It is no secret that universities reward conformism and conventio- nality under the name of both professionalization and currency. We see all around us dress and decorum advisories for job interviews [...]: as if dressing the same as every one else - any more than writing the same or citing the same 17 major theorists or authors as everyone else - makes you a better researcher or cultural interpreter. Indeed, there is no evidence to show that tone-lock, any more than interview dress codes, make better teachers, or more committed or knowledgeable scholars; on the contrary, there is plenty of reason to believe this sort of career-oriented behavior, exacerbated by the present scarcity of jobs, breeds a professional cynicism that is disastrous for the infectious enthusiasm and performative limber- ness that are crucial components for teaching. The forms we enforce among ourselves serve not the content of our work but the perpetuation of our administrative apparatuses.

Hey, University People ---------- Read your Bernstein.