'Klanderud's List'

[Robert Beard]

Keith said that the public doesn't see things the way we do; he has it the
other way around.  In fact, we don't see things the way the majority of
people on earth see them.  The reason is the one Paul pointed out:  once we
have tenure, we don't have to behave like normal people.  We can do what we
please whether it is of any benifit to society or not. So we've done it;
what did they expect when we were placed in the ivory tower.

I've always marveled at the complete lack of logic in the study of
literature.  Literary criticism is something only literary critics
(dilletante and professional) do.  The only practical purpose of graduate
programs in literature is to produce more literary critics.  For every
deserving writer in the world there are probably 10,000 literary critics.
Is every one of them essential to the functioning of society?

Of course, one can get glimpses of the culture of a nation reading
contemporary literature but certainly no consistent, comprehensive view.
There are better ways of doing that--right, Genevra?  The worship of
writers, something else carried out by literary critics, is best left to
the religion department (another questionable enterprise of universities).

Compare for example that biologists not only produce biologists, who do
useful research for the benefit of all upon graduation, but also doctors,
veterinarians, ultimately a few psychiatrists.  Political scientists and
historians funnel their graduates into law school as well as graduate school.

The reason literary critics have thrived so long is that they have been
teaching language--something for which they have absolutely no credentials.
 Most gradute schools of my time forced them to take 2-3 linguistics
courses--I helped many of them through what was obviously a painful
exercise.  Can you imagine a biology department in which a biological
historian with a degree essentially in the history and philosophy, is
given two lab courses to teach in addition to one course in the history of
biology? Or, indeed, a sociologist.  This logic becomes very vulnerable at
times of low enrollment and it makes the Cornell department even more
vulnerable, since it can't justify its existence by arguing that the
language courses depend on it.  We can still argue that the Russian
language and knowledge of its culture and society is important for US
government, business, and science.  But note literature doesn't fit in
anywhere here due the the long-standing disdain of literary criticism of
these occupations.

It seems inevitable that the issue of tenure will come up in a very serious
way in the near future.  We should be thinking critically of justification
of it while adjusting our universities to a more nearly rational mode of
operation.  The waste involved in current practices is very expensive and
parents are having greater difficulty coming up with the financial
wherewithal to see their children through university.  We haven't even
began examining the effect of cyberuniversities looming just over the
horizon.  They are already on line and when all the PhD's we are producing
and then throwing away begin to see opportunities with them, they will
begin to grow rapidly.  They offer flexible hours, a very rich array of
technological tools and, at 25% of the cost of a private education,
fabulous profits for the guys who finally succeed in putting one together.
University of Phoenix is on its way, Syracuse University extension service
is going on line with serious language courses, and Western Governers
University has serious financial backing at the state level.  Yet the vast
majority of Slavicists are not even on line yet and have no idea what the
issues are.

Time to wake up, boys and girls.

--Bob

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Robert Beard                            Bucknell University
Russian & Linguistics Programs          Lewisburg, PA 17837
rbeard at bucknell.edu                            717-524-1336
Russian Program http://www.bucknell.edu/departments/russian
Dictionaries   http://www.bucknell.edu/~rbeard/diction.html
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