interdisciplinary

Over the last few decades, body modification in its many forms and guises has experienced an apparent visibility, appropriation, and revivalism in mainstream media and culture. Spanning centuries of history, body modification can range in intensity and craftsmanship from “normal” (such as earlobe piercings or bodybuilding) to “hardcore” (such as full bodysuit tattoos, surgical modifications, transdermal implants, and even amputations).

Professors have been advised to “publish or perish” for nearly 100 years. First coined in 1927, this phrase warns professors that in order to maintain their jobs, they must publish their work. Publishing has always been central to academia, as it is the primary vehicle through which scholars share their research with a larger audience. Yet, in recent years, academia has changed so that publishing is not reserved for those who are already professors. Instead, publishing has become a requirement for any one who is applying to become a professor, with PhD students being encouraged to publish their research before they have finished their degrees.

It is no secret that over the years, the number of PhD graduates and the number of available permanent academic jobs has been inversely disproportionate. Wendler et al.’s 2010 study revealed that a little under 50% of US PhD graduates found academic jobs, most of which are unlikely to be full-time positions, and majority of which go to graduates of more prestigious universities. Yet these numbers rise dramatically once one looks outside the hallowed walls of the North American university.

This session will be an extension of the discussions during the Let's Work Together: Collaboration and Pedagogy roundtables at the 2017 NeMLA Convention in Baltimore. The goals of this session are to further discourse about the ways in which collaboration can be fostered and implemented at the administrative and curricular level, as well as how individual contributors to the university culture—faculty and students of all levels—can incorporate and emphasize collaboration.

Recent populist movements in the U.S., U.K., and around the globe suggest that the practices and theories surrounding dissent and civil disobedience are now more relevant than ever. With the Women’s March reaching nearly five million people world-wide, sparking protests not only across the United States, but in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, Australia, and even Antarctica, it is clear that the praxis of protest will be a hallmark of this period in the twenty-first century.