Author Archives: Fenster

About Fenster

Gainfully employed for thirty years, including as one of those high paid college administrators faculty complain about. Earned Ph.D. late in life and converted to the faculty side. Those damn administrators are ruining everything.

Advice for Bogie

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: I guess he did it quite well, on set and off.

Posted in Movies | Tagged bacall, bogart, to have and have not | Leave a comment

Tonight . . . Let it be Middlebrau

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: I recently wrote about where I was when I heard that Kennedy was shot: in a high school assembly awaiting a recital by a famous violinist. Classmates from the era and I struggled to put a name to … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Personal reflections | 6 Comments

First They Came for . . . the Academics??

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: One cheer, at best, for Rebecca Shuman’s article in Slate on the issue of budget cuts in the academy. Shuman fairly criticizes the growth of administration relative to academics in the competition for resources. A lot of that … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged rebecca shuman | 7 Comments

Tricky Teachable Moments

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Here is an article about a college prof getting a reprimand for what for some was a heavy-handed approach to teachable moments about white privilege and racism. This is tricky territory. Here, the administration seemed to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Politics and Economics | Tagged Brandeis, diversity, Donald Hindley, higher education, Jen Graves, Shannon Gibney | 6 Comments

The Uncanny Valley

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Maybe y’all knew this one, but it is a new one on me. I have wondered for a while why kids (adults too) often prefer cartoons that depict characters in highly stylized ways — in some ways the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art | Tagged cartoons, uncanny valley | 4 Comments

Another Kind of Diversity

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: The left’s ideological blinders have caused it to miss the obvious: that there can be such a thing as “too much” diversity. Should it really be all that shocking that high levels of difference can result in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal reflections, Politics and Economics | Tagged David Goodheart, diversity, inequality, Tyler Cowen | 9 Comments

JFK

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: The world wants to know: what does Uncouth Reflections think of the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination, JFK’s legacy, JFK the man, JFK the womanizer, JFK the tax-cutting conservative, JFK the secretly emerging heroic liberal, and so forth. … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Economics | Tagged assassination, Dallas, JFK, Kennedy | 5 Comments

A Quick Jaunt Back to the 80s, and to Ireland and Spain

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: For me, the 60s was music and the 70s was film and the 80s were . . . . . . the 80s were . . . . . . Bueller? . . . Bueller? . . . … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Personal reflections | Tagged Eighties Music, PBS, Sheila E. | 2 Comments

Calling Dr. Dalrymple

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Theodore Dalrymple is a political and cultural commentator whose opinions I often but do not always share. He is also, or he can be, an insufferable prig with Tory tendencies. I like to think when he exhibits these … Continue reading →