I don't think you'll be hearing from me again until next Thursday. That's because on Sunday I leave for PARIS!!! But don't worry, I will more than make up for it by posting all the details of my trip upon my return.
Before I leave though, I wanted to wish everyone an early happy V-Day. I don't mean Valentine's day though, I was actually referring to the V-Day Movement to end violence against women around the world (and no, the V doesn't stand for violence...). The famous playwright and activist Eve Ensler, who wrote the Vagina Monologues founded the organization. It's mission is to re-claim February 14th, not as a day to celebrate romance, but a day to help women who are suffering, due to rape, battery, incest, slavery and other terrible atrocities. The point they are trying to make is that we cannot celebrate love until the violence stops.
2008 marks the ten year anniversary for V-Day, and everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Jessica Alba are jumping on board to raise awareness. So if you're looking for something to do this Thursday, why not look for a V-Day event in your area? There are colleges, universities and other communities around the world organizing events. At the University of Toronto last year, I helped organize V-Week where we had an entire week of guest speakers, and workshops, culminating in our own production of the Vagina Monologues - which raised over $500 for a local woman's shelter. It's probably one of my favourite plays, and I think every woman should experience it atleast once.
Other events going on this week include the Leicester Comedy Festival...it's the longest running comedy festival in the U.K. - they have shows happening in venues across the city over 10 days this month. I'm hoping to check out a few of them this weekend before I leave - although I don't have a great appreciation for British comedy...in my opinion, there are two things that should never be dry: humor and food. Nonetheless I'll give it a shot...maybe after several hours I'll have acquired a taste for it - that's the humor not the food.
The other event which happened a few nights ago was the "Dee is freaking out because she has no future" show that occurred from 8-10pm in my bed. Basically I looked at the calendar and realized that I'm halfway through my program and still jobless. I started searching for lecturer positions at colleges in Ontario and phD programs but what struck me is that if the first five months went by this quickly, how fast will the next five pass? Not only do I have an incredible amount of work left to complete for this program, but I've also got to find myself some kind of teaching position for when I get back. And what if nobody wants to hire me? Let's face it, I look like I'm twelve...is anyone going to believe that I can actually conduct lectures and that I have a teaching philosophy? I mean, I know the theory, I know what the literature says about how appearance affects your judgment - my dissertation is largely based on this premise (oh sidenote: it's coming along really well...I have to submit my proposal tomorrow to my adviser but she really likes my idea - it's changed a bit so I'll fill you in some other time).
It's a really scary thing though, to go from being a student to a professor. From writing essays to reading them. I've spent the last 17 years sitting in the classroom rather than standing at the front of it - is anyone going to respect me or take me seriously or listen to what I have to say? Or will I constantly have to battle with my appearance to be heard? Oye vay, I'm too young to be this stressed out...I think I need an Alka Seltzer. I think that going into the working world is going to be even scarier than moving to England. After all, it's not like my mom can come with me on my first day...or can she...(just kidding...or am I? No no, I really am!).
On top of all that, my other big dilemma has to do with working in a university environment to begin with. A lot of the time these academic institutions care more about what research you carry out that they can take credit for. As much as I enjoy researching, I know that I'm more passionate about being a good professor. But I feel like that will constantly be a secondary priority to keeping the university happy with journal publications about my findings. And anyone who's been to university and thought their professor must have been possessed by the devil knows what I'm talking about. The only reason there are so many bad professors around is because of their academic contributions. Which is really such a shame, professors are there to cultivate minds, inspire the leaders of tomorrow. Instead, a lot of them are puppets with the university's hand up their you-know-what.
Ok, that last bit was harsh. I guess what I'm realizing is that as anti-corporation as I may be, academic institutions are also becoming businesses in their own right - and intelligence is the commodity they are selling us. And it's really disappointing to see how money-driven everything has become. Maybe I should just move to Germany where education is free. I'm sure they have tofu Schnitzel...they must.
Monday, February 11, 2008
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