This sounds about right, especially the ones in the teens. I’d also add that the flip side of professionalization and specialization is a narrowing of general ed knowledge--I will frequently evoke completely midwit things like Rashomon and encounter faculty who have never encountered the references before. Ultimately, and here I would amend one of your points, if you want the amateur sport of intellectual salons, you just...go online!
I’d also note that the demise of the faculty wife and greater burden sharing at home, both very good, have had some costs in terms of horizontal, informal, unplanned exchange. Well worth the trade off but who is going to do the dishes while we discourse?
1. I think Paul Musgrave is right that I spend less time with faculty colleagues outside of work because of changing demands at home, both more-egalitarian norms and changing approaches to middle-class parenting.
2. Greater ease of online communication means that more of our discussions are with people not at our own institutions (like me writing this comment).
3. More collaborative work means spending a greater share of time with a smaller set of people rather than colleagues in a different department.
This sounds about right, especially the ones in the teens. I’d also add that the flip side of professionalization and specialization is a narrowing of general ed knowledge--I will frequently evoke completely midwit things like Rashomon and encounter faculty who have never encountered the references before. Ultimately, and here I would amend one of your points, if you want the amateur sport of intellectual salons, you just...go online!
I’d also note that the demise of the faculty wife and greater burden sharing at home, both very good, have had some costs in terms of horizontal, informal, unplanned exchange. Well worth the trade off but who is going to do the dishes while we discourse?
1. I think Paul Musgrave is right that I spend less time with faculty colleagues outside of work because of changing demands at home, both more-egalitarian norms and changing approaches to middle-class parenting.
2. Greater ease of online communication means that more of our discussions are with people not at our own institutions (like me writing this comment).
3. More collaborative work means spending a greater share of time with a smaller set of people rather than colleagues in a different department.