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February 20, 2005

On Professional Conferences

Here're a few preliminary notes on the College Art Association.

Why do so many of my colleagues wear black? Are they trying to look like the artists? Please note, Art Historians, that the Studio Folks no longer wear all black. One of my immediate colleagues was bold and wore a lavendar suede jacket over her otherwise all-black ensemble; there have not yet been repercussions, but I wouldn't be surprised if her eventual tenure committee heard about it.

Why do so many of my older colleagues strive for youthful hair?

Why do people feel comfortable making programmatic statements about the paper they would have written on a particular topic when, in fact, they did NOT write a paper for the session? Do you suppose said "questioners" wrote an abstract which, sadly, was not accepted? I wonder.

Why do people let their children dress like tiny sluts and run around hotels screaming? Oh, I 'm sorry, that's a question about the people involved in the cheerfleading competition who are also staying at the hotel. Still, it was amusing watching the intersection between two large bodies of people professionally trained in using words like "Spectacle" with such different meanings.

As I said earlier I wasn't presenting or interviewing -- I attended sessions and chatted with folks. I missed meeting the one person I really NEEDED to see, but I saw a bunch of other folks I hadn't seen in forever. I even learned some things at some papers; all in all, a good conference.

Further - is it a sad sign of my life that one of the high points was the possibility of wearing a pair of new dress shoes out? After all, there's no snow in Atlanta....

Posted by CrankyProfessor at February 20, 2005 4:48 PM

Comments

Gotta admit, sometimes I can't get the login to work for TypeKey.

.....Yep, I've had it not work for me on other sites, too. Creaky technology. If it weren't for the horror of spam, I'd have unmoderated comments again. --MCT

Posted by: steve h at February 20, 2005 8:24 PM

Ack! You really think my tenure committee is going to hear about my purple suede jacket? (I'm sure you don't mean that you're the one who's going to rat on me, right, Cranky?) My friends alternately said that I "looked fabulous" or had to "leave the conference" because of violating the all-black rule.

.....My lips are sealed; I vote for "fabulous." --MCT

Posted by: Ms. Procrastination at February 21, 2005 1:50 PM

OK, allrightalready, I'm signed in. Happy? Jeez, cranky ain't the half of it!

Anyway, regarding your comment about children dressed like little sluts,

I see them dressed that way every day and it bothers me no end. For the elementary age girls, it seems so inappropriate (not to mention chilly) for them to dress a flat prepubescent body in clothing usually seen on streetwalkers.

For the secondary school students, I wonder what they're selling. The boys don't get it at first, while the girls are waving their sexuality around at every opportunity. Finally, the boys do catch on and then the girls scream sexual predation, rape or whatever.

I feel sorry for the boys, who don't know what the hell to do with mixed messages, and annoyed at the girls for playing a vicious game. Boys at that age (and young men, too) are so easy to manipulate via sex and it's unethical the way women do it.

Says me.

Posted by: Rhubarb [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 21, 2005 11:25 PM