Is Academia just a version of Downton Abbey?

It was suggested to me a few years ago by a colleague that I might like watching Downton Abbey. It took me a few more years to see season 1 and then a rather large lag to this summer and frankly the last few weekends to catch up to the current season. I had been blissfully ignorant of how easy streaming videos were and I am afraid it is leading me to watch more shows then I had prior.

I am now caught up but had a revelation as the seasons went on and there was a struggle with the old ways of aristocracy and the new "modern" ways of the world, that academia is still living through aristocracy--or at least our version of it. I was asked by one of my students lately about who thought of tenure and then who set the rules. That is an excellent question and I don't know the answer but we certainly continue to do exactly what we are suppose to do and hand that down from one generation to another of our students. We tell them how they should act, how they should talk, how they should present themselves, how to dress, who to speak to and avoid, and we ultimately accept them into our special club or kick them out. When you get to a certain point, you know everyone and invite them to your grand house (the University) for luncheon and a talk.

We have modernized a bit in that we have expanded our club to include more than just old white men (though still the majority). However, much has stayed the way it has been for years. In the most competitive schools you must be successful within 6 years of your Ph.D. or you do not receive tenure. For men and women, this is usually during the years of marriage and childbearing and because they are working, nannies or other child care workers must be hired (just like in the Abbey).

It is all very respectable but why are we still doing everything the way it has always been done? The world changes around us but academia stays very much the same. As part of my sabbatical, I am trying to work with new ideas and methods to use psychological science to make a difference in the lives of those who have given us money in hopes that we would use it wisely. Sometimes, I think these wild ideas are a little too much for our traditional academic world. I push for collaboration of scientists but then I am asked what my contribution is to the science, how do I stand out, do I get special invitations to other grand houses of academia. Even though we won't figure out the problems of the world in just one lab--we must present ourselves as if we do. Is this the modern way of thinking in science and academia?

As the MacArthur Foundation has announced their Fellows (former Genius awards) and the Nobel Prizes are about to be bestowed, one has to wonder if we have moved forward at all in our aristocracy. We will "knight" the great minds of the future and let others know about their greatness but we have to wonder if we are hindered in the speed of art, science, education, and engineering because we spend too much time worshiping our aristocracy and not enough time doing the hard work needed for the people of the "kingdom."

Ideas for Homebound Sabbatical

After 16 years in academia, I am taking my first sabbatical. Many of my colleagues take this opportunity to go to different cities or countries to work with colleagues and get additional training. This avenue just doesn't work for my husband and teenage son and so I am going to construct my sabbatical around my trips to conferences and Ann Arbor broadly. My sabbatical goal at the moment is to increase my knowledge of brain imaging and genetics in order to add these topics to my ongoing research projects looking at children growing up in different socio-economic situations. Another potential goal will be to write a book on how parent's use language to socialize children. We generally look at parenting behavior to understand child outcomes but recently I have collected two years of data on parent and child conversations and there are some interesting findings to discuss. The intent of this blog is to catalog all the different places that are recommended to me as good reading and writing places and critique how successful I am at getting work done in these different places. So, if you stumble onto this blog and have suggestions--please share--and I will let you know how it works out. If you are interested in my research topic--I may be updating a little on that as I go along as well. You may also see some of my rants regarding how psychology needs to increase their scientific integrity by designing better studies. However, those will not be the primary posts. My list so far includes the following:

1. Take a day trip on the Amtrak train between Ann Arbor and Chicago. Not sure yet if I will stay in Chicago and do work or just get back on the train and return. This should get me about 10 hours of time for work. 
2. See if the Gallup Park Education Center is available to rent at a reasonable price. I know I write and think better when I'm looking at nature.
3. Work at the Zingerman Bakehouse where coffee and picnic tables are available.
4. Work at various Ann Arbor libraries. 
5. Coffee and work at Jefferson Market. 

As you can see, I am trying to find spots that are not on campus but also conducive to getting reading and writing done. I'm also looking for places where it will be hard for me to see people I know. My goal is to start this in September. I already have a trip planned to San Diego then and I'm thinking of including my time there into the reading and writing time of my sabbatical as well as some methodological training. Feel free to come along for the ride as the Psycho goes on Sabbatical!