Chris Bertram, a British academic writing at the Big Apple of academic blogs, Crooked Timber, offers up an interesting post about the role (or lack thereof) of education in social mobility, and recieves a number of interesting comments in reply. I suspec

Dear new or continuing graduate student:
>>
>>I am writing to introduce you to the Havens Center for the Study of
>>Social Structure and Social Change. If you are a new graduate student
>>just getting to know the University, you may not be familiar with our
>>Center. Established in the Sociology Department in 1984, the Havens
>>Center is dedicated to promoting intellectual exchange in the critical
>>traditions of social thought throughout the Social Sciences and
>>Humanities. Among the Center activities, it is perhaps most well known
>>for its Visiting Scholars Program, which brings distinguished scholars
>>from around the world to Madison to deliver lectures, lead seminars, and
>>meet with students and faculty during a visit of approximately one week.
>>Some of the scholars who have visited in the past are Sonia Alvarez,
>>Giovanni Arrighi, Dean Baker, Alejandro Benda?, Fred Block, Barry
>>Bluestone, G. A. Cohen, Mike Davis, Richard Delgado, Barbara Ehrenreich,
>>David Garland, David Harvey, Bob Jessop, David Laitin, Margaret Levi,
>>Cameron McCarthy, Saskia Sassen, Richard Sennett, Amy Stuart Wells, Abram
>>de Swaan, and Maurice Zeitlin. This fall, our lineup will consist of
>>Robert Connell, Nicol? Lynch, Walter Johnson, Christopher Bertram, Si
>>Kahn, Elizabeth Minnich, Margie Mendell, and Nancy Neamtan (please see
>>the calendar below).

What are you going to miss? Theatrics, cozying up to authoritarians, what?