http://reclaimingtheivorytower.org/notebook/weblog.php en-us http://reclaimingtheivorytower.org/notebook/weblog.php http://reclaimingtheivorytower.org/notebook/weblog.php?id=P7 January 30, 2006 Southern California Last Friday I got on a plane to go from Chicago to LA., which is a pretty good assignment in the middle of winter. I was invited by the California Faculty Association’s Lecturers’ Council to speak to one of their periodic planning meetings. One of the greatest pleasures of these events has been the returning to unions and instriutions I had been part of. I am both an alum and a former pt lecturer of San Francisco State U, and was a member of CFA as... http://reclaimingtheivorytower.org/notebook/weblog.php?id=P6 January 8, 2006 On January 5 I did my first bookstore event, at the Left of Center Bookstore on Chicago’s North Side, near the campus of Loyola University and just over the border from Evanston, home of Northwestern University. As one of the shrinking number independent, progressive bookshops nationally, Left of Center is struggling to find its place, but I for one certainly hope they survive. Arlene Levey, the owner, has clearly invested a lot of love and attention, as well as money,... http://reclaimingtheivorytower.org/notebook/weblog.php?id=P4 Upon returning to Chicago late Halloween evening, besides getting back to my classes to teach, I had two Campus Equity Week events locally. The first was at one of my own workplaces, Roosevelt University, sponsored by my own union, the Roosevelt Adjunct Faculty Association, IEA/NEA. There is something about being invited by ones own colleagues (thanks to President Beverly Stewart, Secretary Frank Brooks and VP Luann Swartzlander) that makes it special. Like most of the other events, it... http://reclaimingtheivorytower.org/notebook/weblog.php?id=P3 Yesterday the whirlwind began again. As an adjunct I have never been either so well “serviced” nor so well appreciated. The contrast with the disrespect we get on the job (not from our students, of course) is so constantly startling that I have taken to smiling even when alone. It is like I am living in a warm bubble where I go from one appreciative group to another, who thank me for writing the book even before they have read it. http://reclaimingtheivorytower.org/notebook/weblog.php?id=P5 After arriving in Boston 10/26 and sleeping for a full 12 hours, it felt good to get to the offices of the North American Alliance for Fair Employment (NAFFE), the co-publisher of RIT and the folks (Suren Moodliar and Kim Foltz) arranging all my travel, publicity, media etc. There is no substitute for having a friendly base when on the road. It always feels different to be anywhere in the Boston-DC coastal strip, where increasing people treat it all like they are in the same place. Still... http://reclaimingtheivorytower.org/notebook/weblog.php?id=P2 At the start of my first trip speaking about Reclaiming the Ivory Tower (RIT) to the university of Western Ontario (UWO) in London, I may have set a small record for book tour problems. Trip itself was uneventful, though it included a plane, train, bus and car for 9 hours each way from Chicago. (Skillfully arrange by UWOFA administrative office Jane LaForge).