The lame lament of the summertime academic
My latest commentary for Marketplace discusses what, exactly, academics do during the summer, since, after all, we’re not teaching. Actually, it’s not really a commentary — it’s a debate with my younger, wealthier, 80-hour-work-week brother, who frequently asks me how my “job” is going. The debate was intended to be humorous, but this kind of needling is ...
My latest commentary for Marketplace discusses what, exactly, academics do during the summer, since, after all, we're not teaching. Actually, it's not really a commentary -- it's a debate with my younger, wealthier, 80-hour-work-week brother, who frequently asks me how my "job" is going. The debate was intended to be humorous, but this kind of needling is hardly unique to me. Go check out Michael Berube on this point as well. Meself, I'm comfortable with the needling, since 90% of the time I think my job is awesome. During the summer, I’m getting paid to sit in a room and read think – and then respond to what I've read, or write down a few things that I think. I can do this largely on my own schedule. I can sleep late, take a day off, or even go to a matinee movie. Of course, to do this I'll also be working long after my family has gone to sleep. The point is, I largely love what I do, and I earn a decent living doing it. This really rankles people who believe that a job must be defined as soul-crushing. Anyway, listen to the dialogue -- I managed to shoehorn my mother's brisket into it. UPDATE: Laura McKenna has a fine post on why the academic writing process can be hard work: There something tortuous about this process. Each sentence requires a certain amount of blood letting. One paragraph comes out easily, but keeping my ADHD riddled mind focused enough to write a second and third paragraph requires a mental whipping. Editing makes waterboarding look good.
My latest commentary for Marketplace discusses what, exactly, academics do during the summer, since, after all, we’re not teaching. Actually, it’s not really a commentary — it’s a debate with my younger, wealthier, 80-hour-work-week brother, who frequently asks me how my “job” is going. The debate was intended to be humorous, but this kind of needling is hardly unique to me. Go check out Michael Berube on this point as well. Meself, I’m comfortable with the needling, since 90% of the time I think my job is awesome. During the summer, I’m getting paid to sit in a room and read think – and then respond to what I’ve read, or write down a few things that I think. I can do this largely on my own schedule. I can sleep late, take a day off, or even go to a matinee movie. Of course, to do this I’ll also be working long after my family has gone to sleep. The point is, I largely love what I do, and I earn a decent living doing it. This really rankles people who believe that a job must be defined as soul-crushing. Anyway, listen to the dialogue — I managed to shoehorn my mother’s brisket into it. UPDATE: Laura McKenna has a fine post on why the academic writing process can be hard work:
There something tortuous about this process. Each sentence requires a certain amount of blood letting. One paragraph comes out easily, but keeping my ADHD riddled mind focused enough to write a second and third paragraph requires a mental whipping. Editing makes waterboarding look good.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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