On Languages and Academic Expertise

Languages are not my direct field of study, but I am regularly facing decisions that involve a choice of a language or another. The linguistic diversity was part of my everyday life as a child and reached complex levels of development later in the day, once faced with life and professional contexts.

My area of expertise has to do with Central and Eastern Europe and for my PhD I had to refresh and improve my knowledge of Hungarian, a language that I used to speak as a child, but that was relatively neglected once I left the linguistic realm where this language was spoken. Although I had the chance to do interviews and field work in another language than the Hungarian, being able to go directly to the sources and being familiar with a certain mindset helped me tremendously to grasp the chore ideas for my research.

For various professional reasons, once I was extremely interested in a specific geographical area, I realize how important it is to have direct access to sources of the everyday life, such as media but also to be able to communicate with people directly in their mother tongue. 

Time is limited and life priorities might be completely other than to spend your time learning a new language every couple of months or so. However, if you want to succeed in your professional assignments, linguistic knowledge is key.

Once upon a time I had for a short time the experience of the diplomatic service. Unfortunatelly, not all of the diplomats I met were able to set a conversation in the language of the country they were assigned to. Those were the worse and the most inefficient parts of the diplomatic corps. Except the information exchanged over a plate with canapés they were unable to understand too much from the complexity of the countries they were working to. They depended on mediated information, on translators and most of their time was spent in offices, reading second hand information.

For the academic research, such a lack of linguistic knowledge creates serious credibility gaps. Big academic centers such as Georgetown University for instance, require as part of the academic preparadness spending a significant amount of time learning a new language, or even more. As many as you need in order to properly understand your topics. 

True is also that the complex academic and political life require permanent adaptations and switches of topics. During the Cold War, the knowledge of Russian was mandatory for most of the political scientists and diplomats dipatched on the red part of the Iron Curtain. The Balkan Wars and the Balkans in general turned into the mainstream topic of actuality, therefore many of the academics were faced with the challenge of learning the local languages in the area. Since 11/9, learning Arabic in order to understand the Middle East is mandatory, as most of the funding is generally directed for researches pertaining to this area. Chinese or Persian are also top linguistic priorities.

During an active academic lifetime, an academic might need nowadays to change more than once his or her area of study. However, if he or she wants really to be considered a reliable academic, taking such a challenge is very important. The capacity of having a direct access to sources, both human and of academic and scientific nature, is a guarantee of credibility. Learning a new language nowadays is so easy, by using various online tools and apps. You can do it at the convenience of your home and with minimal investment. But, if you really want to be considered yourself an expert, you have to do it. It is a guarantee of credibility and respect towards your domain and the people that although they have lesser visibility, might have a much better graps of the reality because they speak the language.

A language means more than the knowlege of a couple of words or grammar structure, but it confers direct access to a mindset and a way  of thinking. No translation could provide this.

On Academic Arrogance (again)

It is such an awesome thing that nowadays, academics are using in an increase number social media. In just a couple of words, they can share their latest researches, connect with researchers and aspiring academics interested in their line of work and eventually start substantial collaborations in real life.

But clearly, social media in the academic field has, as in the case of many other circumstances, a two-edge: if used wisely it can be a very useful tool advancing knowledge - regardless the domain, but it can also be a self-reproducing tool of stereotypes, intolerance and non-sense.

A couple of hours ago, someone tweeted on a topic I am not academically qualified - although it pertains to my area of study, which is about ethnic minorities and intellectual representations in Central and Eastern Europe, but that happens to know as a fact of life. It was about the Yiddish culture and language. The respective tweet was complaining that as the number of Yiddish native speakers is diminishing, the language itself is entering a threatening stage. The quoted article was referring though to a very intellectual version of Yiddish, promoted by YIVO, which mostly relies to the intellectual works done in this language, like the works of Shalom Aleihem or other known Yiddishists.

However, I have a good news and a bad news. Although the literary, intellectual production in the Yiddish language decreases, the language is not dying at all. Rather the opposite. There are thousands of children born in the US, Europe - Belgium and France mostly - and Israel whose first language it Yiddish. Part of very strict religious groups - like for instance the Satmer - they are using the language in a very active way, in their specific variants - Hungarian, Lithuanian etc.. They do not write literature - yet, but think about those children who once growing up will probably decide to not be religious anymore but they keep the language and might want to write first in their mother tongue. 

I bet - and I hope I am wrong - the academics involved in the discussion about the dying status of Yiddish are not familiar -in a direct, non-academic way - to those realities, never actually spoke with someone belonging to this group and if there are not some academic references about the topic, they will never actually figure out such people really exist.

I am often faced with such discrepancies between the realities of the academic worlds and life. The arrogance and self-referential attitude which ignores anything coming from 'non-expert' - probably a bunch of 5 people spending their time reading everything on the topic but with a very narrow interest in checking the facts - as such an approach is depreciativelly qualified as 'journalistic' creates the premises of false projections. When you are talking about a language in danger, the measures that might come to mind, if not connected to a reality on the ground, will not help in any respect.

Personally, I will not cease to balance the intensive academic research and reading with direct contact with the 'subjects' I am about to study. For the preparation of my PhD I've spent an impressive amount of time talking with people, learning and speaking their languages, understanding their education system and their mindset, instead of relying exclusively on academic approaches. It helped me to understand the conundrum of the mentality, the eventual evolutions as well as the patterns. Such an attitude keeps me busy enough to avoid both in real life and through social media self-sufficient academics. 

For a Better Academic Year

With only a few post published on a blog and only a limited academic activity, 2017 was not my best in terms of academic achievements and professional advancement. For reasons completely independent of my will, of very personal reasons - but luckily, not mine - most of my academic readings had to do with issues dealing with mental health and mental instability of persons that did not benefit the proper medical support when they needed to, developing into toxic unstable adults. An interesting investigation after all, but not my area of study and not something I am very keen to further explore.

However, once I settled down - at least on my side - my own version of the story, it is about time to set up my visual board and aim high for a reboost of my academic career. I am fully aware that things will not jump out of nowhere from 0 to 100, but at least, settling down in an academic mood, sounds like what I have to expect for my next 12 months. And work hard towards achieving it. 

In this new arrangement, the blog - and the Twitter account which is slowly slowly growing up (like 1 follower the year...maybe) is playing a very clear role, as a dairy which will help me keep the track of my records, but also encourage me to move forward with my efforts towards a better academic visibility and planning. The plan is to post at least twice the week, with a clear focus on books and various academic challenges specific to people with the highest academic training - as I do, with a PhD in history, a book written and couple of academic articles - but without the clear thought of actually being part of the academic establishment - at least for now. Maybe it is about time to make a change in this respect and hopefully 2018 will be the year when I will sort out my serious plans and maybe some teaching perspectives too. 

Here it is for now! Hopefully, things will get much better and I will be able to keep up with a modest schedule and academic planning!

Wish all my academic readers a happy healthy and successful 2018!

Advice for a debt-free graduation

Living and studying in Europe my whole life, I ignored for a long time the fact that education can be a very problematic investment and burden. When talking with my American academic friends, they often mention that even after 10 years, they still have to pay or find solutions for paying an impressive college debt. As for me, I went from college to MA and after that, PhD studies, without paying any dime. Just because high education was free, unless I wanted to enroll to some private academic classes, which I didn't. I used to work since 18 and was independent financially since, but I still think that an eventual college financial burden would have dramatically affect my life.

Hopefully, there are more and more books lately aimed to help parents and children navigate the troubled waters of high education in the US. Kristina Ellis, herself a beneficiary of impressive scholarships, is sharing her experience and knowledge in a very systematic and practical way.

'Think of paying for college as a marathon. By maintaining a steady stride between spending and saving, you can make it through each leg of the race and cross the finish line, graduating debt free'. Usually, the average costs for attending college per year can go around 19,500$, for in state, and $44,000 private.

First and foremost, the potential college candidate should start working towards the goal as early as possible. Starting to make a plan, for instance, by creating a budget and starting to save, using the power of compound interest or earning as many credits in advance as possible.

Second, it is important to be informed and in this advanced Internet era, everything is much easier than before. For instance, you do not need to go in person at the college tours, and use instead the virtual presentation. It could be a significant source of financial relief. Information is gold also when it comes to the decision to go to college as such. The potential student should start asking as many questions as possible in order to figure out if this college and no other is answering his or her academic needs and professional plans. 

The application process can be expensive too, as it involves passing various tests and acquiring documents proving the conformity to the academic standards expected from a potential student.  

When it comes to applying for scholarships or federal loans - such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid -, the process should be started as early as possible, taking into consideration all the documentation requirements and criteria necessary. 

With a lot of work and careful preparation, the application can be accepted or various alternatives used in order to eliminate or diminish significantly the financial burden. Otherwise, students are adviced how to find ways to start paying the debt even from the first year of college, by taking side jobs or building their own freelance business. Such an approach can be very helpful for the next professional steps, due to the acquired experience and the practice of work ethics. 

Although with a clear readers target, the North American students, or anyone interested to apply at an an American college, this book is also useful for those without the need to worry about college loans, but that can learn a lot about how to plan the academic and professional career as early in life as possible.

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher via NetGalley.

Manifesto for the 'slow professor'

After so many 'slow' movements in food and the everyday life in general, it was about time to approach the high-speed academic life from this perspective too. In previous academic blog posts I touched upon several times the idea of 'publish or die' and other high pressures - such as bureaucracy that I do not fancy at all, regardless its shapes and aims - that taint the fragile intellectual achivements of the academia. 

'Corporalization has compromised academic life and speed up the clock', complain the authors, who continue: 'In the corporate university, power is transferred from faculty to managers, economic justifications dominate and the familiar 'bottom line' eclipses pedagogical and intellectual concerns'. However, as long as the universities are part of the state system and do receive budget funding, a certain scrutinity of the funds and criteria of performance should be considered. Also, universities are part of a larger state conception on education and, thus, they prepare future members of the work force. What can be done?

The authors pledge for a reconsideration of the academic pace: 'We need time to think, and so do our students. Time for reflection and open-end inquiry. 

One of the highest pressure the professors should deal with is time. Time to correct and edit papers, to apply for grants, to write books, to answer bureaucratic demands, to spend time with the family. Although several books were dedicated to the time-management issues in the academia, this does not alleviate the burden and the deep guilt for the time spent not 'at work'. Somehow, the book does not approach the issue of the high level of university graduates, compared to decades ago, which creates pressure for the market and the need of high efficiency at the university workplace too. 

An interesting approach concerns the pledge for 'pleassure' at teaching, a focus on emotions and emotional intelligence in the classroom. Hard sciences as mathematics or nuclear physics, just to mention randomly, do not necessarily require such an emotional involvement, but very often during my academic expriences I noticed the lack of any personal involvement of teachers in the process of sharing knowledge. 

Understanding is more important than knowledge, consider the authors, and I agree, but in the nowadays world, with so many sources of information and so many possibilities to expand the knowledge, it is very hard to resist the temptation of too much knowledge. I am going through this right now and secretely I enjoy the pleasure of not being able to find the right balance.

The book is very important for the stage of academic discussions right now, but it does not provide any specific mean of action, despite the need of more collaboration and 'conviviality' among teachers. I will be curious to find out how exactly the current culture can be institutionally challenged. Maybe then I will finally decide to make the big step of joining the academia. 

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange of an honest review 

Academic book review: Paying for college. Athletic Scholarship Info

This book laguished unopened on my Kindle for a long time because I was almost sure that the information deals exclusively with management of college payment and other financial information that does not interest me too much. After all, I am living in Germany where the high education is free and I do not have too many plans to going back to university either, at least not in the next 6 months. 

I was wrong though. It has very good tips about how to organise your entry to college, step-by-step, taking care of the smallest details such as time management, establishing special learning routines, organizing the extra-curricular activities. Written in an accessible language, it offers directions for going straight on the path to making good academic choices, setting up motivational tools and writing good application letters. 

The information is at the level of 2012 and unfortunally it does not have relevant links or extra materials for the reader, but regardless of your academic level, geographical location or the year when you start reading it, there is relevant information available. My favourite ones are: how to identify and fight procrastination and the advice to be in touch with a tutor or teacher seeking for academic guidance. 

A four-star kind of book, strongly recommended and easy to read - less than one hour if you are a speedy reader as me.