Worthwhile research on contemporary #poverty and #money (to reduce 1, give 2).
As an historian, specifically one who studies the development of prejudice re: marginalized communities and proscriptions around the provision of cash, nothing could be more obvious. Money is a form of power, as is withholding it or making the impoverished jump through humiliating hoops to get limited in-kind prestations. This is anything but new. #histodons#history@histodons
She takes a while to get there, but in the closing paragraph of the last chapter of her ambitious and deeply erudite "Civilization: From Enlightenment Philosophy to Canadian History," Elsbeth Heaman makes a pithy and, in my view, wholly convincing argument that in #Canada (and, I would say, in many other places) we need more #history. #histodons#CdnHist@histodons
@histodons More worth considering from Heaman: “Conservatives look everywhere for the friends versus enemies distinction and use it to concentrate power and wealth amongst their friends. Liberals look for some check on that concentration and some ways to build up alliances. Conservatism shores up property to insulate it against challenges, often calling itself liberal in the process. That's my thesis. Conservatism is entrenched in the material order of the world...”
@histodons "... and liberalism a framework for negotiating with it for purposes of enlargement according to natural sentiments of sympathy and self-protection against domination."
This dense and remarkably ambitious book was brand new and in perfect condition when I started reading it a few months back. With a little luck, I'll finish my review next week and my copy will earn a respite from my less than gentle attentions. #histodons#CdnHist@histodons
@jconnellstryker@histodons@academicchatter I agree the proposals are not all practical. My institution grants terminal MAs but it actively discourages 2-year degrees. We have no indication that taking an additional year (nearly all of our MAs are 1-year) affects employment outcomes, while leading some students to disconnect entirely in the 2nd year, something can lead to failure to finish.
Re: PhD: IMO we need to push for increased packages for all admissions, regardless of external funding.
You would have to ask somebody who wrote for MA in my program how it really felt to do that and then continue on to PhD, but being friendlier to dipping out after 2 years with an MA seems like a good thing to me. Maybe even actively working to encourage (and accept) transfers to finish the PhD elsewhere after a 2-year MA would be a good idea, to encourage broader institutional experience?