Speaking of professionalism (sort of), or more so professionalization, Rick Cherwitz just talked about an article by Louis Menand, a renowned literary critic, who has published an article in the current issue of the Harvard Magazine, "The PhD Problem, On the Professionalization of Faculty Life: Doctoral Training and the Academy's Self Renewal."

Since I'm still a graduate student, I'm working through how I feel about a lot of the issues Menand raises (I don't think it's a negative thing that the PhD program has taken me five years as opposed to four; I DO feel exposed to diverse perspectives and theories; and I feel like Barry Brummett asks me ALL the time, "But why would anyone care?" to make me think about how to write for a general audience). But I have to say I'm intrigued by the overall argument of making PhDs less exclusionary.

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