Comments on: Saying thanks http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:05:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Bill Gardner http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262197 Bill Gardner Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:52:26 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262197 I was given Lewis Hyde's <em>The Gift</em> last Thursday -- recommended on these issues. I was given Lewis Hyde’s The Gift last Thursday—recommended on these issues.

]]> By: James Wimberley http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262119 James Wimberley Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:19:12 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262119 A page on your personal website? It's the reverse of a <i>Festschrift</i>: so perhaps call it a <i>Dankschrift</i>. A page on your personal website? It’s the reverse of a Festschrift: so perhaps call it a Dankschrift.

]]> By: Eli Rabett http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262082 Eli Rabett Sat, 27 Dec 2008 14:42:36 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262082 Well, there is always dinner. Such things are always best done early, because if done late a. People die b. They think you are a crud for having waited so long c. Some go through life embittered that you didn't notice Well, there is always dinner.

Such things are always best done early, because if done late

a. People die
b. They think you are a crud for having waited so long
c. Some go through life embittered that you didn’t notice

]]> By: lisa http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262057 lisa Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:54:36 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262057 Congrats on your tenure!!! It's really amazing how far people have gone out of their way for me over the years. There's no way to pay them back. I love the idea of mentoring new people as a kind of thanks. And just being a decent person generally, like the people who have helped me. I admire these people. They led good lives, in many different senses. I think I learned a lot from them that wasn't only field-specific but about dedication, commitment, even courage. One mentor was seriously injured. We have great disability benefits so she could have had the whole semester off--but there she was, teaching and leading her department. People really needed her at that point for various reasons and I needed her help with tenure. And there she was. One unsexy way of reading Plato is that passing on one's values leads to a kind of immortality so it is tribute to those who precede one to pass on their values. (It's better to leave out the lying on the couch, tormented with desire thing, naturally.) Congrats on your tenure It’s really amazing how far people have gone out of their way for me over the years. There’s no way to pay them back. I love the idea of mentoring new people as a kind of thanks. And just being a decent person generally, like the people who have helped me. I admire these people. They led good lives, in many different senses. I think I learned a lot from them that wasn’t only field-specific but about dedication, commitment, even courage. One mentor was seriously injured. We have great disability benefits so she could have had the whole semester off—but there she was, teaching and leading her department. People really needed her at that point for various reasons and I needed her help with tenure. And there she was. One unsexy way of reading Plato is that passing on one’s values leads to a kind of immortality so it is tribute to those who precede one to pass on their values. (It’s better to leave out the lying on the couch, tormented with desire thing, naturally.)

]]> By: chris uggen http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262048 chris uggen Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:13:34 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262048 hey eszter, congrats! northwestern is fortunate to have you... hey eszter, congrats! northwestern is fortunate to have you…

]]> By: D Jagannathan http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262043 D Jagannathan Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:37:10 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262043 Books seem the commonest place to acknowledge your intellectual, professional, and personal debts in a coherent way. I suppose the typical length of the whole manuscript excuses what may in other places (a journal article, a tenure file, etc.) be largesse: a page or two of acknowledgments not necessarily directly related to the work in hand. Books seem the commonest place to acknowledge your intellectual, professional, and personal debts in a coherent way. I suppose the typical length of the whole manuscript excuses what may in other places (a journal article, a tenure file, etc.) be largesse: a page or two of acknowledgments not necessarily directly related to the work in hand.

]]> By: rea http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262039 rea Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:37:05 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262039 The traditional way to do it, of course, is to publish a series of dialogues, using your mentor as the leading character (and of course, putting your own views in the mentor's mouth). The traditional way to do it, of course, is to publish a series of dialogues, using your mentor as the leading character (and of course, putting your own views in the mentor’s mouth).

]]> By: Bill Gardner http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262036 Bill Gardner Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:58:48 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262036 Congratulations, Eszter. And thanks to you (and other contributors) for the opportunity costs of the time you spent on CT while you were untenured. Congratulations, Eszter. And thanks to you (and other contributors) for the opportunity costs of the time you spent on CT while you were untenured.

]]> By: JSE http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262035 JSE Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:49:33 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262035 Right on, Eszter. And right on to your unnamed interlocutor, too - the best way to honor the many people whose generosity we've relied on is to extend the same kind of generosity to younger researchers, whether they're formally our charges or not, without expectation of any explicit reward. Right on, Eszter. And right on to your unnamed interlocutor, too – the best way to honor the many people whose generosity we’ve relied on is to extend the same kind of generosity to younger researchers, whether they’re formally our charges or not, without expectation of any explicit reward.

]]> By: Perry http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262033 Perry Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:07:34 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262033 You might want to think about why you are so hesitant to accept credit for your own efforts and hard work. When you are granted tenure, it is you who is being given that honor, not anyone who helped you get there. When I mentor a student, it is part of my job to do so, and I am not bestowing a favor on someone. These people who have helped you over the years were doing what they should do and you reciprocated by working hard and taking their advice seriously. I do not understand why you think you need to do more than accept what you have earned and return the trust by being a good professor. Your feeling that you somehow owe more than that to those who helped you by educating you may be something to explore with a therapist. This is a job for which you were trained. Why make it more than that? You might want to think about why you are so hesitant to accept credit for your own efforts and hard work. When you are granted tenure, it is you who is being given that honor, not anyone who helped you get there. When I mentor a student, it is part of my job to do so, and I am not bestowing a favor on someone. These people who have helped you over the years were doing what they should do and you reciprocated by working hard and taking their advice seriously. I do not understand why you think you need to do more than accept what you have earned and return the trust by being a good professor. Your feeling that you somehow owe more than that to those who helped you by educating you may be something to explore with a therapist. This is a job for which you were trained. Why make it more than that?

]]> By: Dan Kervick http://crookedtimber.org/2008/12/26/saying-thanks/comment-page-1/#comment-262032 Dan Kervick Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:58:56 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=8951#comment-262032 Maybe you should schedule a tenure acceptance speech, filled with blown kisses and shout-outs. Maybe you should schedule a tenure acceptance speech, filled with blown kisses and shout-outs.

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