tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post8205851301604923259..comments2024-01-02T20:31:43.915-06:00Comments on In Medias Res: My Professional Goal? To Be an Eccentric Genius ProfessorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-3049532329776174852013-02-16T10:41:49.709-06:002013-02-16T10:41:49.709-06:00I am a very crazy person myself,and I'm in my ...I am a very crazy person myself,and I'm in my Freashman year in college.I want to be a History Professor. Once I asked my Dad what it'd be like to be normal.He answered,"You will never know!" Also, I forget everyday things like to brush my teeth,and I wear the same clothes three days in a row sometimes more.I get really nuts at random times and laugh till I'm on my knees laughing at absolutely nothing. And I like old men,and i mean old! Am I a normal girl?Lindsaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-12661283856112414612010-10-14T21:58:25.520-05:002010-10-14T21:58:25.520-05:00I'd be really pissed if these incompetents des...I'd be really pissed if these incompetents described in the article still had jobs. I mean, I can teach the pants off those people, and I'm whacky as all get out but no tenure track job for me. (I'm fine where am at, so no pity party). My eccentricities include a) letting my students teach me dance moves b) ranting about Disney and gender c) a game called "pick a book" wherein students pick any book of my bookshelves and give me the title, I tell them the author, the argument and 2 or three books related to it, when I read it, and the year it was published give or take a few. Then again, high school students are easily impressed. Oh, and casually dropping the fact that white as I am, I once modeled for an African American hair magazine. <br />Western DAveAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-49354807335804693002010-10-13T18:12:57.843-05:002010-10-13T18:12:57.843-05:00Hector, he had been a missionary amongst the Maori...Hector, he had been a missionary amongst the Maori in New Zealand decades before, in the 1950s. He loved to tell stories about them, and their history with different Christian proselytizers over the years. He was a great storyteller, but I'm not sure he actually knew very much about their culture. He was also convinced that there was a hidden Christian heritage to those people, and that Christ would return first to them. He had no argument to back this up; just something he was convinced of. Really, he was a hoot.Russell Arben Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03366800726360134194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-12943895237481119322010-10-13T16:58:35.019-05:002010-10-13T16:58:35.019-05:00For the record, what did the professor think about...For the record, what did the professor think about the theological destiny of the Maori people? <br /><br />Maori culture had its creepy aspects, including apparently widespread cannibalism. Though of course no culture can be described as entirely good or evil, and you find all sorts of good and evil people within any culture one cares to mention.Hectorhttp://nsjaikumar@hotmail.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-22329028610991549932010-10-13T16:54:06.116-05:002010-10-13T16:54:06.116-05:00Re: and I liked someone's suggestion to keep w...Re: and I liked someone's suggestion to keep weird animal specimens in jars around the office.<br /><br />Well, my current hope is to eventually be a professor (and yes, I'm in the natural sciences) so perhaps I should start doing this. I do have a giant peacock feather adorning my grad-student cubicle, so perhaps that's a good start. :)<br /><br />Re: If you need more, I suggest wearing shirts that really don't need to be tucked in (think polo shirts) and tucking in only half, and also wiping off chalk boards with your hands rather than an ereaser and then wiping the dust all over yourself, especially in your beard and hair.<br /><br />The curious thing is that I do these already and never though twice about them. Especially the 'wiping chalk boards with my hand' (though I don't have a beard).Hectorhttp://www.patriabolivariana2008.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-56374004612604504242010-10-13T12:52:09.807-05:002010-10-13T12:52:09.807-05:00Yeah, I'm a spoilsport. But I do remember a fe...Yeah, I'm a spoilsport. But I do remember a few years ago another professor-blogger was pondering the same question, and I liked someone's suggestion to keep weird animal specimens in jars around the office. It might be more fitting for a natural scientist than a political scientist, but you can get creative. Maybe you can say one of them is a fragment of Karl Marx's brain you're keeping as a relic, rumored to cause miraculous conversions of free-market ideologues whenever they lay hands on it.Camassiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09183087564923218343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-25414822152981288572010-10-13T08:42:37.362-05:002010-10-13T08:42:37.362-05:00To quote Monty Python, Camassia, ah, you're no...To quote Monty Python, Camassia, ah, you're no fun anymore. But of course, you're right to puncture the romanticizing of this stereotype. It's like those wonderful old stories about batty English Lords, or Jeeves and Wooster, or whatever: we laugh at them, but also would rather not live under them, because we know that the only reason such ineffectual tyrants were able to survive was because they had servants to do all the actual work. The fact these eccentric geniuses have had to learn to take care of themselves is a good thing.Russell Arben Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03366800726360134194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-2825932876461665982010-10-13T07:43:03.411-05:002010-10-13T07:43:03.411-05:00I am all in favor of eccentricities, but frankly t...I am all in favor of eccentricities, but frankly the article you linked to didn't give any examples of how the professors mentioned were visionaries or geniuses ... just that they were good for students to pull tricks on and tell funny stories about later. Also, my current job has impressed upon me how that sort of "genius" was enabled by an underpaid and largely female staff who managed the physical details of life so they didn't have to. In fact, if academia is like practically every other workplace out there, the computerization of the office and the subsequent reduction in secretaries may be a large factor in the disappearance of hopelessly out-of-it professors. And that may not be such a bad thing. In my experience as a student, the most important thing any professor could bring to class was enthusiasm for the subject, and for sharing it. In that respect, Russell, I'm sure you're just fine the way your are.Camassiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09183087564923218343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-44267437564320609292010-10-12T21:52:10.280-05:002010-10-12T21:52:10.280-05:00I can say that I've met only a few philosopher...I can say that I've met only a few philosophers (and a few more academics in general) who don't have at least one serious personality quirk. Many of them are not charming, either, and most don't realize they have them. (This may well apply to me, too, I'll admit.) So, maybe you have this already and just don't know it. If you need more, I suggest wearing shirts that really don't need to be tucked in (think polo shirts) and tucking in only half, and also wiping off chalk boards with your hands rather than an ereaser and then wiping the dust all over yourself, especially in your beard and hair. Those would be harmless enough, even if common.Matthttp://www.law.upenn.edu/cf/faculty/mlister/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-77398213134433756272010-10-12T21:03:25.693-05:002010-10-12T21:03:25.693-05:00Starting a few years ago, I told my wife that I ne...Starting a few years ago, I told my wife that I needed to start working on my professorial idiosyncracy....that trait or habit that only a tenured prof could get away with. So far, all I have is the well-known characteristic of never, ever wearing ties. And I, like you, am a little disappointed by my lack of creativity.Craignoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-43142925735996526142010-10-12T20:21:00.815-05:002010-10-12T20:21:00.815-05:00I suppose that blogging can't be a classroom e...I suppose that blogging can't be a classroom eccentricity, can it?<br /><br />My impression (at least for biology) is that academia has become increasingly "professionalized". There are more and more professors, and the number of PhD's have increased even more quickly (increasing competition for each spot).<br /><br />Also, research grants have become bigger, meaning that research groups are bigger and professors are selected more for their managerial abilities than they used to be (though many of them are still horrible managers).Ricketsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02579799843541826447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-46742070616087701022010-10-12T18:59:10.510-05:002010-10-12T18:59:10.510-05:00I had one prof who was fond of using the following...I had one prof who was fond of using the following at various points, for emphasis: "you can kiss my --- til I bark like a fox up a tall oak tree." It was often said at, well let's just say disconcerting times. Another smoked the proverbial pipe. It rarely stayed lit, but his teeth were a deep brown, the hair Einstein-like, late for class - made the class stay late, etc. These guys were picturesque. And you're right. Leveling is the word.WVShttp://boaporg.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com