Re: Tenure at Minnesota (fwd)

Eric Crump (wleric@SHOWME.MISSOURI.EDU)
Thu, 26 Sep 1996 09:31:42 -0500


SteveK said:
>With all do respect Victor, this "nomadic" lifestyle already exists: it's
>called teaching part-time.

Of course, the New Nomads (gotta have a name so when Time mag comes calling
they won't have to think up a headline ;) aren't wondering around begging
for crumbs from the system. That's the idea. VV says (maybe in bitter jest
but I'll take him literally for the purpose of the moment) ask for more
than enough. It's not wandering that keeps the current nomads down, it's
their powerlessness in relation to the system. They are at its mercy. They
dictate no terms. They accept the contracts they are offered.

What I'm thinking about is getting *out* of the immediate gravitational
pull of institutional education. I don't pretend it's possible to get
*away* from it. It's too pervasive and, though decrepit, powerful enough.

The current system will never privilege learning over evaluation,
individual interests over institutional interests. That's why I suggest we
think about breakaway efforts that are fundamentally different in shape.
Provide learning opportunities that society perceives as more valuable than
the expensive but futile crappola it gets from Education today. Give the
institution a run for its money!

--Eric Crump

| Eric Crump
| WLERIC@showme.missouri.edu --and-- http://www.missouri.edu/~wleric
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| "To the extent that Civilization As We Know It depends on correct
| spelling, Civilization As We Know It ain't worth saving."
| --John Slatin


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