Megan Hazen

It always makes me happy to be asked for my opinion or advice about something. I actively appreciate folks who do it. Thanks.

This is aimed at more than one person, by the way.

I have been reading and thinking about the place that academia holds in society recently. I haven't attached many articles in this forum, but i thought some of you might find the following discussion interesting:
http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/are-academics-different/#comment-60957

This article questions the existence and extent of Academic Freedom. Tied up in this discussion is the question of whether academics should be guaranteed some rights not guaranteed to, well, everyone else. It is an interesting thing to consider, and i probably also like this author's slant, as well.

Recently i have also read articles questioning how much commercialization is too much for our academic structure to bear? (Is it bad that so much funding comes from interested profit-seeking parties?) And how does the commercialization affect the relative emphases placed on engineering or the humanities? Is the decline in support for non-profitable humanities research a harbinger of the eventual decline of the academic system altogether? If it is, is that bad?

Another question i have seen posed recently is whether performing as an academic has merit in the broader society? Should one feel respected for their place in the collegiate elite? Or should one worry about their lack of contribution to the more pragmatic areas of society? One argument for academic freedom supposes that academics support the development of society in a broader sense, and should then be afforded a special amount of freedom to support their unique contributions. But a more egalitarian view recognizes that a variety of jobs are necessary in society, and that academics are no more or less important than any profession.

I have some opinions about this, as you may imagine. Suffice it to say that i think that academia is not magic, but it is respectable. I'd be interested in hearing what other folks think.

I enjoy being a part of academia. I like working on a university campus. I like having seminars every week, that i can choose to go to. I like the idea of being able to take a class. I like the vibrancy of the discussion. I like knowing that i'm surrounded by people who are smarter than i am. I like the feeling of a campus. I like the inevitable open space ('the mall' if you will). I like the near-by bookstores and libraries. I like the feeling of hope and passion. I like that people are simultaneously outrageous and utilitarian. I even like the nearby cafeteria cum convenience store.

It is, apparently, finals week. So my lunch time latte (this is a serious dietary effort, by the way, to inject some protein into my sugar consumption for the afternoon) has an extra shot (albeit decaf) free. I like that.

I like telling people that i work at a university. I like identifying as an academic. I feel comfortable here, in so many ways. It is a scary scary idea that some day it may not be true.