101–108 of 108 posts
Harvard still has a divinity school? That's retro.
Do you think the Department of Philosophy is retro as well? Theology has shaped humanity, wouldn't it be weird for a school as prestigious as Harvard to not have a school for it?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He means that his colleagues at the Divinity School don't seem to care enough about him to send him a condolence for his mother's death. It's about the apathetic work environment at the school. That would be a problem for me, too, at my company if I chose to disclose that via a public email. Hell, I have several colleagues that wish me well when I have a cold.
He specified public condolences. I don't think it's uncommon for people to share those types of messages privately.
Complaining about a lack of a sympathy card is basically complaining that the admin support staff dropped the ball on meeting his personal emotional needs. So how old is Cornel?
Be nice if the complaint mentioned the unmet emotional needs of his support staff (garbage collectors, groundskeepers, janitors, food service, admin assistants, etc.) instead of simply the top of the ladder folks. Did he send sympathy cards to them during their moments of need? I’m guessing not, but I don’t know.
In my worlds, anything more public than a sympathy card would have been thought inappropriately intrusive, borderline cruel and just weird. It’s a place of work and the presumption would be the worker values a wall between work and family. An emotional HIPAA policy as it were.
Yikes, the writing in that letter was not up to par for a professor who was seeking tenure at a prestigious university. The tone, word choice, layout, everything felt amateur and overly emotional. I haven't read many resignation letters but I'd have expected more polish and professionalism.
One takes a rather different tone in a pointed and deliberate "fuck you; strong letter to follow" than in a resignation letter that's mostly polite BS, as is typical.
He's a celebrity public intellectual. He hasn't pioneered any ideas or theories. He builds departments and plays a ton of politics (both internally at academic institutions and publicly in the American media ecosystem.) He's a PR intellectual. He gets way too much air time for his contributions to humanity. A boring figure.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> No one would dare dream put a history class taught by a white professor under the 'European American studies' ... that's because no one would dare dream to have a 'European American studies' program in the first place.
That's because it's as pointless as african american studies.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's because it's as pointless as african american studies.
All have merit in their own right.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
One takes a rather different tone in a pointed and deliberate "fuck you; strong letter to follow" than in a resignation letter that's mostly polite BS, as is typical.
I'm not sure the point was about tone. It was letter by an academic for an academic touting the former's intellectual contributions and apparently intended to be publicly displayed. I would have expected something more structured, easier to follow, and better targeted.
His resignation letter chastises the school for not giving enough attention to his mother's death-- he only got two condolences. Does this strike anyone else as a really strange thing to bring up a tally of condolences in a resignation letter?
No, the death of a parent (depending on one's relationship) can be incredibly devastating. It is certainly appropriate to bring that to work, because it will almost always impact one's performance. Is it strange for folks to talk about a newborn child, or marriage at work? Conversely, what about infant death or divorce? Can you bring your "whole self" or just the good news?