I figured that if I'm going to post something about President-elect Obama on my blog about "being a professor" it should be relevant. (The photo is of him delivering the commencement address at Wesleyan University in May, stepping in for Sen. Ted Kennedy, who had diagnosed with a brain tumor.) Professor Obama did teach for a time at the University of Chicago Law School, after all.The last post generated lots of discussion, even if that's not reflected in the modest number of comments. I talked with friends and family members, from various political persuasions, about the election and the issues both in person and over e-mail. Good for us—all of us, that is. I hope others did too.
I haven't posted in more than a week but it's not for a lack of ideas, just a lack of time. If I could blog while driving that would have been great since I drove to Jacksonville (with a great stop to visit friends in Georgia, thanks Joel and Amelia!) for one conference, then to St. Petersburg for another, and then all the way back. Whew.I had Al Gore to keep me company and I'd like to write about that (about his book specifically, not audio books generally, in case you were wondering). I'd like to write about the conferences I attended—that's kind of an interesting thing we professors do. I'd like to talk about taking my students to D.C. last month, especially in light of the recent election and the possible policy changes that may be in store for higher education (among many other areas). (Speaking of which, we met with Sen. Kennedy's aid for higher education policy.) And then there's the question about whether professors are liberal (again, in light of the election) and what that means for students. I could write about today's news that NASULGC (say that five times, fast) is changing its acronym to APLU, mostly so I could introduce the this little piece of historical trivia: the American Sociological Association used to be known as the American Sociological Society. (How many students would change their major to sociology just so they could go to the "ASS" conference?)
I could even write about the funny robes that Obama is wearing in the photos. There's just oh-so-many-things to write about...
Anyone out there interested in any of these topics? What about you, Professor-in-Chief?
