Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Last Meme Before Lent

Last Memes Before Lent


Hey, I always give up a couple things ...



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

This is kinda sad ... definitely need to go more places!



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Monday, February 27, 2006

A little update

A little update



Well, I've officially accepted the position. I'm really happy. I've received welcome letters from future colleagues ... wow! And I'm feeling really chuffed because I got a call on Saturday with an invitation for a campus interview and an e-mail a few minutes ago asking if I were interested in a phone interview. I know I've made the right decision, too, because when I turned down the interviews, there was no "but what if ..." feeling.

But now that I don't have to look for a job, I really need to get working. So if I keep a relatively low profile for the next little while, it's because I'm trying to write. I've set myself a draft date for the end of March -- that'll be interesting -- so I have April to revise. Yipes!

In Other News



Really looking for someone to hold the next Ancient/Medieval Carnivalesque -- in March! Please, please, please, does someone want to do it? Remember, Carnivalesque is often interdisciplinary, so feel free to step in!

Saturday, February 25, 2006

On Pseudonymity

On Pseudonymity


Yeah, it's all over the place again. And you know what? I did tell one of the people on the hiring committee at SLAC I had a blog, and she didn't care. But I'm not going to be advertising it, and I expect I'll still be blogging under this nom de plume. Because, you know, my pseudonym isn't all about hiding from the world. It's a persona that tends to reveal certain parts of me much more than others. One of those parts is the academic me, but it is not the professional me. By that, I mean that I cannot really separate myself as a person from myself as a teacher and wannabe- successful-and-respected-by-my-peers (or at least someone not considered an idiot) academic. I'm never going to be a super-scholar, and that's not what motivates me. I'm motivated by the facts that I love History -- especially my period -- and I love the business of teaching students to think like historians. I think that's the me that is ADM -- along with lots of professional insecurities I'm not afraid to put out there. But there is a lot more that I don't write about, because, well, this is public, people. The personal things I choose to write about are things that are very much connected to how I deal with being ADM. They're things I don't mind sharing with people I consider colleagues and friends.

But there is sometimes a false intimacy created by the internets. I've tried hard in my blogging not to cross that line, something that is very difficult for the RL, whole ADM, because I tend to divulge more than might be wise. So there is a lot I don't blog. And there's a lot I don't think is appropriate for me to blog, because it doesn't fit my ideas of professional or ethical behavior. A lot of self-censorship happens here.

Still, blogging has been great for me. Blogging pseudonymously has been better. This is why: Often in the RL world of academia, we are judged by the kind of jobs we have, and the kinds of work we do. And, of course, how much of it we do. I'm a medievalist -- hierarchies work for me. But I've also been around long enough to know that there are lots of idiots who have great name recognition and publication lists that are miles long, and some really smart and nice people who will never be on the academics' "A-list." Blogging as ADM has allowed me to interact with colleagues in my own field and in other disciplines as an equal. Lots of these people I might never have met otherwise, because the connections one makes as an adjunct mostly at CCs are vastly different than those one makes if one is a productive scholar at a reputable college or university. That's how it is. The system cuts out the people considered 'unworthy' (which, if you've ever taught at a good CC or met a lot of people scraping by as adjuncts, you know is just bullshit in at least 2/3 of the cases). Blogging let me beat the system.

OK -- I should also say that it wasn't just blogging. I happen to be very fortunate in that the Late Antique/Early Medieval community seems to be one of the warmest and most friendly academic circles around. Going to their conferences did wonders for making me feel like I was still a member of a larger community of really smart and cool people, as well as making me feel guilty for not being more productive! But those conferences are rare. Blogging helps me to feel that I am a member of the larger academic community on a daily basis. It keeps me accountable to myself. It makes me want to push myself to do well, rather than settling into low gear and just getting by with my RL colleagues and students knowing I'm a kick-ass teacher and colleague. Yep -- that's me -- motivated by peer pressure. I'm joining a very small department. I really like the people. But in many ways, SLAC will be more of a challenge. I'll have to be more actively productive with equally minimal library facilities, and no one else on the campus who has much of a clue as to what I do. i therefore anticipate that I'll be blogging as ADM for a good long while.

But in the meantime, and this is why I started this post, at Kzoo I will be outing myself to other bloggers who are willing to keep my not-all-that-secret identity on the down-low. I'll be meeting a bunch of my blogfriends IRL anyway, and there's a blogger panel where I know many of the panelists IRL or beyond the blog world. It kinda makes sense, since most of the people I know there are people I "know" from blogging or haven't seen in close to 20 years! So if you're a blogger, feel free to ask. See you there. Right now, I'm going to wait for the migraine that just hit to go away, and work on the Kzoo paper, so I don't embarrass myself in front of y'all!

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Ahem

ahem



I am in shock. Not exactly sure how I feel -- there's so much to think about. Sad and ecstatic all at once. I can now stop looking, if I like. Nothing in writing yet, and I have the weekend to think (and look over the holdins in the library so I can negotiate some purchases to make sure I can teach my classes ... but, yeah. Got to talk to the other places in the running, too, but I don't know that they can move fast enough to make me turn down a sure thing. Yay, SLAC!

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

One reason I like my department chair

One reason I like my department chair ... he sends me funny stuff!



It's long so I've put it below the cut. And I don't know who wrote it, but it's pretty funny, I think. I give you ... the l33t version of WWII.




Hitler[AoE] has joined the game.*
*Eisenhower has joined the game.*
*paTTon has joined the game.*
*Churchill has joined the game.*
*benny-tow has joined the game.*
*T0J0 has joined the game.*
*Roosevelt has joined the game.*
*Stalin has joined the game.*
*deGaulle has joined the game.*
Roosevelt: hey sup
T0J0: y0
Stalin: hi
Churchill: hi
Hitler[AoE]: cool, i start with panzer tanks!
paTTon: lol more like panzy tanks
T0JO: lol
Roosevelt: o this fockin sucks i got a depression!
benny-tow: haha america sux
Stalin: hey hitler you dont fight me i dont fight u, cool?
Hitler[AoE]; sure whatever
Stalin: cool
deGaulle: **** Hitler rushed some1 help
Hitler[AoE]: lol byebye frenchy
Roosevelt: i dont got **** to help, sry
Churchill: wtf the luftwaffle is attacking me
Roosevelt: get antiair guns
Churchill: i cant afford them
benny-tow: u n00bs know what team talk is?
paTTon: stfu
Roosevelt: o yah hit the navajo button guys
deGaulle: eisenhower ur worthless come help me quick
Eisenhower: i cant do **** til rosevelt gives me an army
paTTon: yah hurry the fock up
Churchill: d00d im gettin pounded
deGaulle: this is fockin weak u guys suck
*deGaulle has left the game.*
Roosevelt: im gonna attack the axis k?
benny-tow: with what? ur wheelchair?
benny-tow: lol did u mess up ur legs AND ur head?
Hitler[AoE]: ROFLMAO
T0J0: lol o no america im comin 4 u
Roosevelt: wtf! thats bullsh1t u fags im gunna kick ur asses
T0JO: not without ur harbors u wont! lol
Roosevelt: u little biotch ill get u
Hitler[AoE]: wtf
Hitler[AoE]: america hax, u had depression and now u got a huge fockin army
Hitler[AoE]: thats bullsh1t u hacker
Churchill: lol no more france for u hitler
Hitler[AoE]: tojo help me!
T0J0: wtf u want me to do, im on the other side of the world retard
Hitler[AoE]: fine ill clear you a path
Stalin: WTF u arsshoel! WE HAD A FoCKIN TRUCE
Hitler[AoE]: i changed my mind lol
benny-tow: haha
benny-tow: hey ur losing ur guys in africa im gonna need help in italy soon sum1
T0J0: o **** i cant help u i got my hands full
Hitler[AoE]: im 2 busy 2 help
Roosevelt: yah thats right ***** im comin for ya
Stalin: church help me
Churchill: like u helped me before? sure ill just sit here
Stalin: dont be an arss
Churchill: dont be a commie. oops too late
Eisenhower: LOL
benny-tow: hahahh oh sh1t help
Hitler: o man ur focked
paTTon: oh what now biotch
Roosevelt: whos the cripple now lol
*benny-tow has been eliminated.*
benny-tow: lame
Roosevelt: gj patton
paTTon: thnx
Hitler[AoE]: WTF eisenhower hax hes killing all my sh1t
Hitler[AoE]: quit u hacker so u dont ruin my record
Eisenhower: Nuts!
benny~tow: wtf that mean?
Eisenhower: meant to say nutsack lol finger slipped
paTTon: coming to get u hitler u paper hanging hun cocksocker
Stalin: rofl
T0J0: HAHAHHAA
Hitler[AoE]: u guys are fockin gay
Hitler[AoE]: ur never getting in my city
*Hitler[AoE] has been eliminated.*
benny~tow: OMG u noob you killed yourself
Eisenhower: ROFLOLOLOL
Stalin: OMG LMAO!
Hitler[AoE]: WTF i didnt click there omg this game blows
*Hitler[AoE] has left the game*
paTTon: hahahhah
T0J0: WTF my teammates are n00bs
benny~tow: shut up noob
Roosevelt: haha wut a moron
paTTon: wtf am i gunna do now?
Eisenhower: yah me too
T0J0: why dont u attack me o thats right u dont got no ships lololol
Eisenhower: fock u
paTTon: lemme go thru ur base commie
Stalin: go to hell lol
paTTon: fock this sh1t im goin afk
Eisenhower: yah this is gay
*Roosevelt has left the game.*
Hitler[AoE]: wtf?
Eisenhower: sh1t now we need some1 to join
*tru_m4n has joined the game.*
tru_m4n: hi all
T0J0: hey
Stalin: sup
Churchill: hi
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY **** I GOT NUKES
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy ****holy****hoyl****!
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*
*The Allied team has won the game!*
Eisenhower: awesome!
Churchill: gg noobs no re
T0J0: thats bull**** u fockin suck
*T0J0 has left the game.*
*Eisenhower has left the game.*
Stalin: next game im not going to be on ur team, u guys didnt help me for ****
Churchill: wutever, we didnt need ur help neway dumbarss
tru_m4n: l8r all
benny~tow: bye
Churchill: l8r
Stalin: fock u all
tru_m4n: shut up commie lol
*tru_m4n has left the game.*
benny~tow: lololol u commie
Churchill: ROFL
Churchill: bye commie
*Churchill has left the game.*
*benny~tow has left the game.*
Stalin: i hate u all fags
*Stalin has left the game.*
paTTon: lol no1 is left
paTTon: weeeee i got a jeep
*paTTon has been eliminated.*
paTTon: o sh1t!
*paTTon has left the game.*

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

If I were a book rep ...

If I were a book rep ...


... I would do a couple of things. Like, I dunno ... check out in advance what the different faculty specialties were before wasting their time. Like ... oh ... sending an e-mail to make an appointment or come by during office hours. I used to be in sales, and you know? One of my guiding rules was not to piss off my customers before trying to sell them something. Go figure.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Too Funny!

Too Funny!


Dean Dad writes a freshman essay comparing and contrasting Curious George and Brokeback Mountain. Go. Read. Be both sad and amused at the horrible accuracy.

update: Via Ralph Luker at Cliopatria, this review of the latest by Chris Wickham and Julia MH Smith by RI Moore. If you are a medievalist, or teach about the Middle Ages, it's well worth reading.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Info from the Northeasterners

Info from the Northeasterners



I know I've got readers in the NY/NJ area. I've been invited to interview in your area. I know nothing about it, in terms of commute, geography, etc. I don't want to waste my time or theirs if I won't be able to afford to live there -- and the pay is acceptable for most parts of the country -- including where I live now. But I have a nasty feeling that it isn't so good for that part of the country. If anyone has advice, want's details, please email me at another_damned_medievalist AT hotmail DOT com. Thanks!

The post that went missing

The post that went missing


This post seems to have disappeared the last time I updated ... weird.

Help -- these are things I always forget to look up, till I pull out the stupid laws and have to teach them. First, does anybody have a reference for relative value of the denarii/solidi in the Salic laws (in today's money)?? Second, in the chrenecruda passage, does anyone know the significance of (or a reference for) the "jumping over the hedge" bit?

Saturday, February 18, 2006

More Personality Testing

More Personality Testing



As seen at Pilgrim/Heretic's:











Your #1 Match: ENFJ




The Giver

You strive to maintain harmony in relationships, and usually succeed.
Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections.
Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down.
You find the most energy and comfort in social situations ... where you shine.

You would make a good writer, human resources director, or psychologist.


Your #2 Match: ENFP




The Inspirer

You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends.
You are also unconventional, irreverant, and unimpressed by authority and rules.
Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives.
You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're quite the storyteller!

You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist.


Your #3 Match: ESFJ




The Caregiver

You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first.
A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change.
You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project.
You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people.

You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher.





Hmmmm. But I generally test as ENFJ or ENTJ, so I'm not all that surprised.


What a day



So, today I helped the Vulcanologist move into her new place. Also there were the Mathemetician, the Geographer (Vulcanologist's SO), Professor Kinsey, and a couple of other friends. V. lived in a second-story flat -- but only one short flight of stairs. The new flat?? A third-floor walk-up. Sooooo tired, and I didn't carry as much stuff as some, due to my expertise in truck packing. It took about three hours longer than I thought it would, but still, it was fun to be with people I really like. Then, over to X's, where I packed up some furniture and boxes of miscellaneous foods and odds and ends that he wanted to get rid of. He's moving in with the new gf, and frankly, I can use the furniture, even though it's all kind of a hodgepodge of styles. Still to do this weekend:
  • Clean up house a bit
  • mark review papers
  • mark the last three weeks of online discussion (oy!)
  • mark online quizzes for two classes
  • mark one class's journals
  • Give class participation grades for two classes for the half-term
  • re-read the Vitae Caroli Magni (yeah, it's in Latin in case a student googles them -- but you know the book -- two vitae translated by Thorpe
  • prep for talking about Absolutism next week
  • see about booking a ticket to fly across the continent for a job interview, if I can make it work
  • worry about whether I got the job at SLAC where I interviewed last week
  • Read for Kzoo paper
  • probably a bunch of other stuff I can't remember due to the brain fry.


Oh -- and tonight I need to watch the recent Julius Caesar TV series -- one of my students wrote a review of it, so I suppose I should watch it ...

If you don't hear from me for a couple of days, I'm just being swamped.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

More Updates

More Updates



I'm exhausted from flying out and interviewing all day. The good news: at the risk of jinxing it, I think it went pretty well. Other-coastal SLAC was very nice. I really liked the people, the students were very nice, and I think it's a good fit. I hope they do, too. I especially liked the women in the department -- junior colleague and emerita. Really seemed to click with them both -- and one is on the committee! In the meantime, I have a phone interview at CC in very desirable area tomorrow. So I'm on the long shortlist there. And with luck, I'll hear something about current position before I hear back from SLAC. Damn, I want them to offer me the job!

But until I can say more, please feel free to contribute to my Johari Window, if you haven't already.

profile pic

Monday, February 13, 2006

Interview Update

Interview Update



Well, I haven't heard anything from the phone interview people at midwestern SLAC. They were supposedly going to decide on the three candidates for campus visits on Friday, so I'm guessing I didn't make the cut. Hmph. I've noticed I'm fine in phone interviews with one person, but I'm just not so good at the ones with people being very quiet on the other end. There's a different dynamic. One person will give cues, and it's a conversation. Speakerphone interviews? Not so much.

And tomorrow I fly out for the next SLAC interview. Still madly prepping that one. Go figure it would be the week I finish marking and handing back midterms -- i.e., the week after the week from "no time at all" hell. Oh well. I've got a day and a half. Help!

I do like the look of other SLAC. They have been really nice, and the job is a really odd combination of fields that I can actually claim. Kind of nervous about the job talk, but otherwise, I'm probably OK. Except, of course, that I have no pictures. Bugger. I may have to get up way early to make transparencies tomorrow, because I have to go to the airport directly after class. Or, it'll just be low tech. The thing is, I really don't use a lot of images when I teach. It's probably one of my true weaknesses. I'm image-deficient. I just don't know how to pick them or use them properly. Oh hell. I'm screwed, aren't I?

Oh well ... maybe I'll get an interview for my present job in its TT incarnation.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Help from the Blogosphere

Help from the Blogosphere


I guess I should preface this by saying that I don't know Moreena, not even really in the blog sense. I don't read a lot of parenting blogs, but I know there's overlap here. And since some of the people who have made my life better over the past couple of years do know her, and they care about her a lot, that's reason enough for me to post about her. The short story -- academic family with child whose medical bills are ginormous. Insurance nightmares. It could happen to any of us. Please go to Scrivener for a good summary of what's happening, and what you can do to help. If you are looking for the names of other people involved, Phantom Scribbler and Peripatetic Polar Bear are helping to round up support. There are lots of others involved, but I think this is one of those 'small convergence of different circles' things. Anyway, if I keep rabbiting on, you'll not go check things out. So I'll stop. Especially before I get on my single-payer, national health insurance rant. No pressure. But really, this could be any of us.

Saturday Personality Tests!

Saturday Personality Tests



First, you can contribute to my Johari window, if you'd like, and even get your own. The server gets kind of overloaded, though, so it may take a few tries.

Then, as nicked from Pilgrim/Heretic:

Advanced Global Personality Test Results
Extraversion |||||||||||||||| 63%
Stability |||||||||||||| 53%
Orderliness |||||||||||| 43%
Accommodation |||||||||||||||| 63%
Interdependence |||||||||||||| 56%
Intellectual |||||||||||||||| 63%
Mystical |||||||||| 36%
Artistic |||||||||| 36%
Religious |||||||||||| 50%
Hedonism |||||||||||||||| 63%
Materialism |||||||||| 36%
Narcissism |||||||||||| 50%
Adventurousness |||| 16%
Work ethic |||||||||||||||| 70%
Self absorbed |||||||||||| 43%
Conflict seeking |||||||||| 36%
Need to dominate |||||||||||| 43%

Romantic |||||||||||||| 56%
Avoidant |||||| 30%
Anti-authority |||||||||||| 43%
Wealth || 10%
Dependency |||||||||||||||| 63%
Change averse |||||||||||||||| 63%
Cautiousness |||||||||||||||| 70%
Individuality || 10%
Sexuality |||||||||||||||| 70%
Peter pan complex |||||||||||||| 56%
Physical security |||||||||||||||||||| 83%
Physical Fitness |||||| 30%
Histrionic |||||||||||| 43%
Paranoia |||||| 30%
Vanity |||||| 23%
Hypersensitivity |||||||||||||| 56%
Female cliche |||||||||||| 50%
Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com





Stability results were medium which suggests you are moderately relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.
Orderliness results were moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment.
Extraversion results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.



trait snapshot:

expressive, open, self revealing, loves large parties, loud, social, outgoing, does not like social isolation, assertive, social chameleon, positive, always busy, likes to fit in, likes to stand out, enjoys leadership, brutally honest, trusting, optimistic, desires attention, dominant, aggressive, attachment prone, wants to be understood, realistic

in other news, Professor Kinsey is blogging again. See what a difference tenure and a different field can make to the blogging process!

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Blogfriend Meme-ry

Blogfriend Meme-ry


If there is someone on your blogroll who makes your world a better place just because that person exists and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence on your blog.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

good news, bad news

Good News, Bad News



The good news: We were discussing the Res Gestae in my freshman survey today. Initial skepticism ("how much of this is true, ADM?" "Well ... most of it is in fact 'true' ... but let's talk about that a bit") followed by ... "Hey, what's this tribunicia potestas?" "It's the powers of the tribune"

So a student asks what that means, and someone says, "wait ... he's not a pleb, is he?"

They really seemed to get into picking apart all of these things that look like good traditional Roman values, but just knock the mos maiorum all to hell and gone. A couple of them were grinning like crazy people at the sheet political brilliance of the man ...

Sorry -- that was kinda geeky, but I like it when the students start to say, "hey ... wait a minute!"

The bad news --

I was supposed to give back exams tonight, but the faculty meeting went far longer than I thought it would. Argh.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Every Bloody Time

Every Bloody Time



The interview is very soon. I have just been hit with the signs of migraine onset. Every bloody major interview in the last three years ...

update: Yay, meds! and no, I have absolutely no idea of how that went. It was either a complete wash or brilliant, but I don't know which. Didn't get any verbal or auditory cues. And don't know if they will think I'm a good fit for a school with a religious affiliation. I don't know that I would be at most schools, but this one I think would be a good fit. Their ideas of citizenship and participation in society are very much like my own, at least. I really liked the department chair. They did ask why they'd want to hire me -- I said that I was very good at what I do, and I was a good colleague. And that I tended to worry about being good enough to make sure I stayed that way.

Oh well -- we'll know by the end of the week if I got the brass ring of the campus interview or crashed and burned. I'm hoping for the brass ring. From what I could tell, I'd like a second date.

Crossing Fingers

Crossing Fingers


Phone interview directly after teaching. Wish me luck, please!

Just think -- if I get a job, I can go back to blogging about history and teaching!

Monday, February 06, 2006

Pet Peeve

Pet Peeve


In my world "evidence" and "reference" are still nouns. Please smack me if you hear/see me use them as verbs. Thank you.

Will it ever end??

Will it ever end??



OK -- this weekend I did a very small amount of marking, had friends over for dinner and games on Friday, watched the Stuporbowl at X's Stuporbowl party, and completed job applications 26-31 (except for copies of evals I need to make tomorrow). Thirty-one job applications. I am soooo tired. Please, let me get a job so I can go back to focusing on doing the important parts of my job well! (Not that I don't, but damn, it's hard when you're on the market)

First big interview this week, on the Cranky Professor's birthday. Then another big one next week. I hope by that time I'll know if I've got an interview for my present postion (TT version), but it might be another week after that. Saw another three or four jobs advertised this week, but I have to mark 75 exams by Wednesday -- Friday at the latest. Sometimes the students just have to come first ...

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Carnivalesque at Pilgrim's

Carnivalesque -- the Early Modern Kind



The newest edition of Carnivalesque is up at Pilgrim/Heretic!! It looks fantastic. Come for the carnival, stay for the virtual bar!

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Bad Bloggatrix

History Carnival XXIV


History Carnival XXIV is up at The Elfin Ethicist. It's very interesting, and chock full of historical goodness.



Bad Bloggatrix



I know I've been a bad blogger lately. I've been trying to juggle writing more job applications, including the one for the position I'm in this year, which is going TT. It's due next week. Frankly, after putting in 27 applications and getting 3 interviews (one of which seems to have gone nowhere), I'm just really burnt. And I'm also so petrified I won't be employed next year that I'm having a hard time connecting. Funny -- just as I'm starting to be a productive academic again (in a small way), just as I'm starting to kind of get my life back together, and I'm looking at a big black hole of maybe having to survive on adjunct pay -- if I'm lucky! It's not irony, in the classic sense. I don't think its punishment for hubris, either, but who knows? The gods like to screw with people. Is there a proper name for this?

I gave a midterm last week. Most people showed up. Some didn't, which I find worrisome. A couple of the people who didn't show dropped, but most didn't. Then, in my Early Modern section of the survey, only 6 people out of 25 showed the next day. and only 10 the day after (normal attendance is 14-18). My early survey is always close to full attendance -- maybe 3 people absent on a given day. My night class is almost always complete. Moreover, several of the people who showed up to take the in-class part of the test (60%) didn't do the take-home. Not that they didn't know about it -- they just didn't do it. I give out the exam a week ahead of time. They have a week to write a 750-1000 word essay and study 4 other essay questions, from which I will pick the in-class essay. And they just didn't do it. I know that I've talked about How to do College before, but I sometimes forget that my students really aren't us. I understand how to teach the things to catch them up -- how to write, how to approach college work, etc. The problem is, I can't seem to get them to believe me that I don't expect them to have all the answers right now -- but if they do enough work to get down a fair chunk of the information, enough that they can ask the questions, I can help them with the answers. But to add to a recent post on the subject, "I am not here to do your work for you."

Still, how do I get them to believe me that, if they do the work, that's more than half the battle, that, even if they don't get it at the time, they have to do the initial reading, or prep or whatever, in order for me to do my job well -- something that will give us all pleasure and which will result in their work bearing fruit?

Oh well, I have a review to finish polishing and send off, 75 exams to mark, a syllabus to revise to make up for the time I'll be at my campus interview, two interviews to prep for, and a paper to write. Off to work.

Oh -- BTW, I have to teach a class at the SLAC I am visiting. The class is Europe, and Early Modern (the part generally referred two by two three-letter abbreviations). I don't have to teach this subject -- I can do something in my own field. But I'm fairly sure one of the reasons I got the interview is that I can do all of Europe, plus have the desired grad field and some teaching experience in Johnathan Dresner's field. So I am going to talk about a particular religious order founded by a Spaniard, that reports via a military-like hierarchy to the Pope, and their work in Johnathan Dresner's part of the world. If anyone has references I could use or documents/images I might want to include, I'd love to hear from you. ANd sorry to be so cryptic -- I just would like to not be too google-able! Thanks!

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

More stuff for the classicists

More stuff for the classicists


OK, so I'm re-reading Appian on the Gracchi for tomorrow's class. BTW, can I tell you how absolutely thrilled I was yesterday when, in my freshman-level class, I finished talking about the Punic Wars with a summary of results, one of which was of course the increase of slave labor and the growth of latifundia in a problematic way, and a student in the back of the room held up Appian and said, "Is that what's going on here in this document?" But I digress, as usual.
So, internets, here is my question (and I would look some of this stuff up in the appropriate prosopographia, but I don't teach at a place that has such things): is/how is the tribune Marcus Octavius ousted by Ti. Sempronius Gracchus related to the C. Octavius later adopted by C. Iulius Caesar? Also (and this is a probably dumb question to which I am embarrassed I don't already know the answer) is Scipio Aemilianus' wife, Sempronia, Cornelia's daughter and sister to the Gracchi? And really -- I think I did use to know this stuff, but my synapses aren't firing that well these days.* Thanks in advance!

Oh -- and for the English language people: Does English have an actual subjunctive, or just a conditional?


*er ... OTOH, I played pub trivia the other night for the first time and weeks, and came up with Fifty-Cent's real name (actually the other way round -- but Fitty-Cent?) and argued my teammates out of saying that profiteroles were made of puff pastry, because I was sure it was paté choux. Go figure. I came out with more money than I walked in with, and that's what counts!