The flowers were neither from nor for me. Rather, from they were from the Greek Interfraternity Council and for a professor-and thesis advisor-of mine. At the time she received her “Faculty Appreciation Day” bouquet, I was in her office discussing the subject I had proposed to study. In early October, I thought the token of student thanks was kind. In late October, I believe it to be necessary. Then, I could only imagine what academic research entails. Today, I know that professor’s projects’ demand constant attention, sustained interest, and intellectual peace of mind. A month of work on my thesis had led me to appreciate my professors to a degree I never thought possible.
I, like you, am a busy person. Between classes, commitments to academic, athletic and social groups, interest in the community and nation in which I live (e.g. political or medical volunteer efforts), and a desire to spend time with friends, I often find it difficult to devote significant chunks of time to my thesis. On many occasions, far-away deadlines sadly relegate thesis reading to a lower priority than class essays in the juggling act that is my life.
The same, I suppose, is true of professors. At Washington University, they are not merely researchers, but also teachers, administrators, evaluators, guidance counselors, and recommendation writers. Yet, away from the Hilltop Campus, they are also wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, and community members. By virtue of their titles at WU, however, they are afforded less of a luxury than am I; teachers are obliged to prioritize research. After but a month of work on my thesis, I am amazed that my professors never drop the ball.
Some would expect them to do so, if only because many have little economic incentive to work; they are tenured. Southpaw, “WU’s liberal voice,” aptly captured this reality in one of the magazine’s spring issues. Alongside a student submission was a photograph of a professor’s vanity plates. His chosen vocabulary? “10-URED.” One particular individual’s ill-advised decision aside, however, the majority of our professors do not relax after securing a job for life. Rather, because of the competitive yet collegiate atmosphere in which they work, they are all but required to remain productive.
Indeed, I have learned (or, more accurately, have had reinforced) over the past several weeks that a central feature of research is that it is situational in nature. By this I mean that my professors’ current research must be located within previous work and theory. As such, faculty must be aware of old and new studies in their field. If they aspire to have their own research and writing respected, they must adhere-or explain and persuasively justify-their deviation from the communal standards that their colleagues have established. Better yet, WU professors should make significant contributions, early and often, to the advancement of knowledge in their area of expertise. Only if they do so will they be well respected in a national and international arena-academia-where in-tense competition is found within a close community.
Academic research, I now know, requires a high level of intellect. In my own experience, I have found it more difficult, for example, to read a book for my thesis than for a class. The level of thoroughness with which I must study the work of another scholar for my own research far exceeds the care I must devote to perusing a book for class discussion. To attain the degree of focus necessary to proceed with thesis readings, I must often lock myself in my room and turn off my computer and my cell phone in an effort avoid all distractions.
Here again I have an advantage over my professors-and an explanation for why they often stay at home to do work. I have the luxury of both larger amounts of free time and less interruptions to daily life. Yet again, my professors manage to conduct and produce high-quality research.
Nothing that I have written in this column is revolutionary. Much of my reflections I know to be common knowledge. Others I understand to be subconscious. The great value of my first month of work on my thesis is not that I have learned much (though I have, about electoral reform specifically and social science research techniques generally). It is that I have come to appreciate that which-and those who-I already knew.