Thanksgiving, a secular holiday, is one of the most sacred to me because behind all of the blessings for which we give thanks is the great Giver of Gifts from whom all good things come (James 1:17). Praise with us the King of Glory. Here are a few verses Sheryl and I gathered this morning during our reading:
Psalm 30:
11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.
Psalm 35:
18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you.
Psalm 50:
23 He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.
Psalm 75:
1 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near.
Psalm 100:
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 107: (read the whole Psalm--it calls for thanksgiving)
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 118:
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 136:
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.
I Thessalonians 5:
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Fall semester has been very busy but relatively rewarding. I'm a bit perplexed as to why. We are in a transition period in the English department. I have asked to step down from being department head at the end of this academic year, and will do so the end of June. But we also have a new Ph. D. program, and that means that the work load of the graduate faculty has increased as we work with the graduate students.
To accommodate this new load, I have moved their teaching load from a 3-2 load to a 2-2 load (two classes each semester), but to do this, I needed to keep the graduate faculty's contribution to the university's general education writing program the same as before. Of course, we couldn't cover quite as many sections of writing or serve quite as many students as we did the year before when nearly everyone taught at least one section. And yet, we were not supposed to reduce our coverage of these sections. Dilemma. Over the next year or two, we will be able to cover our responsibilities as we adjust, but it was important that nothing changes on the books this transitional year. If we fall short, we may be ordered back to a 3-2 load.
Solution? I decided to assign myself a couple extra sections this semester and one extra next semester. As department head, I'm supposed to teach one class a semester because we have a large department and there is a lot of administrative work to do. But I decided to teach a large section of Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences and a large section of Business and Professional Writing along with my graduate class in the Rhetorics of Science and Technology. I have had some support from teaching assistants. I anticipated that this semester could kill me off, but I also thought I could get through it if I took it one day or week at a time.
So here we are at the end of week 14. There are two more weeks of class and then finals week, and I'm doing pretty well. It actually seems like my classes are going better than usual. I wonder if it is because I have scheduled them at 8:00 am when my brain is still functional or if the schedule has demanded that I spend less time elaborating every little detail in my lesson plans or if it is something else. I was able to write a paper for the National Communication Association, and though it isn't ready to send out to a journal yet, it is pretty close to being ready.
So, all and all, the semester has been better than usual, but I do have this crazy daily schedule that makes it possible. Depending on the work for the day ahead, I rise at 2:30 or 3:30 am (rarely at 4:00 or 4:30 on light days), and work in the early hours when no one can bother me. This has worked well, except I run out of gas by 2:00 pm and no longer feel crisp enough to engage in anything more complicated than walking home or riding the bus. So I usually leave school earlier than in the past, creating the image among others that I have banker's hours. That bothers me a bit, but I guess I know what I can do and what I can't.
Next semester, I have assigned myself a large section of Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences again (with TA support) and a section of Composition I so that I can get a new graduate student into the classroom (she will follow my syllabus, observe my class, and do the same things later in the day). It will be an overload, but I want to experiment with Composition I, and I want to train new Ph. D. students so that we are set up to cover classes next year.
I'll probably have to number off the weeks and days again next semester, but when June 30 rolls around, I'll be done and can take a summer break without worrying about the department for the first time in several years. I'm banking on the hope that the extra work this year will make the next few years between now and retirement more rewarding.
I had a chance to ask the chancellor or the ND higher ed system a question today. You should watch the video showing Wendell Berry's address, which is linked in the blog post below this one, and then think about this post.
The chancellor had been saying he wanted academic faculty to be represented on the search committee to find a new president for NDSU, and he also wanted research represented. A professor in the back of the room said he was confused about the distinction the chancellor was drawing between academic faculty and research because, "most of us on the faculty think of ourselves as teachers and researchers."
The Chancellor sort of acknowledged that yes, faculty do research, but, gesturing toward the research park at the north end of campus, he said that he also means the kind of research up in the research park and in ag. It finally dawned on me that he was perhaps using "research" as a euphemism to refer to corporate funding of research--you know, the "kept university" syndrom, in which private industry funds research that benefits the corporation that provides the funding.
So I raised my hand, and when he acknowledged it, I said, "Over the years, the portion of funding coming from public funding has diminished percentagewise while funding from private corporations has gone up, especially in support of research. Could you talk about that in relationship to your notion about whose interests should be represented on the search committee? I mean in terms of the public's interest and the interests of corporations." He explained that it is impossible to run a university these days on public funds alone. It takes a partnership with business. So I followed up briefly, "So the interests of corporations that have funded research here at NDSU in the past will be represented on the search committee?" "Yes, definately," he responded.
I wonder which corporations have funded most of research here. I wonder which corporations he will ask to nominate members for the search committee. I wonder how much of our research in the future will support private industry instead of the public interest. I think I know who the camel in the tent is because I remember the NPSAS requested an account of the funding for research at NDSU. Perhaps they can tell you who it is.
Wouldn't this be a refreshing change for a commencement address? Source: www.youtube.comWendell Berry's Northern Kentucky University Commencement Address Spring 2009 - Part 1
Sheryl and I just went to "Capitalism, a Love Story," a documentary by Michael Moore, this afternoon. We recommend that you see it.
There was an interview with someone who worked for Country Wide Mortgage Company, who reminded us that several members of congress were under investigation a couple years ago for receiving sweet-deal financing from Country Wide. Conrad, one of North Dakota's senators, was among them. I vaguely remember the scandal being in the news, but nothing seems to have come from it. Sounds like Conrad is not opposed to receiving financial goodies from those trying to influence our policy makers.
The second reason not to vote for Conrad? He's one of the senators in the democratic party who refuses to support a public option for the healthcare reform bill. One wonders if he is more concerned about North Dakotans, like small farmers, food service workers, teaching assistants, and WalMart workers, who can't get insurance or about the profitability of Blue Cross Blue Shield, ND, a company that has been in the spotlight for a $2 Million severance package scandal for the CEO who had a $1 Million salary and squandered money hosting retreats to the Carribean.
Conrad won't get my vote again, and I've heard that I'm not alone.
Lifetime
