a day in the library

I am back in the library after a long break. It's actually nice. People all around, big wooden library tables, uncomfortably hard chairs, stacks of books, iTunes (mine and others'), an endless supply of coffee, the occasional trip to the stacks, big windows with sunlight warming the room, florescent lighting . . . all familiar and soothing.

I've made good progress and am waiting to get feedback on my IRB paperwork. I can't start collecting data until I have approval to interview "human subjects." At this point I am waiting to hear back from my advisor, but I am considering contacting IRB to get preliminary feedback. If things don't move quickly I worry that I won't be able to complete my interviews this semester. That would push data collection back to fall and then graduation back to December at the earliest.

So, I am fairly anxious.

In the meantime, I read this very interesting article ("The Laying On of Culture" by John McDermott) in a 1969 issue of The Nation. In essence the article proposed that higher education essentially sets out to destroy "whatever indigenous culture might remain among American working-class." Powerful words. McDermott also asserts the notion that "most academics take it as an article of faith that a student benefits by exchanging his own culture for that of the university. It is by far the most common campus prejudice." It is fascinating to read these words from 1969 and contemplate on how little the campus culture has changed with regards to working-class students in nearly 40 years. These are the same sentiments expressed by bell hooks in 2000 -- being free of the provincial ties of home, home town, region, and class is the price of the ticket of higher education. How many students feel this way and, of equal importance, how many faculty and administrators are oblivious to the effects?