tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post7549226351476169557..comments2023-12-23T04:56:29.702-05:00Comments on Ferule & Fescue: Teaching without teachingFlaviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-91763729759768148362015-06-17T15:00:39.090-04:002015-06-17T15:00:39.090-04:00This feels like the companion piece to the post yo...This feels like the companion piece to the post you wrote recently about things we learn (sometimes without realizing it) from our grad students. <br /><br />I wrote a dissertation with my advisor's methodology. Scrapping that and writing a book with a different approach has been both the best and hardest work I've done. Sometimes I feel like I'm going back through grad school again. I'm not done yet, so I'm not sure how this will turn out, but I think the best case scenario is that I retain all of the things she taught me but still shed her strong influence.Libbynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-28736599595099766042015-06-16T17:51:32.037-04:002015-06-16T17:51:32.037-04:00I'm all for finding a advisor who's a good...I'm all for finding a advisor who's a good complement to you. Expertise can be acquired outside the direct advising relationship. You can learn to parse and apply Foucault by working for a while with another scholar but you can't learn how to manage your process and get the damned thing done with someone who doesn't mesh with you on a practical level.<br /><br />I started grad school assigned to a prof who was not a good fit (this is what you get when your intended advisor takes on another administrative task). I switched mid-way through my M.A. to work with another prof who I'd enjoyed as a course instructor. We meshed well and I insisted on sticking with him during my doctorate. This necessitated switching topics in order to find a project that would suit the faculty's idea of his expertise (and excuse me working with another, more senior prof). I didn't regret that at all!Janicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14093558563358431804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-57995613327069257402015-06-15T10:29:26.585-04:002015-06-15T10:29:26.585-04:00Notorious:
I guess, though the term "creativ...Notorious:<br /><br />I guess, though the term "creativity" always makes me itch! It's somehow both too vague and too limited. (But that may be my own idiosyncrasy.) I'd like to include everything from how to think and how to have ideas to more technical matters of craft and style and organization.<br /><br />But I agree that exposure to other methods and styles is a good way to go. It's a tough thing: students are still mastering the norms and looking for templates (this is true of M.A. students, at least, but I think of doctoral students as well), and they do need to master those--but ideally we want them to be able to go beyond them and do riskier things, too! Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-3422601364397433762015-06-14T21:23:30.832-04:002015-06-14T21:23:30.832-04:00What you're talking about here, I think, is te...What you're talking about here, I think, is teaching the creative process. That is different for everybody, so I don't think it can necessarily be "taught." But a good adviser can, like yours, encourage students to step out on a limb once in a while, so long as they've built a firm foundation elsewhere.<br /><br />I do this with my MA students by having them read books where I think the author took a real gamble, either with claims or methodology or narrative structure. "Does this work for you? Why/why not?" They get to see not only my method but everyone else's.Notorious Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08700875559325201086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-75438616774992150202015-06-13T13:47:20.696-04:002015-06-13T13:47:20.696-04:00CPP:
Efficiently described. And true!CPP:<br /><br />Efficiently described. And true!Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-46674098647011239572015-06-12T21:52:49.261-04:002015-06-12T21:52:49.261-04:00When I was an undergrad, I watched how others beha...When I was an undergrad, I watched how others behaved. When I was a grad student, I needed to be upbraided. When I was a post-doc and assistant professor, I was thirsty for it. Comradde PhysioProffenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-10905244228361151782015-06-12T20:09:34.470-04:002015-06-12T20:09:34.470-04:00Yes. There's a lot there, but I think his inhe...Yes. There's a lot there, but I think his inherent, quiet kindness and his great liberality (of viewpoint, but not just that) were important for me. Servetusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-44799582765153091902015-06-12T19:45:27.982-04:002015-06-12T19:45:27.982-04:00Servetus:
Yes--an advisor who allows you to be in...Servetus:<br /><br />Yes--an advisor who allows you to be independent is a beautiful thing. I'm sorry you haven't found it elsewhere, though. In my case, I didn't actually have much support from my advisor (I mean that merely descriptively, and it's an assessment she herself has made), but that too had its upside. Like you, I couldn't have borne being micromanaged, and I was also concerned that I might not "hear" the critiques of someone with a less direct style. <br /><br />But for those of us who are used to thinking of ourselves as quite independent from our advisors (and maybe everyone does think that), it can be a bit of a surprise--and a pleasure--to recognize the ways they really did shape us.Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-67856963847019009922015-06-12T19:15:02.716-04:002015-06-12T19:15:02.716-04:00Great post. It was similar to me. When it came dow...Great post. It was similar to me. When it came down to it (I met the last four people on my list), I chose someone who I thought would let me think my own thoughts over someone who wanted to micro-manage me. In the end, I argued something completely in contradiction to the narratives my doctoral adviser had made his career on, with his support. It made a lot of difference. OTOH I didn't realize that once I became a professional I wouldn't have such support from anyone in my intellectual life.Servetusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-68740972825059270262015-06-12T18:40:41.711-04:002015-06-12T18:40:41.711-04:00CPP:
Okay, but how? That's the second half of...CPP:<br /><br />Okay, but how? That's the second half of the mystery, I think: how such knowledge or ways of being in the world get communicated.Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-67596780600998452692015-06-12T17:35:44.369-04:002015-06-12T17:35:44.369-04:00And I should've added, from my undergraduate m...And I should've added, from my undergraduate mentors, I learned how to be an aggressive smart-ass. Comradde PhysioProffenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-4218235241875914912015-06-12T17:34:32.199-04:002015-06-12T17:34:32.199-04:00From my PhD mentor, I learned how to be an adult. ...From my PhD mentor, I learned how to be an adult. From my post-doc mentor, I learned how to be a scientist. From my first faculty chair, I learned how to be a colleague. Comradde PhysioProffenoreply@blogger.com