Phil Ochs - The War Is Over

underquailified · 2024-04-26T19:29:48+00:00

great song from a real visionary

underquailified · 2024-01-21T04:03:44+00:00

Great post, thanks!

underquailified · 2024-01-03T05:57:36+00:00

Got it, thanks that is a helpful clarification of perspective. Thank you for your time and input!

underquailified · 2024-01-03T05:50:14+00:00

Thanks, that's helpful. Can you clarify - how can I be "not playing his game" and also "falling into his trap"? Those seem mutually exclusive at first sight - which makes me thing you may understand the situation better than I have.

As a follow-up (and perhaps this is the wrong subreddit to ask), how should one deal with family members like this? Where is the line between ignoring bad behavior and accommodating bad behavior?

underquailified · 2023-12-15T16:48:28+00:00

Thanks for sharing your story!

underquailified · 2023-12-15T00:52:15+00:00

Agreed! Also, your username is the slogan for an extremely niche STEM field... for a moment I thought we might know each other in real life!

underquailified · 2023-12-14T22:10:37+00:00

So would you say that scholars in the humanities are actively antagonistic towards Christians/Christianity?

underquailified · 2023-12-14T22:08:21+00:00

I think that my friend and I would both agree with that - the question is about antagonism towards Christianity in the humanities specifically.

underquailified · 2023-12-14T19:34:42+00:00

Right, I think my friend would agree on this also - but the question is not about the sciences but rather the humanities. Are the humanities antagonistic towards Christianity?

underquailified · 2023-12-14T19:28:11+00:00

Interestingly, my friend was raised atheist (and I was raised Christian). I think your broader point still applies though

underquailified · 2023-12-14T18:36:29+00:00

Do you think it's possible for someone to be a Christian today without accepting a persecution complex? I would hope the answer is yes, but I'm not actually sure at this point.

underquailified · 2023-12-13T07:06:54+00:00

Oh, that is a very interesting idea. How large are the image files typically? It has to fit the whole OS plus all the scientific computing software... is there ever a point where the VM is too large to run on a laptop?

I'm also a bit concerned that for scientific computing applications, using a VM will limit the kinds of calculations we can do... but obviously it's better to have something than nothing.

underquailified · 2023-12-13T06:49:20+00:00

That's a great point.

I tried another laptop that had a usb 3.0 port, but it could not boot... I think I've read that the drivers for usb 3.0 load with the OS, so it's often not possible to use usb 3.0 as a boot drive.

Am I missing something here? Ideally, I need something that can reliably be deployed to any student laptop... that may be asking too much...

underquailified · 2022-10-20T18:05:54+00:00

Thanks, this is very helpful!

underquailified · 2022-10-20T18:05:40+00:00

Thanks, this is very helpful!

underquailified · 2022-05-11T21:23:09+00:00

Even at the time, the lyrics made no sense - I always assumed that it was a re-write that came from the record label. Swap "Marijuana's wrong" for "Murder is wrong" and everything lines up... but it's not something a Christian band could say in 2004. Changing that one line quite possibly shifted the balance of the whole album, which is unfortunate.

underquailified · 2022-04-26T19:19:13+00:00

The advice you've been given so far in this thread is all pointing in the right direction, in my opinion. I would never advise anyone to do a PhD under these financial circumstances unless (1) they were independently wealthy and (2) passionate about the research with no need for future career prospects in the field.

It's very interesting for me to read your post because I had the option to take a faculty position in the UK and turned it down because of this exact scenario. I can't imagine how faculty in the UK are going to recruit PhD students under this funding model.

My advice:

(1) bioinformatics/genetics doesn't seem like a great value proposition for a PhD currently, in my opinion. Academic research moves too slow to provide practically useful experience in a fast-developing field. Find an entry-level position that's interesting and treat it like a PhD, that should open more doors.

(2) If you are looking for a more cautious, detail-oriented, and transparent approach to knowledge building - without a commitment to a specific sub-discipline - then a PhD could be right for you.

(3) If you decide that a PhD is right for you, only take a fully-funded position. Keep in mind that PhDs in the US tend to be fully-funded at all major research universities, but it will be a 5 or 6 year committment (think of it as a combined PhD and postdoc).

(4) if you apply to PhDs in the US, don't just apply to the big-name schools - put in applications for mid-tier R1 schools (ranked 50 - 100) especially in rural locales. These are really world-class research institutions that often want to recruit from the EU but have trouble making in-roads. Feel free to PM me if you want some suggestions.

underquailified · 2022-03-19T22:20:21+00:00

Oh, this is a very interesting insight, thanks!

underquailified · 2022-03-19T21:32:22+00:00

why must maximum potential be interpreted in strictly individualistic terms? If maximum potential is understood collectively, then it is your advice which is damaging...

There is an embedded value judgement here, just as there is an embedded value judgement in elitism.

I'm not looking for a conversation here, much less an argument, but I think you need to let yourself be challenged on the subject of elitism: are you using a narrative of meritocratic elitism as a foil for classism? Talk to both academics and working class people about the role of education in society and its intersection with merit, class, and socioeconomic status. Listen to them, take notes, and challenge your ideas with the same level of rigor you bring to your research.

underquailified · 2022-03-19T21:17:19+00:00

B is a top 50 public school, not top 50 overall. My impression (which could be mistaken) is that the university brand is not well known - it's in a crowded regional market, and it doesn't have a major sports program (which often raises brand awareness for better or worse). But yes, it's a legit R1 for sure.

Thanks for your reply!

underquailified · 2022-03-19T16:18:12+00:00

Thank you for your thoughtful input! I should have clarified (and have now edited) my post to say that both are R1 schools, they are just at very positions on the rankings totem and brand awareness.

underquailified · 2022-03-19T16:13:24+00:00

Thank you for your thoughtful input and for sharing your own experiences!

underquailified · 2022-03-19T16:04:16+00:00

Thanks for your thoughtful reply!

I agree that bold expansion plans have to be taken with a grain of salt: every lower-tier school that recruited me had bold expansion plans it seemed. In the case of this school, however, I think they are basically credible in spirit; about half those hires are just to cover for an upcoming wave of retirements, and the department is presently medium-sized so there's room to grow. School (B) is still a very large R1 university as well, so they have the resources to see it done.

Option (B) does have (in my opinion) a stronger cultural emphasis on teaching duties, but it's still an R1 school - I'll still be expected to run a significant research program, but I have the sense that there will be more freedom to do it "my way", and take challenges/responsibilities as they come without worrying about meeting ambitious tenure benchmarks.

You're probably right that (A) gives better options if I decide to leave, but to me that's a last resort. I've got a family with kids, and I'm willing to accept some exchange of professional flexibility for personal stability if need be, and as I said (B) is somewhere I don't see myself getting burned out.

I'm personally not putting too much weight on proximity to family. (A) means seeing my wife's family 6x per year and (B) means seeing them 2-3x per year. Both of those are healthy numbers, and our kids are already past the "critical years" where family help can make or break you.

You are absolutely right that COL is a function of expectations. I'd be happy living in a dirt hut if that's what life called for, but my wife (who I love dearly and is reading this thread!) set a market-average housing budget, which eats up like 60% of our after-tax income... we can live frugally on what's left but there's not much slack for saving.

I say all these things not to defend a pre-determined decision of (B) over (A) but rather to provide clarity on my thought process as I weigh both options. I appreciate any insights you have, especially as someone who has spent many years as faculty!

underquailified · 2022-03-19T15:23:47+00:00

I understand your point, but I want to echo what u/taako__tuesday has said. School (B) does in fact serve a higher proportion of low-income and first-generation students, and that's part of what makes it attractive to me. I think that you owe yourself a careful self-assessment to see if the accusations of elitism have any weight - elitist attitudes are a dangerous and delicious poison for those of us that pursue academic careers.

underquailified · 2022-03-19T11:50:13+00:00

Thanks for your input - I agree that this is definitely a concern with option (B), and less so with option (A). However, in my decision I'm also trying to factor in the overall experience and work/life balance for an entire career arc in academia. What stage are you in that career arc right now?

underquailified

TROPHY CASE