Matt McIrvin ([info]mmcirvin) wrote,
@ 2008-02-10 22:39:00
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Short pants
Cosma Shalizi is annoyed by a poorly argued call for academics to dress better, and points out that the author could have made his point using actual reasoning but chose not to do so. His points are well-taken, but I also found that the article falls under the domain of application of a rule that has served me well:
When reading a work of cultural criticism, if you find that the author complains about how grown men now go around wearing short pants, you can safely ignore the rest.

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[info]robertprior
2008-02-11 09:09 pm UTC (link)
When I first taught college, back in my 20s, I wore dress slacks, shirt, tie, sweater or tweed jacket. Uncomfortable and gave me at least one cold. (College, like the schools I teach in now, had temperature extremes that wouldn't be tolerated in business paces the author wants to emulate*.)

One day I wore jeans and T-shirt (my usual attire) -- I had been visiting a terminally ill friend, and had no time to change before class. That was the first day my students approached the lectern and asked questions. Lots of questions. All the questions they hadn't asked while I was wearing a tie, in fact. Sometimes looking approachable makes all the difference.


*In spring my classrooms regularly reach 30-35 C. Humidex is often up over 47 C -- a room full of sweaty teenagers gets close pretty quickly. I had one principal tell me I shouldn't be wearing shorts, but I noticed that she rarely left the air-conditioning of the main office.

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[info]bpholden
2008-02-12 06:10 am UTC (link)
I read that missive, linked to from Chad's page. I honestly thought it was a joke.

I mean, he suggests that women should be frumpy. No one writes that and means it seriously, right? Right?

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[info]jspeed
2008-02-13 11:28 pm UTC (link)
The paper is abbreviated; the full version has much more support.

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[info]wolv1
2009-01-17 11:03 am UTC (link)
Hello Sir,my name is josh and im doing research on virtual particles for my 12th grade physics class and ive been trying to get a reach of youand was really hoping if you can answer a few questions i have?

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