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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