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Lesboprof has a very interesting post on academic freedom at the moment, spun out of the 'why i teach what i teach' meme which has been doing the rounds. She covers the difference between the standard non-discrimination policy and one which supports the right of academics to use examples from their own experience according to gender, race or sexual orientation. She also talks about the value placed on different research areas, and pressures placed on her- including by tenure commitees- to move away from LGBT research into something more mainstream and marketable.
They want mainstream journals and mainstream publishers. This reality presents a special challenge for those of us who do research on oppressed populations and/or in marginalized subject areas.
Jobs, funding and any sort of public respect are a bit of a scarcity for medievalists. Does that make us a 'marginalised subject area' in Lesboprof's terms? I'm not sure. Much as I'd like a world in which medieval studies was valued and I didn't find myself floundering to explain to my own mother why i do what i do ('But the archbishop wulfstan's writing is important in the development of medieval political theory!' *blank look of total befuddlement* 'and medieval political theory is important because... because... well, it just is!'), I can't bring myself to expect that medieval studies should be valued as highly as, say, computer engineering. If only because without software engineers, I wouldn't have access to so many crucial resources. Even in terms of 'useless' subjects, it makes sense to me if the university, or the government, want to privilege australian history, or contemporary european politics. But then I get upset when the history department culls medieval courses.
I know that assorted post-doctoral friends and teachers of mine are preparing their submissions for Australian Research Council Grants at the moment. And I- and they- know that they will almost certainly loose out to the 'national priorities' of terrorism, water sustainability, terrorism, and did i mention terrorism? Naturally, when I hear they've lost out I will be offended on their behalf and that of the discipline. But when I try to complain to my mother, I can offer no good reason why taxpayer money should fund medieval research over water sustainability.
Am I suffering from a lack of confidence in my chosen discipline? Do I just need to find the words to explain why medievalism is crucially important? Or do I face the fact that we're largely useless except to each other?*
*But maybe that's the important part? If there are students who want to learn, if having teachers like J.P and Awesome around (teaching, researching and engaged) has made the CMS a place where little ole me has been supported and encouraged and inebriated and given confidence in herself and her academic potential, maybe that is the explanation which might make sense to the mothers of this world?
They want mainstream journals and mainstream publishers. This reality presents a special challenge for those of us who do research on oppressed populations and/or in marginalized subject areas.
Jobs, funding and any sort of public respect are a bit of a scarcity for medievalists. Does that make us a 'marginalised subject area' in Lesboprof's terms? I'm not sure. Much as I'd like a world in which medieval studies was valued and I didn't find myself floundering to explain to my own mother why i do what i do ('But the archbishop wulfstan's writing is important in the development of medieval political theory!' *blank look of total befuddlement* 'and medieval political theory is important because... because... well, it just is!'), I can't bring myself to expect that medieval studies should be valued as highly as, say, computer engineering. If only because without software engineers, I wouldn't have access to so many crucial resources. Even in terms of 'useless' subjects, it makes sense to me if the university, or the government, want to privilege australian history, or contemporary european politics. But then I get upset when the history department culls medieval courses.
I know that assorted post-doctoral friends and teachers of mine are preparing their submissions for Australian Research Council Grants at the moment. And I- and they- know that they will almost certainly loose out to the 'national priorities' of terrorism, water sustainability, terrorism, and did i mention terrorism? Naturally, when I hear they've lost out I will be offended on their behalf and that of the discipline. But when I try to complain to my mother, I can offer no good reason why taxpayer money should fund medieval research over water sustainability.
Am I suffering from a lack of confidence in my chosen discipline? Do I just need to find the words to explain why medievalism is crucially important? Or do I face the fact that we're largely useless except to each other?*
*But maybe that's the important part? If there are students who want to learn, if having teachers like J.P and Awesome around (teaching, researching and engaged) has made the CMS a place where little ole me has been supported and encouraged and inebriated and given confidence in herself and her academic potential, maybe that is the explanation which might make sense to the mothers of this world?