I’m curious if you’ve heard of the novel Stoner, by John Williams. It expresses a similar sentiment about academia as a kind of shelter for people who can’t survive elsewhere—“it’s for us that the University exists, for the dispossessed of the world; not for the students, not for the selfless pursuit of knowledge, not for any of the reasons you hear” (32)—but it’s also pretty reactionary in its attempt at criticizing academia. Your essay is the first that I’ve read apart from Stoner that captures this idea of academia as a refuge while criticizing its failings; I’m grateful to have read it.
Yes I know it! I haven’t read it but my gf who runs the instagram account with me has, and we talked about it a year or two ago! I wasn’t consciously thinking about it while writing this, but it’s possible it influenced me somewhat. I’m probably more influenced by merely existing with a bunch of other lovable freaks in academia 💕
As a grand-daughter of academics, this broke my heart. Definitely sharing this with my nan next time we discuss the current state of academia. Thank you so much for writing this.
This article kept me in complete silence for 30 minutes. As an European, I had no idea the reality that PhD candidates suffer in North America and I am appalled to discover it. In my specific country PhDs are not treated well, but not this horribly.
I am subscribing not because you really need money to further pursue your studies and career – don’t we all? – but because your writing is captivating and I am looking forward to reading additional subscriber content and the interviews in the future. You are an amazing writer and a formidable person for enduring this treatment for so long.
Hope this Substack helps you! Good luck with your studies!
I’m so glad you enjoy my writing! And the clarification means a lot! Yeah, north american phds, especially in the arts and humanities, are extremely tough to live on. In fact, my university pays better than pretty much all the others in my province…
I’m curious if you’ve heard of the novel Stoner, by John Williams. It expresses a similar sentiment about academia as a kind of shelter for people who can’t survive elsewhere—“it’s for us that the University exists, for the dispossessed of the world; not for the students, not for the selfless pursuit of knowledge, not for any of the reasons you hear” (32)—but it’s also pretty reactionary in its attempt at criticizing academia. Your essay is the first that I’ve read apart from Stoner that captures this idea of academia as a refuge while criticizing its failings; I’m grateful to have read it.
Yes I know it! I haven’t read it but my gf who runs the instagram account with me has, and we talked about it a year or two ago! I wasn’t consciously thinking about it while writing this, but it’s possible it influenced me somewhat. I’m probably more influenced by merely existing with a bunch of other lovable freaks in academia 💕
As a grand-daughter of academics, this broke my heart. Definitely sharing this with my nan next time we discuss the current state of academia. Thank you so much for writing this.
I’m glad it’s useful to you! I’d be very curious to find out what your nan has to say so feel free to update us!
This article kept me in complete silence for 30 minutes. As an European, I had no idea the reality that PhD candidates suffer in North America and I am appalled to discover it. In my specific country PhDs are not treated well, but not this horribly.
I am subscribing not because you really need money to further pursue your studies and career – don’t we all? – but because your writing is captivating and I am looking forward to reading additional subscriber content and the interviews in the future. You are an amazing writer and a formidable person for enduring this treatment for so long.
Hope this Substack helps you! Good luck with your studies!
I’m so glad you enjoy my writing! And the clarification means a lot! Yeah, north american phds, especially in the arts and humanities, are extremely tough to live on. In fact, my university pays better than pretty much all the others in my province…