political science job rumors » Topic: Canada

polisciguy on "Canada"

polisciguy — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 01:02:50 +0000

[Thread Closed]

If you would like to reopen threads about each individual search in the proper forums then feel free. If you would like to discuss the merits of subfields like Canadian politics then please open a thread in the proper forum.

The days of the omnibus Canadian thread are over.

Jillian on "Canada"

Jillian — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 23:54:42 +0000

Personally, I am tired of conceptual stretching between states and meaningless comparison for the sake of pleasing reviewers like Hans, who don't do comparative work but think it's cool because a handful of bad UofT academics told him it is.

Anyway, I'm sure that Hans is already a much better scholar than, I don't know, Alan Cairns.

Also funny that big sophisticated comparativist uses one case to make his argument. lol

Angry man on "Canada"

Angry man — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 23:34:44 +0000

"I'd prefer a straightforward belligerent, rude **** to this sort"

Oh hey, was someone looking for me?

abc, you lick hairy goat balls. I saw you, at that Montreal club during CPSA last summer. Why the ****'d you bring on goat on stage? The act was great until then. Especially the monocle bit.

Goat soup: you nailed it, but I know you're just pissed about abc and the goat.

UofT isn't insane. They don't even suck (although don't tell that to the entitled **** in their grad program). But they need to trim some of the deadwood downtown, or stupid **** like this will keep happening.

Hans Sprungfeld on "Canada"

Hans Sprungfeld — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 23:33:34 +0000

Think about a book like Ran Hirschl's Towards Juristocracy. Hirschl's a very smart, up and coming politics scholar in Canada. His book covered Israel, NZ, South Africa and Canada. If he'd written a book on judicial review in Canada only, because he'd been trained to do that sort of thing by narrow scholars in thrall of the idea of a Canadian field, he'd have written a book that, however godo and well done it had been, would have been nowhere near as important or interesting as the book he wrote.

Good thing for Hirschl he wasn't trained in Canada.

lol on "Canada"

lol — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 23:31:18 +0000

Yes, blah blah blah, area studies are bad, yawn. You need to have this discussion with the rest of your PhD cohort, son. Buy them a round as thanks for politely listening.

Hans Sprungfeld on "Canada"

Hans Sprungfeld — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 23:27:33 +0000

^ Think about it--perhaps the people who comprise the field are intellectually bankrupt because it's intellectually bankrupt to treat "Canadian POlitics" as a field? Does it ever occur to you there might be a relationship here?

Holy Cow on "Canada"

Holy Cow — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 23:23:38 +0000

I like the current set of junior Canadianists, the ones who interviewed here and a handful of others. The seniors and about-to-retires are one thing, but when I look at the associates that are going to be "leading the field" in the years to come, I cringe.

yawn on "Canada"

yawn — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 23:20:40 +0000

^ Obvious Troll is obvious.

Hans Sprungfeld on "Canada"

Hans Sprungfeld — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 23:14:55 +0000

Maybe the lesson here is that it's time to stop with the nonsense of "Canadian Politics" as a subfield. It's parochial and intellectually bankrupt. Canada is a case in comparative politics. There's no earthy reason to train a political scientist to focus on one sole case. Comparativists who focus on Canada as one of their major cases should be able to teach basic courses in Canadian politics, which of course is a necessary part of the undergraduate curriculum. It's ridiculous overspecialization, and it's obviously limiting to the process of accumulating actual knowledge about the political world.

Hopefully, this failed search is a sign that major departments at Canadian universities are figuring this out. I doubt it, but one can hope.

(And yes, I know the problem is just as bad south of the border. But the US has been a belligerent, un-self aware empire addicted to the myth of its own exceptionalism for a long time. Not a model worthy of emulation)

sarah on "Canada"

sarah — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 20:35:44 +0000

^ Yeah, no kidding. I'd prefer a straightforward belligerent, rude **** to this sort.

goat soup on "Canada"

goat soup — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 20:27:46 +0000

Holy crap I'm so glad I'm not Canadian. All these assholes piling on to taunt the UT interviewees, via the extraordinarily passive-aggressive technique of pious faux-lectures about how smart people go about getting hired. I have no idea who these people are, but I'm guessing they've all got a lot more going for them, and have much brighter futures, than the small minded failures gleefully pissing on their graves.

abc on "Canada"

abc — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 20:18:04 +0000

No problem. I'm really comfortable making observations from where I stand. I know it hurts, especially when you're the ones not getting job offers. But keep thinking that the reason that all 3 candidates didn't get an offer was the department's idiosyncracies, insanity, etc. I'm sure it helps cushion the blow.

Huh? on "Canada"

Huh? — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 19:29:28 +0000

"(e.g., look at the recent past)"

The UofT has indeed hired in the...recent past. Umm, great observation. :s

Love it, ABC. Bring on more wisdom please.

Who talks like this? on "Canada"

Who talks like this? — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 19:27:31 +0000

"To which I reply:..."

LOL I think you dropped your monocle there, douchehound.

abc on "Canada"

abc — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 19:18:25 +0000

I know it's anonymous and all, but trust me, I know how searches work. The thing is that as a candidate, it's incumbent upon you to pitch your talk to appeal to a broad enough coalition, especially when you know that there are important differences such as those at UofT. It takes experience to understand that, so I'm not surprised that the candidates weren't able to do it.

I know the retort: you have no idea how idiosyncratic the process is, especially at a place like Toronto.

To which I reply: first, there's lots of info on those idiosyncracies. It's not like the place is under the radar. Second, presumably the candidates got some amount of inside info. I mean, let's be real, we all know how searches work, and we all know that they have friends (well, at least a friend:). Third, it can be done (e.g., look at the recent past). You just have to be good, polished, politically savvy, etc.

Hello on "Canada"

Hello — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:59:57 +0000

Any updates on what's happening at Waterloo and and Laval? Has an offer been extended at Laval?

Hello on "Canada"

Hello — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:57:30 +0000

Any updates on what's happening at Waterloo and and Laval? Has an offer been extended at Laval?

Gbberish on "Canada"

Gbberish — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 15:09:46 +0000

Are there actually any public policy candidates left on the market?

Anonymous on "Canada"

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:58:20 +0000

Anything new from McGill?

sigh on "Canada"

sigh — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:40:42 +0000

UofT is not insane. All three candidates are very good. It's just that for various reasons none of them were able to generate a big enough coalition among the department members with influence. It doesn't look bad for any of the three of them. Anyone who thinks it does simply does not know how searches work. And to be clear, the position is not dead. The search is dead for this year. They won't go back to the pool. They'll readverstise.

Reege on "Canada"

Reege — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 07:38:21 +0000

"UofT wasn't insane enough not to hire the best Canadianist on the market recently, was it?"

In English please.

zzz on "Canada"

zzz — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 07:34:53 +0000

^ Huh? I didn't know I applied. I'm happy in my current position :)

666 on "Canada"

666 — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 07:31:45 +0000

^ I wonder then how it looks for you that you weren't shortlisted in the first or second rounds? Pitiful ABDs...

zzz on "Canada"

zzz — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 06:28:50 +0000

^ Nice try, but it will look bad on all 3. Period. UofT wasn't insane enough not to hire the best Canadianist on the market recently, was it?

orange on "Canada"

orange — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 06:10:53 +0000

^ Eh, not really. Everyone pretty much knows UT is crazytown at this point. Esp. w/ regards to the Canadian subfield

zzz on "Canada"

zzz — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 05:49:45 +0000

Well, we'll know soon enough whether any of the 3 get the offer. But given that we all know who the three candidates are, it's going to look bad for all 3 if it turns out that UofT either goes back to the pool or simply decides to cancel the search.

stewie on "Canada"

stewie — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 05:41:16 +0000

^ Some faculty in the dept seem to have some bad information. The search is still alive. There was one faculty member who wanted to end it, he's probably the one spreading this to the rest of the faculty.

Denis on "Canada"

Denis — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 05:22:10 +0000

Stewie is talking out of his ****. My source is a faculty member at Toronto. The department didn't offer any of the first three candidates. Then, they ended the search.

stewie on "Canada"

stewie — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 05:11:20 +0000

^ stop being so gullible. Trust me, no searches have been cancelled.

north on "Canada"

north — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 02:47:14 +0000

^ All of them? Wow. Is this a budgetary thing?