out/cut

c/o Zizart

under your aegis: word of the day

...import that Greek into your academic paper and watch me wiki like mad...

aegis:  "is a large collar or cape worn in ancient times to display the protection provided by a high religious authority"
or
"The concept of doing something "under someone's aegis" now means doing something under the protection of a powerful, knowledgeable, or benevolent source" 

alas, poor Oliver!

Oliver Zahm, free-love aficiondo, dumped.

a much-needed day of study

after baby showers, folk festivals, wine nights, stampede dancing and flinging about, working the bar at a wedding with my brother (& sister as the quickest bar-runner evah), and various forms of drama... it's time to finish my NASSR paper DAMMIT!

Save Comp Lit @ U of T: Letter of Protest, c/o Myra Bloom in Madrid

Dear President Naylor, Provost Misak, and Dean Gertler, 

I am writing to you from Madrid, where I am currently spending a month
studying Spanish with my friend and colleague from the Centre for
Comparative Literature. The sadness and lack of understanding I feel
faced with the potential dissolution of our Centre is magnified given
my geographical distance from the epicentre of the decision-making
process. Having undertaken this trip in the pursuit of knowledge that
will aid me in my studies, I am now confronted with the prospect that
upon my return, there very well may be no institutional backing for
the work that I do. 

The merits of our world-renowned graduate conference, international
reputation, and acclaimed students and faculty, have been reiterated
over the past several weeks. I am heartened by the support that has been shown in the media, by
luminaries in the field, as well as by concerned students and members
of the larger university community. At the same time, I am dismayed
that the accomplishments of the Centre are being thrown into relief
against the grim backdrop of its potential dissolution. Nobody will
deny that these are difficult times and certain sacrifices need to be
made. Nevertheless, at such times it is likewise true that rigorous
intellectual work must more than ever be protected from the forces
that would attempt to reduce critical thought to a price tag. 

It is deeply worrying that the University of Toronto, which prides
itself on its commitment to academic excellence, is revealing itself
to be so short-sighted as to dismantle the very assets that safeguard
it from becoming a bastion of scholarly conservatism. Smaller, less
established institutions such as York and Ryerson rightly pride
themselves on their forward-thinking interdisciplinary programmes. Up
until this point I have been proud to remind my colleagues at these
esteemed institutions that the University of Toronto is also adapting
itself to the changing face of contemporary scholarship, promoting
interdisciplinary approaches to the study of literature, ethics, and
diasporic identities, to name but a selection. I am disappointed and
embarrassed to have to concede that my optimism has been misplaced,
that the progressive tendencies that were at long last beginning to
manifest themselves are being quashed in an epic purge that will
re-establish, once and for all, U of T’s fraternity with the right
side of the political spectrum. The chimaeric School of Languages and
Literatures, the university’s official rhetoric notwithstanding, is
not a viable substitute for real interdisciplinarity. While it is true
that amalgamation is sometimes an effective cost-saving measure, it is
impossible to argue that the administrative savings the university
will enjoy can have any effect whatsoever on the nature or calibre of
scholarly output. 

Lastly, I would like to express my incredulity that ‘too much success’
is the rhetoric being bandied about as a potential justification for
the department’s redundancy. If it is the case that the success of the
methodologies of a given discipline enjoin its dissolution, I propose
that U of T extend this rhetoric across the board: we can cut computer
science based on the success of DIY internet applications such as
YouTube and Facebook; we can save several billion dollars by
eliminating the medical school, as overpopulation belies the excesses
of medical science; the Classics department can likewise shut its
doors as the Latin language is being safeguarded by biology, botany,
as well as the mysteriously untouchable Centre for Medieval Studies.

The value of a graduate department must not be measured by the same
utilitarian calculus that determines how many goldfish the university
can afford to shelter in the calm ponds of Massey College. Rather, it
must be assessed in terms of the work its students and faculty do to
promote critical thinking within the university and in an
increasingly-interconnected global scholarly community. I strongly
urge you to return to the proverbial drawing board and draft a
long-term plan that does justice to the mandate of the University of
Toronto. 

Yours sincerely, 

Myra D Bloom 

PhD Candidate, Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Toronto 

Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholar, Doctoral

threadbare

things you begin to notice when you decide not to buy new clothes:

-holes. many holes. & also, the uncoolness of patches.

-how many of your pants are in your sister's dresser

-how many pairs of flip-flops you really do own

-the possibilities for exchange... i.e., what used flip-flops might be worth to your friends and family...

No More Runaway Crayons!

Once in a while, a product comes along that makes life so much easier. Sometimes it is the simplest of creations, but it changes the way things are done. Think of Post-It notes. A simple thing that changed the world.

My latest thrilling product is triangular-shaped crayons! I know, I know, crayons, markers and pencils that shape have been around for a while, but not very accessible. I'm so excited that Colorations came up with a classroom pack of these beauties. Just think, no more crayons rolling on the floor. These wonders stay where they are placed. I am packaging little bags of the crayons to take with me to restaurants when I take my grandkids. I have already had servers ask me where to get them. They really are the answer for child-friendly food establishments. It will be so nice not to be crawling under the booth to retrieve a crayon which rolled away from your child. That will make the eating experience much more positive.

I also love these for the classroom. I'm sure the number of crayons I picked up from the floor number in the millions. I like the idea of having crayons take up residency on the table and stay there. :-) I guess it doesn't take much to make me happy.

just admit you love the money

via FUCKTHEORY blog

not quite dismissable chardonnay

first, this is a Burgundy that says both "Bourgogne" and "Chardonnay" on the label. This, I assume, is because the wine is aimed at the English-speaking, mildly uneducated consumer? Just in case we all can't figure out A) the shape of the bottle and B) that white Burgundy is chardonnay. What I didn't know was the meaning of "Laforet" which seems to be a French surname. According to Drouhin's website, "La-for-ay" is "synonymous with quality."

I drank this wine with my mom and sister, while trying to eat a concoction from a recipe book circa 1960. It was a sort of white sauce/hard-boiled egg/shrimp goop to be poured over hot buttered toast. It was not wonderful. However, the wine went well with the soft flavours.

This is an entry level wine, with grapes sourced from all over Drouhin's estates. Though I have not been overly impressed with Drouhin's high-end Burgundies of late, this wine was nice. Good acidity. Clean. A little French oak.

Tasting notes: crisp apple, pear, the lightest of vanilla, good acidity, very drinkable.

(This image is obvs copyrighted.. so I apologize in advance for using it, but my camera won't upload pics lately!)

long-time love, new-time love & the pinot report

Firesteed Pinot Noir, 2007 from Oregon. $19.99 @ Willow Park in Calgary

just returned from a night of watermelon, skittles, and pinot noir with my lovely friend A, her husband, and HER NEW SON!! (who is BEAUTIFUL and declined to spit up on me in favour of falling asleep in my arms. Perfect : ) 

Now that I can drink again, I can finally start making tasting notes (which, for someone who loves archives, lists, words, and writing in general, is half the fun). Here is a cheap-ish pinot that makes a good summer wine...

Tasting Notes: light red fruit, tart strawberries, fairly high acidity yet easy to drink, would be fun to decant as it was a bit too tart (might've been the skittles, though).

style inspirations (to be carried out sans shopping, of course)

via the sartorialist

midsummer resolution

as many of you know, last summer I went on a lil' detox, and stopped drinking... for a year. A whole year. An entire year. At the beginning it seemed extremely daunting, not least because my family is a bit wine-obsessed, and I really do value my palette and the pursuit of subtle tastes. You must imagine me, at one point during the year, spitting d'Yquem (don't tell Sean) and turning down Tig. It was tough, but in the end I did it, with minimal slip-ups, and I feel really good about the whole experience.

So now that I am back on the booze-wagon, I have been thinking about my all too hedonistic lifestyle. To combat the influence of Dionysus, I need a new focus upon which to stick a pretense of virtuousness. Thus, my new year-long pursuit:

I will not buy any new clothes.

For a year.

(I can't believe I just wrote that).

The idea of giving up new clothes is, for me, similar to giving up wine. I value clothes. I value fashion and taste and the art of clotheshorsery. I love hunting for vintage Marc Jacobs, and love that Marni top I found in a thrift shop *for $15!* Giving up new clothes is daunting. When I told B and K, they were like, WHY? Why give up that particular enjoyment? Why LOWER YOUR STANDARD OF LIVING, WOMAN?

Okay here are my reasons: I will save heaps of money, I will stop consuming-- at least in one area of my life-- conspicuously, I will be forced to be creative and borrow and sew, I will find things to do on my days off other than shopping.

And so it begins... until next July.. Goodbye, Holt Renfrew!

Workplace Bullying: Causes, Consequences, and Corrections

...Most researchers conclude that there is probably no such thing as a “victim” personality and it is equally unlikely that there is a “bully” personality (Rayner et al., 2002; Zapf & Einarsen, 2003). However, researchers have attempted to parse out the individual factors that might increase the likelihood of bullying or being bullied (Coyne, Seigne, & Randall, 2000; Zapf & Einarsen, 2003). We review this literature while counseling caution on the reliance on any simplistic, individual explanations for the phenomenon.

Targets

There appears to be no sex bias in being targeted. Men and women are equally likely to report being bullied at work (Namie, 2007; Rayner, 1997; Zapf et al., 2003). However, organizational position and certain traits or behaviors are linked to being targeted. Organizational position is inversely associated with being targeted. The higher organizational position, the lower the incidence of bullying; low-status workers are simply more vulnerable (Hodson et al., 2006).

Certain traits, behaviors, or markers are associated with increased risk, but the inconsistency of associated markers fails to convey a reliable picture of targets. For example, appearing too weak, anxious, submissive, unassertive, or conflict-aversive is claimed to provoke aggression in others (Coyne et al., 2000). Conversely, communicating aggressively, rejecting less-ethical group norms, and overachieving are also suggested as antecedents to being targeted (Adams & Crawford, 1992). On one hand, targets are characterized as “literal minded, ... somewhat unsophisticated ... overachiever[s]” (Brodsky, 1976, p.89) who lack social, communication skills, have low self-esteem, and are suspicious of others (Coyne et al., 2000). On the other hand, research identifies employees who are particularly talented, conscientious, and well-liked by others as persons likely to be targeted (Coyne, Chong, Seigne, & Randall, 2003; Lutgen-Sandvik, 2006; Namie, 2003a). Plainly, there is no clear marker-cluster that categorizes targets.

Perpetrators

Whether men or women are more likely to be reported as bullies has yet to be resolved. Research findings are mixed; some suggest that bullies seem to be male more often (Hoel & Cooper, 2000; Zapf et al., 2003), and others suggest the opposite (Namie, 2003a). There does appear to be a relationship between position and bullying others—supervisors or upper- managers are identified as abusers in 60 to 80 percent of cases (e.g., Hoel & Cooper, 2000; Lutgen-Sandvik et al., 2007; Namie, 2003a; Rayner, 1997). In a nationally representative survey (Namie, 2007), 72 percent of reported bullies were managers, some of whom had the sponsorship and support of executives, managerial peers, or human resources.

Workplace violence researchers have invested considerable effort in identifying precursors of potentially violent organizational actors. The traits and behaviors associated with such aggression likely play a part in bullying. These include lack of self control, self-reflection, empathy and perspective-taking (Douglas & Martinko, 2001); personal volatility; history or tendency toward depression; Theory X beliefs; Type A personalities; negative affectivity; and unstable, unrealistic high self-esteem (Neuman & Baron, 1998; Tepper, 2000; Zapf & Einarsen, 2003). For example, inflated views of self that are “unstable or heavily dependent on external validation” (Zapf & Einarsen, 2003, p. 168) are particularly vulnerable to being interrogated, contradicted, or censured.

Other alleged markers include lack of social or communicative adeptness (Einarsen, Raknes, & Mattheisen, 1994), growing up around domestic violence, or being a victim of child abuse (Randall, 2001). Alcohol and drug abuse and aggressive behavior in one’s personal life may also be predictors of workplace bullying (Douglas & Martinko, 2001). Whatever the constellations of markers, bullies act in ways identified as pathological, power-addicted, and controlling (Namie & Namie, 2000; Tracy et al., 2006). Bullies are perceived as being good at “managing up” and ingratiating themselves with higher-level persons. As with targets, however, there is little research directly linking any specific personality type to perpetrators of workplace bullying (Rayner et al., 2002)...

From: Lutgen-Sandvik, P. & Sypher, B.D. (2009) Destructive Organizational Communication. New York: Routledge Press.

infinite cuteness

    i'm dying with baby lion love

julianne moore for bulgari, fall 2010, via fashiongonerogue

the ubiquituity of douglas coupland (TM)

that is a new word I've made up, notice the trademark. I asked myself, WWDC do? and the answer was, make it really postmodern and a comment on how corporations commercialize everything. 

when you have people staying with you, you become the kind of Vancouverite who sees everything from their perspective; you grow outsider eyes and you begin to notice... Douglas Coupland EVERYWHERE.

In the Globe and Mail for example, the full-page ad for DC's new collaboration with Roots, made me almost spit my Phil & Sebastian coffee all over the table, (which would have been such a waste of such glorious beans, trafficked by Mom and Elbow through mountainous twists and turns.) ANYWAY. Why is he everywhere? The WHOLE "CanLit" table at Chapters on South Granville. Neither a Camilla Gibb nor a Pasha Malla to be seen. At the VAG, he gets a wall-quote. Outside the Vancouver Convention Center, he gets a lego-sculpture.

Is this artistry or a business model?











Image via Veronicahh

canvasing

Mom, Elbow and I saw some Andre Petterson works at the Bau-Xi Gallery on South Granville yesterday. What I loves is, 1) literary themes, 2) mixed media, 3) that I recognized Petterson's work because he donated a painting to Margaret Atwood's save wild birds campaign last November (if only I had won the raffle!)

in descending order: "Summit," "Upspill" (my fav), "Peal" & "Tome Release"

workshopping creative work on Second Life...

breakthrough: I've signed up for a UBC creative writing course... on Second Life... 

Image from Zizart (via)

Beautiful Inside My Head Forever

In Ottawa, M and I and her lovely parents visited the Pop Life exhibit at the National Gallery.

Recommendation! If you are near the capital, go. It's a collection curated by the Tate Modern, and all our postmodern friends-- Warhol, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Murakami, etc-- are in attendance. Notable absence: Roy Lichtenstein. Not sure why they chose to overlook him...

I am all in amaze. Some crazy, mind-bending works are: Hirst's formaldehyded-unicorn (which is a real pony, sunk forever in this aquarium of chemicals) and his twins (which are a pair of real twins! ...though not sunk forever in chemicals... they were reading Twilight and listening to their ipods). Also Koons's silver balloon animal rabbit, and his provocative/pornographic life-as-art/highly constructed working out of his artisitic/love/sex life in massive, sexually explicit photographs, (don't miss "Glass Dildo," kids) and Murakami's video of Kirstin Dunst singing "I'm Turning Japanese." In fact, there is just so much. You'll just have to go.

As we were leaving, M's mom said something truly fitting; she said, "I appreciate all these works, and I've really enjoyed seeing it all-- a lot of it was shocking and interesting-- but I don't actually like it. I don't find that kind of art beautiful." And I thought, yes.

This kind of art asks us not to appreciate beauty but to think about and connect concepts. In 1979, French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu was already claiming "A work of art has meaning and interest only for someone who possesses the cultural competence, that is, the code, into which it is encoded" (from Distinction) and in 1996, Marc Redfield, in The Politics of Aesthetics, writes that when there is a "generalization of aesthetic experience [there] is also an evacuation of affect, a waning of aura, an experience of shock" (4).

When I saw Klimt's "The Kiss" in Vienna a few years ago, I cried. That is a painting with a strength of aura and an affective intensity that floored me. None of the art at Pop Life had a similar effect. But I still love postmodern art because (since I have gone to school long enough), I possess Bourdieu's code for (perhaps not totally) understanding the meanings these artists wish to covey. Recognition is sometimes mistaken for attraction. I recognize these works. They are visual representations of and responses to a lot of the theory I've read. However much I love them, though, I agree with M's mom: I don't really like them.

To the Left or to the Right?

A couple of years ago I ran into these two signs in Hawaii. One arrow says, "Parking Lot this Way" and the second arrow pointing in the opposite direction says, "One Way." Sometimes life gives us mixed messages so that we are not sure which road to take.

As I have the opportunity to be in many classrooms each year, I often see and hear mixed messages given to the children in our classes. However, I think the mixed message that disturbs me the most is something that I observe on a regular basis. I hear teachers say, "Now, follow my directions and do exactly as I say so that you can get the right answer." Then I hear the same teacher say during a different activity, "Use your imagination, be creative. This is your project." Hmmmm.... It is no surprise to me that we are unable to get children to be creative and to develop thinking skills. The school system is so busy trying to get the children to conform to school requirements that there is little time and effort given to teach independent thinking skills.

To me, this part of education is a conflict and a mixed message. Being creative and developing thinking skills is like following the parking lot sign which is heading in the opposite direction from the world of education which continually says, "one way."

Work bullying linked to mental health problems

ACADEMICS at Sheffield University have uncovered new evidence of a strong link between workplace bullying and the subsequent psychological ill-health of employees.

The study, which will be presented for the first time at the Institute of Work Psychology's conference in Sheffield today, found that bullying from colleagues significantly influenced levels of stress reported seven months later. Researchers found 39 per cent of respondents reported frequent – weekly or daily – bullying from workmates in the previous six months.

Christine Sprigg, a psychology lecturer at Sheffield University, who led the research, said: "The evidence of the relationship between employee ill-health and workplace bullying is clearly shown by our data but, more importantly, we find that there might be workplace interventions – for example working to boost employee self-esteem – that can help to lessen the impact of other people's bad behaviour at work."

The research team collaborated with nine organisations and more than 5,600 employees in carrying out the study.

Dr Luise Vassie, from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health which funded the study, said: "We're pleased this research not only adds to the existing body of knowledge on this subject, but also provides us with ideas on how the detrimental impact of bullying on worker health can be reduced."

From: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk

I Don't Have Time to Read Fucking Heidegger

I realize that this is a re-post but it is so EXACTLY HOW I FEEL TODAY:

University of Toronto dissolves Comparative Literature Department to create bastard department of “Languages and Literature”

The University of Toronto plans to dissolve its Comparative Literature Department (along with East Asia studies, Italian, German and more…) to create an amalgamated department of “Languages and Literature”

Early this week PhD candidates in the Comparative Lit Dept at UToronto were shocked to receive notice advising them that their department would soon no longer exist. A committee of departmental representatives (of which Comp Lit was not, obviously, represented) has decided to amalgamate a substantial number of departments into a new school, to be christened the department of “Languages and Literature.”

I have heard it again and again: “Comp Lit is a dying institution.” Not long ago, UBC stopped accepting new candidates into its Comp Lit programme, leaving only two active Comp Lit departments in the country. Comp Lit has no purpose, the sentiment goes, now that English departments have so aggressively adopted literary theory. There was a time not to long ago when Comp Lit was the place for working with European theory, but now that every English undergrad is required to take a theory survey course, now that we all read Derrida and feel compelled to include theory in our papers, what place is there now for Comparativists? What does Comp Lit offer to the institution other than another superfluous administrative apparatus? Why not downsize and cut costs? Let the English and French departments pick up the slack, because, well, the English department at least pays for itself with its huge undergraduate enrollment. Why not kill Comp Lit?

Because Comp Lit fosters the kind of academic work that is needed in a globalized world. Comp Lit is one of the most responsive and elastic forms of academic enquiry—more so I would argue than the often historicist (especially at UToronto) English Lit Dept—Comp Lit functions in an interdisciplinary academic arena. Comparativists work in multiple languages at a high level; they work with original texts from overlooked and underrepresented literary traditions; they do research that would not and cannot fit under the supervision of any other department, be it History, Philosophy or any of the languages.


Comp Lit is not defunct! In 2010, Yulia Pushkarevskaya-Naughton at the University College Dublin writes, "[O]ne of the great attractions of Comp. Lit. ... is the way in which it repairs the damaging effects of political conflict and opens people out to multiple narratives."

And if you really need some sort of economic indicator of their importance, since 1979, the department has held the Northrop Frye Professorship in Literary Theory, a massive private endowment. Added to that, comparativists at UToronto hold a multitude of prestigious awards, including SSHRCs, a prestigious Vanier Scholarship, a Jackman Fellowship, and in 2010 a Governor Generals award for best dissertation. The government of Canada continues to support Comp Lit research even as universities continue to deny their graduate students a place in which to do such work.                                                                                                       Never thought I'd write that.


The larger issue here, is that way in which Canadian universities are orienting themselves towards business and vocational degrees. The underlying message in a new amalgamated department of "Languages and Literature" seems to be first, that UToronto does not understand that interdisciplinarity requires autonomous disciplines in order to "interdiscipline" with one another and second, that UToronto treats these areas of study as useful only insofar as they add content to a practical degree. Learning another language, learning about another country's literature is "helpful". Well, be that as it may, true scholarship is meant to go beyond the surface and ask questions of our world that destabilize and trouble the status quo.


What can we do?
1. Mobilize the media. Write on your blogs, people! Write editorials! Let's get coverage.
2. Look to other examples: see the University of Iowa.
3. Join this FB group.
4. Even if you are far from Toronto, comment and actively participate in the debate!
5. Hyperlinks: here's one to Jonathan Allan's Northrop Frye blog.
6. More Ideas! Post them as comments!

1. 

Why is Comp Lit important, and what kind of research does it foster?

Not surprisingly, Comp Lit scholars do comparative work. Their department started as a place for those interested in theoretical perspectives from outside North America to pursue research incorporating Continental European theory and literatures from both English and non-English traditions. Comparativists tend to work in more than one language. They illuminate connections across both national borders and academic disciplines.

Comp Lit is important because it provides a space for the study of literatures that are overlooked and underrepresented; Comp Lit is important because it brings together scholars who can both translate and critique, who have the skills to work in the original text and also to make those texts accessible to scholars who cannot speak, for example, Estonian or even German and French. Comp Lit is a department rich with interdisciplinary projects, new insights, and great potential in a world where discourse is increasingly cross-cultural and engaged with critical theory from multiple traditions.           
                                                                                                                                       image via fffound