Maggie Berg

In The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy, Professors Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber examine the impact of corporate culture on the university system. They advocate taking time to form relationships and prioritize the important work. Berg and Seeber write, "Slow professors act with purpose, cultivating emotional and intellectual resilience to the effects of the corporatization of higher education" (pg. 90). As a graduate student, I found their description of the problem particularly insightful, but many of their suggested solutions will work better for those secure in their careers. With that in mind, Berg and Seeber's adaptation of the slow movement to academia, if adopted by more university departments, could prove revolutionary and make higher education a more inviting and intellectually-stimulating environment to the benefit of faculty and students alike.… (mais)

What I liked about "The Slow Professor":

* It tackles one of the most important problems in modern academia: everybody are perpetually busy (applying for grants, publishing, working on committees), and nobody has time to think. People are ashamed to think (it does not feel like working); moreover, people are ashamed to read (in modern culture it does not feel like working either). And that's bad. The chapter about "what is bad" is the most relatable and passionate part of the book; the description is perfect, and to the point.
* The book makes you think; it is definitely thought-provoking. It is also written a bit like a manifesto, so I felt energized after reading it. I wanted to change something! This feeling wears off in a few days, as it usually happens with manifestos, but it is definitely not a depressing book, which is really a feat for a book that in its core describes some important problems. Well done!
* It is short, so you can read it quickly.
* It actually offers some meaningful solutions, or at least points at some possible directions where these solutions may be.
* It offers a nice slogan ("The slow professor" is a nice slogan!).

What I didn't like:

* It is woefully short, and the solutions it offers are very limited. I guess it's the inevitable tradeoff, and I'd really rather read a short passionate book now, than a long thoughtful book in five years. It may be too late in five years! But it is really more of a manifesto than a guide; a pamphlet that names the issues and sets the goals. It is not a self-help book that would guide you through a series of exercises. You need to find the solution yourself. It invites you to be a part of a community though, which is really nice!
* The book is relatively full of really bad neuroscience and psychology. It mentions serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and neural plasticity - all incorrectly, and in ways that are totally irrelevant for the topic and the message of the book. As a neuroscientist, I don't usually read pop-science pieces about the brain, because it hurts, so I was not quite aware that the pop-science surrounding the mystery of the brain got that bad over the years. When you buy this book, please just ignore everything it says about how neuroscience "proves" which teaching and research methods work, and which don't. Just skip it without reading, it's all a bunch of nonsense. Also it cites a bunch of retracted and non-replicated (but famous) studies in psychology, so take all psychological claims with a spoonful of salt.
* Finally, I find it annoying that when professional academics try to write a popular book they still default to academese, or at least half-academese. If feels that every sentence in this book is half-way between the world of the living and the world of the dead; even though sentences are readable and clear, they still have a strong smell of dusty, deathly, cryptic, mummified academese. It feels that the authors fought this tendency to the end, but still could not quite shake of the suffocating embrace of academic writing.

A great book though; I really recommend it. After reading the first half I felt that I need to buy a copy for every person in my department. After finishing it I felt a bit less passionate, but still told everybody about it and encouraged them to buy it. It's a very worthy read!

And also, on a personal note, I am so happy that the teaching college where I work seems to be in a relatively good shape, as far as the problems described in the "Slow Professor" go. We actually do talk to each other, and it feels like we have a bit of time to think. We have teaching and grading in place of grant writing, so there is still a monster of "busyness" to fight, but it seems that we are actually fighting this battle already; driven by a slightly different motivation (trying to become better teachers), but still fighting. And there is definitely lots of space for improvement!

If there were a pin with a snail (from the cover), I'd totally buy it. The "slow professorial movement" is something I'd love to belong to!… (mais)

The Slow Professor by Maggie Berg and Barbara Seeber is a clear and compelling argument for countering the corporatisation of academia by "slowing down."

Much of what is here is not new, what is beneficial is the way of framing the issue as one of speed. My experience in academia is now over a decade in the past and I clearly recognize the issues presented here, so this has been developing over time and is presenting/will present itself as new graduates being able to perform rote tasks very well but being poorly equipped to reason and problem solve outside of very narrow parameters.

As I sometimes like to do with a book of this nature, I want to share what my takeaways are from the book. Don't take this to be stating what the authors stated, though there will be plenty of overlap. I want to give an example of the type of thinking (and hopefully discussions) this book can generate. So...

Speed here, to me, represents stepping outside of time when teaching, learning and doing research. I am not pretending there are not time constraints such as end of semesters, class periods, etc, but that these should primarily be considered during planning a course or a lecture/discussion. Once in the moment(s) time should be outside of consideration. Goals should not be simply providing information which can be repeated or tested, though those certainly must be covered, but rather the goals should be degrees of understanding. If meeting demands outside the content of the course are emphasized (pass/fail rates, instructor evaluations, bare minimum to "get by") then students and instructors alike will have their attention divided even during times when instruction should be the only concern. Multitasking is not conducive to a good learning environment and professors are asked (told) to do things outside their areas of expertise as well as the tasks which rightfully come with the responsibility of teaching future generations. For the sake of society (as compared to the so-called efficiency of the university-as-business) humanities need to be emphasized for all students for it is through the humanities that they will learn empathy, compassion and creative problem-solving. Those traits are useful whether one becomes an engineer, a doctor or a professor. Those are also the traits being lost and ignored as academia becomes a bureaucratic corporate entity with streamline profit as its goal.

So, this book brought all that to mind. Your personal experiences will likely lead to different ideas and thoughts but hopefully that gives some idea of the types of thinking that can be generated from this book.

I would recommend this to anyone who cares about the future since what and how we teach will come back to us as the future of society. If you are not in academia, I still think you should read this then perhaps look into what is happening at schools around you. Additionally, the idea of "slowing down" is applicable across the vast majority of pursuits so the principles will benefit anyone.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mais)