Friday, June 22, 2007
Conferences are not necessarily realms of the academic elite.
Or, Conference Questions I Have Been Asked.
Cause: Me giving a paper on a piece of Holocaust writing and suggesting, nervously and terrified of being called anti-Semitic, that this particular novel states that it's not always good to remember the past and sometimes we just need to move on.
Effect: Tiny elderly man raising his hand to ask a question about my potentially offensive paper. (Oh, shit.) "Did you bring that water with you all the way from home?" "Uh, no, I filled my mug up here." "That's good, because we have very good water here."
Cause: Me giving a paper on an obscure children's book from another country by an otherwise famous author and presenting a tangled case for the book's metaphoric use of a folk hero, terrified I'll be corrected by a native of the country in question.
Effect: Beaming, balding man: "Did Disney ever do a version of this?" ". . . no."
Cause: Me giving a paper on a piece of Holocaust writing and suggesting, nervously and terrified of being called anti-Semitic, that this particular novel states that it's not always good to remember the past and sometimes we just need to move on.
Effect: Tiny elderly man raising his hand to ask a question about my potentially offensive paper. (Oh, shit.) "Did you bring that water with you all the way from home?" "Uh, no, I filled my mug up here." "That's good, because we have very good water here."
Cause: Me giving a paper on an obscure children's book from another country by an otherwise famous author and presenting a tangled case for the book's metaphoric use of a folk hero, terrified I'll be corrected by a native of the country in question.
Effect: Beaming, balding man: "Did Disney ever do a version of this?" ". . . no."
# posted by FriendlyInstructor @ 6:04 PM 
Comments:
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So, does that mean that the kiddy lit paper went well?
And impressive that there was a man in the room! Not many of those at that conference. Most people there are generally pretty nice and supportive - at least that's what I've found to be the case.
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And impressive that there was a man in the room! Not many of those at that conference. Most people there are generally pretty nice and supportive - at least that's what I've found to be the case.
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