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December 08, 2005

Blogger Accepted by the Academy: Daniel Drezner

UPDATE: Daniel Drezner lands appointment at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. He was denied tenure at the University of Chicago. Rumor held that his blogging was to blame.

I'm not so sure.

The real test of acceptance in Academia would not be keeping a blog.

But voting for Bush.

Drezner voted for Kerry.

Like most professors in higher education. Unlike the rest of the country.

Here's the earlier post on Drezner, re-posted from November 1st.

Box Office and Critics.

Ronald Reagan would often pose that question and suggest that one should know the difference. Tenured bureaucrats, the 'Critics' in academia have had the run of the American campus. But the 'box office' of parents who write the checks will eventually rule.

But not today.

Daniel DreznerIt was sad news recently that Daniel Drezner didn't get tenure at the University of Chicago. His blog gets 5,191 visits each day. People care about what he writes. Lots of people. A 'box office' hit.

And then we have 'critics.'

Amitai Etzioni, former President of the American Sociological Association, an advisor to President Carter, and author of 24 books -- and one of the nation's top 100 intellectuals, according to Richard Posner -- recently abandoned his blog, Amitai Etzioni Notes.

After two years of blogging, he was averaging 156 readers a day. A lifetime of teaching, of research, of advancing scholarhip. And no traffic.

But Etzioni's got tenure and critical acclaim.

Drezner's on the job market.

Children on Bitch, Ph.D. website banner

And then there's Bitch, Ph.D. Charming picture, eh?

Who would knowingly send their children off to sit at the feet of the suicidal Bitch, Ph.D. who writes in her blog about abortion:

I have no doubt that there are women who are selfish, who have abortions for idiotic reasons, who do stupid things. Women can be f*cked up. But f*cked-up women make f*cked-up mothers; more importantly, the vast, vast majority of women take this whole question of children incredibly seriously. It is one of the most serious things we have to deal with (whether or not we have them, because having them will, as people say, "change your life"), and there is just no way that it's right to take away from women, to take away from mothers, the right to make decisions for their children. Because no one is better qualified, no one cares more, no one knows better than I do, or than any woman does, what is best for my kid. Period. (Emphasis mine.)

I'm confused. When she says "make decisions for their children" is she talking about the aborted ones? Could I impose on someone to explain the logic of this highly-educated professor to me? Please. Comment.

This feminist professor, Bitch, Ph.D., is not one I would like my daughters to be on the same campus with.

But now I know about feminist professors because they are publishing in a blog where I can get to it with one click.

I would submit that these examples might be a leading indicator of the future of higher education. There is a mismatch between academia and the country.

The parents writing the tuition checks will soon need to start with some very critical due diligence before investing in a service that nobody wants. People with kids like Your Business Blogger.

Box Office will win over the Critics.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

Dark Bilious Vapors has links.

Posted by Jack at December 8, 2005 11:23 PM

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Posted by: cfomahm at December 9, 2005 08:30 PM

Posted by: Jack Yoest at December 11, 2005 12:04 AM

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