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Tag Archives: Academia
Rating British Departments (JP Pardo-Guerra)
In this episode of The Annex Sociology Podcast, we discuss the British system of evaluating departments’ scholarly productivity with JP Pardo-Guerra from the University of California, San Diego. JP recently authored “Research Metrics, Labor Markets, and Epistimc Change: Evidence from Britain, 1970 – 2018“. Pardo-Guerra explains how the system works, and how it shapes intellectual production. Special guest co-host Charles Gomez (CUNY Queens College).
Photo Credit. By Michael D Beckwith – Own workAlternative: https://unsplash.com/photos/whvzQn_11Vc Michael D Beckwith, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59421390
The Challenge of Chairing (Wynn, Besen-Cassino and Weeden)
Today, The Annex is pleased to present a very special episode assembled by Jonathan Wynn from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on the challenges of chairing sociology departments in the face of COVID19 and the many other challenges society faces. He is joined by two experienced departmental leaders, Yasemin Bessen-Cassino (Montclair State) and Kim Weeden (Cornell University).
Photo Credit. By Pexels – https://pixabay.com/en/chairs-conference-room-furniture-2181923/ archive copy, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75937422
The Paywall and the ASA
Today, we sit down with Philip Cohen (University of Maryland) to discuss the American Sociological Association’s opposition to a Trump Administration proposal to mandate the immediate public release of federally-funded research.
Background
The Trump Administration recently proposed a regulation that would require that publicly-funded research be distributed openly upon publication. This policy drew immediate opposition from the publishing industry, who makes money by selling licenses to view this research within the first 12 months of publication.
The American Sociological Association co-signed a public letter opposing the regulation, arguing:
The current 12-month embargo period provides science and engineering society publishers the financial stability that enables us to support peer review that ensures the quality and integrity of the research enterprise. Further, it enables us to drive advancement in our respective scientific fields through our meetings, programs and outreach…
…To take action to shorten the 12-month embargo would undermine cooperative efforts to address these bigger, higher priorities, and risks the continued international leadership for the U.S. scientific enterprise.
Some sociologists, including members of the ASA Publications Committee.
I’m a member of the Publications Committee, and no one asked me, obviously. Because rushing out a statement on a hypothetical new policy is too important to the scientific enterprise to allow for deliberation by the actual elected membership. You know, sociologists.
— Philip N Cohen (@familyunequal) December 19, 2019
Committee member and University of Maryland sociologist Philip Cohen assembled a petition of sociologists opposing the ASA’s decision to immediately oppose this regulation proposal.
Good #OAintheUSA news. ASA Committee on Publications passed this today: “The ASA Committee on Publications expresses our opposition to the decision by the ASA to sign the December 18, 2019 letter.” Thanks to 220+ people who signed the letter. Background: https://t.co/Uz2awc4BX4.
— Philip N Cohen (@familyunequal) January 23, 2020
In this episode, we invited Philip Cohen to discuss the ASA’s position.
Statement from ASA
We reached out to the ASA Communications Office for comment. They responded:
The letter ASA signed, along with more than 50 other learned societies with similar missions related to advancing science and scientific scholarship, expressed concern about an Executive Order rumored to be coming out with almost no notice or consultation with the scientific community. The letter asked President Trump to slow down and “engage with a broad array of stakeholders to collaboratively ensure openness and reliability in research and development.” In signing the letter, our primary goal was to encourage discussion by the Administration with the scientific community before moving forward precipitously and unilaterally with policy changes that will affect scientific publishing. Given (as you probably know) that the Trump administration has not been particularly friendly to scientific advancement (see https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/climate/trump-administration-war-on-science.html for some examples), an unexpected and hurried executive order related to science policy was met with skepticism.
Given that we still do not have full information about the content of the possible Executive Order, we are focused on ensuring consultation as it is developed so we have no additional comment now.
I should also mention that the decision to sign the letter was made following ASA’s policy for responding to time-sensitive public issues—with a vote of the President, President-elect, Past President, and Secretary. Needless to say, these elected leaders take this responsibility very seriously and do their best to reflect the interests of the sociologists who are our members.
Photo Credit
By Martin Falbisoner – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
Valuing Public Scholarship (Marybeth Stalp)
In this episode, we discuss #scicomm, its role in academic work, and its intersection with gender in the academic workplace. What is the value of a scholar’s production on new media?
Our guest today is Marybeth Stalp from the University of Northern Iowa. We are also joined by special guest host Sarah Patterson from the University of Michigan.
Photo Credit
By Unknown – postcard, Public Domain, Link
First Round Recommendation Letters (Marybeth Stalp)
Should departments be asking for first-round letters when hiring professors?
Our guest today is Marybeth Stalp from the University of Northern Iowa. We are also joined by special guest host Sarah Patterson from the University of Michigan.
Photo Credits
By Jon BodsworthOriginal uploader was Zerida at en.wikipedia – Original source found here: http://www.egyptarchive.co.uk/html/hidden_treasures/hidden_treasures_06.html, and copyright info is found here: http://www.egyptarchive.co.uk/html/contact.html, Copyrighted free use, LinkAcademic Publishing (Eric Schwartz)
Today, we meet Eric Schwartz, Editorial Director at Columbia University Press. Eric has been a fixture in academic sociology publishing, having worked at several major presses, including Springer, Oxford, Princeton, and now Columbia. We asked Eric for insights about the publishing industry and the task of reviewing and choosing books for publication.
Photo Credit
By Blekinge museum – https://www.europeana.eu/portal/sv/record/916119/blm_item_21325.html?q=maja+m%C3%A5nsson#dcId=1564138565638&p=1, Public Domain, Link
Academic Hazing
On today’s episode of The Annex, we discuss a recent blog entry on “academic hazing” on circulating in academic Twitter, and where to draw the line between abusive and legitimate work demands.
Victoria Reyes is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Riverside. She recently published the widely acclaimed Global Borderlands: Fantasy, Violence, and Empire in Subic Bay, Philippines with Stanford University Press.
Photo Credits
By Internet Archive Book Images – https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14566294718/Source book page: https://archive.org/stream/winningtouchdown00chad/winningtouchdown00chad#page/n128/mode/1up, No restrictions, Link
Stanford Press Faced Cuts
Stanford University’s Provost recently threatened to cut Stanford University Press, describing the Press as a “second rate press.”
Michelle Silver is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Health and Society. She recently published Retirement and Discontents: Why We Won’t Stop Working, Even If We Can (Columbia University).
The College Cheating Scandal
Today, The Annex discusses the College Cheating Scandal, in which several celebrities and wealthy people were caught using bribery and cheating to get their children into prestigious schools. Our guests are Anna Mueller (University of Chicago) and Seth Abrutyn (University of British Columbia).
Are Academics Affected by Leaving Home?
Joe, Leslie, Howard Ramos (Dalhousie University), and Richard Carpiano (UC Riverside) discuss a recent post on Scatterplot by Dan Hirschman, which asks whether the need to move away for faculty jobs affects our collective worldview.
