tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post495165314482693334..comments2024-03-15T01:11:32.832-07:00Comments on Bardiac: So I Think a Bit More 'bout the Foot and the DoorBardiachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-68256267054039988512009-12-21T15:42:05.551-08:002009-12-21T15:42:05.551-08:00Great couple of posts!
I teach technical writing ...Great couple of posts!<br /><br />I teach technical writing on a regular basis, and I've always resisted including an assignment that has them write a resume and/or cover letter even though I'd say 3/4 of the tech writing textbooks include a chapter on these genres. <br /><br />My rationale has always been that there are plenty of other places where they can find out how to do that, and I have enough other genres to cover. Having worked in HR before coming to academia, I know for a fact that many applicants need to learn how to write a resume. But I also know that there are many different ways to write a successful resume, and much of the advice I read on how to write resumes contradicts itself or suggests doing things that drove me nuts as an HR administrator (which to me always suggested that there is some individual variation and preference at play in resume writing advice).<br /><br />So I think perhaps some of our answer as academics to the foot in the door problem should come back to the strengths of our disciplines. Whether you like it or not, academic disciplines are built on the principle of peer-review, so that we can point to work and say that it advances the field, presents what we recognize as legitimate research, follows its conventions, etc. <br /><br />So what I present in my classes should also presumably follow the dictates of the discipline. Despite the incredible variety in academia, a course in evolutionary biology will look pretty much the same across schools (and even countries), or any given syllabus for a course on Shakespeare will feature some of the same texts as another professor's syllabus. There's a consistency and set of expectations based on a history of ongoing research into the discipline on which we base our pedagogy.<br /><br />Can a course on how to not rape women say the same? <br /><br />I don't think it can without recourse to the disciplines upon which it might depend (as you've already indicated). That seems to me as good a reason as any to not make it a credit course. I hesitate to invoke anything smacking of universalism, but one should be able to point to some kind of "field" that credit university courses are based upon, shouldn't we?michelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02872051454149767482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-76298239843866917042009-12-21T09:17:07.998-08:002009-12-21T09:17:07.998-08:00I tend to agree with you. But I wonder: does your ...I tend to agree with you. But I wonder: does your university give credit for PE-type classes? If students can already get college credits for taking, say, bowling or tennis, that would tend to undercut your argument...Shane in SLChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09009969830290878311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-6194768252591991682009-12-21T08:21:40.358-08:002009-12-21T08:21:40.358-08:00Can I print this out and put it on my door? :) Bea...Can I print this out and put it on my door? :) Beautifully articulated.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16995641658376827290noreply@blogger.com