Comment, Comment, Comment

I'm blogging portions of my senior thesis, and I've set this up as an open channel for criticism and suggestions. I explain the topic in post #1. Tell me what you find unclear, as I want to make sure this topic is as accessible as possible. If my writing is too abstract or if I don't connect thoughts very well, say so, as this will help me tremendously. I will re-edit and redraft as I taken comments into consideration and add your input as part of the research process. I thank everyone who takes the time to visit this page.

Speech as the Spectacle

Slowly Exploring the Academic-Industrial Complex.

4.10.2007

2 am

I'm apparently supposed to present in 10 days. April 19th. I thought this would be okay at first, but the workload this week is heavy. Nick wants some sort of draft due Thursday, and after working on this for 3 hours a day all of spring break, I have no desire to turn anything in. I finished semi-transcribing the interviews and am going through some screenshots from the website pages. It's two in the morning and I can't sleep because of the anxiety. It's almost done, but there's so much that has left me disappointed. Sometimes I love this project, many times I hate it and am still trying to figure out what the whole purpose of it is and if anybody is going to care. Is it going to really matter if people know they're segmented and sold to? People still buy Coke and Nike.

Prof (not Nick) has said this was one of the most complex projects she's seen, before it degenerated out of a lack of inspiration. Now it just seems like a standard treatise on the failures of capitalism. Thesis class is lethargic and drags. We're too concerned with our own projects to really pay attention to other people's, and I'm guily of this as well. Either that or it's a similar pattern of editing as last semester that I'm going through. It's been difficult to explain the feedback I've gotten; it's like when a parent looks at an painting their kid made that they don't quite understand and all they can say is "interesting" with a passing glance. It wouldn't be such a big deal if the comments made didn't make it seem so pointless or self-indulgent.

This week is hard. Next week is worse. Draft posted by Friday.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6080572

oh what the hell:
Do you think I can use this as part of a literature review?

"Because they don't teach the truth about the world, schools have to rely on beating students over the head with propaganda about democracy. If schools were, in reality, democratic, there would be no need to bombard students with platitudes about democracy. They would simply act and behave democratically, and we know this does not happen. The more there is a need to talk about the ideals of democracy, the less democratic the system usually is."

I miss Noam Chomsky.
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"It might be true that no one gets taught much of anything in any school, but that doesn't mean people don't learn things there, despite the curriculum."
-Howard Becker