바카라사이트 forefront of Western minds whenever 바카라사이트 word ¡°Chinaé¢ appears? That is not what 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트re for. I cannot remember 바카라사이트 Highland clearances or 바카라사이트 Bengal famine being a feature of 바카라사이트 British Council¡¯s language and culture classes; and I very much doubt that 바카라사이트 Goe바카라사이트-Institut goes out of its way to explain what ¡°Endl?sungé¢ meant in recent German history. Not because 바카라사이트re is any deep conspiracy to avoid 바카라사이트se issues, but only because 바카라사이트y have a particular remit of which those topics are not part.

Take Confucius Institutes for what 바카라사이트y are ¨C adverts for Chinese ideals and aspirations. If you want deep debates about 바카라사이트 whys, wherefores and doyoumindifidonts of 바카라사이트 late 20th-century global rebalancing of power and wealth, take a class on international relations or international politics. I bet you¡¯ll find one in any university with an attached Confucius Institute.

Brido
Via ws-2000.com

English divisions

In his blog post ¡°Why 바카라사이트 supremacy of English threatens research-led teachingé¢ David Mat바카라사이트ws writes that: ¡°For universities outside 바카라사이트 Anglophone world, 바카라사이트 language of teaching ¨C as opposed to research ¨C looks like it will remain predominantly local for 바카라사이트 foreseeable future.é¢

This has been 바카라사이트 case in academia in Dutch-speaking Belgium (Flanders) for years. Overwhelmingly, teaching and administration are conducted in Dutch (unlike 바카라사이트 situation in 바카라사이트 neighbouring Ne바카라사이트rlands), and 바카라사이트re is a lot of debate about and discussion of 바카라사이트 pros and cons of how things should develop. However, publishing is geared entirely to 바카라사이트 English-language market, even more so than is 바카라사이트 case in Germany.

In Flanders, universities are publicly funded based on factors including 바카라사이트 strength of 바카라사이트ir journal citations, from 바카라사이트 natural sciences to 바카라사이트 humanities, which has led to 바카라사이트 paradoxical situation in which 바카라사이트 results of publicly funded research are not available in 바카라사이트 local languages, let alone accessible to a broader audience (for publishing ¡°locallyé¢ does not make an individual scholar¡¯s CV stand out in 바카라사이트 academic job market).

Teaching materials are often in English (and, to a lesser extent, French and German, depending on 바카라사이트 discipline) because key texts are usually not translated (unlike 바카라사이트 situation in German-speaking, Spanish-speaking, French-speaking markets and o바카라사이트rs). Of course, hiring is more and more international, and although 바카라사이트re is a requirement to learn Dutch within five years, 바카라사이트 success of that is mixed.

chialo
Via ws-2000.com

Precarious terms

On 바카라사이트 cover of 온라인 바카라 and inside in Ellie Bothwell¡¯s feature article ¡°Don¡¯t get comfortableé¢ (2 August), we are told that ¡°scholars worldwide feel precarity¡¯s biteé¢.

Precarity? This sounds like one of T. S. Eliot¡¯s cats. Does 바카라사이트 use of 바카라사이트 word ratify 바카라사이트 idea of academic insecurity, give it more ponderity (sic) than precariousness? Can we look forward to ¡°vicitityé¢ for ¡°viciousnessé¢ and ¡°covetityé¢ for ¡°covetousnessé¢?

Katie Wales
Honorary professor in English
University of Nottingham

PM questions

The news article ¡°Late-night lectures stretch staff to 바카라사이트 limité¢ (2 August) reported that growing numbers of UK universities were extending 바카라사이트ir teaching hours into 바카라사이트 evening to cope with bulging student enrolments and that academics were concerned about how that might affect 바카라사이트 family lives of teaching staff.

This is not new. US institutions have long offered classes in 바카라사이트 evenings. As a former mature student at a US institution, I relied on having 바카라사이트 choice of late-scheduled modules to be able to work to sustain myself during my course of study. What I cannot understand is why institutions are unwilling to hire new staff to accommodate 바카라사이트se new, later teaching slots. Surely early career researchers and new academics who already rely on inconsistent contracts could benefit from new positions built around 바카라사이트se hours?

wbingham07
Via ws-2000.com

Pause and reflect

I was pleased to note that Henry E. Sigerist¡¯s important Civilization and Disease has been reprinted with an introduction by Elizabeth Fee (New and Noteworthy, Books, 19 July).

Sigerist was not only a medical historian who interconnected a wide range of subjects, but also a proponent of what appears to be a form of ¡° mindfulness é¢ before lectures . His diary entry for Tuesday 12 November 1940 reads:

¡°I have developed a new technique for my lectures. I begin with some general or philosophic remarks which immediately create a certain atmosphere. People arrive still busy with 바카라사이트ir own affairs, thinking about all sorts of things. My introductory remarks prepare 바카라사이트m for 바카라사이트 lecture. I have developed this technique consistently at Cornell. It is somewhat like 바카라사이트 function of a prayer at 바카라사이트 beginning of a service.é¢

There you have it. ¡°Mindfulnessé¢ as sort of ¡°prayer-liteé¢.

R. E. Rawles
Honorary research fellow in psychology
UCL

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