Somewhere in me, I have a post percolating about the way my personal perspective on, and awareness of, economic issues has been subject to a steep learning curve in the last three years since I started graduate school.
In sum, while I had a fairly firm grasp on personal finance and budgeting when I entered graduate school, taking out the student loans necessary for my education, the high cost of living in the Boston metropolitan area, and the experience of bringing my material life together with that of another person for the first time raised new anxieties and questions. Additionally, attending graduate school for a professional degree -- not to mention doing so in the context of a recession -- means being caught up in a series of explicitly economic propositions. For the first time in my life, I have formed a relationship with education that is, in part, about economics. (More on why this is a new dynamic for me will have to wait for that later post).
I don't have time, right now, to write at length about these personal experiences. But I do want to draw your attention to a fascinating series of posts over at (once again) Tenured Radical and Historiann about the politics and economics of academic employment.
- Tenured Radical: Department of Economics: Observations on the Lack of Raises and Thinking Out Of the Box.
- Historiann: Sister, Can You Spare a Dime?
- Tenured Radical: Department of Economics II: Organize, Goddamnnit!
- Historiann: So You Want to Get a PhD in the Humanities?
- Tenured Radical: Department of Economics III: The Latest on Salaries and Benefits.
So there's your difficult-yet-worthwhile reading assignment of the week ... I promise more pictures of cats and other miscellaneous fluff on Wednesday!
I was going to bore you with a long comment but I'll resist. I talk about these issues all day at work and it's made me very dull about it.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to hearing about your personal experiences of education and economics.
@Soirore
ReplyDeleteComment away! I'm a sucker for long comments (I'm looking forward to reading yours on Holmes once I get out of work).