Saturday, August 30, 2014

Higher Ed Class Struggle: A tenured faculty member's insensitive comments have drawn a backlash in the blogosphere... but do they reveal what many tenured faculty feel?

Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Karl Marx (1818-1883) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
http://chronicle.com/article/Offensive-Letter-Justifies/148551/?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

The Letter:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/letters/is-that-whining-adjunct-someone-we-want-teaching-our-young/

Let me suggest that the author has (rashly?) stated what many tenured faculty really believe and feel. Their own sinecures are threatened by the revolution in higher education content delivery and the uncertainty of working in a financially stressed, over-extended industry.  Don't expect much sympathy for their part-time, contingent colleagues.  Expect instead a class consciousness to come to the forefront with increased starkness.  This letter is only the tip of that iceberg. 

Marx wouldn't be surprised.

No comments:

Post a Comment