cancer – Music for Deckchairs

Seriously, Mister Jones

Kate Bowles April 4, 2014 13 Comments

The good or bad faith with which power is exercised is irrelevant; raising the question on these terms will not be effective. Power cannot be shamed into limiting itself in this way. It seeks to limit us. Jason Wilson, “Moderation, speech and the strategy of silence”, Detritus You know something’s happening/and it’s happening without you/yes it is/Mister Jones Bob Dylan, “Ballad of a Thin Man”, this beautiful live version I’ve been thinking a bit more about Steve Wheeler’s invitation to discuss whether…

Being an academic, Change management

Walking and learning

Kate Bowles March 5, 2014 19 Comments

A meandering reply of sorts to Mike Caulfield, after walking with eight year olds In becoming a patient—being colonised as medical territory and becoming a spectator to your own drama—you lose yourself. First you may find that the lab results rather than your body’s responses are determining how you feel. Then, in the rush to treatment, you may lose your capacity to make choices, to decide how you want your body to be used. Finally, in the blandness of the…

Being an academic

On impact

Kate Bowles March 4, 2014 12 Comments

I know that there are people who actually enjoy sports but I never thought that there would be such a thing as a dodgeball enthusiast. Well, there isn’t really. There are just highly competitive people who use dodgeball to satisfy that need to win. Dodgeball, an autobiography When life is understood as a career, the resume becomes an extension of the body. Gaps in the resume are institutional stigmas. Since most of us have to work, it is hard for…

Being an academic, Casualisation of work

Beyond a boundary

Kate Bowles December 9, 2013 30 Comments

In baseball or football, the league lends stability to each team. Pro cycling, on the other hand, follows a more Darwinian model: teams are sponsored by big companies, and compete to get into big races. There are no assurances; sponsors can leave, races can refuse to allow teams. The result is a chain of perpetual nervousness: sponsors are nervous because they need results. Team directors are nervous because they need results. And riders are nervous because they need results to…

Being an academic

Irreplaceable time

Kate Bowles November 24, 2013 55 Comments

Part one: the hamster wheel The majority of Australians working extra hours or hours outside of normal work hours do so in order to meet the expectations of their job. Almost 60 per cent of respondents report this, with 45 per cent saying that this extra work is necessary often or sometimes. This represents 5.2 million Australian workers who are working extra hours to keep their workload under control and on target. Prue Cameron and Richard Denniss, “Hard to Get…

Being an academic, Cancer, Casualisation of work, Higher education