Academic

'Tis the Season

By Gordon Smith, Christine, Hurt, Vic Fleischer, Fred Tung, Lisa Fairfax, David Zaring

I've felt a little remiss ever since Thanksgiving because we skipped the customary around-the-table acknowledgement of what we are thankful for. (Well, 2 members of our party might have been discussing it at length, but they were 6 months and 14 months old, and frankly, it was hard to get a word in edgewise.)

In these unsettling economic times I'm thankful to have a good job, a joyful job, even. One thing I'm particularly thankful for is the generosity of colleagues both at my home institution and at others willing to take the time to read my work and give me feedback on it. Even before I went on the market, when I was just a lowly associate slogging away on a draft, I sent the piece to people I had no connection to, with a pathetic introduction along the lines of, "Hi, I read your X piece and really enjoyed it. I'm interested in going on the market. Any thoughts or feedback would be greatly appreciated." Translation: "I know you're busy and important. I am floundering. Please help me!" Of course, some didn't respond, but no one emailed to berate me for having the temerity to ask.* Overall, I was amazed at how generous people could be with their time--and it is time, largely unsung time that you can't account for as "service" in any institutionally rewarded way.

Now that I'm a leetle more seasoned, I'm trying to give back and do the same, although I never feel like my comments add as much as I'd like. Still, I celebrate the generosity I've encountered in this profession.

*Funny sidenote: I've never told Gordon this, but when introduced to him at my first AALS annual meeting I thought he was one of those who had snubbed me by not deigning to respond when I asked him for comments. Full of self-righteous indignation, I duly gave him the cold shoulder. Later on he emailed asking me to guest-blog on the Glom, which I thought was kind of strange given his earlier indifference to my existence. After doing some research in my email archives, I discovered that I'd gotten Gordon mixed up with someone else, and he had actually sent back very helpful comments! So, Gordon, mea culpa, and sorry for the cold shoulder back in January 2006 (if you weren't being too indifferent to notice)!

Full post as published by Conglomerate on December 03, 2008 (boomark / email).