Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Introverts of academe

William Pannapacker on extroversion, introversion, and academic life: Screening Out the Introverts (Chronicle of Higher Education).

comments: 3

Claire said...

Thanks for the share. Good read, though I'm a little disappointed that the author leaves the reader hanging in the end. The first half, general part of the article points out the danger of an extrovert dominant society; but the second half, the part that zooms in on academe seems to be only saying it's hard for introvert to survive and thrive. I thought the author would give a few arguments and warn against an academic system that selects against the introverts, but no such thing was spelt out. Instead, the author leaves a few open-ended questions and let readers judge for themselves whether or not they should connect the arguments for social situation as a whole to the specific case of academe.

Daughter Number Three said...

Wow, great read. It was one grad school flashback after another. (Extreme shudder.)

Michael Leddy said...

Claire, I too wondered about what Pannapacker might suggest in the way of change. I mean, is there an alternative to the events of a campus visit taking place “in an unfamiliar location”? :)

The brief reference to “unwarranted enthusiasms” made me think too about how readily some people in academic life embrace new technologies. Is that sort of enthusiasm tied to extroversion? I have to get Susan Cain’s book.

Daughter Number Three, I’m glad that I’m reading Pannapacker’s piece now that it’s too late to have second thoughts.