Alan Bennet's drama and the subsequent film adaptation of The History Boys features a scene in which two of the boys vying for Oxford and Cambridge suddenly get up and begin enacting a dialogue in front of the other boys in the classroom. Having learned this scene (and other shrapnel pieces of cultural knowledge: Gracie Fields' "Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye" and the difference between the conditional and the subjunctive tenses in French), the boys are trying to justify another teacher's "General Studies" class and its goal of creating "well-rounded individuals" by acting out their knowledge. Their teacher Mr. Irwin remarks, having figured out what they are quoting, "God knows why you learned Brief Encounter."
The title of today's blog post comes from a New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/education/edlife/edl-24masters-t.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me) asking whether the Master's degree is the new Bachelor's. In today's economy, the answer is, unfortunately, 'yes.' Reading the article, we find that Master's programs are becoming hyper-specific; we are professionalizing degrees. Who is benefiting from this scenario? Certainly not students who are putting themselves deeper into debt. Answer: schools and companies. Schools fill more seats, make more money. Companies connect with schools, scoop up their best students. The key word here is 'professionalized.' It is not to say that the English or Anthropology Bachelor's doesn't make you qualified, it means that all your knowledge, especially your unquantifiable knowledge (reading The Atlantic, trivia guru, your ability to act out all the melodrama of Brief Encounter) does not fit into the corporate ideology. In sum, because 'the market' is penetrating the walls of 'the institution,' this ideology has infected universities.
If this system didn't involve collusion between businesses and schools, it would be easier for consumers (e.g. students) to change the system, to refuse the status quo. Nonetheless, the system will change. Inevitably, the inflationary value of education will collapse in a tulpenmanie moment. It will only come when the overall educational ideology of the U.S. stops holding college professors on a pedestal as paragons of success and shifts towards an embrace of creativity and individuality. Then, and only then, will corporate ideology shift toward the notion, popular in Residence Life departments, that differences are good; differences make us successful.
Truth: my love of books might not translate into direct profit for my employer. But, my ability to connect with co-workers who also love books might make me a happier employee, a more productive employee, a leader through my creation of strong group dynamics, etc. It is the aforethought to see "random" knowledge" as "indirect" profit.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Turning Ecocriticism into Reality
It's been 15 years since the publication of The Ecocriticism Reader, a forward-thinking anthology put together by Cheryll Glotfelty. Of course, words like ecopoetics and ecocritical are older than the book itself, but this year marks a milestone. In her introduction, Glotfelty speaks of turning her corner of literary studies into a field in which teachers and students engage in active participation in the environment. Glotfelty's tone is one of idealism, but she remains a visionary. Unfortunately, because the contributing writers ostensibly wrote their pieces before Glotfelty's introduction, they do not openly share her interests and sometimes it is unclear what they intend to do other than interpret a text. The result is a seminal book that features a multitude of writers, many of whom are crying stick to the text!
So how do we turn literary studies into a conduit for activism? Teachers must begin by overturning the classroom. The four walls, the uncomfortable desk-chairs, the windowless spaces have got to go! How can we honestly claim to read something in an ecocritical light while making students sit at desks which defy ergonomic logic! Bad for our bodies --they've got to go! Start holding classrooms outside. Yes, even when it's cold. Why talk about the suffering of Native peoples in the mid-November winter? Go outside and understand it! When there's no snow on the ground, ask why. Ask about the experience of New England Natives in contrast to Natives of Cabeza de Vaca's "Florida." How does weather contribute to different texts and in what way can we see weather as a marker of experience? In sum, the classroom must become the last resort, not the common refuge for the safety of our learning.
When we do come inside, everyone must sit at round tables (oh the joys of Harkness!). We constantly lament the status of the environment in our global discussion(s). No one seems to agree and some, who deny that environmental crisis exists, seem not to be listening to anyone at all. Round tables will encourage group discussion and group problem solving. It will increase risk-taking behavior and encourage students to solve long, hard problems (like an environmental crisis) by talking with one another. And even when the environment is not the subject, students may take their skill to the problem or many others, for discussion and hearing what others have to say is so often the solution to a global litany of issues.
Teachers (yes professors, that includes you) need to engage in the greening lifestyle: biking to work, gardens, buying used stuff (despite the reputation of Craigslist, it is a small step toward greening ourselves and our classrooms), and anything they can. In bringing ethics into the classroom, it is no longer satisfactory to bring the ethics of writing and research, the ethics of a discipline, we must adhere to environmental ethics. Mother Earth must be in our minds when we teach, not only when we teach about the Transcendentalists.
A brief aside: if you have not seen or read Into the Wild, do so --now!
So how do we turn literary studies into a conduit for activism? Teachers must begin by overturning the classroom. The four walls, the uncomfortable desk-chairs, the windowless spaces have got to go! How can we honestly claim to read something in an ecocritical light while making students sit at desks which defy ergonomic logic! Bad for our bodies --they've got to go! Start holding classrooms outside. Yes, even when it's cold. Why talk about the suffering of Native peoples in the mid-November winter? Go outside and understand it! When there's no snow on the ground, ask why. Ask about the experience of New England Natives in contrast to Natives of Cabeza de Vaca's "Florida." How does weather contribute to different texts and in what way can we see weather as a marker of experience? In sum, the classroom must become the last resort, not the common refuge for the safety of our learning. When we do come inside, everyone must sit at round tables (oh the joys of Harkness!). We constantly lament the status of the environment in our global discussion(s). No one seems to agree and some, who deny that environmental crisis exists, seem not to be listening to anyone at all. Round tables will encourage group discussion and group problem solving. It will increase risk-taking behavior and encourage students to solve long, hard problems (like an environmental crisis) by talking with one another. And even when the environment is not the subject, students may take their skill to the problem or many others, for discussion and hearing what others have to say is so often the solution to a global litany of issues.
Teachers (yes professors, that includes you) need to engage in the greening lifestyle: biking to work, gardens, buying used stuff (despite the reputation of Craigslist, it is a small step toward greening ourselves and our classrooms), and anything they can. In bringing ethics into the classroom, it is no longer satisfactory to bring the ethics of writing and research, the ethics of a discipline, we must adhere to environmental ethics. Mother Earth must be in our minds when we teach, not only when we teach about the Transcendentalists.
A brief aside: if you have not seen or read Into the Wild, do so --now!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Queering the Kitchen: EpicMealTime
With overflowing booze and bacon, Ernest Hemingway could only be proud. EpicMealTime, the sensational(ized) YouTube cooking channel has become all the rave in the last few months, with its host, a burly Canadian (actually, all three hosts are Canadians) and I couldn't resist discussing them!
Before reading further, check out a few of my favorite episodes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaKcl0Qg13o, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYxO3Y-wOrM&feature=relmfu, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eah23WvLYsQ&feature=relmfu, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xc5wIpUenQ
Michael Warner and Lauren Berlant, in their seminal essay "Sex in Public," theorize that the projection of national culture (i.e. heternormative white culture) subjugates the sexuality of its citizens; consequently, spaces for acting out sexuality (cinemas, clubs, print and online mediums) emerge. In this case, the kitchen becomes the space in which sexuality emerges, a space featuring multiple sexualities, a queer space. In EMT we see the dual narratives of national and globalized identities forming simultaneously as the series develops. The hosts use bacon and syrup as their signifiers for Canadian, while frequently appearing in supermarkets and ethnic restaurants. The latter locations indicate that the hosts have broken the barrier into a global community of consumerism and as such lose some of their Canadianess.
The absence of hardened nationalism allows the hosts and guest stars to produce public sex, that is acts which express sexuality. One of the hosts, Alex Perrault has become simply "MusclesGlasses" and the main host, Harley Morenstein affectionately refers to him as such. Inspired by fanfare, Morenstein engages in openly homosocial interaction, girded by undertones of homosexuality. He devalues the body in the same way as viewers, leaving him without a fully-expressed identity; MusclesGlasses is a condensed moniker summarizing Perrault's status as a masculine, accessorized body. There's also the wonderful ejaculatory imagery which seemingly appears in every episode: while making tacos, the men promise that the female tasters will sour cream; a later episode features ice cream. Morenstein's use of inflection is key to deploying his sexual commentary.
Finally, there are the thinly-veiled acts of explicit homosexual sex. On a trip home to see his Dad, MusclesGlasses is fed taffy on a large stick by Morenstein who visibly enjoys feeding his the phallic object with its sweet nectar. Feeding each other food as symbolic of the blowjob has become a theme appearing in other episodes as well. Or, in "The Black Legend," the men make a giant crepe and find two girls to eat it in a play on girl-on-girl porn with Morenstein as the voyeur in the background, doing his best to appearing as if he is masturbating.
Kindly, the men want us to know that we can also be men like them with the sale of shirts that read "&Baconstrips&Baconstrips&Baconstrips," a phrase that is exalted in each non-dessert episode. The best we Americans can muster in retort to these virile Canadians: Vegan Meal Time (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbBCWZue57M). The Swedes have concocted a whole series entitled "Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time" making such delicious treats as "Macho Salad," a title meant to outdo EMT's "Meat Salad."
Bon Appetit!
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