PSN Seminar on The Search for Meaning in Academic Life
Gary Marx has written a thought provoking essay listing 37 moral
imperatives for aspiring sociologists which he would like to discuss
with others interested in the connections between intellectual
endeavours and one's personal life. For that purpose, we have organized
this e-seminar, the first of what we hope will be a number of creative
and successful discussions around work written by members of PSN, the
Progressive Sociologist Network.
Date: February 18 - 24, 1998
Format: To participate in the seminar, send mail to
LISTPROC@csf.colorado.edu
in the message proper write
sub psn-seminars firstname lastname
Gary Marx will be on line and the discussion will be informal at the
beginning. If the number of subscribers is large and the number of daily
messages increase accordingly, the seminar will become moderated, so that
only the best messages are posted. The proceedings will archived in the
PSN archives.
Location: you can find the seminar papers at the following url
http://csf.colorado.edu/psn/seminars
or you can send mail to listproc@csf.colorado.edu
with this message:
get psn-seminars aspiring-sociologists
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
The careers and lives that shape the work we do as academics are
rarely discussed in the classroom or in our writing. There are of course
good reasons for this. But in our training of graduate students and
mentoring those starting out we need to give greater attention to making
explicit the insights and wisdom that we pass on informally. In general, I
find the image of the profession presented to our students to be unduly
timid, antiseptic, laundered, formal and scholastic.
It is important for teachers and mentors to discuss the more
personal and professional sides of the discipline, even as we encourage
students to find their own answers. We need to see the bigger picture, to
locate ourselves within it, to reflect on why and how we do our work and
on what gives meaning to our lives. A little anticipatory socialization
might prevent many a mid-life crisis.
This on-line seminar will discuss the search for meaning in
academic lives taking off from a series of papers by Gary T. Marx. It
primarily addresses those who have the good fortune to find permanent
academic jobs. A core document for the discussion is "Of Methods and
Manners for Aspiring Sociologists: 37 Moral Imperatives", The American
Sociologist, Spring 1977. Parts of three other relevant papers may also be
found on the web page created for the seminar: "Second Thoughts and
Enduring Tensions" from "Recent Developments in Undercover Policing" on
unresolved issues and choices in finishing a large research project in T.
Blomberg and S. Cohen, Punishment and Social Control: Essays in Honor of
Sheldon Messinger, 1995 Aldyne de Gruyter); "Seven Characteristics of
Success" from "Reflections on Academic Success and Failure Making It,
Forsaking It, Reshaping It" in B. Berger, Authors of Their Own Lives,
1990, Univ. of California Press; "Introduction" in Muckraking Sociology
Research as Social Criticism, 1972 Transaction Books on social relevance
and social research.
A full version of the papers can be found at
http://socsci.colorado.edu/~marxg/garyhome.html
Gary Marx is interested in learning what kinds of mentoring advice
others offer and welcomes criticism of this material and suggestions
for further reading.
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