Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with academic

Tell me about academic job websites across the globe!

handee — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:54:15 -0800

Do other countries have an equivalent of the UK's jobs.ac.uk, where pretty much all academic jobs are advertised?

Academic Psychology Jobs in Boston

preparat — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:06:43 -0800

Boston psychology related jobs: what is the best way to search for them? A friend recently moved to Boston from Tunisia where she completed two Master's degrees in psychology. She is interested in workin in clinical psychology, in an academic setting, and doesn't mind an entry-level type position to start with. Are there any staffing agencies that could help her with this (or non-academic opportunities) in or around Boston? She has yet to obtain any licenses from the state.

What can you tell me about 'Poe(t)heory'?

0bvious — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:51:54 -0800

What can you tell me about 'Poe(t)heory'? I have found little online regarding Poetheory, but it seems to be interchangable with the title 'Theorypo'. How separate a distinction is it from merely 'postmodern theory and poetry'? What sources of info should I be seeking?

Marjorie Perloff and Peter Jaeger are names that crop up regarding poetheory. Anyone else you know of or any related disciplines/schools/concepts?

Thanks

Looking for detractors of Literary Darwinism

0bvious — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:45:07 -0800

Literary Darwinism: A relatively new field of evolutionary psychology / literary theory. What has recently been written in argument against it? I have read through some of the works of:

Joseph Carroll
Ellen Dissanayake
Jonathan Gottschall
Robert Storey
Michelle Scalise Sugiyama

...and a few others, yet I am having a hard time finding critical work designed to bring down the arguments of Darwinian Literary Studies. It appears that the field of Poststructuralism is one of the main targets of Literary Darwinism's (Lit-Dar) proponents.

Has anyone attempted to re-address the balance?

I have found little in Lit-Dar writings about specifically text and textuality, something the Postmodernists very much conern themselves with. Surely there is some work on the subject that addresses its absence from Lit-Dar writings?

(I am not interested in the critique of Evolutionary Psychology - of which there is plenty - unless it specifically addresses the Literary and Textual concerns of Darwinian Literary Studies.)

Thanks a lot

How to cope with crippling career regrets?

Anonymous — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:58:32 -0800

Followed my dreams, now totally wish I hadn’t-- how do I stop regretting it, make the tough choices and move forward with my poor mangled career? Fresh out of college, I made a radical career switch, leaving my undergraduate field of study ("A"- a science) to enter a PhD program in a completely unrelated field ("B"- a humanity). I’d always wanted to be an academic, but my abilities and interests were varied enough that this seemed like a viable prospect in either area, and a bad senior thesis experience, combined with a lot of youthful idealism and immaturity, convinced me that B was my Destiny.

Over the years following, it's become clear that I was very wrong. Job prospects for PhDs in Field B are terrible. I'm on a different philosophical/political page from 99% of colleagues in my discipline, so I find it hard to "gel" with the group sensibility. I really, really miss analytical/quantitative thinking, and I worry about losing those skills if I don't use them. Most importantly, though, I don't really respect the work we do (heck, even senior scholars call it "aimless and irrelevant"), and I feel that I can't respect myself intellectually, professionally or personally as a scholar of B.

Unfortunately, while I was figuring all this out and coping with the ensuing depression, five years flew by, changing a youthful misstep into a substantial career detour. I'm now entering the final phase of my Ph.D program, faced with a put-up-or-shut-up situation: either (1) finish my dissertation and commit to a life, however crappy, in Field B, or (2) write off the past five years as a loss and try somehow-- but how?-- to jump ship yet again and re-establish myself in Field A.

The thing is, neither option seems even remotely bearable. At this point in life (late 20s, with kids on the horizon), it's late to be starting a whole new grad program, so switching back to the sciences would probably mean giving up on ever teaching college. Indeed, browsing the industry job ads, it's not easy to see what I'm fit for at this point beyond some dead-end lab-tech gig-- if that. On the other hand, staying in B would mean I’d have to find a way to motivate myself through two years of intensive, unsatisfying dissertation work, on the very slim chance of landing an academic job at the end-- plus deal permanently with all the additional downsides I listed above.

I know I need to suck it up and pick one or the other; but what I’ve been doing instead is vacillating between the two, letting myself get so bogged down in anxiety and regret-- “if only I’d done X, I could be a professor by now!”-- that I get nothing accomplished in either direction. I’ve tried a bit of cognitive-behavioral therapy, medication, self-help books, making lists, etc., but nothing has helped shed any light on the situation. Any concrete suggestions or perspectives on how I might approach this choice? Once I’ve made it, how can I put aside the regret and resign myself to moving forward, even if it’s along a less-than-optimal life path?

Being the bright kid at 30

dcrocha — Sat, 17 May 2008 20:18:40 -0800

I would like to be the bright kid again, but I've just turned 30. What should I do? To make a very long story short: I was always the bright student, the one who'd have an amazing future, study in the best universities, get the highest paid jobs and be rich. I was also supposed to discover the cure of cancer, or at least have enough money to pay somebody to do so. Jokes aside, now.

During primary & high school, I studied in many different cities and schools but my results were the same: a perfect GPA , many compliments from teachers, many prizes, etc. In my country we must take a mandatory exam for each college you're applying to. I have applied to one of the best and got in without much effort.

During my first two years, still the bright kid: straight A's, few friends, "the one with the bright future" and all that crap. Then, in the 3rd. year of college, I decided I'd had enough of that sh*tty course and dropped out, going to work for an Internet startup instead.

Forwarding it to the present, so I won't bore you to death, I made a reasonably successful career as a software developer, working curently as a systems engineer for one of the greatest companies in the world, earning a decent (not fantastic) salary, and as I had some time to spare in the past 3 years, I finished a degree (with the same low level of interest) so I could have a diploma.

All seemed well, but a couple of weeks back I was flying to the U.S. reading my fave magazine ("Economist"), and took a more detailed look at its jobs section, which features many great jobs at the world's most prestigious companies and organizations such as the UN, European Comission, etc. Then I was struck by a lightning, having instantly realized I wasn't qualified for any of those positions. I got depressed.

The following week, I was in Boston for business and as I had a free Saturday I decided to have a look at the Harvard square. Pretty nice place, but I only got more depressed realizing I will never be part of such a community because I stopped being the bright kid the moment I dropped out of college, 10 years ago.

I am very proud of having taught myself everything I know, professionally-wise: English, Spanish, computer programming, etc. However I became very sad since this last trip, as I realized I'm just one more in the crowd, my predicted "bright future" didn't happend and I'm here having a standard corporate job, which I tolerate (but don't love), when I feel I could be doing much more with my life, had I followed the path "originally" planned for me.

I have already tasted having a normal life with a normal career. I'd like to see what my life would be if I become again the bright kid I once was.

How do I do that?

Writing a (non-academic) resume for a perpetual student?

nebulawindphone — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:49:36 -0800

Writing a (non-academic) resume for a perpetual student? I'm a first-year Ph.D. student. I am, if I do say so myself, pretty damn good at it, and it's taken loads of hard work, responsibility and professionalism to get me here.

The flip side is that my resume is a complete train wreck. My work history sort of fills in the cracks in the academic calendar: summer jobs, seasonal jobs, temp jobs, part-time jobs. My TAship this year has been the only position I've ever held longer than six months. I've never stuck around anywhere long enough to get promoted.

Anyway, it's time to get a summer job again, and I'm sick of the skeptical looks, unreturned phone calls and negative assumptions. I may not qualify for anything fancy, but I know I'm good enough to run the copier and answer the phones for the summer, and I'm sick of having a resume that doesn't reflect that fact.

What can I do to make it clear that I'm a hard-working perpetual student, and not an unemployable drifter, in the ten seconds before my resume's tossed into the trash?

I like puppies, long walks on the beach, and tech-savvy publishers

nev — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:52:02 -0800

Looking to find clients who need help with technology in the publishing industry (especially in academic reference and journals). I've quit my job as a software engineer at a well-regarded web company to do independent technical consulting. I expect to offer everything from software evaluation to XML schema design to full-on programming.

I have excellent references from former clients (some of whom I'm likely to retain, thanks to my old employer), and some good contacts already. I'm writing for a publishing/technology blog and I'm planning on attending a few conferences:

1. SSP in Boston (no-brainer, I'm in MA)
2. ALA in Anaheim
3. O'Reilly TOC

I also read a number of publishing blogs that I found recommended in previous AskMe threads, mostly to do with trade publishing.

Are there networking opportunities that I'm missing? Since I'm working on my own, my free time is flexible, so I'd be interested in workshops or lectures in the New England area. I could also use a little more knowledge from the library side of things, in terms of how research tools are evaluated and used. Other kinds of advice also welcome, although I'm not new to the industry as a whole.

I know there are publishing people on AskMe so if you want any more information on who I am and what my skills and experience are, please send Mefi Mail -- I'd love to schmooze.

How can my wife and I get back to the Gold Coast, and what job changes might I need to make to get there?

ranglin — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:15:55 -0800

CareerAdvice: How can my wife and I get back to the Gold Coast, and what job changes might I need to make to get there? (Apologies in advance for the length!)

As you can see from my previous questions, about 2 years ago (July 2006), my wife and I moved from our home on the Gold Coast to Sydney, Australia, so that I could take up a new job as an entry-level academic manager (think Head of School or rough equivalent). This was an upgrade from my previous position as Lecturer (including a reasonable pay rise), so we decided to move, even though we had a lot less family in Sydney.

Through our time in Sydney it quickly became apparent, especially to my wife, that we didn't much like it. Sydney was just much too busy and crowded for us, and we were feeling lonely and weren't actually that much better off (Sydney is more expensive to live in). However, I was on track to higher levels of academic management (even getting a chance to act as my boss when he went away for a 3 week holiday), so we decided to stick it out.

Unfortunately, in Sept/Oct last year, everything changed. The university, which had previously been growing up until 2006 or so, suddenly realised that student numbers were dropping. To cut costs, they merged staff positions together and restructured, and this move included removing all the people at my level of academic management, and also merging the two positions above me (originally UG and PG, one of which was my boss) into a single combined position that was given to my boss' counterpart. Myself and the other academic managers (5 of us in total) were given the opportunity to stay on as (Senior) Lecturers at our current salary. At the time I considered making a move (and there was some talk of redundancy pay), but decided that it would take me too long to get a new job (academia seems to advertise jobs on a set timeline), so I decided to hang about and see what happened.

Six months on and I'm starting to go insane! Numbers are continuing to drop and while I am not totally convinced that the university/campus will go under (especially if they can match staff levels with the student numbers), this does mean that the growth that I saw in the past is no longer there, meaning that it is unlikely that new positions will open up on campus. This puts me in the unenviable position of waiting for somebody to leave (or die!) and, even if this happens, I have 4 other very qualified fellows that will possibly compete with me for the job (including my former boss!). Since the changes I've also been casting around for another job, but it's been hard to find anything, especially since I am a little hesitant to move to another unknown city and would prefer to go back to the safety of the Gold Coast at this point (and you can imagine how likely it is to find a job for an academic (scarce anyway), in my discipline (Information Technology), in one location!). The real straw that broke the camel's back, however (and that leads to this question), was when I applied for a position at my alma mater (Griffith University, for those of you that know the GC), and was told that I wasn't the right choice, since I hadn't done any research lately! Basically, this makes me an academic manager who can't get an academic management job and also can't get a lecturer job, which makes life very difficult!

So, I guess the question is, what do we do now? Currently, we are looking at either a) getting my wife a job on the Gold Coast and going back on her wage, with me doing some sessional work or b) expanding my horizons to include non-academic jobs as well as academic roles. The problem is, I'm not sure if people will think I'm qualified to take on a commercial role, as I've been out of the industry (information technology) for a number of years and while I would take a small pay cut, we really can't afford for our only wage to be a grunt-level position in some organisation where I work my way back up (and needless to say, this wouldn't be an ego boost)! My wife is also worried that while she can get a job, it will mean that a lot of the stress gets put on her new job, and since she's only recently finished university, she's still working out what she really wants to do and wants a little flexibility in being able to move jobs without feeling like she is the sole bread winner.

This question has been vexing me for a while, so I'd really appreciate any opinions/suggestions you can give. Happy to provide more information if you need it (for instance, more details on my qualifications etc). Thanks!

COPS watching kids become cops like COPS but not like cops

nemoorange — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:44:04 -0800

Help me identify this Post Modern cultural theory. Prime example: cops on the TV show COPS act differently than they normally would, since they're being filmed for TV. Kids watch COPS thinking that's what cops actually are like. Kids eventually grow up and be cops themselves, emulating cops-on-TV, not "true" cops. 3 years ago, I had a discussion with a college professor who brought up this new theory in relation to a paper that I was writing, focused on Post Modernism. I distinctly remember that he provided that kids/COPS example. I believe he referenced a specific author--with an accompanying book most likely. It's not just Post Modernism, but perhaps a deep slice into it. I believe the author had named it. It sounded something like "dialetics" (don't think so, but this could actually be it) or "dianetics" (um no). The cultural theory must be relatively new, nice it uses COPS as an example.

Can anyone identify what I'm talking about? I'd love to read up more on this school of thought. It seems quite applicable in this day and age of living in a mass media echo chamber.

How can I teach someone high school math in 6 months?

LSK — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:31:52 -0800

There's a smart freshman who's going to be in my school's Academic Decathlon team next year. However, Academic Decathlon tests over all of high school math, so I ask: How can I teach a fast learner an overview of high school math in around 7 months? There's a smart freshman who's going to be in my school's Academic Decathlon team next year. However, Academic Decathlon tests over all of high school math, so I ask: How can I teach a fast learner an overview of high school math in around 7 months?

He already knows a bit of algebra. I don't know what he was taught in elementary school. I think that he'll be able to pick up the forumlae of geometry quickly - perhaps not its elegance, but certainly its formulas. I think that trig'll be a bit of a stumbling block, but the derivative will be straightforwards.

The testing material is, according to Academic Decathlon:

- 10% "general math", including permutations and probability of equally likely events
- 30% algebra, including polynomial equations, inequalities, functions, complex numbers, graphs, and sequences/series.
- 30% geometry, including right triangles, coordinates, plane figures, and congruency.
- 20% trig, including right triangle relationships, trig functions, inverse trig functions, graphs, identities, and trig equations.
- 10% calculus, including limits, derivatives, antiderivatives, tangent lines, rates of change, maxima/minima, and inflection points/concavity.

How to request a reference?

cincinnatus c — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:10:33 -0800

Help me write an email requesting an academic reference (for myself). I am applying to study for an Msc starting this autumn, and I need to supply two academic references.

I have a couple of people in mind who may be able to provide one, and know their email addresses at the university. The thing is, though, I completed my first degree five years ago and I'm not convinced that they will remember me. The classes were quite small, and they would know me if they met me, but seeing my name at the bottom of the email might not be enough to jog the memory. What is the best way to approach this? How much detail about my current plans should I include?

The other thing is that I have left it quite late to apply, and places are filling up, so I need the references ASAP. Would it be completely tactless to mention this, or should I wait until I receive a positive reply?

I am thinking there must be a standard way to word such a common request - so what is it?

What are my rights for republishing screenshots/promotional material in an academic text?

serial_consign — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:01:49 -0800

What right do I have to republish software screenshots and promotional material within a critical/academic context? Do I need to get formal permission from the corporations that own & distribute this material? I'm submitting a book chapter and the publisher for this text appears pretty stiff on copyright protocol. I want to republish screenshots from early GUI's (i.e. Xerox Star) and also some interface applications for the iphone. Do I need to get in touch with Apple/Xerox for this kind of republishing? I was planning on using promotional and or archival images..

This is all in the context of a scholarly text. Also, with the iphone specifically I'd be writing about an interface designed for it, not so much the device itself and I would have permission from that designer.

I've never got formal clearance for republication of images - I've only dealt with Creative Commons content online - if anybody could provide any input/direciton it would be greatly appreciated.

Help me overthink sex and romance.

bubukaba — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:35:49 -0800

What are some good books/essays/articles about human sexuality, sexual and romantic relationships, and sexual or otherwise affection-entangled activity - with an emphasis on the theoretical? I'm thinking more along the lines of Judith Butler than The Joy of Sex - so suggestions should be at least vaguely academic. (Things like Leaves of Grass count as vaguely academic). I'm asking for personal, not academic reasons - I'd like all the seemingly irrational stuff surrounding the emotional, social, psychological (and so on) aspects of this sort of thing to make more sense to me (or at least I'd like the fact that they're irrational to make more sense...).

In spite of my namedropping in the above-cut FPP, I haven't read much on these subjects, so even the most basic suggestions are welcome.

What to bring for symbolic gifts for academics?

k8t — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:23:07 -0800

Symbolic academic gifts for visiting scholar? I'm leaving in 3 weeks for Armenia. I have been a number of times, but this is my first time going as an "official" scholar. Hence, I'll be meeting with tons of academics. I have no idea what to bring them for gifts. I used to bring shot glasses of my hometown/university for friends, postcards, picture books... Symbolic gifts are extremely important culturally.

But what to bring academics? I've thought of California and my university calendars for 2009 as well as university logo coffee mugs.

Anything other ideas? Pens? Landscape photos?

Also, I'll be coming back to the U.S. for a conference in May, but not to California, so "general" gifts/needs like notebooks or dictionaries can be bought then.

What about London should I map?

viewofdelft — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:23:05 -0800

What about London should I map? I'm in an Advanced GIS class for which I need to produce a final cartographic project. The project must begin in ArcGIS but from there I'm free to use anything else (Illustrator, Flash, Google Earth, etc). In the spirit of John Snow, I'd like to make my upcoming trip to London a force for academic good.

I have a GPS unit, a DSLR camera, a student's budget, and a winning personality. What should I map? I'm open to all suggestions as long as they meet the following criteria:

1) The map should present complex and interesting information. I'm not too worried about this one because questions soliciting suggestions on this site often generate very interesting answers.

2) The project/map should be focused. I'll be in London for only a week and I'd like to make the data collection effort into a sort of overarching theme for my visit. That means I should probably confine my map to one neighborhood or area (I'm staying in Soho, but don't let that restrict you).

3) The data can come from any (accessible) source. I'd like to have a little fun gathering the data, but if your suggestions for a map can just as easily be constructed with data from other sources, I'd be happy to hear them. I live in the United States, so any return trips are out of the question this semester.

Thanks in advance. If I choose to go with one of the suggestions, I'll keep you updated.

What do I need to know to help start an electronic academic journal?

b33j — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:22:21 -0800

My boss, the professor, has accepted the challenge of starting a new electronic academic journal to be self-published by the professional organisation that she currently heads. She is, understandably, very busy, so she has asked me to find out everything we need to do to make this happen, with, of course, a limited budget. The first issue must appear on the organisation's website in early July. Happily the articles will be received by March because of a linked conference.

This is a helpful Askme. But I want more. Where do I start looking? What should I be looking for? What practice/product should we absolutely avoid? If I outsource the layout template, how will I know that the designer can handle it? What hasn't even occurred to me? Books, links, advice, please. Make me look good, or at the very least competent.

Art and artifacts experienced through technology

0bvious — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:00:33 -0800

How is the meaning of art and artefacts being altered by the methods we use to: Experience, Define and Preserve them... In other words, in what ways have technologies been used to experience, re-define and/or preserve art and artifacts? I came across news on a technique using terahertz radiation to 'see' under the surface of paintings and murals. I know that similar methods have been used before, most especially to see the sketches under (Leonardo da Vinci) paintings or to map the outline of archaeological sites by satellite etc. I am interested in amassing a collection of such techniques, not limited to paintings and certainly from a wide spectrum of scientific and technological applications (for instance: art includes literature or music, artefacts can refer to objects or cultures, a new technology may simply be a new theory of linguistics).

Any links and or examples, books, journals, people you know of would help me immensely. My past questions express quite neatly the kind of reading background I have, please give them a glance if you have time.

Thanks muchly...

Adjunct Instructor, Lecturer, Professor...?

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:49:22 -0800

My contract said "Adjunct Professor." My faculty ID card said "Adjunct Instructor." My paycheck said "Lecture/Adjunct." I never cared since this was just a two-year, part-time gig and I had no further interest in academia... but I do need to call it something in my bio. I don't have a terminal degree, suggesting and the contract was wrong and the ID card was right. I emailed the department; they said they'd check but didn't email back (I'll ask again). This was at a large private university in the U.S. I have to finalize a bio tonight -- should I just say Adjunct Instructor?

Academic politics are vicious because the stakes are so low?

cgc373 — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:50:16 -0800

Does anyone have a decent citation for the idea that academic politics are so cruel/brutal/intense/vicious because the stakes are so low? I've seen various attributions to Wallace Sayre, Henry Kissinger, Woodrow Wilson, and Harry Truman, but I'd like a source that isn't a weak tie via Google, something like a reputable book of quotations or an edition of letters, if possible.

My husband and I work at the same place, and now he's being fired. Now what?

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:24:10 -0800

Two academics, married to each other, at the same liberal arts college. One has been---unjustly and unwarrantedly---not recommended for reappointment. We're planning to appeal, but I'm not sanguine about the outcome. How bad is this likely to get, politically? Any advice? My husband and I both work at the same liberal arts college. I'm up for tenure this year (and think I'm likely to get it, although my faith in the process has been severely shaken by the following saga). My husband was hired a couple years later than I was. He had some teaching-related issues his first couple of years, and received a stern warning review last January. He took steps to fix the teaching issues during spring of last year, but had some of the same issues appear in the courses he taught last fall (before the review letter). There was no follow-up from the Dean's office regarding the bad review.

This year (having foolishly decided to take a year of credit before the bad review, and then not being allowed to reverse that decision) he was up for review again. Near as we can tell, the promotion and tenure committee ignored the work he'd done last spring to improve his teaching, focussing more on the bad student evaluations from last fall (i.e., before the bad review)...long story short, they recommend he not be reappointed, despite a positive recommendation from the department. He's planning to proceed on the appeals process at the school, but at this point I don't think the administration will pay any attention (they probably won't be willing to admit they made a mistake).

Any advice on how to handle this? How bad is the fallout likely to be from pursuing the appeals process? Suppose it escalates to needing to sue (as a tenured friend of ours at the school suggests)? Is it likely to be ok for me to continue working at the school, assuming that I do get tenure? (After all, someone needs a permanent job...and we've got kids and a house, so picking up and moving would be more complicated that it might otherwise be.)

I need a replacement organizer for school.

internet!Hannah — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:13:11 -0800

I am looking for a new academic planner, but I have some picky requirements. Can anyone help? The past two semesters of school I've been using this amazing planner I got for Christmas last year to keep organized in my classes. It really ended up helping me stay organized since I am both taking a ton of difficult courses, and in the school ROTC and band. Unfortunately, when I went to reorder the planner around a month ago, I was informed it was discontinued, and that it had "no recommended replacement". My planner was an At-A-Glance Cambridge planner that was essentially a full-sized version of this. (This one is way too small to be of any use, though.)

Now, here's where things get tricky. I've been trying to find a replacement, but what made my last planner so awesome is apparently really hard to find. You see, what made my planner so useful was that the second page of each week had a copious "To-Do" section and a "Notes" section, which is how I ultimately organized all of my work (assignments listed under the to-do section, with assignment details under the notes, etc). You can see this same organization in the smaller example above.

However, when shopping for a new planner, I haven't been able to find anything even remotely similar. I've gone to all the brick-and-mortar office supplies places and been googling my little heart away, to no avail. The closest thing I've been able to find is this one but the weekly notes section still isn't big enough to be quite what I need, and the large monthly notes section doesn't quite compensate. Not to mention it's a July-June planner (though I'm starting to care less and less about that).

So, can anyone help me out? To sum it all up, I'd like a full size weekly/monthly planner with a large notes and to-do section (or something equivalent) for each week. School starts in two weeks and I'm getting desperate.

Is it appropriate to get a letter of recommendation from people on the search committee?

achmorrison — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:24:05 -0800

I am currently a visiting professor at a liberal arts college. Our department is conducting a search for a tenure track position which I intend to apply for. I need letters of recommendation which address my teaching abilities. The people most qualified to write these letters are my colleagues that are on the search committee. Is it appropriate or inappropriate to ask them to write letters of recommendation for this position?

Do you remember that conversation based video game?

TeatimeGrommit — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:18:03 -0800

I can't remember the name of this video game. It was an academic project, as I recall. The entire thing is conversation based. What the player types is parsed by a natural language processing engine so the game seems to understand what you say. It takes place in a single room and revolves around a couple with a not-so-great marriage.

What should go on my reading list?

ifranzen — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:21:58 -0800

I'm doing my undergraduate thesis on the rhetorical technique known as Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. What should go on my reading list? I'm interested in how groups with power use FUD to manipulate public thought.

I want to ask questions like:

What is Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt?

Does FUD challenge the idea of the rational consumer?

How can it be used to manipulate public perception?

Where can FUD be seen in contemporary America?

What are the effects of geographic, political, or social boundaries on the spread of FUD?

Does FUD differ from a more general appeal to fear?

If you were me, what books or articles would you choose to put on your reading list?